www.vibesworkshop.com

What an incredible workshop we had at the VanderPlas Baileo factory. From the tuning of the bars, to dampening and pedaling, to how to play the instrument to how to improvise, we covered a lot of ground this week. It was so much fun.

We had people from a lot of countries including France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Slovania, Bulgaria, Canada and more. That makes it so cool to me. The fact that all these guys are heading back to their countries with knowledge and inspiration and will further the cause of getting the good vibes out there is a thrill to me.

The great German vibe player Florian Poser showed up at the beginning of the workshop to hang out with us and I had a ball playing duo with him. Then David came and Frits Landesbergen and we spent the weekend talking and playing the vibes. He had his student Holger with him. Holger is on his way to being a great player!

The great thing about this workshop was being together all day and into the night. Most days ended with the ordering of food to be delivered to the factory, so we were around the vibes all day and night! We listening to music, watched videos and just got into the instrument and life!

Tjaco had a baby boy, so he couldn't join us, but we had a 'NEW Tjaco': vinnievibes! He helped us so much, was driving everyone around and helping us order food. And Vinnie is an up and coming Dutch player we should all look out for! He sounds good! We heard a track from his CD which was great as well!

I know I'll forget someone but I'll add them to the comments later! There were a lot of people coming through the workshop! It was great to hear Dimitir (JIM THE VIBES) and Vid and to see our dear queen Marie! I learned about the tango from Gael a great classical player from Quebec and learned about dollars from Frans. My best buddy John Daly was here wowing everyone with his brush work on the drums!

On our vibe hang it was great to see how some of these guys progressed during the week. Jordi from the Canary Islands played great! And Frans who is new to playing jazz really did a good job. Jordi is a great latin percussionist who is adding vibes to his arsenal! Frans is in the world of dollars who uses vibes to just chill out. You know what, Frans is the European Barryk I think. Marie played a blues for us as well. Man all these vibe players from moms, to timpanists to percussionists to economists! Wow!

Then Alexander Radziewski who is a timpanist from Hamburg came with his wife who was super hip and really helped us on during the last days of the workshop. 2 really cool people.

A couple people couldn't make. Ben Redders from Scotland couldn't get a flight out because of the snow. And the one and only Tarik had too many gigs!! We missed these guys!

Vinnie and Frits brought in some of their students for parts of the workshop and they are really talented players! Getting to play duo with Frits was a lot of fun! He's a great player!

David Friedman is the man! I worshipped as a young vibe player so to get to hang and play with him now is so incredible for me! I love this guy, and dig every moment I spend with him. He's a great player and a great and funny person. I'm sure everyone loved him and learned a lot from him. He's a great teacher and of course a great player.

And of course we couldn't have had such a great week without Nico and his hospitality and his wonderful instruments! Each day we'd arrive at 9:30 and he'd have coffee for us and then we'd work all morning. Lunch time we'd head into the kitchen and there was lunch all spread out on the table. It was great. We had plenty of great instruments of course and a few places to practice so we were all set.

I hope all the people who came had a great time and especially learned a lot! That's the most important thing for me. You know these guys invest time and money to come to this workshop and it's important that they go home with something of equal value! We worked hard so I think everyone was satisfied!

The workshop ended and I hung out last night with Dimitri and Gael playing and having dinner at the factory!
Then today as if all that wasn't enough I hung out with Vinnie and Dimitri, we played some tunes and had lunch.
Me and Dimitri played Yardbird Suite through all the keys after Vinnie left for a gig. 3 choruses each, so that took us about 45 minutes. That was a work out!

So I have a recording with a great band here tomorrow and then Thursday I'm back home which I am ready for! I miss home! But man what a great week. Really heavy in so many ways!

Thanks guys for a great week!