http://kelleenonline.com/news.html Kelleen: My Journal Jannis' PHPRss class - http://www.jannis.to/ Fri, 30 Jul 2010 02:25:40 -0700 http://kelleenonline.com/news.html#5 http://kelleenonline.com/news.html#5 Thu, 26 Jan 2006 00:00:00 -0800 - Kelleen - My Journal http://kelleenonline.com/news.html#4 http://kelleenonline.com/news.html#4 Fri, 02 Sep 2005 00:00:00 -0700 - Kelleen - My Journal http://kelleenonline.com/news.html#2
Some particularly humiliating experiences that prove this point were when someone asked me to play Girl from Ipanema which is a 'standard' for most musicians. I got through the first half with confidence, but forgot that the bridge has very sophisticated chord movement and I just melted and decided to do a 'fade'. Most recently, I was asked to do "Ribbon in the Sky" which I've heard a few times on WTLC, but after I did a little intro I blanked and couldn't remember how the verse started and instead morphed into "I Just Called to Say I Love You" (at least I stuck with the Stevie Wonder theme anyways!). One of my strangest experiences was when a man asked for "Moon River" which is a beautiful tune, but his wife kept saying "You don't have to play it, that's such a cheezy request". I was paralyzed for a minute, torn between the request and un-request.

If I had to place blame on things other than myself, I could also say that the requests are just too ridiculous. It's either something so archaic that my grandparents wouldn't have heard it, or something from the 80s which noone should want to remember anyways.

Overall, I really do like requests because it means that the crowd is listening and enjoys music, and it also challenges me to see how much I know or how much I need to learn. And, when I actually can give the people what they want...that's when I feel that I'm doing my job well.

So, next time you see me perform, don't be shy to request something. As my mentor Mark Buselli used to say when someone requested "Stairway to Heaven", - "I'll do my best".]]> http://kelleenonline.com/news.html#2 Sat, 04 Jun 2005 00:00:00 -0700 - Kelleen - My Journal http://kelleenonline.com/news.html#3
The event was a cozy VIP party for Indiana Convention and Visitors Assocation and we made some fans, like Kevin Johnstone, the director of trade shows for NAMM, the International Music Products Association. I also met an avid jazz lover, Ray Lepper of CEDIA. David Letterman made a brief appearance as he was privately touring the museum, but I was most excited about playing with such an awesome quartet for the first time!]]> http://kelleenonline.com/news.html#3 Wed, 01 Jun 2005 00:00:00 -0700 - Kelleen - My Journal http://kelleenonline.com/news.html#1 http://kelleenonline.com/news.html#1 Mon, 16 May 2005 00:00:00 -0700 - Kelleen - My Journal