Last night, Steph and I saw the Dave Brubeck’s Quartet at the UB Center for Performing Arts. The quartet consist of Buffalo’s own Bobby Militello on the alto sax and flute, Randy Jones on the drums and Michael Moore on the bass.

Click here for a review of the concert. In short, it was another brilliant Brubeck concert despite the fact that Dave is 87 years old. Although Militello’s sax was quite lively and overpowering in contrast to Paul Desmond of the “classic” Quartet, it was still vintage Brubeck. Most concert-goers all concluded the same thing…the hands on the piano were those of a young Dave Brubeck. Close your eyes…there was no way it was a frail elderly pianist past his prime. And of course his signature song, Take Five, concluded the evening. I don’t think there was one dry eye in the place.

For me, this was a defining moment. Dave Brubeck was my father’s favorite jazz musician. I have many of his albums and recently upgraded my collection to include a CD version of Time Out and the Dave Brubeck Live at Carnegie Hall. I have been listening to both on my way to and from work.

Although the right side CI has one setting mainly due to the twitching problem, the left side has a program specific for music. This means it is most sensitive and allows for the broadest frequency range. For that reason, the only time to listen is when its quiet and boy, what a difference in contrast to the hearing aid. Keep in mind, all the hearing aid does is amplify sound, limited to whatever frequencies my unassisted hearing was capable of. For me, that would be starting at 500 and slowly deteriorating before dropping off the chart at 4,000. The CI is a whole different animal and goes across ALL frequencies starting at 500 and continuing consistently up to 6,000.

The most noticeable sound of the evening was the drummer’s tapping the edge of the snare drum with his drum stick. This “music” was very different from when he hit the cymbals. With the hearing aid, it sound the same.

While watching the maestro work his magic across the keys, I could distinctively pick out the notes to a point where when I eventually closed my eyes and know exactly where Dave was on the piano. With the hearing aid, I was only able to hear the middle part of the piano.

I could hear (and I mean HEAR), the strumming of the bass. With the hearing aid, I basically had to press up against the speakers and “feel” the beat.

The sax was a whole different ballgame. As Militello “roller coasted” through the notes, it was very easy to pick out the “screech” from the “fog horn”. With the hearing aid, it was basically “toot your horn”.

The best part was being able to control the volumes to be as comfortable as possible while absorbing every note. The hearing aid would sound like it was cutting out if it got too loud. I wasn’t sure if this is by design or not but it was a reason why I didn’t go to many concerts especially loud rock.

This essentially brings me almost full circle with the cochlear implant. It’s as if one needs to wonder if this is really what music is suppose to sound like. And, it made it much more enjoyable especially from someone who I grew up listening to. When Take Five came on, it wasn’t as if it sound like “I was there”…it was…”I WAS THERE”. Bru’ was just awesome….man….just absolutely awesome!

CI batteries changed; fresh ones in pouch on key-chain.
Time Out CD.
Sharpie fine point permanent marker.
Tickets.
Camera with batteries (fresh ones, of course!).
One hour to go!

ALL OF THE ABOVE….A PRICELESS MasterCard (but paid for with AMEX) moment!

Tonight was a Buffalo Implant Group (B.I.G.) meeting where I met good friend and running mate, Betsy and her friend Kristen who is contemplating an implant. Enough with Taxi, the mushy old ladies and dudes whose only topics of discussion for the evening was Medicare and Tim Hortons vs. Denny’s. I got home and in one of my yahoo groups was a posting about the new Dave Brubeck website.

Upon visiting the site, I found out that “The Greatest Living Legend” is going to be at the University of Buffalo Performing Arts Center!!!!! *BONE SHATTERING SCREAM* I actually woke up Steph out of her dream sleep to see if she wants to go. What the heck does she know about “Bru”…he aren’t C&W but so what, if she doesn’t go…Mike will…..and if he doesn’t go, maybe Elliot’s $4500 hooker will go! I bought the tickets online. Holy crapola!!!! I am going to see the Living Legend!!!! Dave Brubeck!!! Man…life is good!!!!!!

Lemme tell ya…this moment is better than Nanny’s insistence on getting home in time for Lawrence Welk! And much much much better than my sister’s Elvis Presley/Harry Belafonte/Johnny Mathis collection. And a thousand times better than my mother’s Mandel Bread. And a million times better than Grandma Mary’s cooked, “burned on the gas stove” eggplant. Enough said…I am going up to Pearly Gates to kidnap my dad! Dave Brubeck was his favorite group and if there was one moment he would return to us for, this would be it.

Look for Part 4 of the activation video tomorrow night….

Yea….Master CI the baddest DJ of all CIers. Actually, I do wonder if there is one. All right….I got a couple of comments and a few emails on where is the update I promised yesterday. Here it is and I said “More later”….but I don’t recall giving a time!

The mapping session was truly a learning experience because the Advanced Bionics rep (they call them Clinicial Service Specialists) was there. Now, this is not a knock on my audie who not only has to put up with my hour’s worth of dorky remarks but so Michelle, if you’re reading this…DON’T TAKE IT PERSONAL…you’re still the bestest!!

We actually did find out a few things that they both claim defies what they knew. One…the eye twitching in the right ear may be gone but guess what? My chin twitches!! Yup…my chin as in below my mouth, bottom of my face. I never felt it but they saw it. The eye twitching is probably due to the thickness of the wall of my right ear’s cochlear. Its probably thinner than my left that some of the residual current is leaking through. And the theory is because the P strategy is more powerful since the electrodes fire in pairs, its more like the cause. So what we did was switch around some settings and changed the t-mic from 50/50 to 100%. This allowed the sound to come in clearer and crisper but at the same time, adjusted the “window” to prevent too much sound from getting through. Because of the eye twitching, we were really limited to just one setting which is what all three programs have now.

We also did find out that my left ear being the dominant one will always be that…no matter how much we try to get the right side in balance. So we left it at that and created one master setting. Then we took that setting and made three different windows. Program 2 (middle) is my primary program for every day listening. Program 1 (down) is for lots of background noise which gets filtered out. This is great for loud places or even my office which sits on the corner of a very noisy and business intersection. And program 3 (up) is for music and has the biggest window of the three. And all three give me unlimited volume.

To test them out, we carried on conversations while switching all three and at the same time, the !@#$%@#$%!#$ noisy fan was blasting above. In program 2, I could hear it no differently than the normal person (or so they say). In program 3, it became a blasting annoying whine but the volume and pitch of the voices remain the same. In program 1, the volume and pitch of the voices became insignificantly softer but the *$%@#$$##$%#$ fan disappeared!

So in reference to the DJ comment, I am like running a sound board in the disco (my truck). No…not with Led Zep and not with Sergio Mendes but with a CD of a live recording of Dave Brubeck’s legendary 1963 concert at Carnegie Hall. With a combination of adjustments on the CD volume, the CI volume and programs I was able to get the sound to a point where I think I am actually sitting in the audience. And fully hear and understand each and every instrument. And the sound was a lot more appreciating. I could have sat in the truck all day, press the Repeat button and let the music flow but um…someone has to pay the bills!

For those of you who are Led Zeppelin fans, their newest CD/DVD set is out. Mothership is a compilation of 24 of their greatest hits. And then is their completely remastered The Song Remains the Same which includes 6 songs that were not included in the original release. This set is scheduled to be released November 20th.

And for those of you who like me with cochlear implants, just imagine how much better, and I mean how much SIGNIFICANTLY better these remasters sound compared to the original releases.

Tell your spouse, kids, parents, significant other, friends to pop over here and buy these newest releases for you, for the holidays. That is assuming you can wait that long!