I just read that Joe Cuba died yesterday on Sunday, February 15th. I only knew of Joe from his hit "Bang Bang" and that was the result of Cal Tjader covering it on Cal's Primo album (David Sanborn also covered it among others). The obituary mentioned that his bands were vibraphone-driven, so that piqued my curiosity to go to Youtube and see what was there to be viewed.

When I heard Joe's tune Sword of Whispers I fell in love with it. I had heard it on cd, but I must have been doing something else while listening to it. I stopped and watched his video and just fell in love with the tune.

So I started messing around with it. It changes, I hope he doesn't mind. He had some 3 bar phrases in it. I wanted to play the tune so bad that I didn't worry about that and just made everything even.

This clip sounds like a Balaphone to me. Is it? Or is it a Marimba?

I got this clip from an LP I found recently and I am converting to MP3. See if you can guess or know the following:

- Song Title
- Band
- Percussionist

Barry

Hey guys Last night I went to dizzys club in new york and saw joe locke perform and it was really amazing! Joe has such a beautiful sound and approach to the vibes and the music. If you are in the area you should go see the show! He is there through sunday!

I was logged in the site this morning and I was just amazed of how much information is up now. There are so many things to work on that is just overwhelming.

I'll be playing with Gina and her group this Sunday.

We'll be here: http://www.mogulus.com/mallet_channel

My mentor and buddy Steve Giordano sent me this. I was watching it and I wanted to show this to you guys.

I learned more about the vibraphone from Steve than from anyone else including any vibe player. This is truly how I want to play the vibes. Whether I got it or not, this is what I'm going after. That's why I say this instrument is like a guitar or trumpet to me.

Just listen to him play and think about the sound on the vibes, the concept etc. It fits perfectly doesn't it?

I'm going to do an internet duo with him the end of March.

Wow, people are getting involved. That's so cool. I love it. Keep going!

I'm making a solo vibes piece out of Joe's Sword of Whispers. I think I'll video it Tomorrow and post it. Then I'll write it out and make it available for anyone who wants to check it out.

Also doing a video duet of one of my tunes. Using the green screen.