Dear all,
I'm very happy to present the " Odysseys " trailer with the amazing Alexandra Soumm on violin!
We've been playing together for over 5 years, a lot through our NGO Esperanz'Arts, and now we're so happy to show this work to all of you :-)
All the music in the trailer is live and original pieces but Odysseys includes Bartok, Sarasate, De Falla...

so, here is my second post about what I've been up to the last couple of years.

Please join vibraphonist Tom Beckham and guitarist Brad Shepik for a special evening of vibraphone and guitar music as they both debut at Mezzrow.
Beckham and Shepik dig in and explore original compositions and jazz classics with six strings and four mallets–something to like here for all music lovers, especially those who appreciate the duo format.

FEBRUARY 6, 2018

Doors open at 7 PM
Sets at 8 PM & 9:30 PM
There is a $20 music charge for this show.

Hi Everyone,
Here's the lowdown on February's Good Vibes. I'll be playing tracks by Lionel Hampton, Red Norvo, Milt Jackson and Terry Gibbs in this edition to salute these early adapters. We, players and listeners, are indebted to them for giving the instrument its jazz voice, or in this case, voices since each one has a style all his own.

Hello all – I am working on a set of pieces and the first movement is a solo vibraphone piece titled "Meditation" the piece itself will be called "Thoughts" here is a rough sketch of the first movement. I know for the "acoustic traditionalist/purist" might not like my sound as I'm trying some reverb with pickups and other little gadgets. About two years ago I started teaching an audio class; which has got me interested in everything sound!Take care and I hope all of your doing well. Jim PS I would appreciate any feedback – I'm not the super Pro, but love playing vibraphone :-)

okay, so when I first started studying in Berlin, David told me to write an etude every week. which was super challenging a couple of years ago. but seeing the progress I made through this - not only with my technical skills but also challenge myself creatively - I found it to be a great great way of making progress.

i filmed the whole thing for you. hope you find motivation and inspiration with this.

thid etude is about comping yourself with the left hand. i made this whole thing in about 30 minuets. maybe 40. so its not perfect, but you get the idea.

Hello all – I am working on a set of pieces and the first movement is a solo vibraphone piece titled "meditation" the piece itself will be called "thoughts" here is a rough sketch of the first movement. Take care and I hope all of your doing well. Jim

Correction - Think of the D mixlydian phrygian chord as a D triad with an Eb.

Attached is an example of how to play The chord part of Flamenco Sketches on the vibes.

This is one of my typical morning improvs. I decided beforehand it would be a linear improvisation IN TEMPO. That means that of utmost importance was the time.
The second important element was SMOOTH PHRASING and TONAL FREEDOM. The latter was achieved by moving through diverse tonalities, starting with, for example, an F minor scale and switching arbitrarily to , for instance, F# major.
The last "rule" I made for myself: Beginning with an idea and ending with the same idea or something else. The important thing being A BEGINNING and an END: