The fall semester has officially begun for me (and for Julia) as I've started teaching at The JazzSchool in Berkeley, running a vocal jazz ensemble (eventually two, this semester), and auditions for Sac State Vocal Jazz are Tuesday from 10am to 4pm in Capistrano Hall.  Julia and I are headed to Great Bend, KS, where I was born and raised, to visit my folks for the weekend, in celebration of their 40th wedding anniversary.  Then NEXT week, Julia and I will be spending some time in LA for her birthday, and on that weekend, I'm going to be working on a special project with Ben Folds that I'll talk about here when we're finished.  Suffice it to say that it'll be fun!

I've been writing and recording and getting things organized and cleaned up, and there's still much to do. I've written four fall commissions so far: "Not While I'm Around" for Georgiana Bruce Kirby Prep, "Assassin" for Sierra College," "Nature Boy" for Valley Christian High School and "Nature Song" for Folsom High School.  I've got several more to write, including "First Train Home" for Folsom, "Chaiyya Chaiyya" for Kirkwood Community College, "Diner" and "Photograph" for St. Xavier Prep, "Survivor" for Valencia High School, "I Could Have Danced All Night" for Solano College and also the closer to the Folsom Marching Band Show (I've already delivered the first two segments of the show) and a sight-reading piece for the high school big bands at the Folsom Jazz Festival.

Julia's been rehearsing with Sixth Wave and will be making weekly trips to LA this year, we'll both be teaching again for the Monterey Jazz Festival Educational Programs, and we'll be teaching a bit at Sac State, although less there than ever, unfortunately.  I've got several clinics and workshops happening this year already, some gigs with our new vocal jazz quartet consisting of Julia, Jennifer Barnes, Greg Jasperse and myself, and I hope to keep adding new charts to my catalog, including some SSAA and SSAB charts, and finishing all the Part Tracks for the charts archive.  A lot going on, and I'm grateful for it.  I hope to get to visit you and your jazz choir or see you at a festival this year!