aberkok

1. Angela Duval - a great teacher...and my wife

2. Thelonious Monk - no introduction needed, created his own truly individual voice, somehow completely based in tradition, somehow completely different

3. John Coltrane - kept pushing and pushing himself through new barriers of music

4. Harvey Pekar - comic writer - the most down-to-earth person I can think of... completely accessible while inspiring me to look for new areas of art to explore - he's the person who truly got me to grow up in my reading - in case you don't know, he's the subject of the film American Splendor

5. Vijay Iyer - musician - he helped me to dash a fear of intellectualizing my music learning and making, and showed me a way into the tradition post 1965 - he also helped me to begin exploring a truly personal voice - his music is great and relevant

__________________
!check out my new blog! http://arkanamusic.wordpress.com

Warden Gentiles: "It? Perfectly innocent. But I can see how, if our roles were reversed, I might have you beaten with a pillowcase full of batteries."