Hi Folks--

One of the things I've really enjoyed about this site is that it seems to be free of the helpful-to-some, boring-to-most questions about gear that riddle the vibenet. Mostly we're really talking about music and how to make it on a vibraphone over here, and I think that's fantastic. That said, with the vibenet down for the count, here's an insufferable question about gear, complete with ebay links!

Well as I'm watching all my gigs slow up in this awful economy, I'm wondering how I'm going to handle this and hang on until things pick back up.

Then I was reading 'Pet Owners' Quarterly and I saw an article that's about to change my life I think. There's a demand for turtle models and actors. Apparently the Ninja turtles are going to make a comeback.

So I began training my new pets that my wife brought home to make a few bucks and help out around the house.

I added some post recording effects on Just Friends. Thought I'd post it. I did this after I did my 'analysis' on the tune.

Some more analysis from the street! Just my take on 'Just Friends'.

This is a nice clip in the recording studio featuring vibist Charlie Shoemake. I know that he did a stint with the George Shearing Quintet back in the day and is a great player you don't really hear that much about. He's with the Bill Holman Big Band with a typically awesome Holman chart on the tune "This I Dig Of You", written by Philly-born tenor man, the late Hank Mobley.

Here's a video of Dutch vibist Frits Landesbergen with Trio Rosenberg. Performing a great "Django" like tune!

NB: go to 1"20 to switch the dutch intro speach if you feel like! :o)

Smoking vibes solos and vibes/guitar discussions!

Enjoy!

Frits is one of the cats in Holland. A great player. He's also partners with Nico Vanderplas and they're now making the best vibraphones in the world. That is according to Joe Locke and John Piper. And Frits plays his 'you know what's' off. Check out this video.

If the vibes are half as good as Frits plays, look out.

I went to college and have a degree. However some of the best learning I did was off the street. Listening to musicians teach tunes to each other. That's a true lesson in analysis! Someone on a bandstand teaching a tune to a bass player in a about a minute. That always blew me away and I learned a ton from that.