Drew participated in the TAMTA (Tulsa Accredited Music Teachers Association) Music Festival today performing a non-competitive judged piano solo entitled Monster March.

Drew was critiqued in 11 areas with a rating of 1 (highest) to 5 (lowest). He scored a 1 in ever category except one in which he scored a 2. The critique concluded with the remarks:

Good strong touch + curved fingers. Great ff at the end! Good performance! Very musical. Keep up the good work!

As with everything we do, it was a family affair, and Drew's brothers Will and Landon (and Aunt Donelda) were there to support Drew...even if we weren't allowed into the performance room. Great job Drew, we are all very proud of you and all your hard work.

I had in my mind an image of Drew playing the piano with his hands all a blur. So, I put the camera on a tripod and set the shutter to stay open for a couple of seconds.

The pictures came out pretty good and, in hindsight, exactly as one would suspect. But, I'm not sure its the best that can be done. I'll have to think about what I can do different next time.

Drew had his second piano recital today. The recital was at a church where the piano was located in a slightly sunken part of the stage which allowed me to take this awesome photo looking down at Drew.

Drew has been playing piano for 1 year and 4 months. He played Pyramid Power and The Mysterious Violin.

Drew really rocked the house with the tempo change on his first song. All of Drew's hard work and dedication payed off for a flawless performance. (Vimeo version after the jump.)

By now, Landon has watched Drew practice piano for almost a year, probably close to 300 times. He very much loves to play piano with Drew and by himself. Lately, Landon has developed a shoulder shimmy move that he does to music. When we saw him doing it while he was playing the piano, we had to grab the camera. (Vimeo version after the jump.)

This weekend we had our first really crazy kids' activities weekend: four t-ball games, one piano recital, one soccer practice and an outdoor celebratory church mass...and that just involved two of the three munchkins. I'm sure we're in for far worse once all three are going full steam.

Drew is six years old and has been taking piano lessons for just 4 months. This is his first piano recital and he played perfectly from memory Old McDonald and the Dinosaur Song.

After the entire recital was over, Drew changed into his t-ball uniform and we headed to the ball field for Drew's third game of the weekend. We got there just in time to throw on a batting helmet, grab a bat and nail a base hit as the last batter in the lineup in the top of the first inning.

Vimeo version after the jump.

Whenever Drew practices the piano, Landon scurries down the hall to watch, listen and, lately, to join in playing.

Drew just keeps on playing, not bothered the least by his little duet playing friend.

Drew is six years old and has been taking piano for just seven weeks. Here he is playing two songs during practice today.

After the jump the Vimeo version of the same video. (I've switched from showing the YouTube version after the jump because Vimeo now requires viewers to go to their site to see the HD version of a video which I think is annoying and, so, their demotion to the second page.)

Drew had his very first piano lesson today. We think we found a really good teacher. Drew is excited about playing and very serious about practicing. It is so wonderful to hear him playing and since I'm writing about this after-the-fact, I can say how surprising it is that he is progressing so fast. Hopefully he'll have fond memories of learning to play.

The musical notes in the photograph are not photoshoped. They are the result of some Christmas lights hanging in the background and a note shaped filter which creates the bokeh effect of the same shape. I used the same technique with a star shaped filter in my New Year's Eve photos of the boys.

Drew was at school when our new piano was delivered so Will had first crack at breaking it in. Despite being the wild one of the two, our full-of-energy three year-old Will surprised us all by sitting down at the piano and gently stroking the keys in the most amazing manner.

We don't know if its from watching other people play or what, but it's totally out of character for the little guy. We weren't thinking about starting Will out with lessons for another year or so, but if his demeanor in front of the ivory continues, we just might have to get him started sooner.

Today we welcomed a new addition to our family, a brand new Steinway & Sons Essex Empire Studio upright piano in Sapele Mahogany, model number EUP-123FL.

We had the perfect spot just calling out for an upright piano to make its home.

The Sepele Mahogany finish is absolutely beautiful and goes really well with the rest of our furniture.

Neither Mary nor I ever learned to play, but we really wanted to get a piano for the boys to learn to play.

We first started looking for a piano two years ago and after a lot of research and many trips to various piano stores we finally decided on this one as having the most bang for the buck, quality and beauty in both looks and sound.

EUP-123 internals.

The mechanics are fascinating to watch.

It's as beautiful inside as it is out! We can't wait to learn how to play it. Maybe even Daddy will take some lessons.

Thanks to my best friend Harry, I got to see The Police in concert in Chicago at the Rosemont Horizon (Allstate Arena to you non-traditionalists) last weekend. We went with Harry's nephew-in-law and JR's girlfriend Lisa. The seats were great, just three rows or so up from the floor seats and, thankfully, that allowed us to sit down during the whole performance...yes, I'm old.

The Police, of course, consists of bassist/lead vocalist Sting (Gordon Sumner), guitarist Andy Summers, and drummer Stewart Copeland. The opening act was Elvis Costello which was a perfect appetizer to the rock legend main course. Although, his sound technician appeared to have sacrificed quality for volume. There were a lot of times when the music was distorted and various cords resulted ear pain.

The Police Reunion Tour during 2007-2008, marks the 30th anniversary of their beginnings and is anticipated to possibly be the fifth highest grossing tour ever. The Chicago concert was part of their third North American Leg. There were approximately 14,000 in attendance. It was a great performance. We all really enjoyed the huge hi-definition screen behind the stage which really made you feel much closer to the action.

During the concert, Sting said that the Rosemont Horizon was the last place where the band had played together on tour as "The Police" in 1986. However, I think he may have misspoken, as the Rosemont Horizon was the second-to-last place The Police played on their 1986 Conspiracy of Hope Tour. On June 13, 1986, they performed at the Rosemont Horizon, followed by a June 15th, sold out, all day, outdoor, mutli-artist, performance at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

The video is a montage of clips from a few songs towards the end of the concert (Roxanne is really blurry). As best as I can gather from the internet, with verification from my own memory/pics/vids, the following are the songs played during the concert:

Main Set
Bring on the Night
Message in a Bottle
Demolition Man
Walking on the Moon
Voices Inside My Head-When The World Is Running Down
Don't Stand So Close to Me
Driven To Tears
Hole In My Life
Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic
Wrapped Around Your Finger
De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da
Invisible Sun
Can't Stand Losing You/Reggatta De Blanc

Encore I
Roxanne
King of Pain
So Lonely
Every Breath You Take

Encore II
Next To You

Click "Continue reading" to see a whole bunch more photos that, along with the video, should give you a good idea of what the concert was like.

I love 70's music...classic rock that is, not disco. Unfortunately, while the music is incredible, all too often the actual words make me want to wretch like a bulimic after a visit to the all you can eat pizza buffet. Take John Lennon's Imagine for example, an incredibly beautiful song to listen to but don't stop to think about the lyrics:

Imagine there's no Heaven
Nothing like starting off with a full dose of ipecac.

Imagine there's no countries
Nice, if your country is a cesspool, but I'm kind of fond of my country.

Nothing to kill or die for
I'd kill and die for my family...poor Julian.

And no religion too
I sense a theme.

Imagine no possessions
What a freaking commie.

Or, any song by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young or nearly every other artist in my CD collection are all awesome to listen to but are some combination of ridiculous and insulting if you read the lyrics. And don't get me started on today's music...with only a few exceptions, I can't even tell what the lyrics are...if they still call them lyrics. I've wondered aloud so many times...why can't there be a decent rock band that plays true quality music?

My wait is over, I have found The Right Brothers. Somewhere, I came across their single Bush Was Right and thought, one hit wonder, until I surfed over to their website and listened to some clips from their two albums and within fifteen minutes, I had ordered their Capitalist Edition, a collection of their two self-titled albums and the Bush Was Right single.

For the last few weeks, I've listened to no other music in my car. The band rocks, their music is awesome and if you think you might enjoy song like "Wake Up, America," "Tolerate This," "I Want My Country Back" and "Freedom Is Not Free," then you will likely love The Right Brothers.

Last night we attended Luciano Pavarotti's Farewell Tour performance at the Tulsa Mabee Center. Even for a non-opera fan like myself, I must say that it was absolutely amazing!

The program consisted of eleven songs, an intermission and ten more songs followed by three encores. The main program included eleven Pavarotti solos, two duets with Cynthia Lawrence, six Lawrence solos and two of the Tulsa City Orchestra* by itself. Several of the evening's performances were immediately recognizable, many were vaguely familiar and all were incredibly performed.

Tulsa was the first of just three American cities on Pavarotti's forty-city Farewell Tour around the world after which he will permanently retire. From here he will go to the Hollywood Bowl in Hollywood, California, and then the Office Depot Center in Sunrise, Florida.

[*Interestingly, the program credited the "Tulsa City Orchestra" but that phrase does not appear on any internet search engine. The well known Tulsa Philharmonic, Oklahoma's last full-time orchestra, ceased operations on September 12, 2002, due to financial problems which have similarly plagued orchestras around the country.]

Led Zeppelin's Immigrant Song will never be the same for me. I have to admit that I didn't know all the words until now...except now the song is about Viking kittens, which I'm not sure is what Zoso had in mind. (click the pic)