Hi everyone. Been away since the end of June. Trish and I took a month breather from everything by visiting one of our favourite places: Hilton Head Island in South Carolina and return (reluctantly I admit) feeling more relaxed and with some fresh perspectives.
Our grandson, Kyle is now 4 months old and doing great. Kelly (his mother and my daughter) and Craig (our son-in-law) have sold their house in Toronto and will be moving to Ottawa at the end of the month. Looks like we’ll be doing a little more travelling this year!
The Paul Read Orchestra has been selected to perform at the IAJE conference to be held in Toronto in January. This is a prestigious gig and gives us an opportunity to get more exposure for the band. Also, I was successful in procuring a Canada Council Grant for recording that will make it possible to get our first CD out early in 2008. These projects are so time intensive and complex due to artist schedules, that we are starting to get the logistics in place as I write this. I’m writing new music and can’t wait for the band to put it’s stamp on them. They always grow and sing more once these superb players interpret my chicken scratch.
On the health side: Things continue on. Have several appointments with neurologists this month to try to determine a few things. These were set as a result of an MRI done in June. I am very hopeful that something conclusive might be found. In the meantime, business as usual.
Immediately upon returning home I moved into the Royal York Hotel here in town to participate in 4 days of intensive time with IAJE executive board. We had a great set of meetings and it was very stimulating to work closely with a team of board members who are smart, dedicated and committed to Jazz Education and to the art form.
That’s it for now. Oh…..still working on my PRO site. There is not much on the existing site at www.paulreadorchestra.com, but the new site (at that URL) should be up and running soon.
Best
Paul