Moving to Chicago.....I need help!!!!

I need help........If you didn't all ready know....I am in graduate school this summer in Dekalb, IL at Northern Illinois University. I will be in the jazz studies program for the next 2 years full time. graduate students don't really get paid much! I have kinda moved all ready from Florida, eventhough it is still in my heart, but I really move it all in August of this year. I will be taking all of my stuff to Illinois. Somethings I will not be able to take,..i.e. like my bed, computer desk, etc.. I will have to get new things to supplement. So, I was thinking that if anyone wanted to CONTRIBUTE to the cause please do so by going to www.walmart.com and looking up my wish list. All you have to do is input my name Jarritt Sheel into the fields and then put Dekalb for the city and Illinois for the state I know that emailing people personally to solicit for funds is shadey!!! So, if you would like to contribute please do so and I wll be very gratefully for that gift. If at all A(n) email from anyone of you will do some good. I miss the crib! I appreciate all the support, and hope to talk to you soon!

POEM

This day and Time
Tippy toeing down the stairs
SHE began to realize
The world was a bigger place
It wasn't small as a bread box nor big as the universe
But big all the same
SHE stared in the mirror
And peered into HER own eyes
Pupils widening with transfixed glare
Listening to a kettle boiling over

SHE turns HER attention to the willows outside of HER window
Contemplating opening the glass SHE is looking thru
Hooked in place SHE is
Like a 160 pound marlin off the coast of New Guinea
The rhythm of the weeds is reeling HER in
The thicket waves to HER
Mocking HER
The sound of waves crashing invites HER in
Mesmerizing HER and hypnotically putting HER in a trance
SHE finally wakes up
Standing on the edge of reality and allusion
One foot here and one foot there
SHE steps forward into the light

SHE blinks and blinks
Blinks, blinks, blinks, blinks...
And then carefully widens here glance to see the beach
Waters sparkling and salty smells of brine and fresh air swirling all around
Delighting HER nose
Sunshine beaming down on HER
At that very moment SHE realizes that the WORLD was a bigger place than she once believed
It is bigger than a bread box and smaller than the universe
SHE is okay with that


This is a original poem. I hoped you liked it. Peace and God Bless!
Sincerely,


(Signature here)

Jarritt A. Sheel
President /CEO/ Chairman of the Board

Corinne Bailey Rae: Hot new british songtress

I rarely cosign on a review by some balding guy hunched over a desk in the middle of the midwest or new york, but I must affirm the fact that this young lady is the new hottness eminating from the land across the Bigg Water=Atlantic (England...cherri-oo). I actually, true story ..., recieved a ad from Borders today, yeah I am a book club fan...I read,...so! Anyways, I saw this very beautiful (gorgeous,...and I would love to kick it with her) young lady on this the flyer in the music section and thought I should google her name, ......come on you never did it before...whatever..., and see what comes of it. I immediately got her website information, and clicked on it. I actually really liked the website, so shouts out to the designer, and everything on the site really seems to point to the fact that she is a great new voice out there. Grant it, I am not saying that she has invented the wheel or discovered fire, but different and refreshing she is! I listened to all the tracks available on the site and read her bio and was impressed.
I love Erykah, Jill, Joss Stone, Amiel, Mary, Chaka, and the list goes on and on, but this young lady has something special, unique that draws you into her and makes you want to listen to the rest of the lyrics. This is a unique talent that not many singers/composers have, and yes she writes her own music, the ability to emphasize the lyrics. I guess that comes from the fact that she has a degree in B.S. English from Leeds university, yeah she is Edumakated...lol. As a member of the listening public, I must admit that 80% (made up stat) listening to music can only "hear" on one level, and that is the melody or a particular sound (instrument). Corinne has found her voice, and that really is what makes you hear it all, because she has more than just an idea of what she wants to say. She knows how to say it to you! Her voice is pure and just like her comments about her music,

"a little bit of everything: it's chilled out, acoustic, kooky, atmospheric and soulful. I'd also be tempted to say it comes from a very organic place, but that would sound pretentious, so I won't."
-Corinne Bailey Rae

this young lady is bound to be a success if she keeps writing great tunes and stys true to her roots. this one is a winner you'll. So, make sure you go out and buy the CD or better yet visit her site and download it for 8 dollars! Support good music, and visit her site at..........
http://www.corinnebaileyrae.net/


Sincerely,

(Signature here)

Jarritt A. Sheel
Chairman, CEO, President

Clearly ..I ...ain't in Kansas anymore!

I write this to say, I finally realized the other day that I was not...in kansas anymore! This statement is just a declarative one...not a rant, but more of a exclamation mark with words attached! It is very clear to me, that my going to graduate school is not only going to just be a academic exercise, but also a social experiment in my intergration. I have never been this far removed from my people. Let me first and foremost explain to you whom my people are. I am African-American, but I mean that phrase in more of a overall southern/south florida way. As we all know, south florida is the melting pot of the south. We, have every race, nationality, and sexuality imaginable. So, when I say ..."Dorothy....we ain't in kansas no more..." I really meant I was in a totally different social demographic. I am the only black in my Graduate music classes this summer and probably will be one of a few in the fall and spring. ore over I am the only non-married non-educator in the group. yet this things do not segregate me from them, but rather them from me. I feel a little out of place, but this too shall pass! I offer up a prayer and take a deep exhale to clear my lungs.

I digress,.....it is just different up here in the land that Lincoln made! That is great in so many ways and bad in others. I like the fact that I am different. I think that difference has made me grow to like being a southerner even more than before. In comparison to the speech of many people I have met thus far, my southern vernacular is melodic. I find that many of my black sisters and brothers are a little standoffish and that the my caucasian brothers and sister are more apt to start a dialog with me. This is the absolute opposite of the racial dynamic where I come from. Clearly I aint in Kansas no more! LOL! This will make,...hopefully...my experience focused and allow me the clarity to learn what my strengths and weaknesses are. Cypher what my path should be and how to get there efficiently. Kansas, like all mental distinations are only a hop, skip, and a daydream away. I will forever have home, but now it is time to seek new dreams and new experiences to build my fantasys on. I must capture ideas that are sound and interesting, above all resting on the foundation of reality. Music is my love and passion. I pray that this situation give me the ability to facilitate my develop in music education, and my own independent musicianship to prosper!

Sincerely,

(were my signature would be)

Jarritt A. Sheel
President/Chariman/CEO

Derrick Jackson & LaKeisha Douglas Wedding

Breaking news ladies and gentlemen,.....it has just come of the presses and apparently,....hold on a minute....it is definitely confirmed that ....

Mr. Derrick J. Jackson (IL) and Ms. LaKeisha Douglas (MI) are to wedd this weekend in Atlanta Georgia!

Congratulations are in order and definitely gIve them a call or email them your best wishes! I will post on this blog some photos from the wedding for those of you that won't be able to attend! I am so happy for the bride and groom! God bless them and best wishes!

The time has come!

The time has come...next week thursday I really move to Dekalb, IL. I'm flying ou of Fort Lauderdale International to Midway in Chicago. I will be starting my graduate studies at Northern Illinois University. It still really hasn't hit me yet. I am still kinda dealing with my friend's death (Marques Adams) and still getting aquinted with being back in Fort Lauderdale(I loved being home Mom). I haven't been here really long enough to get totally depressed about leaving, but long enough to miss it when I am gone. I will miss the people, places, things that comprise the city and the culture. Since thanksgiving last year I have been kind of looking for the next big thing in my life. After the Halftime Live thing fell apart I have been searching for meaning and purpose. It fell in my lap, sort of inconpsicously, in the form of graduate school. Something that I would never have thought possible. I figured that I would find my own thing to do. I'm not saying,...that I can't hack it, but that it wasn't really a plan of mine. It has been a short and intense road to this step. I am on the verge of tackling a beast, and in the form of a stumbling white girl in any B-horror film, this time my friends .... I can't turn around to save her. This is to say that I have to make the best of this chance. I can't let any one person or thing hold me from completing this task. I want to be a better person, musician, leader, man, but first annd foremost I have to be true to myself and beliefs and study my ass off. I have to put school right behind God and family. Music is included in school though ...so don't worry...lol!

Some of you, that know me remember the days that I said,

" I am done with school after this....yeah done".

What really changed my mind was when my friend Edmond L. Randle passed away in Iraq about three years. I then knew that I had to have purpose with everything that I did....well atleast the best of my ability. He was so talented and smart, but that didn't matter. He had such a future ahead of him, but that did't matter. I looked%

Miami's Finest 

Marquez Adams: Definition a fantatsic musician, great person, wonderful friend, humble artist, and he had soul. We will all miss you in the coming hours, days, weeks, and months. He was my road dawg while I lived and played in Atlanta for Halftimelive. It is unbelievable how such little things can change everything. May God bless you and your family in their time of need. We will definitely miss your courage and musicianship, and most of all you, the person! I will miss you alot Marquez Adams......Reping 3.0.5. during a studio session in ATL for Dallas Austin ( Doppler studio) 

I just want to take this time out and send blessings to all those that came before me. Tomorrow,...no matter what your stand is on the war or America/ geopoitical climate. We must all (as Americans) take timeout and remember those fallen soldiers, and veterans. I must thank God for putting these people in my life; people like Edmond L. Randle Jr. God Bless him, and his family. It has been atleast 3 years and it seems just like yesterday that I spoke with him. A true definition of a soldier. Hubba hundred and a real H.O.O.D. & Screamin Demon. I still miss my partner in crime. What a lost, but remember that these heros gave their tomorrows..... for our todays...think about it! Peace! 

Damn Straight

Damn Straight

I am so very glad that I am alive. I praise God everyday, and thank him for everything I got. I rejoice in the day that he has made for me. I wake up everyday, take a breath and think to myself .....I have it made. I am not a rich man nor a very handsome guy. I think that I ride the middle of the road, but I am so very thankful for all that I have. I could be in so many places other than where I am now. I mean "I could be in" in a esoteric way. I could be in a physical or mental state that I am not today. I think that we all should be happy everyday, even when it is rough in those streets. Be happy .....smile and make sure you know why you are rejoicing. Let your inner light shine. Letting your's shine will automatically tigger others to do the same. Be blessed( meaning allow it to happen) and blessings will abound within you, without any provocation or cause. It is great to be alive now,...right now in this moment. relish it because you can never get it back. This moment here with forever be different than any other one in history. Damn straight I like being me, and you should love being yourself also.

,Sincerely

(Imagine the signature here)
Jarritt Sheel

I have finally made my decision.... and I will be in Dekalb Illinois this Fall 2006 for grad school. I am excited,... so,... you should be too. Where ever I go, thereby goes my real friends. Opportuities are abundant. God bless you all and keep in touch. Peace! 

Delta Iota Kappa Kappa Psi Alumni (L-R) Jarritt Sheel, Vince Gardner, Elijah Thomas after Linconln Center Jazz Orchestra performed at the Kravis center in Palm Beach 

Just have faith...and leave the rest to God

I was reminded that you should have strong faith in all that you undertake, and the things that you can't really get a grasp on, you should leave up to God. It is a amazing experience to see things come to fruition. I got to meet Wynton and ride in his limo to the concert, I was able to chill and talk to everyone in the Lincoln Center trumpet section. I hung out backstage and breifly talk with Ryan Kisor and Marcus Printup. Can you believe that all this happened? What is actually more unbelievable is the fact that these people are really, really nice. Eventhough this is ...jazz ( Not as commercial successful $$ as Rock or Pop) ....there are some musicians that have their ass on their shoulders for you to kiss, but these giants in the big band scene did not. They were all very low-key and humble. It was awe inspiring to see that. I really appreciated the fact that these people were so cordial and that they seemed... to atleast be interested in what I had to say or answer the questions that I had for them.

"Today....I go to jail ....and there is not turning back"....ooppps, my bad I have been watching the commercials for Lil Kim's show Project Lockdown on BET too much. On the serious tip though, I will be able to chill with Printup, Kisor, Gardner, etc...who knows, but it is a possibility. Amazing what happens when you just have faith...and leave the rest to God. I say that one day I would be able to sit and talk to these very people. I always dreamed it and wanted ti tfor myself. Now a days....I think more along the lines that I will play with these people on a album to be discussed at a later date....??? LOL.

God is amazing, when you count him out ...funny thing....HE never....counts you out. I am not saying that I am on my way to fast fame nor riches, but I do believe that having faith and doing the works that should support that faith, is very important in making things happen in your life. Life is wonderful and I don't believe that I would change a thing, even in the dark times when I thought all was lost. I would never go back and change a thing, because I would not be the man I am today. I like who I am and want to continue in this vein of discovery God has led me on. I believe that I'm about to strike Gold...Gold ...I tell you. LOL.

So, with all that said. Keep our eyes open for pictures of me taking a lesson or hanging out with the LCJO. Peace and definitely ...GOD Bless!

Mr. Willie Pyfrom, Mr. Elijah Thomas, and Mr. Vince Gardner backstage during and intermission.  

The end of the show at the Kravis Center 

One of my best friends who came to the concert with me David Morrison and the talented Mr. Wynton Marsalis..aka... Skain 

Jarritt Sheel, James Zollar, & Ryan Kisor 

(L-R) Ali Jackson( Set), James Zollar, Sean Jones, Ryan Kisor and in the back playing the tuba is Andre hayward 

Vince Gardner and Delfeayo Marsalis handling those hard parts Wynton wrote. 

Lincoln center Jazz Orchestra's Trumpet section at the Kravis Center in Palm Beach, FL