Calgary Jazz Orchestra 2013/14 Concert Preview and Schedule

Get ready to groove, bop and swing with the Calgary Jazz Orchestra when the group kicks off the 2013/14 season later this month. The upcoming season promises a diverse mix of jazz and popular music to engage and entertain music buffs of all walks.

2013/14 Calgary Jazz Orchestra Season Highlights

The CJO kicks off its 2013/14 season on Sunday, October 20, 2013 with "Video Game Music Live | Duke Ellington's Peer Gynt Suite". Some of the popular VG themes that will be featured include music from the Super Mario Bros, Zelda, Halo, Fallout 3 and EarthBound. Also known as Swinging Suites or Sweet Thursday, the Duke's big band interpretation of Edvard Grieg's Peer Gynt Suite is also a tribute to John Steinbeck's Sweet Thursday.

The CJO gets into the Christmas spirit with "A Perfectly Frank Christmas" on Sunday, December 22, 2013. Popular Christmas hits made famous by Frank Sinatra, such as I'll Be Home for Christmas and Oh Holy Night. This concert tends to sell out, so patrons are advised to purchase their concert tickets in advance.

The Calgary Jazz Orchestra warms up the winter with "Romance" on Sunday, February 16, 2014. R'n'B classics, along with jazz and pop ballads will be on tap. In previous seasons, music made famous by Billie Holliday, Chet Baker and Ella Fitzgerald have be featured in this love-filled evening.

The CJO wraps up its 2013/14 season on Sunday, April 13, 2014 with "The Music of Science Fiction | New Orleans Funk". Programme details will be announced later in the season, although Star Wars and Star Trek are two definite possibilities.

About the Calgary Jazz Orchestra

The Calgary Jazz Orchestra was founded in 2004 by trumpeter, vocalist, composer/arranger Johnny Summers. The CJO is comprised of 16 musicians who are performers and dedicated music teachers. The orchestra performs arrangements by Johnny Summers, Gerry Hebert, Shane Statz, Carsten Rubeling, Greg Baker, as well as guest arrangers.

The CJO has performed at the Canada Day Celebrations in Calgary, the Calgary Jazz Festival, and the Red Handed Campaign for the United Way and the Alberta Centennial celebrations. Various members of the Calgary Jazz Orchestra perform frequently locally and abroad at jazz clubs and festivals such as the Calgary International Blues Festival.

Attending a CJO Performance

All concert season performances by the Calgary Jazz Orchestra are scheduled to take place at River Park Church on 3818 - 14A Street SW Calgary, Alberta. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. while all performances commence at 7:00 p.m.

Single concert tickets are on sale for $25 each ($15 for students), while season passes are available for $95 each ($55 for students). Tickets can be purchased through the Calgary Jazz Orchestra's website.

Concert tickets can also be purchased at the door by cash or cheque. The Calgary Jazz Orchestra opens their 2013/14 season on Sunday, October 20, 2013. The season promises to entertain music aficionados of all walks with varied programming filled with memorable tunes.

On Note-Tab Reminders in Music Lessons

I'm sure that I'm not the only music teacher out there to bemoan the fact that many of their students do not read their assignment books. Or, that they do but only just before their lesson. Post-it flags work as bookmarks for songs, but I've had limited success with regular post-it notes. Until now.

Last week, I found Post-it Note Tabs at Staples. I decided to try them with students who do not check their homework book (the ones who don't check off their goal list to show what they worked on).

When I showed them to my Monday and Tuesday students, they got a bit excited. "That's really neat!" one said. "Yeah, that should work," said another.

I've started writing short phrases to jog their memory. If the student writes quickly enough, I ask them to write the reminders. We post it on one of their pieces that they are sure to practice. The little tab sticking out says, "Reminders", so it's hard to miss.

Seeing as they don't read their assignment books often, I simply jot down the song or exercise titles. Fingers crossed that this works!

Maestro's First Canine Acupuncture Treatment

It has been approximately four months since Maestro was diagnosed with osteoarthritis and Inter-vertebral Disc Disease. His arthritis medication has been helping with the inflammation and pain management. The laser and infrared therapy have prevented things from getting worse. However, Maestro still has a pronounced limp due to his back issues and frankly, I don't like the idea of him taking barbiturates. I couldn't help but feel that we could do better. Dr. Maya at the Bridlewood Veterinary Clinic had mentioned a while back that Maestro would be a good candidate for veterinary acupuncture. Our first appointment was last week with Dr. Mark, Maestro's first vet (lucky guy, he has three).

The first thing Dr. Mark said is that Maestro needs to come off the medications. No argument from me! The pain inhibitors in Western medicine contravene the effects of the acupuncture, he explained. Since he recently had a dose of medication, the effects would be minimal this time round.

Well, Maestro was prancing around my students and I for two days afterward and moving like a puppy. He was more alert than he has been since being on the medication. If that's "minimal", I look forward to seeing how he does once I've weaned him completely off the Western medication.

The limp is more pronounced again, so I can see what the vet meant about the Western medication clashing with this ancient Eastern treatment. Maestro is alert enough to refuse his usual dose of Gabapentin. It's as if he's telling me to speed up the weaning process.

A Look at a Canine Acupuncture Treatment

Dr. Mark first examined Maestro from head to tail. He asked me some questions about what happens when the medication wears off. There were probably a few more questions, but that was the main one.

Next, he brought out the acupuncture needles. They were inside little straws. With a quick little movement, they were inserted at specific points, starting with one on his neck and one along his lower spine:

In the above photo, you can tell that there's some tension in his back with the way he's curved. Through it all, Maestro didn't flinch. Oh, he was frightened when we first arrived, but he didn't whimper, shudder, flinch or stink (dogs really do smell when they are frightened).

Now, I am in the process of weaning him off the medication so that he can fully reap the benefits of future acupuncture treatments. He will continue to take his Robaxin, but the anti-inflammatory and pain medications will be replaced by acupuncture and natural supplements and herbs.

First, he will have weekly appointments. These will gradually decrease in frequency to tune-ups on an ad-hoc basis. Dr Mark informed me that the end result is that Maestro will be pain free, alert, feeling better and "more puppy like". Healthier than he's been in years, I'm sure.

About Canine Acupunture

It may seem like a new concept, but it really isn't. In their article, "Acupuncture for Dogs Gaining Acceptance", Dr. Susan Thorpe-Vargas and John. C. Gargill report that the first animal to be treated using acupuncture was an elephant in India approximately 3,000 years ago.

Veterinary acupuncture was used more extensively up until the 1940s, when people turned to prescription medication to treat their ailments and those of their pets. This jives with my question to Dr. Mark about whether he treats many pets using acupuncture. He told me that more pet owners get prescription medication for their pets' ailments because it's easier.

There is a lot of information available on acupuncture and how it works. To paraphrase, I'd say that it's a complementary therapy that involves inserting small needles at specific acupuncture points to stimulate the central nervous system. The result is that the treatment kick-starts the body's ability to heal and restores the ying and yang of the patient.

Here's a neat news clip that I found, in which a vet goes into more detail about how canine veterinary acupuncture works and the various conditions it can treat:

You can also check out these sites and articles: Animal Acupuncture, Acupuncture Overview and The International Veterinary Acupuncture Society.

If Maestro's first experience is any indication, that one acupuncture treatment did more to treat his limp caused by his back issues than everything we've done up to this point. The laser therapy prevented things from degenerating, but I feel that now, we will see an improvement in his condition.

I firmly believe that it's the arthritis medication that's keeping him in stasis. My students and I want to see him improve. Never mind that, I'm sure Maestro wants to continue going on many more adventures - without the aid of medication or a doggie stroller.

Using Practicing Personalities in Music Lessons

When I was at the CFMTA Convention this summer, I spied Practice Personalities: What's Your Type? by Thornton Cline in Long & McQuade's trade show booth. The idea of determining students' practice type and working with that sounded intriguing.

About Practice Personalities: What's Your Type?

Mr. Cline identifies nine practice personalities:

1. The Perfectionistic Type Student

2. The Not-So-Detailed Type Student

3. The Unmotivated Type Student

4. The Fragile, Easily Discouraged Type of Student

5. The Overscheduled Way-Too-Busy Type of Student

6. The Dramatic Type of Student

7. The Exucse Making, Blaming Type Student

8. The Over-Exhuberant, Highly Confident Type of Student

9. Build Your Own Personatily Type of Student

Cline introduces each type before going into more detail for each practice type. Next, he gives a brief (too brief!) chapter with some teaching suggestions for each type. Interspersed throughout the book are interviews with a variety of music educators.

He also dedicates a chapter to motivational rewards and prizes. There is even a chapter on motivational games. Finally, there is a CD in the back, which outlines some of the practice strategies Cline recommends. The back of the book has a handy assessment chart for music teachers to use.

Music Teaching with Practice Personalities

I actually didn't need a full month to complete my assessment. All of my students are a combination of two or more types. To help keep me organized my teaching approaches, I've kept track of how many students are in each group:

1. The Perfectionist Type Student: 36%

2. The Not-So-Detailed Type Student: 52%

3. The Unmotivated Type Student: 24%

4. The Fragile, Easily Discouraged Type of Student: 24%

5. The Overscheduled Way-Too-Busy Type of Student: 40%

6. The Dramatic Type of Student: 20%

7. The Exucse Making, Blaming Type Student: 16%

8. The Over-Exhuberant, Highly Confident Type of Student: 20%

I decided to tackle one strategy at a time.

First off: showing students various practice drills to help them fix trouble spots more quickly. To do that, I simply asked my students to pull out their Bag of Tricks and have them choose a couple of appropriate drills to use from their deck, based on what needed to be fixed.

Many of my students have commented that it's fun to pull out their Bag of Tricks that I made for them. I spent the first two to three weeks doing that just to help reinforce how to practice, but also to appeal to everyone's state of busy-ness. "You want to fix this as quickly as you can so you can move onto other stuff, right?" I'd ask.

With the majority of my students being some combination of the Not-So-Detailed, I decided to increase the frequency of doing Record & Review. You can read about that experience in my post on Active Listening.

This week, I'm employing another technique that's good for several practice types, but especially for the Dramatic and the Not-So-Detailed: roleplaying with a bit of dramatic exaggeration thrown in. This tests my aural memory, let me tell you!

I try to play back what they played incorrectly and ask them to tell me what I did wrong. A few students get it right away, "You didn't hold that note long enough," or "You sped up in that line." My reply is, "Well, that's what I heard you do. Now you show me that you can play it better than me."

The other thing I've launched this week is a Sight-Reading Challenge (more on that later). In addition to increasing my students' music literacy, it's also an exercise to challenge my Perfectionist students.

I'll give my students some time to get get used to these approaches. Then, I'll tackle the Excuse-Making and Blaming Students Fragile, Easily Discouraged ones.

It's a neat book. Mr. Cline is a strong writer and the CD is useful.

However, I was disappointed with how few strategies he offered. Let me re-phrase that: I was disappointed in how little new information I gleaned from it. The majority of the strategies are ones that I've already employed.

In short, I'd say that Practice Personalities: What's Your Type? is ideal for a music teacher just starting out. It would also be good for a teacher just looking for some fresh ideas, especially if they don't already use technology in the studio.

Mr. Cline's suggestions simply reinforced for me some of the strategies that I'm already using in my teaching. The main difference is that now that I know which practice type my students are, I can switch strategies more quickly. When combined with knowing my students' VARK learning preferences, it's a powerful combination.

Practice Personalities Publication Details

Author: Thornton Cline

Title: Practice Personalities: What's Your Type

Paperback: 88 pages

Publisher: Centerstream

Publication Date: July 1, 2012

ISBN-10: 1574242814

ISBN-13: 978-1574242812

Price Range: $16.62 - $27.95 CAD

I purchased my copy from Long & McQuade. You may need to special order this book through your local bookstore. Practice Personalies: What's Your Type? is also available online on Amazon, Alibris and Sheetmusicplus.

Fixing My Case of WordPress Database Bloat

As some of you know, I've run into a few issues with my website this year. Let's just say that I've seen that "Internal Server Error" message more times in the past two months than I ever want to see.

Last week, everything went down - again. The main website, as well as aspects of all seven blogs. I contacted my webhost, Tera-Byte Dot. Com, and they informed me that I had over 220 database tables and over 7000 files. This slows things down to a grinding halt. The support team advised me to start going through the WordPress Support documentation, but to also be prepared to delete everything and start from scratch.

Words no blogger or website owner wants to hear.

I whined to my brother and colleague before taking the next step. That's when he asked, "Have you read any of the documentation on "database bloat"?"

Database what?

A quick Google search revealed 108,000 hits for "WordPress Database Bloat". Strangely, I was relieved to hear that my websites had a common affliction. At least, I had my starting point and I did not have to blow all my sites to smithereens and start from scratch. I was off to find helpful tutorials.

First, I followed Kimberly Castleberry's instructions in her article Is Your WordPress Blog More Than 2 Years Old? Fixing Database Bloat Issues!This required me to be a brave trooper and log into MySQL and pHpAdmin. With 220+ tables, I was glad that Ms. Castleberry spelled out what I needed to delete.

Once I completed that, I was able to log into my WordPress network admin dashboard. You can imagine how relieved I was to be able to do this.

Next, it was time to prevent this mess from happening again. I found Narga's article Prevent Hidden Causes by Clean up WordPress Database Bloat Issues. I decided to purchase and install GDragoN's WordPress plugin Smart Cleanup Tools as it is compatible for WordPress Multi-site installations.

Perhaps if I only had one website to maintain, I would have taken the most secure route of doing my website database maintenance in MySQL and pHpAdmin. However, you have to keep in mind your skills and the time you have available to deal with such things. Using Smart Cleanup Tools on all my WP sites saves me time and headaches.

I already mentioned that it is WP-MU compatible. The other thing I like about it, is that Smart Cleanup Tools allows you to schedule database clean-up at regular intervals at the click of a button.

The final thing that I did to help manage my database size is limit revisions of posts. One of the reasons that I had over 7,000 files is that WordPress dutifully saved everything! Every spam comment, every comment, every auto-save draft and every revision.

I used this Revision Control plug-in which is specifically for multi-site installations. If you only operate a single site, then use this one.

Fellow entrepreneurs, please note that you will only battle database bloat if you have a self-hosted WordPress site. If your website or blog is hosted on Wordpress.com, then WP takes care of all this for you.

However, most WP users who are uses WordPress for business will have a self-hosted website or blog through WordPress.org . More control, many cool design templates to choose from and the clincher for me: the ability to control operate all my blogs and my main site in a single network.

Those in the same Wordpress.org boat as me will have to tackle database bloat sooner rather than later. They will also have to clean up their databases on a regular basis.

So far, everything has been working smoothly. Page load times have sped up incredibly, so it seems that my website and blogs have been cured of database bloat. Now, I can put my IT hat down for a while and put the teacher/consultant hat back on, thanks to WordPress Support forums, Narga, Kimberley Castleberry and GDragoN.