Business and Music - Paul Tobey

Bluegrass, Bluegrass Music, Bluegrass Band OtterCreek Bluegrass Band makes a debut on myspace!  Check out the bass player! That’s Denis Rondeau - one of the busiest most versatile musicians I know!  Not only is he a terrific friend, he’s a terrific music educator - he teaches at the blind school.  This bluegrass band is smokin! Enjoy the free downloadable bluegrass music they offer! 

http://www.myspace.com/ottercreekbluegrass

PS.  If you like bluegrass,country,folk music you’ll love how these guys sound! This is toe tappin’ kind of stuff!  And you couldn’t meet a nicer group of pleasing people. Go ahead, check out that bluegrass music !

Cheers!

Paul

www.paultobey.com

Oliver Twist The Musical! There was a casting call for Orphans for our local production of Oliver. My 9 year old son Adrian wanted to go. He had limited theatre experience with roles in school plays and camp productions, but I said, hey, why not? As a professional musician, it’s hard not to notice how much charisma your child has on stage. What’s the saying? Your children grow up to be faster, richer, smarter, more talented, etc? YES! I certainly hope so!

I thought an audition experience would be fantastic for him whether he got accepted or turned down! To our surprise, after several call backs, he got the lead for Oliver! It was a surprise, because we were told the audition was for orphans and that Oliver was already cast. Also, Adrian only sang in school choir with no outside professional training. We all know how many talented kids there are out there. But Adrian had listened to the music from Oliver everyday. He sang it everyday. His personal favorite is “Consider Yourself”. Your heart skips a beat when he sings “Where is Love?”

Adrian is so into it, and he does make a great Oliver! He’s really authentic. He was dissappointed there was no rehearsal this week. I could tell he’s found a second home in the production with cast and crew he really loves. There will be 10-12 shows in April! We’ll keep you posted

Disc 7 - Christmas at the Piano CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE SEPARATELY

The reviews are fantastic. The newspaper reported “Frenzied Mob Right About Tobey CD”. It features all of your favorite christmas music.  And if you are a piano lover, I promise this CD will make it in your favorites!

Island Christmas (my original)
Little Drummer Boy
Carol of the Bells
O Christmas Tree (available as a free download here)
Children’s Christmas Medley (all the kid’s favorites)
The Christmas Song
Most Wonderful Time of the Year
Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring
Christmas Carol Medley
Angels We Have Heard on High

This was recorded Nov. 2005 at Phase One Audio Group Studios in Toronto featuring

Paul Tobey - Piano
Henry Heilig - Bass
Steve Heathcote - Drums
Dave Simpson - Percussion
Phil Gray - Keyboards
Dong Englert - Flute/Alto

Hancock Jazz Pianist - Is he your largest influence?

A fan wrote in to ask who my major musical influences were. Herbie Hancock was certainly a major musical influence during my jazz forrays.  Good guess. However, it was Bill Evans that resonated with me the most, which is probably most evident in my piano solo album “Live at the Glenn Gould.  I think the media most often compared me to Oscar because of the right hand technique, though flattering, that wouldn’t of been my take on it.  However, the critics always missed that I was most impressed by Chick Corea - whose influences slipped into my performances and albums (sometimes more than I’d like)…most evident in my album Wayward.  However, I was always attracted to the strong melodic tunes by Brubeck.  Melody just does it for me…what more can I say?

The media has compared me to many pianists (including Bach!), but at one point in your career that is no longer flattering.  The goal is to find your own unique voice where the critics can’t say you sound like anyone but yourself.  I’d like to think I reached that goal now.  But without the large influence of those that came before me, I wouldn’t be the performer I am today. 

I think it’s a great process to copy, immitate, and take apart other people’s music for a while.  Really get inside the piece and learn it.  Gradually, what happens is that what you learned becomes part of your DNA, and you can begin to explore your own voice (while always respecting the jazz tradition).

In my case, I explored contemporary jazz, won the awards, and enjoyed a successful jazz career.  Life can be rewarding, and also humbling.  My journey led me to return to my classical roots, my spiritual roots, and back to melody.  My journey into jazz was a purposeful one, only to help me find my own voice.  Melody flows in my Road to Santiago Suite (premiers with symphony Feb 18 07 .)

I welcome you to explore my website.  http://www.paultobey.com/pianist.html

After numerous requests from readers I have decided to start a Tinnitus FAQ page. Here you will find helpful resources for all things related to Tinnitus. This page is a work in progress and will be updated as times permits and as the information becomes available.I hope that you find these Tinnitus resources useful. If you have any comments or would like to contribut to the Tinnitus FAQ section please enter a comment on this blog post.

Here is the URL for the new Tinnitus FAQ page.

==> http://www.paultobey.com/tinnitus/tinnitus-faq.html