MomBrag™ II

Last night we went to a jazz concert at Margaret's school. She's in the jazz band for the slightly younger kids, and I have to tell you, they really sound good. I would have loved to be in a band like that in seventh grade (ours was earnest, but inept, and directed by a teacher who had to do the best with what he had).

The kids had spent a fair bit of that day in a workshop with John Mackey, a saxophonist and teacher at the Australian National University; he especially focused on the principles of improvisation (yes, I know, you just make it up, but if you don't have at least a basic understanding of how sounds work together and how the human brain processes them, it just sounds like you don't know what you're doing). And each group that performed included a lot of improv.

Including! Margaret's first jazz solos. She did good. As in, really good.

I sometimes wonder how I'm supposed to keep up with this family of mine.

UPDATE: Just to further intensify my feelings of inadequacy, I have learned that today at Margaret's school's awards ceremony, she got awards for music, German, and science.