You see this?\r\n\r\n

\r\n\r\nIt”s really this.\r\n\r\n

\r\n\r\nThat”s right: SNOW.\r\n\r\nMy first radar image of the stuff this year.\r\n\r\nYou”re looking at what”s falling outside my apartment right now–beautiful, fluffy, white flakes, pirouetting gently out of the black November night.\r\n\r\nI can barely contain my glee, which is somewhat less than my urge to break down into uncontrollable weeping.\r\n\r\n”We”ve only just beguuuunnnn…” Five months of winter whiteness lie ahead. One-hundred-fifty days, give or take, of snow, ice, road salt, slush, slippery roads, freezing temperatures, and seasonal affective disorder. But then, I”ve always been an optimist. Tack on another few weeks for April, the transitional month. Heck, even May could produce a blizzard.\r\n\r\nThat is so wrong.\r\n\r\nNo, I mean, that is so exciting. Yes. It”s all a matter of keeping a positive mindset. These months ahead are fairly bristling with excitement, provided you define “excitement” as gazing forlornly out the window, watching icicles form on the eave troughs.\r\n\r\nHeaven help me, I need an attitude adjustment. Michigan winters are not getting any easier as I get older.\r\n\r\nSo okay, this winter I”m going to take a different approach. I have some snowshoes, and I”m going to use ”em at least a few times. Once centerfire deer season is over and grouse season recommences, I”m going to take to the woods with my shotgun a few times. And as I”ve already mentioned in a previous post, I”m going to bone up on my forecasting skills. An upbeat, proactive approach to winter–that”s the ticket. I can do it, yes I can. As the green and yellow on my radar turns to purple and pink, I can smile. I can be happy. Life is good.\r\n\r\nAaaaaghh. I need a beer.

I just watched a fascinating YouTube video of Brett Primak”s film, Like Sonny. A jewel-like documentary on the friendship between tenor saxophone giants Sonny Rollins and John Coltrane, the video offers generous clips of each player performing in live settings, along with interviews with sax men Paul Jeffrey, Jimmy Heath, and of course Sonny Rollins himself.\r\n\r\nReminiscing on his friendship with Coltrane, whom he met back in the late 1940s on a gig with Miles Davis, Sonny shares thoughtful insights into Trane”s and his own playing styles, attitudes toward music, and respect for each other.\r\n\r\nThis is a wonderful video on two of the most important saxophone luminaries of modern jazz, one of whom is still going strong today. It”s filled with music, images, and the insights of veterans who have lived a lifetime of jazz. \r\n\r\nThe words of Jimmy Heath strike me in particular: “Sonny and I still practice. All the older guys–Benny Golson, all of us–we still practice. Because nobody knows all of the music, and nobody has a monopoly on it. So that”s why we”re in this field of music, creative music–because it”s such a wide-open field. Ornette Colemen, anybody, will tell you it”s open as the sky.”\r\n\r\nI find it inspiring to think that guys like Sonny and Jimmy still spend time in the woodshed, continuing to explore new musical directions in private, searching for fresh ideas. That tells me something about the importance of staying on top of my own instrument.\r\n\r\nFor more on Sonny Rollins, visit his superb website. It”s full of audio and video clips, podcasts, and abundant information–truly a class act. But then, what else would you expect from Sonny Rollins?

Want to augment your sound? Work whole tone scales and their trademark chord, the augmented chord, into your practice sessions and your playing. Adding them to your improv toolkit is one of the easiest acquisitions you”ll ever make.\r\n\r\nWhy? Because, like the diminished scale and the augmented scale, the whole tone scale is what”s called a “symetrical scale.” Unlike common scales and modes such as the major scale and the harmonic minor scale, the augmented scale consists solely of whole steps. No whole/half steps spaced irregularly; just a nice, uniform scale consisting of six notes a major second apart from each other.\r\n\r\nFor instance, the C whole tone scale consists of the following notes: C, D, E, F#, G#, A#(Bb), and then octave C.\r\n\r\nThink about this arrangement a bit and you”ll realize that once you know the C whole tone scale, you also know the D whole tone, the E whole tone, and so forth. That”s the beauty of symetrical scales: they save you time, energy, and brain power. Learn one whole tone scale and you”ve learned six.\r\n\r\nThis means that there are, in reality, just two whole tone scales you have to contend with, starting a half-step apart from each other. Beyond that, everything else is just repetition.\r\n\r\nWhole tone scales and the augmented chords that arise from them have a unique, free-floating sound. Think of the opening to the Stevie Wonder tune, “You Are the Sunshine of My Life.” Remember that ascending line with the strange, gravity-less feel to it? That”s the whole tone sound. Harmonically speaking, the whole tone scale is a man without a country. Use it sparingly to color dominant seventh chords, or just to add interest by kicking your line temporarily away from the tonal center.\r\n\r\nOh, yeah–in case you can”t figure it out for yourself, the notes to the C# whole tone scale are: C#, D#, F, G, A, B, and octave C#.\r\n\r\nHappy practicing!

Here it comes. Winter. We knew it had to arrive sooner or later, and it looks like this weekend is the appointed time in West Michigan.\r\n\r\nI see that the SPC has spotlighted Texas and the Gulf Coast for severe weather on Sunday and Monday, but here in Caledonia, none of that moves me. I”m girding myself for four months of snow, ice, and cold. Today is beautiful but on the cooler side, and tomorrow gets nasty, with snow and rain on the menu. I think it”s safe to say it”ll be a while before I get my next taste of Gulf moisture.\r\n\r\nStill, one never knows. On January 5 of this year, I was in Missouri with me droges, chasing tornadic supercells. A month later, down near Louisville, Kentucky, Bill and I caught the northern edge of the Super Tuesday Outbreak–in terms of fatalities, one of the worst outbreaks in years. The weather doesn”t care what time of year it is. It does what it pleases, and the best policy regarding it is the Boy Scout motto: “Be prepared.”\r\n\r\nBeing prepared doesn”t mean holding one”s breath, though. Now begin the long months of lake-effect snow squalls and Supercell Deficiency Syndrome, the season of Boning Up On Weather Knowledge. I”ll be spending a lot of time with Tim Vasquez”s Forecast Laboratory software and burying my nose in a book or two.\r\n\r\nThis is also a good time to read up on camera and Photoshop techniques and enhance my, er, development as a photographer. I”ve already come a long way since I bought my Rebel XTi back in March. Come next spring, I hope to not blow that shot of a lifetime, assuming I get another crack at a tornado as close as the Oberlin storm.\r\n\r\nFor now, though, the afternoon sky is still blue. And I am going out to enjoy this last, golden breath of Indian Summer.

As Democrats celebrated the historic election of America”s first African-American president yesterday, storms rolled across the Great Plains. Along with the rest of the storm chasing community, I”d been watching the system as it developed. It promised to be the year”s last blast, and hopes were high that it would be a good one. It turned out to be less than hoped for but better than it could have been. If I lived in Kansas or Oklahoma, I”d have been a fool not to go, but if I lived farther away–which I do–I”d have been a fool to make the drive. Glad I stayed home.\r\n\r\nLast night I tracked the storms with GR3 and GR2AE. Some nice supercells scooted along south and east of Oklahoma City. I”m sure they gave those who chased them a decent show, though they never produced tornadoes. Not a bad end-of-the-year play for tornado alley. I think it”s interesting that they occurred on the day they did. With Obama voted in as the new president-elect, stormy world conditions haven”t quelled the giddy response nationwide and abroad. Yet not everyone feels joyous. That”s true whenever presidential elections come and go. Quite a few of my friends are disappointed.\r\n\r\nMy attitude is, give it some time and let”s see what happens. I”m skeptical of hype, of overexpectations on the one hand and vilifications on the other, and the political machine is filled with such. Right now, the world is infatuated with Obama. But the world is still the world, and nothing in it has changed. The word “recession” still looms large, deadly enemies still conspire against us, causes continue to pit themselves against causes in the ideological maelstrom, and nothing leads me to think that any political figure is truly able to fix this broken planet. We can only do what we must. In the Bible, Paul tells us to pray for those in power, and Peter admonishes us to “honor the king,” whoever the king may be. The kingdom of God is altogether different in character from political power; it weaves the best and worst of human affairs into a higher agenda. That”s where my faith lies. It lies in Jesus, who said, “My kingdom is not of this world,” and who refused earthly kingship when it lay within his grasp. The true corridors of power aren”t in Washington, but in heaven. And yes, I really believe that. If your hopes lie in which political party has the upper hand, then right now chances are you feel either crushed or exuberant. As for me, I refuse to pin my star on election results. That has always been my stance as a follower of Jesus.\r\n\r\nOur country has turned a significant page in history. I have an idea that, like yesterday”s weather, once the model forecasts give way to the ground truth, we”ll find that our new president proves to be neither everything the liberals have hoped for, nor as bad as conservatives have feared. Obama is a remarkable political figure, but he”s still just a man. Not a saint, not a demon, but a limited, fallible human. I have mixed feelings about him, just as I”ve had with McCain, but I believe he will do his best. And I will pray for him.

Richie Cole plays a whole lotta alto saxophone. He”s been doing so for many years now, carrying the torch of bebop and making sure it stays brightly lit. He knows the language, and his finger-shredding technique allows him to speak it at any speed you please in whatever key you call for.\r\n\r\nThis 1981 video clip of Cole et al at the Village Vanguard showcases the saxophonist in his element, blazing away with trademark abandon. “Yardbird Suite” is the tune, and Cole is all over it. So is the rest of the band, beginning with Bobby Enriquez, who plays a volcanic, downright physical piano solo. Hot on his heels, guitarist Bruce Forman holds court. Then comes Cole, demonstrating what true mastery of the alto sax really sounds like. The guy is amazing. But I think you can figure that out for yourself.

Looks like the Great Plains and Midwest may get one last crack at severe thunderstorms later this week. I”m crossing my fingers and hoping that the Great Lakes will get a decent show of that energy, but I”m not counting on it. The SPC indicates the low weakening as it lifts into our area, and it looks like whatever makes its way here will be a linear show. So my best bet might be to head west Wednesday and chase the cold core. Having already traveled to and from Branson, Missouri, this last week, I”m not crazy about the idea of another long road trip, but if I can find someone to join me, I might consider it. We”ll see.\r\n\r\nSpeaking of Missouri, I had one of my first truly memorable chases there a couple years ago, back on March 12, 2006. That was the day when Bill Oosterbaan and I latched onto a monster tornadic storm near Columbia that would go down in weather history as the Six State Supercell. From its origins as a convective plume in Noble County, Oklahoma, to its demise in Jackson County, Michigan, this beast set a record for distance and longevity. Covering over 700 miles in seventeen-and-a-half hours, it spawned more than twenty tornadoes as it raked portions of Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan.\r\n\r\nBill and I first closed in on the storm shortly after it produced a half-mile-wide tornado in Sedalia. We had already encountered another tornadic supercell directly to its north, but opted to leave that one in favor of the tail-end Charlie to its south. Heading east down I-70, we got ahead of the storm, then exited on highway 63 in Columbia and positioned ourselves on the shoulder just south of the ramp.\r\n\r\nFrom our vantage point, we watched the storm move in. Videography has never been my strong suite, and in those days I was brand new to it and made all kinds of glaring errors. My early storm videos include generous portions of shaky zoom shots, inane commentary, grainy low-light footage, beautiful close-ups of my kneecap due to my forgetting to turn off the “record” function, and fuzzy images as the auto-focus failed to settle in on its subject. Nevertheless, there in Columbia I managed to capture a storm feature that at first glance appeared to be just a suspicious-looking rain band, but which later review confirmed to have been a large but poorly defined and brief tornado west of town.\r\n\r\nAs the storm closed in, we dropped south a bit and let the mesocyclone pass just to our north. Then we hopped back onto I-70 and blasted east with the storm. As the cell lifted northeast, we left the Interstate and hit the winding country roads, driving like madmen in a desperate attempt to keep up with the storm. Amazingly, we succeeded.\r\n\r\nThese were my pre-GR3 days, when our only radar source was the NOAA site. We didn”t know enough to know how little we knew. We had only just grasped the significance of the velocity readings, and this expedition was our first application of them. Not knowing the difference between base velocity and storm relative velocity, we resorted to base velocity.\r\n\r\nStill, despite our unsophistication on the radar, we could tell both visually and on the radar screen that our tail-end Charlie and the supercell immediately to its north were two impressive storms, each displaying a beautiful hook. As we crossed the Mississippi River into Illinois, the cells began to merge and the lightning increased dramatically from intense to incessant. Absorbing its northern neighbor, our storm gained strength as it stalked northeast across the Illinois flatlands toward Springfield.\r\n\r\n(To be continued.)

It”s another gorgeous October day in Branson, Missouri, where I”m visiting my friend Lisa and enjoying the incredible natural beauty of the area.\r\n\r\nA few days ago, a cold punch from Canada plunged much of the nation into the freezing zone and gave the Great Lakes region its first taste of winter with a solid blast of lake effect snow. Here in Branson, the temperatures dipped for a couple days, but the skies have remained relentlessly clear, and yesterday was back up in the low seventies. Today will be a repeat. Tomorrow, however, gets a bit more interesting. The area may actually have a crack at a thunderstorm or two. I check out of Stonebridge Village in the morning, but I may stick around Branson in the interest of sharing a storm with Lisa, who loves heavy weather as much as I do.\r\n\r\nNot that I expect anything major. Major was back in May, and in reminiscing, I realize that this was the year for me of the HP supercell.\r\n\r\nActually, I”ve seen a fair number of HP supercells during my tenure as a storm chaser, just not anything as utterly black and nasty as the ones in Kansas on May 22 and 23. I suppose that”s because this is the first year I”ve gone on an extended chase in the Great Plains. In any event, I”ve come to the conclusion that I hate high precip supercells. They”re too dangerous to do much with. You can”t see a bloody thing, just rain and dark shadows that might or might not mean something. My preference is to keep my distance and seek out a safe opportunity for viewing. HPs are not nice, slow-moving classic structures with clear viewing, where you can just park on the edge of the mesocyclone, set out your lawn chair, and tripod your camera. No, these storms are unruly delinquents with switchblade knives, anything but convenient. I”ll take them if I have to, but I have a lot to learn about approaching them.\r\n\r\nI figure that if even veteran storm chasers are leery of HP supercells, my best policy is to treat them with considerable caution. I like to see what”s going on in the storm environment, and I do not like core punching. Several tornadic encounters near Oberlin, Kansas, on the 22nd convinced me how easy it can be to get caught with your pants down. You can have multiple circulations. You may not have a clear view of the entire meso, and hence can find yourself focusing on one area while, concealed in rain, something else may going on that you hadn”t anticipated. You just don”t know, and you can”t afford not to know. Out of sight, out of mind is a dangerous policy in storm chasing.\r\n\r\nYou can”t count on radar, either. It”s an incredible tool, but it has its limitations. The most current radar data is still at least four minutes old, and a lot can happen with a storm in four minutes, or even thirty seconds.\r\n\r\nStrange that I”d be thinking about HP supercells on this bright autumn day. Truth is, I miss the storms. I wish we”d get one last blast before the snows fly. I doubt we will, but one can dream.

I”ve received a new date from Ed Englerth for the Monte Montgomery concert that was called off last month. Monte was scheduled to play at the Intersection in downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan, but had to cancel due to illness. Ed”s quartet, which includes me, was slated as the opening act, and since Ed hadn”t been feeling all that hot either, the postponement was timely on our account as well as Monte”s.\r\n\r\nMark this new date on your calendar: Tuesday, March 3, 2009.\r\n\r\nAt the risk of sounding cliched, this is a concert you absolutely don”t want to miss. Monte is an astonishing guitar player, rated by Guitar Player magazine as one of the top-fifty all-time greats. Come on down and find out why. I promise you, you”ll be convinced. And our little unit is pretty decent, too–well worth a hearing, I think.\r\n\r\nI hope to see you at the Interesection in March!