Hello friend!

September is here, believe it or not!

In our household, we have been enjoying the bounty of the yard. With a fenced yard, the deer have not been stealing our groceries, like they have in the past. So we have been enjoying tomatoes and flowers and apples and other things that would have been budless nubs pre-fence. I have seen deer pass by the yard, perhaps the grandchildren of the bold deer that used to use our yard like a buffet. I imagine that they are giving a nostalgic tour of fine eateries: “Ah this use to be a good restaurant, but now it's boarded up, what a shame.” I am sorry for their loss, but I do feel a certain delight as they pass the gate looking like poor urchins.

August was a beautiful music full month for me. I performed at the Brecon Jazz Festival in Wales!

I saw and met some wonderful local musicians. I performed with the Glen Manby Quartet; sang with the Monmouth Big Band led by trombonist Gareth Roberts. I also sang with the wonderful Alive and Kickin' community choir led by Tanya Walker, and I did a workshop in Cardiff. It was a bit of a whirlwind of a trip and I am forever changed! The Brecon Jazz Festival has been around since 1984 and it completely transforms this usual quiet little town in to a grand musical party. The Brecon Fringe Festival happened the same week, making the seams of the town burst with activity.

I returned from Wales, and was off to Seabeck Conference Center to be a resident artist at the Seattle Center of Spiritual Living's yearly community retreat! A week full of community building, workshops, and music. I had not been to camp since I was a kid! Camp is good!

Happy to be back home now, and eager to see how the upcoming months will unfold.

Patreon 
Last month, I released a new single – Center of my Gravity –  and my Patreon Posse got the first listening. It is a delicious pop tune that was really fun to write and sing. If you haven't heard it yet, you can go to Bandcamp and listen/download. Please consider a monthly Patreon donation, this money helps immensely in creating, recording new material. There are various contribution levels. Visit Patreon

Upcoming 
On Saturday, September 30, I will be one of the Bushwick Book Club's musicians presenting an original song. This is a collaboration between Hedgebrook, Bushwick and Seattle Arts & Lectures to present “Great Minds: On the Unreliable Narrator, the Necessity of Joy, and What Doesn't Make the Cut” featuring authors Ijeoma Oluo, Sonora Jha, and Idrissa Simmonds-Nastili. I'm writing a song in response to a beautiful poem by Idrissa Simmonds-Nastili. Tickets (in-person and livestream) are available from Town Hall Seattle.

I hope that you have been blooming well where ever you be!

Thanks for reading and Do Be Fabulous!

Howdy all!

I am sitting on the sofa marveling at the natural yoga of my cat. How does that leg bend behind… never mind.

New Release
Here is  a new song that was recorded at Jack Straw Cultural Center and produced by Tim Kennedy. Center of My Gravity is inspired by  Seattle author Helen K. Thompson's short story, “Maybe This Time.” 

Wonderful personnel on this one:
Tim Kennedy - piano/keys
Hans Teuber - horns
Brad Gibson - drums
Ian Sheridan - bass
produced by Tim Hunter

Listen / download / read lyrics at Bandcamp

Travels
This month I'll be at the Brecon Jazz Festival in Wales, with two main performances if you happen to be in the area:
Aug. 11 @ Castle Hotel, Brecon 
Aug. 13 @ Theatr Brycheiniog, Brecon  

Unfortunately, these shows will not be streamed. Next post, I will be sure to include some pictures and maybe some video.  

Keep tabs on other upcoming shows at lavonhardison.com/shows

And as always, stay fabulous! 

Hello! Friend!

I have been tip-toeing thru the tulips. Took a little nap and overslept. 

I hope your relaxing time has been most satisfying!

Patreon!
I am excited to share that I have a presence on Patreon. If you like the work that I am doing now and would like to support me on my music journey, I would love to have you along for this creative ride. Please consider becoming a supporter of my Patreon. (Note: there are prizes!)
Learn more here.

Projects
One of the projects that is close to my heart is Bushwick Book Club Seattle. I love their mission:  "The Bushwick Book Club Seattle delivers literature, music, and songwriting to the Seattle community while building the next generation of musicians and readers."

I can definitely support that. My association with them has been so good for disciplining and inspiring my songwriting. What do they offer? A good book to read and a deadline to get the related song finished! Many of the songs on my EP were written as a result of Bushwick shows.

Reading a book and having to write about it makes me read more carefully. It is also a lot of fun to hear others share their musical interpretation of the book. The creative camaraderie is really inspiring. I recently participated in the reading of William Least Heat-Moon's Blue Highways: A Journey into America at Town Hall Seattle. Keep an eye on Bushwick's Youtube page for a replay of the event.

Upcoming gigs
On Saturday, June 10^th I'll be performing several sets between 5pm and 9pm at White Barn Home and Garden, 23611 NE WA-3 in Belfair, WA.

On Monday June 12th, I'll be at Brother Don's Bar and Grill, 4200 Kitsap Way, Bremerton, WA from 6-9pm

The New Traditions concert in March was sold out! For those of you who came out to that show, thank you so much! It was a lot of fun -- one of the highlights of the show for me was the opportunity to have wonderful singer-songwriter Cyd Smith open. You can learn more about her here. I also had an opportunity to perform with Cyd again at the beginning of the month in Jackstraw's Singer-Songwriter showcase. Cyd and I performed acoustic versions of songs from my new EP Earthseed! You can catch our set on Youtube.

Correction:
In my last email to ya'll I mentioned that New Traditions in Olympia was no longer having live performances in their space. Thankfully, this is not true. Live performances will still be going on at New Traditions and that wonderful space is available for rental if you are looking for space for a special event.

Projects
Earthseed is available! This 5-song EP can be found on my website and Bandcamp. Rainy Day Records in downtown Olympia is also carrying it. This project was produced by Tim Kennedy. Thank you to Jack Straw Artist Support Program for the residency that allowed me to record in their facility. I am very proud of this project. My inner songwriter finally got let off the leash and got to run around. This collection is not jazz per se, but it does have jazz influences and if you've been following my music, I think you'll see it as a natural evolution. I hope you enjoy it; I would love to hear what you think!

Patreon
The Earthseed EP is the first chapter of my new musical book and I could use your help. I am working on new songs, and I want to do more recordings of my original material and some themed shows that I'll talk about later. Would you support me financially on Patreon? Your modest contribution would be a great help to make this happen. My Patreon account will be live on April 14th and I'll send more details then.

Workshop
I am delighted to be teaching a workshop with Rev. Patric Creelman called Your Poems, Your Prayers: Giving Voice to Your Listening.  We'll come together for four evenings centered around prayer, reflection, writing, silence, music, and sharing poems to inspire you on our spiritual journey. Let's share our favorite poems and prayers and write new ones as we explore what our souls have to say.

When: Wednesdays, Apr 26-May 17, 6:30-8:00 pm PT

Location: Center for Spiritual Living Fellowship Hall, 6318 Linden Ave North, Seattle (this is an in-person class)

Learn more and Register here: http://bit.ly/3MrCryW

Select Upcoming Gigs:

April 17th: Brother Dom's, Bremerton 6-9 pm

April 26th: Your Poems, Your Prayers: Giving Voice to your Listening with LaVon Hardison and Patric Creelman, at Center for Spiritual Living, Seattle 6:30-8pm (first of four weekly workshops)

May 14th: A Musical Celebration of Mother's Day with LaVon Hardison and Chava Mirel, at Center for Spiritual Living, Seattle 6:30-8 pm

View full calendar

Lately, I have been procrastinating. I look at my "to-do" list and suddenly hear the siren call of a Youtube rabbit hole that promises to be much more delicious and adventuresome than the task at hand. Anything better than that thing that needs doing is where I want to be. That pan in the sink meant to soak for scrubbing lately is suddenly the most critical work in the world. Does that happen to you? Mentally berating myself into a productive mode never works; following my monkey's dictate doesn't help either. So what to do in these moments? If I am not on a deadline, take a breath. Or a nap.

The power of naps is deeply underestimated in our society. I believe that cats are their visiting missionaries.

If I am on a deadline, I still take a breath to loosen that noose of perfectionism choking the natural unfoldment of what is mine to do. Perfectionism (excessively high standards with a dash of self-criticism) is a type of paralysis that can rob one of joy and focus. It certainly does for me! So in those moments of procrastination,  I embrace imperfection. Just get the task done, it may be messy and not ideal, but it is movement in the right direction. For me, positive action is better than stagnation. So friend, when you are feeling frozen in place by procrastination, be kind to yourself and gentle and allow the lesson of imperfection to unfold.

What I am reading/watching
At the beginning of February, I had an opportunity to hear author Ross Gay read his recent book, Inciting Joy, as part of Seattle Arts and Lectures. He is a beautiful writer and speaker, and poet and his prose flows poetically. I got his book and just started the introduction, and I am ready to buy into the journey: an exploration of joy. 

Upcoming  shows

Some fun shows are coming up in March-see the calendar for details. Here are a few highlights:

March 4th at Traditions, tickets are still available. Traditions will be booking shows til the end of March, and then they are taking a break from offering live music for a while. The fantastic store will continue. Tickets available at Traditions

On March 11th, I will perform with some excellent Seattle-based vocalists, Einah Jordan and Jacqueline Tabor. We will be performing at the WEAVE performance venue. These award-winning vocalists are outstanding, and I am honored to share the stage with them. You can learn about them and hear their music on their websites: Elnah Jordan | Jacqueline Tabor

I recently watched an amazing documentary about  legendary bassist Ron Carter called Finding the Right Notes. Mr. Carter has had an amazing career as an educator and sought-after bassist who has played with jazz and pop royalty. He is the most-recorded jazz bassist in the world according to the Guinness book of World Records with over 2,000 documented recorded projects. 

I found the documentary inspiring and deep. Mr Carter thinks about music on a whole different level than your average musician. And while his musicianship is stellar, his character and professionalism are epic. Scholar and gentleman. 

This newly released documentary can be found online at 
https://www.pbs.org/show/ron-carter-finding-right-notes/ 

Projects
I'm wrapping up the new CD of original songs, and I am very happy with the results and looking forward to sharing with you! Watch for news on CD release parties in Seattle and Olympia in February. 

Goodbyes 
Music for me does not happen in a vacuum. Any progress that I have has involved the encouragement and mentor-ship of others. This month the Olympia jazz community says goodbye to one of its elder statesmen, Mr. Joe Baque at the young age of 100! Joe was a phenomenal piano player, teacher and coach. When I was baby jazzer I would go over to his house and he would teach me how to "sing" a song, how to listen to the musical conversation, how to work with an accompanist, how to phrase, how to get out of the way and when to be quiet and wait for the right moment. And man he could swing. I am so grateful that our musical paths crossed and I was able to benefit from his wisdom and his musical heart. Thank you Joe. 

Some of you have asked when more public performances will show up the calendar; I've got a few more gigs this year (see calendar), and 2023 will bring more dates fer sure! I am available for private gigs, life celebrations, weddings, sacred gatherings and the like, so give me a holler. 

Stay fabulous! 
~LaVon