Ben Dobay: Blog

I played two sets with a great band under the direction of Pablo Masis at Puppets Thursday night:
 
Pablo Masis-Trumpet
Yours truly-Saxophone
Mara Rosenbloom-Piano
Lauren Falls-Bass
Tyson Stubelek-Drums
 
I enjoyed the set. We played tunes by Pablo as well as Cedar Walton, Chris Cheek and Rafael Karlan. A friend of ours from the Jazz/Creative Music Workshop in Banff. We had a good midwest representation in the audience. My old Poetry professor from UW-Eau Claire, who happened to be in Brooklyn, stopped by.

The band for the set at Tutuma on Monday February 15th will be as follows:
Ben Dobay: Saxophone
Pablo Masis: Trumpet
Sam Anning: Bass
Broc Hempel: Piano
Tyson Stubelek: Drums

Just went to a great show Sunday night. I had the pleasure of seeing Curtis Macdonald's group play at Rose Live Music in Brooklyn:
Curtis Macdonald: Alto Sax
Jeremy Viner: Tenor Sax
David Virelles: Keyboard
Cody Brown: Drums
Pascal Niggenkemper: Bass
Pat Reid: Bass
Curtis and I met at the Banff Workshop this past spring. He's a great saxophonist and composer. Pat Reid who played bass on few tunes was also at Banff. It was really a pleasure to hear them both play again. Especially when they are playing Curtis' original compositions together. Curtis is working on a new album. Keep up with what he's doing and where he's playing at www.curtismacdonald.com

Anybody who has been to my apartment knows that I collect a lot of books. The shelves on my bookcase warp under the eclectic and disorganized mass. Its not that I go out and look for books specifically because of theirvalue to any respectable collection. I just have a hard time getting rid of any of them. I seem to have an attachment to my books, as though each is some sort of accomplishment. And in the case of some of my heavier more intimidating volumes, 'accomplishment' is probably an appropriate term, especially when it comes to hours devoted to reading if not comprehension.I have a book that my father passed on to me called "The Literature of the United States". It has been a presence on my shelf for years. It is a book that I like to pick up every now and then to read randomly chosen essays and passages. It has a nice mix of poetry, prose, drama, and even some criticism. I recently came across an essay by Susan Sontag titled "One Culture and the New Sensibility." There was a passage [...]