It was a very good year and my resolution for 2008

After I considered everything that happened 2007 was a very good year with a few bumps in the road. The upcoming year should be even better. I am still looking for submissions from all of you writers out there hoping to become published or who are trying out something new even though you are published.

Seeking graphic or visual artists to publish as well.

Happy New Year.

I’m resolving to be more generous, kind, tolerant, honest, and hard working, while enjoying, life, family, friends, art, literature, music, work, play and my dog Liam even more than I already do.

Tis the season, and was that a bad year or a great one

My word, but its been a challenging December. We have been having huge difficulties with our technology and also with the human interface. Can’t get the network running, can’t get the stats downloaded, can’t edit the new web page with Contribute, and now my trusty little desk printer appears to have gone toes up.

Plus the end of the year is just to much catch up and finish, with a lot of wait and see. I for one will not miss 2007 say the way I miss 1976, 1979, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1989 1990, 1991, 2004 -2006. Those were good years. I had a lot of fun or got married or had children or passed the bar, or went to Europe, but 2007 despite being dreary over all did have some very high points.

The Jack London Conference was great, got to meet and talk with Christopher Moore, Daniel Handler, and Steve Hockensmith, the Santa Barbara Writer’s Conference was great, had dinner with Carolyn See, got to talk with Chris Moore again, ate at some great Santa Barbara eatery’s oh and I won first place in fiction for the Sci-fi, horror, and fantasy division. Finishing two first draft manuscripts was great, finishing my fiction certificate at Cal State Fullerton was cool, the literary workshops and the critique groups were good. As a matter of fact as I look back on the year it was really sweet and suffered only stretches of dreariness, not dread plush as I mentioned there were great punctuations.

This leads me to wonder why I thought, what was a productive and fun year, was so dreary. And then I remember it was the press mostly, and the official prognostications of impending doom. All the bad news, amplified so it drowns out the good. Leads me to consider making a New Year resolution to only sweat what I experience. There’s no point in suffering mentally if in reality I’m doing well. Of course I will do as much as I can to lift others but, would the downtrodden, those who really are suffering, would they think I’m ungrateful for not enjoying what they are deprived of?

So I’ll be happier and grateful and I will be more generous, caring and compassionate.

Tierney Sutton Interview

Tierney Sutton

The Long Road To Happiness

I wrote this interview with Telarc recording artist Tierney Sutton for www.jazzreview.com, and I am using it with their permission. I strongly recommend visiting www.jazzreview.com to get up to the minute information on everything that is curently happening in the world of jazz. You will be glad that you did, but make your visits when you have plenty of time, because spending a week there is fairly easy.

Artist Interview by: Gerard W. O’Brien

Telarc Jazz recording artist, Tierney Sutton, is a jazz vocalist quite unlike any performing today; she has a genuine and unique approach to jazz resulting in a sound that is hers and hers alone. Tierney would say that the sound is not hers alone, she is a member of the band, and the sound is theirs alone. I believe both she and I would be right.

The Tierney Sutton Band is a philosophical anomaly in the music world. The band has no diva, no boss, no black sheep. What they have is a team that allows them to take big chances and pull off the extraordinary in creating music. It’s a matter of trust, shared values, and listening very carefully to each other. Sutton’s music is literary in being not just beautiful noise; it is also specific mind frames that can’t be expressed otherwise. On the album insert that accompanies Telarc’s recording of On the Other Side Tierney writes, “In the United States, our founding fathers guaranteed us among other things, “the pursuit of happiness.” I always found it amusing that we aren’t guaranteed the thing itself, but rather the right to chase after it. Mystics tell us it is the chase that causes our problems… Sometimes it seems to me what the Declaration of Independence really guarantees is a broken heart, but that’s not the whole story… Music is about the search.” - Tierney Sutton (from the Telarc Jazz Record On the Other Side)

The Band, consisting of Tierney, Christian Jacob on piano, Kevin Axt and Trey Henry, and Ray Brinker on drums, has been together for close to fifteen years. In the last two years, they have released two remarkable albums with Telarc: I’m With The Band and On The Other Side. Both of these compilations show how seamlessly these very talented musicians work together and demonstrate Tierney’s mastery of vocal music. I’m With The Band was Tierney’s first live album and On the Other Side is her most daring concept record to date. On the Other Side is now ten months old.

The band has been touring on and off since it came out. A leg on the journey of The Tierney Sutton Band’s search for happiness may be experienced during three shows at Catalina Bar and Grill in Los Angeles on December 29, 30, and 31, 2007.

Tierney Sutton: This will probably be the last thing we do in Los Angeles for a while. Then we go to Canada, to Toronto, for the Association of Jazz Educators Convention, but we are also doing a public show in Toronto the night before. Again we’ll be on and off tour, but our summer stuff is firming up as well. It’s going to be a bunch of dates on the East Coast and Europe. [The tour] never really does stop. We go on and off the road all year. We have chunks. This spring we’re going to South Africa, Istanbul, and Europe for a four-week tour. We will do seventeen shows, and travel, and days to recover and stuff. We are doing a week long jazz workshop and performances in Aarau (Aargau) Switzerland. This chunk is in March and April.

Jerry: Tierney, if in addition to teaching workshops and master classes, are you mentoring any new singers?

Tierney Sutton: I’m working with a singer at USC named Sara Lieb, who is an excellent singer. There are a handful of students who I work with when I am on and off the road.

Jerry: You have mentored other extraordinary singers like Gretchen Parlato, are you still doing that?

Tierney Sutton: Well, she’s like my Sis, man. I see her every time I’m in New York and we talk frequently. She’s been in New York for about five or six years. She’s working on a new album, they were just signing the deal, and getting everything set to record when I was out there last.

Jerry: Tierney your sound changes and grows from album to album. Do you feel that the arrangements evolve as the tour progresses?

Tierney Sutton: Definitely! It’s always evolving and when we tour, we never tour a single record; there are things we do from the new record. Sometimes we don’t do that much from the new record. If we are going somewhere where we haven’t been since the new record’s been released we make sure to do some. We have over one hundred things to choose from now. We are as likely to do something from our first record as we are from this one, and sometimes it does get tricky to have a balanced show, because there are so many things that people do want to hear.

Jerry: What songs are the most requested?

Tierney Sutton: I’d say ‘Ding Dong The Witch is Dead’ and ‘Something Cool,’ but there are nights we don’t do either of those.

Jerry: How is this beautiful yet different album being received on the world wide stage?

Tierney Sutton: It’s a literary thing in a way. It’s a literary statement to a certain degree, because we’re working with this concept of happiness and all the rest of it. You know we toured in Italy and England this summer and we spent almost two weeks in Italy we did Umbria jazz. We did seven shows there and we did a show in Rome and then we went to England and I have to say I was very relieved to get to an English speaking audience only because I could set things up in a certain way but the music has been received pretty much the same. The European jazz audience is very sophisticated.

Jerry: What are you working on for the next album?

Tierney Sutton: Right now, we are working on an idea about doing some collaborative arranging with Johnny Mandel, Bill Ullman, and Sammy Nestico. Those are the people we are talking to and I believe each of them will do a couple of arrangements for us and with us. We’ll pick new material to arrange. I think this will be a combination of things. Johnny has already said he wants us to arrange, first, the things we do with him and then he might write strings over it. It will definitely be whatever our concept is. And then he’ll hop on board, we hope. I think we will be working with Sammy and Bill too, getting ideas and input to a certain degree, but they will also have the freedom to do what they want and then there will be a chunk of the record that will be just us doing what we do.

Jerry: Three additional arrangers, it sounds very intriguing. On the record, On The Other Side, Jack Sheldon played and did vocals on one cut. Will there be additional musical collaboration and if so would they be touring with additional musicians?

Tierney Sutton: There will probably be an addition of strings and probably some big band stuff too. We haven’t toured with a big band but those things do come up from time to time and I imagine anything we do with a big band or with strings, we’ll find a way to do it without, with just us. We do collaborate with orchestras and before we go to Europe, we will be doing a show in February with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.

Jazz Review: Those things are lovely and wonderful to do I believe it is fair to say that no other musician has recorded Happy Days in the fashion that Tierney has, the song begins with an utterly stark and mesmerizing drum intro by Ray Brinker, on which Tierney glides in and demonstrates a mystical understanding of the arrangement and the magnificent range of her voice. The talent, trumpet, and witty repartee between Tierney and Jack Sheldon on “I Want to Be Happy,” add the right touch on comic relief. The band tours some of their happiest music, such as “Glad To Be Unhappy,” “Make Someone Happy,” and “Smile,” for a full sixty-minute hour.

Off stage and in the studio, The Tierney Sutton Band has done an episode of the TV show Journeyman, “Year of the Rabbit” in which they performed “I’ve Got You Under My Skin,” and Tierney has sung in the background on an episode of “Samantha Who.” In her quest for ubiquity, Tierney has also done a commercial for Green Giant, which has not aired yet.

In the quest for the elusive happiness, The Tierney Sutton Band is doing far more than their share by creating music that can be a beacon in a disjointed and sometimes too sad world.

What Has This Year Taught Me?

It is really hard to say if the past 356 days have taught me anything new or just refined what I already knew. I think it is a little or possibly a lot of both. One thing I learned is hard work is its own reward. I was able to get one Magazine published , eight individual newsletters published, more jazz interviews published. I also met some really great people like Christopher Moore, Carolyn See, Steve Hockensmith, Matt Pallamary, Daniel Handler, John Daniel, Abe Polsky and many more.

I wrote and finished the first draft of two manuscripts, built another web site, a blog (this one), read a ton of really great books, All of which I think I could write. So the one thing I learned is hard work is its own reward and you get confidence, and the ability to compare your work to others.

I learned just how much my craft means to me and I learned that if you do one thing that you really enjoy and makes you feel good, you can manage all of the things that don’t.

I will continue with these reflections on the year after all there are resolutions to be reviewed and to be made.

All of you procrastinating shoppers it isn’t and never will be too late to buy Bright Beginnings and to subscribe to O’Brien’s Literary Speculator.

It is not too late to write for O’Brien’s Literary Speculator Volume 1 Issue 1, which is accepting material until February 15, 2008. The first issue of the first full volume will include a work by master Science fiction writer Kimberly Kells. Until tomorrow

I will be posting a new Tierney Sutton Interview later today.

Hello Everybody: I had a chance to interview Telarc recording artist, and one of the  best jazz stylists and collaborators working  today, Tierney Sutton on December 4, 2007.  I will post the interview first on  www.jazzreview.com and then here  for your reading pleasure.  I have about 25 or so articles , interviews and  reviews on the jazzreview.com site which for all jazz lovers is a great place to see what is happening in world of America’s first native art form. So come on back and check it out.

Back in the OC again

After a brief, but very valuable visit to San Diego, I’m back in Orange County and Hard at work on my blogs, web sites, book and of course O’Brien’s Literary Speculator. The new magazine will be published in March, hopefully on March 15, 2008.

We are looking for stories, poems, art, interviews with people who write stories, pen poems and create art of the visual variety, same deal as before, small but quick pay, one time magazine publication and one time in an anthology. When and if a hard copy of O’Brien’s Literary Speculator comes out you will receive a complimentary  copy.

So dust off the almost finished or start writing the piece that has been nagging to be unleashed and  your work will be considered. Visual Artists, We need you guys to submit, particularly if you are young at heart, or if you are heartless open minded, with a quirky, unique and original sense of  what is artistically possible

Any work submitted must be submitted by e-mail as a WORD.doc or by US Post as a no-more-than ten page manuscript. Chicago Manual  of Style  manuscript format for fiction. If you submitted a work for volume one that did not get published, and you have not received a rejection letter, your story is still being considered for possible publication. You can still send us new work.

I was beat up by some poet in the recent past for not editing my blogs and using punctuation correctly. Despite that fact the magazine is professionally edited, not by me,  it is important that you use standard American punctuation and grammar or tell us that “The misusage that I am committing is being done for artistic reasons.” Then edit, proofread, and polish your story so that my editor will have little or nothing to do.

The wait is over. O’Brien’s Literary Speculator is now available at www.obriensliteraryspeculator.org

The web site is fully operational and the first edition of O’Brien’s Literary Speculator is available for purchase as are subscriptions. Bright Beginnings the title of the first issue contains the work of Barbara Ardinger, Tara Lazar, Jerry O’Brien, Jacque Daniel, Kenny Bowman, Dr. david W. Powers, Annette Langer, J.D. Blair, John M. Brantingham and Bruce Williams.

The magazine is delivered at a full color 8.5 ” by 11.0,” 80 page PDF. In addition to the stories, poetry and interviews there are fourteen original art works.

The magazine is $7.95 and for the 2008  subscription price of 21.00 it is included immediately for free.

Please support the writers and artists whose work is included and those whose work will be included.

www.obriensliteraryspeculator.org is now up and running… sorta

Well after months of struggle, five to be precise, O’Brien’s Literary Speculator is published and our website is up. There are a few glitches, but it is worth, and I mean really worth, a visit. Fortunately as is always the case in situations like this I will be gone for the first week that the site is up thereby ensuring that everybody will be pissed off at the site immediately. For some reason not known to man or programmer the web site is having some difficulty distributing the codes that are necessary to get your magazine once you have paid for your magazine. It is being worked on and all receipts will receive delivery of the Literary Journal by email in PDF form.

Website aside, the journal came out very well, the art is whimsical, the writing is very good. Hope you can visit and subscribe, both the writers and I would be very happy. More news as soon as possible.

Visit the site at www.obriensliterary speculator.com

Looking For New Writings for Volume 1 Issue 1 of O’Brien’s Literary Speculator

If you are a new, old, published, or unpublished writer, O’Brien’s Literary Speculator want to pay you a small amount for the right to publish your work once. Our first Issue is out and it is an excellent debut not only for the magazine but also for the writers.

We are looking for up to 7,000 words, fiction of any genre, creative fiction, poetry, essays, interviews, screen plays, plays, or anything else you can think of to amaze and entertain. Submissions close on February 15, 2008. Publication is set for one month later, on the Ides of March.

Tomorrow, we will post on www.partiesbypanache.com a excerpts from O’Brien’s Literary Journal.   We will let you be the judge if this is a magazine that you would like to be published in.

The magazine is done but the web site isn’t quite there.

Yikes! Egads! Say it ain’t so. We have nailed together a beautiful literary journal full of all the stuff that beautiful literary journals are normally full of but, we have not a site to host it.

Don’t ask, if only it were rocket science or brain surgery, but it’s much worse it’s computer science. And nothing is more hit or miss than putting all those zeros and ones together to make pretty pictures and links where you can give us your money for our magazine.

I’m some what disappointed but like the rest of the staff here I will survive, Oh as long as I know how to love I know I’ll stay alive; I’ve got all my life to live, I’ve got all my love to give and I’ll survive, I will survive. Hey hey. Dang gotta stop listening to oldies radio.

If the site isn’t functional by Wednesday I will  post the journal else where and provide information on how to secure your copy. It turned out really well much better than I had hoped it would, so I know that those of you smart, er, sophisticated  enough to appreciate cutting edge literature, should really enjoy it.

No I think what I was meaning to say is this good, the authors, editors and others worked really hard. Come and see.

WWW.PARTIESBYPANACHE.COM will have the breaking news starting tomorrow.