There's a new raptor in the neighborhood, I think. Today at 10:20am as I left Eberwhite School I saw a crow chasing a small hawk from tree to tree in sort of a desultory fashion. They would swirl around a little bit and perch on a couple of nearby limbs before flying off again. The hawk could be mistaken for a mourning dove except for the banded underside of the tail. Yesterday as my dog Mira and I were returning from our morning walk we heard a bunch of jays in our back yard. When we walked into the yard the jays took off chasing a bird that rose from the ground and flew off away from my on a low straight line. I just saw its' bluish gray shoulders and back, and it seemed a little bit larger than the jays. There was a big patch of jay feathers in the grass.

Here are some performances I've got coming up:

• Sunday April 23, 8pm - Jazzbones @ Kerrytown Concert House
  
• Saturday April 29, 10pm - Dean Solden Trio with Surry Scheerer @ Goodnite Gracie's
  
• Sunday April 30, 6:30-9pm - II-V-I Orchestra @ Creekside
  
• Saturday May 20, 10pm - Dean Solden Trio with Surry Scheerer @ Goodnite Gracie's
  
• Sunday May 28, 6:30-9pm - II-V-I Orchestra @ Creekside
  
• Sunday June 4, noon-5 - II-V-I Orchestra @ Taste of Ann Arbor
  

Finally, I stopped by the U of M Music School Library the other day and copied a few pages from Jamie Aebersold's book "Countdown to Giant Steps". Here is John Coltrane's "But Not For Me" MP3, PDF.