I've never understood the appeal of extended drum solos in jazz. Although drummers demand equal footing as a soloist in many groups, their lack of pitch really hinders their improvisatory work. I'd rather hear a concise 12-bar drum solo, rather than one of those drawn-out tumors of music that sometimes crop up, especially in combos. I think the worst case of overdone drum soloing is Buddy Rich's playing on Channel One Suite. The version made for commercial recording is brief and to the point, but in a live edition from 1977 I have, the drum solos (and a poor misguided sax) stretch the twelve minute piece to over twenty-five minutes in length.

The secondary assistantship assignments I have now really aren't so terrible. Somehow word spread that I can make CDs, so I'll be converting old tapes and records to CD format in the remainder of my ten hours per week. Since recording tapes and LPs must be done in real-time (not including the extra for the actual burning), I highly doubt I'll be able to do more than a couple per week before hitting my ten-hour ceiling. It sure beats grading papers...

If they ever retitle classes in the FSU course catalog, I bet they'll call this one MUS 5752: Graduate Survey in Tonal Forms.

"Harmony! Harmony!" - A. Schoenberg, last words