richvanvoorst.com

If Duke Ellington = Filet Mignon, then Miley Cyrus = Spam.

Rich — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 19:17:00 +0000

If there is one thing you can tell from just looking at me, it is that I love good food, but I really didn’t realize how much I love bad food just as equally. In another one of my eventful brainstorming meetings with my boss, and we got onto the subject of how eating really good food all the time can actually deter from the inherent greatness of the good food. For instance, if one were to get up and eat an incredible breakfast of cream poached eggs with prosciutto, fresh spinach, roma tomatoes, and griere; followed by a lunch of lobster knuckle risotto, and finish the day off with dinner including, bacon wrapped filet mignon, Garlic roasted res skin potatoes, fresh veggies, and a pint of St. Bernardus, and if we were to do it every day, the exceptional nature off this immaculate food who seemingly loose it’s effect. My Boss said that he was eating this great dinner the other evening, but remembered that each preceding meal had been equally as good and he actually thought to himself, “I bet this meal would be so much better if I had just had a PBJ for lunch.” Nothing against the PBJ! It’s just to say , think of how that filet would taste if you had a bologna sandwich and cooked spinach for lunch.

I thought about this for second and said, you know this is just like music. I hate most of the music that I hear on the radio these days, for a multitude of reasons that I would need to take a whole year to blog about, but I digress. Ultimately, I actually don’t mind the Miley Cyruses, the John Mayers, and the Yannis as much when taken into consideration how incredible they make Mozart, Duke, Bird, and Maria Schneider’s music sound. In fact, I would say that the record industry and radio rock as a whole actually magnifies and amplifies the beauty and incredible nature of the music that I do like. I never thought I would say it, but I think I’m ok with this.

Britney Exposed…her mic, losers!

Rich — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 21:09:41 +0000

Al sent me this…I’m speechless.

Weekend in St. Pete

Rich — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 21:05:52 +0000

So my wife and I decided to get away for the weekend and go down to a bed and breakfast in St. Pete. I usually hate bed and breakfasts being that they are usually frilly and formal. The Dickens House, however, is a 1921 craftsman and it is incredibly relaxing, located right in walking distance of everything, and there is nothing frilly about it. The food is immaculate! Breakfast was eggs benedict with fresh fruit and good coffee and we have free rain of the house. The innkeeper, Ed, is an artist (and chef) and thus has restored much of the house in the original arts and crafts style. If you need a nice weekend getaway from Tampa and don’t want to go to far this is the place. It also has a wonderful front porch, where wine and cheese is served in the afternoons and makes a great place for a composer to relax and write some melodies for an afternoon.

(This was my favorite picture. Sorry about the weddings caption.)

Wow!!!

Rich — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 13:14:53 +0000

The Forefront

Rich — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 23:37:32 +0000

I am pleased to announce the latest project that has been in the works for the last year. We have recently started rehearsals with my new quintet, “The Forefront,” for a recording that will take place on August 18th and 19th. In addition to myself, the quintet personnel consists of Matt Mill on Trumpet, John Oleary on Piano, Alejandro Arenas on Bass, and Mark Feinman on Drums. The group focuses on small group composition and more specifically, developed and through composed small group composition. Basically, we intend to get away from the typical “Head-Solos-Head” forms and add development sections similar to that of modern big band composition. It has had its interesting moments and its frustrations thus far being that we are attempting to compose large scale works but using a much smaller pallet to do so. Many would probably consider five instruments to be far too limiting at times, (and believe me the temptation has arisen numerous times to add just one more horn) but at the same this this definitely has fostered exploration into the vast collection of sounds that each instrument has to offer as well as experimentation with alternate roles for all of the instruments.

We will be recording 8 pieces in August and then the quintet will continue on there after recording whenever need arises. Incrementally, we will evaluating the amassed collections of recordings that we will then compile and piece together into recordings. The greatest thing about The Forefront is that everybody in the group will be writing and arranging music for the group. More to come soon about the first release and check the gigs list for upcoming performances.

“Look what I received, in the mail today!”

Rich — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 13:00:07 +0000

N.T. Wright on the Colbert Report

Rich — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 17:15:56 +0000

Hope!!! See CreativeTampaBay.com!

Rich — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 16:13:19 +0000

There is no question about it! The greater Tampa Bay area, and for that matter, the entire USA needs to develop better public transportation in urban areas of the country. Tampa made the Forbes.com top ten list of worst commutes in the country…No. 6!!! We’re above LA? Movies always told me that the worst commute was in New York or L.A.

1 – New York, NY
2 – Detriot, MI
3 – Miami, FL
4 – Orlando, FL
5 – Dallas, TX
6 – Tampa, FL
7 – Washington D.C.
8 – Houston, TX
9 – L.A., CA
10 – San Fransisco, CA

I’d also like to note that fact that 3 of the top ten are Florida Cities! I would even venture to say that Tampa, is one of the worst areas. As a musician, living in Tampa, I have to drive at least 30 miles to most gigs. Traffic, however necessitates leaving anywhere from an hour and a half to 3 hours before the gig depending on the traffic or the location.

Two words…”Elevated Train” in the city limits.

Two more words…”Commuter Trains” Brandon, Town and Country, Sarasota, Land O’ Lakes, Etc.

Or heck, maybe start by fixing the bus system. Stop giving USF students free rides and use the money to expand the routes. Here’s a question that I have though, do we really think that westchase mom’s will give up their hummers?

RJ: That is an S.U.V; Humans ride in then because they are slowly losing their ability to walk.
Penny: Jeepers, its so big!
Lou: How many humans fit in there?
RJ: Usually, one.

Anyway, this was posted on creativetampabay.com:

“A Plan to Enhance Transportation in the Tampa Bay Region Moves Forward by Shelton Quarles, Chairman, TBARTA

The Tampa Bay region is a special place. We all live here for the unparalleled beauty, vitality, and quality of life. To preserve what’s best about our community, we need to act now. We need to work together to create mutually beneficial solutions for regional problems - such as congestion and pollution. We need transportation choices to enhance our quality of life; strengthen our economy; preserve our environment and rural areas; and give us access to job opportunities, medical facilities, and affordable housing.

Regional transportation choices could mean lower stress and lower cost to commute; saving money on gas and car maintenance; getting to the airport on time, reliably; taking your family to a game or a show without the hassle of parking or traffic; or even if you or your loved one can’t drive, transportation choices could provide another way to get to medical centers and activities.

Where do the residents in this region see future transportation improvements? So many options exist, such as high occupancy vehicle or toll lanes, light rail, commuter rail, and bus rapid transit. The answer to that question got a bit clearer as the Tampa Bay Area Regional Transportation Authority (TBARTA) approved the Phase One Preliminary Recommendations for the Transportation Master Plan it is developing for this region. These recommendations outline a series of key connections where transportation options like mass transit could be added to move people and freight around the Tampa Bay region.

A few of the recommended connections include I-75, sections of I-275, Suncoast Parkway/Veterans Expressway, the US 41 area through most counties, and several corridors currently used for minimal freight rail traffic. As we move forward in this planning process, these and other recommendations will be narrowed down as more research and studies are completed.

Moving forward with the next phase of the Regional Transportation Master Plan, TBARTA is now evaluating the possible transportation options in these approved corridors. Will rail work? Is bus rapid transit a better option? Should we be examining managed lanes on the interstates for use by buses and carpoolers? These are the kinds of important questions that will be answered in Phase Two. I am excited to see this process moving forward and look forward to continued public support and participation throughout the development of this plan.

TBARTA will hold its Phase Two Community Workshops in late July and early August. The schedule of workshops is as follows:

Wednesday, July 23 – Manatee County
The Lakewood Ranch Community Room (located in Northern Trust Bank, Suite 101)
6320 Venture Dr., Bradenton

Thursday, July 24 – Sarasota County
Venice Community Center, 326 South Nokomis Ave., Venice

Tuesday, July 29 – Pasco County
Alice Hall Community Center, 38116 Fifth Avenue, Zephyrhills

Wednesday, July 30 – Citrus County
West Citrus Community Center, 8940 W. Veterans Dr., Homosassa

Thursday, July 31 – Hernando County
Holiday Inn Express - Spring Hill, 3528 Commercial Way, Spring Hill

Tuesday, Aug. 5 – Hillsborough County
Doubletree Hotel, 4500 W. Cypress Street, Tampa

Thursday, Aug. 7 – Pinellas County
Largo Cultural Center, 105 Central Park Drive, Largo

New for this round! TBARTA is also hosting two online community workshops:

Tuesday, July 22, from 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
Wednesday, August 6, from 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

For more information on these online workshops, go to www.TBARTA.com and click on the “Meetings” tab to locate the link to the online workshop you wish to participate in. Instructions on signing in to the workshop, the phone number to call and the necessary password, are all located on this website page.

I encourage you to attend and share your opinions and thoughts on the different transportation options that might one day better connect our region. As I have mentioned many times in the past, the public’s involvement in developing this plan is a key component to its success.”

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Recording in Holland Day 3

Rich — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 02:26:13 +0000

On Monday July 14, we finished mixing the recording and finally decided on six tracks that we will use for the final release of the record. The session was great and Elm Street is definitely set up as a place to hang and relax while mixing. When we revisited the tracks, we were discovered that we got a excellent capture on all the instruments up front and really didn’t have to do too much in the mix and finished it in one day. The room we recorded in had a great natural reverb to it and so the recording has a nice presence and genuinely clear sound. Overall we are very pleased with the recording and look forward to a fall release.

Recording in Holland Day 2

Rich — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 19:04:19 +0000

Last night we finished up the second day of recording in Holland. The first tune we put in the can was a gorgeous jazz waltz written by Lee called “Blue Tuna Boulevard,” which was reminiscent of the Bill Evans trio recordings of the 1960’s tastefully mixed some of some Frisellesque styles and phrasing. The first of the other two tunes was a street beat/funk version of the Charlie Parker classic “Scrapple from the Apple,” and the second, an arrangement of Wayne Shorter’s ”Footprints” with a double-time feel reminiscent of the Scofield Uberjam Band recordings.

We’ve been delighted to be working with engineer, sound guru, and owner of Elm Street Recording in Lansing Michigan, Ryan Wert. Ryan, Lee, and I went to College together and it has been great to catch up and continue working on such a highly professional level. No matter what curve ball we throw at him, he has already taken care of it!

The project has been a great experience for everyone involved and we look forward to mixing it down on Monday July for a hopeful fall release.