I'm back....

Quote of the Day:
I think somehow we learn who we really are and
then live with that decision.
~Eleanor Roosevelt

Current Local Weather:
Clearing skies with high probability
of tremendously loud and dense failure and
success lying around every corner.

Currently on my IPOD:
Single Ladies (Club Remix)
~Beyonce'

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If not, email me at newfaceofjazzmailinglist (@) gmail.com
with your name in the subject line and we'll take it from there.

Hey Guys...I know...has been a while since I've done an actual post. So here ya go...I'm back.

I have to say, this process has changed me. Writing a book is hard. VERY hard. It's probably, other than childbirth, the most difficult thing I've ever done and I'm not even done with it! If you didn't read the previous post, my book The New Face of Jazz has been picked up by Random House/Crown's imprint, Watson-Guptill. Expected Publication date will be in the fall of 2010. It's a way's off, but in the grand scheme of things, it's moving very fast.

As for what I've been up to, I've spent the better part of a year listening to others speak about their lives, their fears, their struggles/challenges and their ideas on how to transition the future generations back into an acceptable place in our culture and society all in the name of writing this book. It's crazy what you can learn by doing this. When was the last time you actually, I mean REALLY, sat down and listened to someone else's story? Yeah, I thought so....

At times, I helped them find the words they had lost. Other times, I dodged flying accusations of being a critic and wanting to sabotage the jazz community. Yet, it's because of this I've changed in ways I never thought I would have or never expected to have changed. My life will never be the same. Passion is a very strong emotion and verb to set one's work ethic to, but when you begin to live by that very word or thought or at the very least, you let it push you and only that push you to get through even the tough times, it's a very powerful result, or can be.

Throughout the year, I set out to do a few interviews to capture the voice of modern jazz in America. Per my usual self, I went slightly overboard. As of now, my 400+ interviews for the book have been completed and I've found one underlying theme. This theme speaks profoundly as to our human condition and the times we live in. Even in a year of transition like this is, over 470 of these people, across racial, financial, generational, and geographical boundary lines expressed needs that were almost the EXACT same.

It can only be my hope that one person will glean affirmation in the human condition and spirit from this book. In the end, it means nothing if you don't know yourself. I believe, after all of this, that I am finally beginning to learn about me. I'm also learning to be okay with just me. Not needing an approval from others. Not needing to be with others for the wrong reasons, but being okay enough with myself so that when I am with others I can be with them for the dire need to be intimate with others thoughts. This is how, I believe, relationships are truly formed. Why it took me so damn long to get here, who knows....but I'm sure glad I'm on the trail marked with solar, organic and lovely lights as opposed to the one covered with vines and tangled weeds with only shadows guiding the way to THAT end.

Yours in Trails, Trading Places and Taking Charge of a life...My Life.

Cicily
www.newfaceofjazz.com
Random House, Fall, 2010