Repeat it!

No, not a post on Rajni.. 

Just an attempt to recreate an old photo with the kids..

Our home is the one place where I have lived the longest in one address. Eight plus years with same mailing address is a record for me. We would be in and out of rental places as kids and by the time my parents built their own home, I started traveling!

Good thing is that nothing has changed in the house over time. Status quo is welcomed here.. 

but the kids are a lot bigger now and they remind us that there is no "quo" here!

The other three kids were telling the little one "can you look innocent like in that old picture, please ?!"

Instead of innocence, she pulled some attitude.

We thoroughly enjoyed watching them getting into the "repeat it" act. 

Carnatic music on Alto Saxophone

Now that Jr. is very familiar with reading the notation and subtle nuances on the music sheets, she is back to trying Carnatic music on Alto Saxophone. 

The original plan was to have her do a few Geethams or varnams during the Golu season. There was a time in India where I developed an allergic reaction to "sri chakra raja simhasaneshwari" after listening to way too many girls sing the same song at golus. 

Here in the bay area the song selection seems to be more diverse from the group we interacted with in my childhood. Still, it would have been nice for Jr. to play saxophone at golus. For some reason, she was in the Jazz mood and skipped it.

This week having learned Nagumomu in her music class, she wanted to get the instrument home and practice! 

We were thrilled to hear that. She had attempted the first few bars of it earlier this year and said "too hard. Not there yet! How does Kadri do it so fast? he must have a special saxophone! etc. etc." So it was good to see the change.

Here is a video of her attempting Nagumomu and a thillana.

There is a lot more work to be done, but for a first attempt on the thillana, we were impressed. Now that I have mentioned it on the blog, she will promptly read it and call it quits.. have to work on that tomorrow.. 

Note to everyone else : This is pretty good

Note to Jr. : There is a lot more work to be done

Note to San and all older ladies in the family : No. Her fingers won't fall off because I posted a video on the blog

Note to self : Keep calm and coach on.. 

Jr. brings back memories

Jr. joined the Jazz band at her school. This is a group from the regular band that spends extra time practising Jazz music. They stay back after school and improve.

Last year she had a lot of other classes and refused to go audition. This year, she has more confidence in her playing and it has been an interesting ~2 months.

She asked me many times to come see her perform at an informal "Pizza Night" and I simply could not disappoint her.

It was great to watch her play so confidently and how the Jazz band did in this short a time. 

She definitely did not disappoint me. "Oye como Va" brought back so many memories from 25 years ago when I first listened to Santana's version of it. It was much later during my dancing days that I learned that the original was actually written many decades earlier. 

My sincere hope is that Jr. keeps playing the Alto Sax and enjoys it!