I'm looking forward to being the guest artist with Ionia HS this Friday. Hope to see you there! 

To say the least, the last couple of months took me out for a minute. I'm so thankful for some healing that has taken place. With that, I'm happy to drop the sacrifice of praise. I Know It Was The Blood

Unofficially it was the 20th Cool Jazz. I have written many times on Byron and our beginnings with me and Marc. 

It was so special to have Todd here this year. He has always been an inspiration to me. He challenged me spiritually by his example and his unwavering faith no matter what comes his way. I could tell many stories from our history but he sees the world how I would like to. And of course musically he's one of my favorites!  His visit came and just the right time for me and a good time was had by all! 

I was honored to be the guest with the Thornapple Jazz Orchestra. This festival is so great. All about education and no competition. Thank you so much to Joe LaJoye for the opportunity and congrats on a great festival! It was also great to hang with my dear friend Sandy who also helped me with CD sales. (Dale was busy at work) Also great to catch up with former student Spencer White who is doing an amazing job in Hastings! 

I'm excited to be at the TAC Jazz Festival this year. I will be working with bands all day on Thursday, then I'm honored to be the guest soloist with the Thornapple Jazz Orchestra for their evening concert! 

Then on Friday, I'll be sitting in on a tune or two with my Byron Family as I usually do most years which is always an honor, and this year my dear Brother Todd Williams is the guest. Todd and I go way back to Wynton Quintet and Septet days then the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra! I was humbled to have Todd on my latest release dedicated to my late wife Talia! 

​Should be a blessed week! Hope to see you there! 

The other concert I came out for was to see MSU grads, Luther Allison, Markus Howell, and Jonathan Muir-Cotton play a concert. It was amazing and so proud of them all (although I had nothing to do with any of their development as musicians). I also interviewed Markus and Luther for a future podcast. They are family to me. I have visited with both their parents in North Carolina and in Florida. I love them all so much and all are just so soulful and explain so much of why Luther and Markus are as they are. Jonathan also sounded amazing and is always so kind to me. By surprise I sat with Eric Law who I forgot moved from Miami to NYC so it was awesome to get caught up with him and then Matt Heilmann also came so MSU was well represented! Luthers group was amazing just all world class. It was a whirlwind of a trip but so happy I was able to get away for a minute and try and clear my head! Thank you Lord! 

I had other plans for this weekend but they got cancelled and I needed to get away. This was such good medicine to forget for a minute and just be with my J@LC Family and hear some amazing music! The weather was beautiful and got to do a little walking around before the show. In addition to my J@LC Family it was so fun to see James Zito from MSU playing with J@LC and got a copy of his cd on the one year anniversary. Another special bonus was hearing one of my favorite vocalists on the planet and dear friend Kenny Washington! It was also my first time hearing Ekep Nkwelle and she was amazing! This was just what the doctor ordered! Also, ironically I bought my ticket without knowing in the very same seats I sit in each year when I come to Ellington with Byron! It was fun to basically sit next to Printup. Because I'm so close with him I knew what he was going to do before he did it. As he was getting on the risers he came over and gave me a fist bump! We do so much life together so authentically. It is such a blessing to have a friend like that. It felt good to fellowship with him and try and encourage each other. So thankful! Sherman Irby led the group for this performance. He was too humble but I really wanted to hear his feature on Alice's Blues. That would have brought the house down! 

Sigh... That's all I have to say on this. Just had to get it out! 

After the Anat concert in East Lansing, I had to drive home to Gun Lake, pack, then drive to Detroit, so an all nighter. The drive was in a dense fog the whole time. So to say the least I was tired. I made NJ my home base this time which was kind of fun but killed me in Ubers. I had a lot of time to kill so I decided to go to Liberty State Park, which I've never been to. It was really cool and a great way to see views of Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty. (which I've only been in once back in 1987 when I was in the McDonalds band) I had to walk with my luggage but everything was kept up so nice and so many great stopping points. I think I got 4 miles in. Once I got to my Airbnb, I was surprised I could see NYC . I'm pretty sure I was staying in a Portuguese area, which I benefited from some good food! The one picture I just missed the guy proposing to his fiancé now. Lot of pictures of the same thing but I walked 10 steps and had to get the new view! LOL

I don't get back to MSU very often but it was so good to catch up with some friends. It was great to see and hear Anat Cohen again. Our tour in 2017 was so fun and emotional at times. It was truly a special one and I always try and go see her if she is in the area. Anat was so kind and made time to catch up while she quickly ate her dinner between soundcheck and performance. Always inspiring and brings such joy and passion to her music. 

A lot of my prayer walks were this but we did have fellowship also:

Thankful I found a place to hike!

Despite being in a bit of a funk this year, this is still my favorite day of the year. I discussed the whys in the Good Friday post. I was honored to worship with my brothers and sisters at New Hope Baptist Church. A lot of hard work into the service and the sound system blew 1/2 hour before the service, which created some pretty major issues and I felt bad but the message of the greatest act of love still got out. Thankful for my Sister and Brother Chandy and Rick who had me over after the service. 

I wanted to do a big fanfare to proclaim Jesus's Resurrection from the dead and all that means to me. Not my best effort but a bit tired, tired chops, in a funk, so it's what I could do this year. Gabriel's job is safe for another year! 
​

Lastly, I have always loved this song. So much so, I started to learn it on piano, this was before I began the relationship. First, I hardly ever listen to lyrics. So I loved the music so much, I was like what is this tune about? The song is very deceiving. Even the title which seems like it will be a totally upbeat song, end ups being kind of sad. As things were going well, I actually said to myself, I hope this song never comes true for me. It did! lol I still have all these challenges from covid I didn't do and still plan on doing them. LOL I think I did the Take 6 one and a West End Blues one, and one the Printups did. So I remembered I had this so here is me and Jacob Collier lol Short and not really sweet. Bad mixing and recording but didn't need to be professional. You can look up the words! 

I love so much of what St. Cecilia is doing for the community. It was fun talking with Cathy Holbrook about this! Another fun day exposing this great American art form to kids who haven't heard! 

Today is what Christians around the world call "Good Friday"

Why is it called “Good Friday”? Because by His death, Jesus became the final and complete sacrifice for our sins. We cannot erase our guilt, nor can we overcome our sins by our good deeds. It is considered a "good" day because it represents the ultimate victory over sin, death, and evil, paving the way for the Resurrection on Easter. While being the darkest day in history, it is a day that brought the greatest act of love to mankind—the opportunity for eternal life and continued fellowship with God and all that accompanies a relationship with Jesus, for all that choose to believe. 

My Spiritual journey has changed a lot over the years. My upbringing was more of a religious upbringing and I will leave it at that not to offend. The disciplines of the Christian faith were not done out of relationship but more ritualistic. While it did give me a foundation for my faith, it was not the life that I believe Jesus was calling us to. The practices of faith are a means to knowing the person of Christ which was the basis for our creation in the first place. God wanted fellowship, so much so, when we messed things up, right from the start I may add, God then made a way to restore the sin problem, so fellowship with Him could be continued.

What this amounts to is Love. He is love! God is the ultimate lover. The problem is, despite paying the ultimate price with Jesus on the cross for our payment for our sins and gaining back fellowship with Him, and even giving us Holy Spirit to be our help with all of this, (the same Holy Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead)  He needs to be chosen. He has set up everything, so that you will choose Him and experience the love, peace, joy, comfort, healing, ...... but He will never force you to choose Him because that is not love then. Unfortunately, I know this concept all to painfully  well recently in my life. 

As a way to shed my religious past, I stopped doing many of the disciplines which was kind of dumb. LOL But, I wanted anything I did, to be authentic. I'm happy to say for many years now, I am back to doing these disciplines and they are part of my routines now and come from a place of authenticity. 

There is also a part of me, that with the dates and events that are very important to me in my life, I try and remember or celebrate those on a daily basis and then give extra attention on the times that most people remember these events in however they see fit. 

As before mentioned in a relationship that I was in,  I tried not only to celebrate the person on the day that God gave them life, but I tried to celebrate them everyday because of what this person meant to me. She was worth celebrating everyday. 

​In the same manner, where there is a very heavy emphasis on Jesus's death and resurrection this weekend, this is the most important event in my life. It changed my life literally forever. For me, to think about this once a year, was not enough. So I was moved by Beni Johnson, and her book on communion that this needed to be part of my daily routine. So almost everyday now, I start my day with communion. Some of her thoughts: 

“Do this in remembrance of me.” Luke 22:19 The breaking of bread and drinking of the cup in remembrance of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection is a prophetic act of worship, warfare, and proclamation. It heals, restores, breakthroughs, and aligns. It’s a somber yet joyful celebration of the greatest gift ever given to mankind - eternal life and life abundantly; that we may know Him and Jesus Christ whom He has sent.

Jesus had instructed us in 1 Corinthians 11:23-26. “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, this do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”

I loved the tradition, but I didn’t fully realize how powerful the sacrament was. Throughout the years, though, I have come to recognize that “in remembrance of Me” carries a level of authority of which I was previously unaware. Communion should be taken with thankfulness, somberness and celebration. As I take the bread and the wine, I consciously bring all three of these thoughts into my moment of remembrance. Obviously, we should all be beyond thankful for God sending His Son. And the fact that Jesus said “yes”—coming to earth as a man and staying up on the cross on the day He was crucified—is a stunning reality. It is worthy of our thankfulness. In addition to gratitude, I try to take a moment and connect with the physical pain and, most devastating, the abandonment that Jesus felt when His Father had to turn His back on His son due to the heavy, horrible sin that Jesus was carrying. Taking that moment to experience the somberness of remembrance is important in keeping our hearts connected to how much He loved us. Finally, we come to Communion with a heart of celebration because Jesus died and He rose again on the third day. Taking the sacrament, we are celebrating that—once and for all—the great sacrifice was made that shifted the atmosphere forever.

Taking communion is a tool of warfare. Communion is powerful. It is aligning ourselves with the reality of Christ crucified and resurrected. Sin and sickness have been defeated. If we grab on to this power, there is breakthrough available in every area of our lives: freedom and salvation, life and healing. One of my favorite thoughts on taking communion is that, every time we take communion, we remind the devil that he has lost. That is one powerful tool. My husband says, “The devil only has power in our lives where we give him permission.” When we take communion, we actually say to the devil, “You can’t have control of my life because you’ve lost. I’m pulling your source of power.”

Taking communion is good for my spirit, my soul, and my body. It is a practice that keeps my spirit connected to Jesus. I take it for the healing of my body. I take it in remembrance of Him. No more going through religious motions

(back to me lol)

With so many things in life, the more you do something, sometimes you become desensitized to them because of the familiarity. As many times as I've heard the greatest musicians in the world live, I do get a little familiar to the sounds that I am hearing, because I know them so well and that's now the standard in which I hear music by, but there is something every time, even if it's the hundredth time I've heard this person, that lets me know, I'm still hearing greatness, and comparatively to my sad playing always lets me know the genius I'm being exposed to. 

And so it is with Jesus. I've been told the Easter story since I was born and doing communion every day, there is a risk of being desensitized to the greatest act of love in human history. What I have found thankfully, and do to Holy Spirit, is I'm actually becoming more emotional, which is what I've always wanted. I always felt guilty that someone gave their life to me and I don't cry about it, it doesn't bring me to my knees every day. That is changing. 

I was going on a missions trip in HS, that I never went on, God had other cool plans for me. But part of the prep was memorizing these verses. I'm thankful I had to as I struggle with memorization, but these have always stayed with me.

From Philippians 2: 
5-8 Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn’t think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn’t claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion.
9-11 Because of that obedience, God lifted him high and honored him far beyond anyone or anything, ever, so that all created beings in heaven and on earth—even those long ago dead and buried—will bow in worship before this Jesus Christ, and call out in praise that he is the Master of all, to the glorious honor of God the Father.
The story of Christ is the ultimate good vs evil story, however the drama is removed because we know we win. 

The fact that there is so much opposition to the message of Jesus only leads one to believe it is true. There is tolerance for everything in this world at this point except Jesus which makes you know there is truth that the evil one doesn't want you to believe. The evil one actually knows the truth but also knows he is defeated. 

Most Good Fridays when I can, I try to watch the Passion of the Christ, and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Not something I ever look forward to and I actually have to prepare my self for this. But if the uncomfortableness is so strong, it only solidifies that the grace, love, and victory I now live in, was bought at a tremendous price and that always needs to be at the forefront of my thoughts, soul, and spirit, for the rest of my days on this planet. I do not want to be complacent about this because too heavy of a price was paid for little ol' me, who Jesus says I go after the one lost sheep! Such love. 

One of the great blessings of my life was being able to go to Israel. I always say the Bible went from Black and White, to  Color. When I'm standing where Jesus stood, it's no longer just a story that you don't know if it's true or not. There is so much now days that are validating the Bible and Jesus. 

So now concluding, I'm including a few pictures, a praise offering, and viewer discretion clips even though the depiction is truth which is what all of this is about. 

God bless you if you made it through all of this and even if you didn't, still, God Bless You! He's giving you a choice to choose Him today. 

The following is my little offering of praise. 
O Sacred Head Now Wounded: 
​
O sacred Head, now wounded
With grief and shame weighed down
Now scornfully surrounded
With thorns, Thine only crown
How pale thou art with anguish
With sore abuse and scorn
How does that visage languish
Which once was bright as morn
What Thou, my Lord, hast suffered
T'was all for sinners' gain
Mine, mine was the transgression
But Thine the deadly pain
Lo, here I fall, my Savior
'Tis I deserve Thy place
Look on me with Thy favor
Vouchsafe to me Thy grace
What language shall I borrow
To thank Thee, dearest friend
For this Thy dying sorrow
Thy pity without end
O make me Thine forever
And should I fainting be
Lord, let me never, never
Outlive my love for Thee

This is how it all started! This sweet little kid really wanted a drum set for Christmas. All the presents had been given out and despite being a little disappointed, Elijah put on a happy face because that is Lij! I think it was my Dad said, Hey Elijah, I think I heard somebody put something in my room. (The house I grew up in was bought by my sister and brother and then Dad built a papa apartment on the side). This was Elijah's reaction to seeing his new drum set. Not a great one, but would get him going! This is where we are at as of 1:00 today!

That Christmas was in 2012! It was an honor to be Elijah's first drum teacher, I think I gave him his first gig, I had him on his first recording! I'm so blessed to literally have worked with thousands of kids at this point in my life. So many stay in touch with me and have gone on to very big things. There is none more special then teaching family! Today was such a sentimental moment and wondering how time went so fast! 

Elijah, had his college senior Jazz Recital today! I could not be more proud of him. He is such a gifted writer, an amazing percussionist, but still the same sweet kid I taught 14 years ago. As kids become older they get away from saying they love you, but Lij and I tell each other we love each other all the time including on stage! 

It is always gratifying when you invest so much in someone and you get to see the fruits of your labor. I always joke that if you do the opposite of what I tell you to do, you'll be incredible! 

It was my distinct honor to be asked by Lij, to be a part of his recital. I did not take this lightly and actually practiced a lot for this day wanting to live up to the moment. I'm sorry to say for various reasons I came up short today and am pretty bummed about it but in typical Lij fashion he said it was perfect and everything he had hoped for. Thanks Lij! 

The sentimental part was obviously thinking of my Dad who had also invested so much into Elijah. Elijah not only gave tribute to my Dad but wrote a song called Exodus for him, again testimony to the character of this young man who honors his elders well! Man, if my Dad could have seen his son and grandson playing together on his recital, he would have been so happy. Luckily, he did get to see us play together a lot! 

Thank you also to Brother Keith Hall who corrected all my mistakes in teaching Elijah for 14 years! 
​
Please take a walk down memory lane with me and browse through our time together over the years. 

Love you Elijah! Uncle Max could not be more honored and humbled! 

​Pictures from today:

Memory Lane

I'm so thankful for the jazz series at St. Cecilia! It really brings community together and so it's always great fellowship. It's been 20 years since Branford was there which Cathy mentioned because it was her first or second day on the job and she just had that anniversary. So very special. The concert was so awesome and fun to have the Byron and Northview kids there. It was Justin's birthday and they had fun with that all night. Special time! 

I'm in a tribute band that does about 3 different shows. These are a good group of guys and I enjoy playing with them and they have taken me some places I haven't gone before. Now I may have been to Frankenmuth as a kid but I have no recollection of it so I'm going to say this was my first time. This was the 1981 Simon and Garfunkel Central Park Concert! 

One of the many blessings that came out of my time at MSU was getting to know the great Harvey Mason. He is such a drum icon and yet one of the nicest cats you'll ever know. He was gracious to sit down and do an interview with me for my upcoming Uncle G podcast. It was once again great to have so many of my families together with MSU, Northview, and Rockford! 

Always honored to be asked to adjudicate because it involves clinics where I actually get to work with the bands. I am not a fan of ratings in music but that is another story for another day. As always it's about the fellowship! Good to see so many people I love. The second picture is with Joe LaJoye who I have the honor of being a guest at his amazing jazz festival next month. Looking forward to that! ​https://thornapplearts.org/jazzfest/