“You can only play what you know.  But you can always learn something new on the spot.”    –Joe Morris, Perpetual Frontier:  The Properties of Free Music

Looking forward to wading into an inland sea of world-class improvisers at this weekend’s OKKA Fest 6.  Players who represent worlds of knowledge and wisdom and practice the art of learning new things as they play….can’t wait.  Being gently (I hope) pushed into the deep end for a couple sets with Joe Morris, Kent Kessler, Joe McPhee and Brian Labycz; I’ll be holding my mind and ears open, ready to learn learn learn on the spot.

It’s been a weird slippery slope of a transition into summer.  My brain is in overdrive, piles of books, project ideas overflowing, daytrips calling….the pollen is rattling my brain.  There’s so much I want to do, and my schedule isn’t opening up the way I always imagine it will.  The lingering curse of summer vacations from school days.

I visited House on the Rock for the first time with The Hugg on his birthday.  Just a few miles from Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesen.  This part of the world has inspired some mighty creative surges.  I’ve now heard about the special energy of southwestern Wisconsin from several sources.  We are going to have to make time to camp a night or two out that way soon.

There was an amazing and inspiring house concert at Kiki’s House of Righteous Music featuring Robbie Fulks and Jenny Scheinman playing (their best, in my opinion) on bluegrass/folk inspired tunes.  These guys are good.  It was tough…during the final Blackhawks game.   Those playoffs were amazing.  Aaaaackckc…see what I mean.  It’s been a wild few weeks.

TIme to settle into the floating-in-an-inner-tube part of summer.  Soon.  Can’t wait.