Kid B

So to explain my unannounced hiatus I offer a little picture to paint a thousand words about what I've been up to this month. Our second son, Hayden, was born on March 14.  Needless to say my wife and I have been busy but the days are full of smiles. Of course my days have also been full of tackling a teaching schedule while trying to take care of stuff around the house like cooking, laundry and, oh yeah, the 3 year old. I don't think any of this would be possible without the very serious help of our great friends Monica, Su Jian, and Melissa. Serious props to the team Rager!

(Is it me or do babies kind of look like old men?
"hey you whipper snapper, get over here and change my diaper!")

What became apparent to us quickly after the initial jubilation had subsided after Hayden's birth was that we were going to need help. Kid B had come 10 days early and we both had concerts on the same night...in 2 days! The hospital wanted to keep Min for 2 days which meant that we would get discharged on the same day that Kirk MacDonald was flying in from Toronto to play a gig with Min at Upstairs. That same night I was accompanying a triple header of singers at the L'Astral. So we assembled our crack team of babysitters both for Max and Hayden. Min took the baby to the club and fed him on the set breaks while team Rager bounced him around (gently of course) in the club's green room. I still don't know if this is something we should brag about or if child services will come and take our kids away if they find out. At any rate the intensity hasn't subsided with teaching and performing, and recording a new cd which I plan to release sometime in the fall.  Of course I've already written the compulsory tune for the new kid which which ended up getting recorded as a solo piano piece. It kind of sets the tone for the record in the same way that I feel that Hayden is setting the tone for this next period in my life. One which both exhausts me and exhilarates me at the same time.

If you'll permit me a couple of days to get things tied up at McGill then I'll be back blogging again. In the weeks to come watch for a surprise guest blogger to write a post in April. Also throughout the summer I'll be offering a curiously diverse buffet of topics from my favorite jazz musicians' fast cars to developing dominant chord vocabulary for improvising. Yikes. Any nerdier and I might have Jason Marsalis after me!