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Tony re-posted an older blog I wrote a couple of years ago about my experience sitting in with Bill Evans and with Milt. Reading it again reminded me that there are two more stories along this line worth telling.

There are a few teaching and practice techniques that I have questioned for years, and I wonder what other folks here at the site would have to say. I am primarily self-taught as a vibist and somewhat self-taught as an improviser. Therefore, I developed my approach to practicing and learning pretty much on instinct: whatever felt right, whatever seemed to be the most natural, became my way of doing things. This served me well in terms of vibes playing, meaning eliminating unnecessary motion -- whatever is the simplest way to play a passage is almost certainly the best way to play it, etc.

I had the great pleasure to see the Christian McBride band a couple of days ago, featuring vibist Warren Wolf. I got to know Warren casually about ten years ago when he was finishing up at Berklee, and I haven't had the chance to hear him play again until now. I knew, just from reading his name here and there that he was doing well and getting a reputation as a strong player, so I was looking forward to the performance.

ACE OF CAKES

Earlier today I was recalling my experiences with French jazz violinist Stephane Grappelly. I made one recording with Stephane and while it is far from earth-shattering, it remains a sentimental favorite of mine. I met Stephane rather serendipitously at a Newport Jazz Festival, and at the time I knew very little about him. I associated his name with the Hot Club of France, a legendary French jazz group led by guitarist Django Reinhardt, a group that came to fame in the 1930's and ended in 1939 because of World War II .

Argentina Diary 2 (cont.)

Days 5 and 6

Argentina Diary

Day 1
6:40am. I stumble off the American Airlines flight from Miami after a mostly sleepless flight. The first thing I notice is that all the airport workers are wearing medical masks and rubber gloves. Guess they’re taking the flu seriously down here. In the baggage area I am concerned because there are no carts in sight. I have five pieces of luggage (three vibes cases, two personal luggage).
[Reminder to self: call Mark, my trusty case maker in Massachusetts, and order a replacement for the large case. This one won’t last much longer.]

I just posted a comment on another blog and mentioned that I studied Alexander Technique for a couple of years when I was in my late 30's. Then I thought it might be useful to some of the musicians here to know about this approach to improving posture and understanding physical movement. It is named after the man who developed it about a hundred years ago in Australia. He went on to teach and train people in his methods leaving behind a solid network of teachers around the world. It is quite popular with actors and singers, by the way.

Hey malleteers,

We haven't had a lively discussion here at the Vibes Workshop for a week or two, so it's time to bring up a couple of perennials: Grips and Sticking. Let's start with Grips and get into sticking maybe next week.