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Hey All,
Here's the scoop on the September Good Vibes.
New this month - Joe Doubleday. Don't know how he escaped me for so long! If you find I'm not playing your favorite vibes player or there's someone new recording, please let me know.

Steve Nelson gets two tunes this month, from two different albums, David Friedman from his newest, a solo by Ted (Piltzecker), a standard from Terry (Gibbs), Joe on Eddie Palmieri's latest, Tony in a duet with Diane Monroe, and Dimitri Matheny's gorgeous rendering of Neil Young's "Harvest Moon" in the Where Jazz Goes mini-segment.

I had a good lesson with David Friedman at the Philadelphia workshop. We focused entirely on pedaling. David pointed out that my sound was very 'dry'. I had never really noticed it, but now I hear it every time I listen to a recording of myself.

I've attached two different practice tapes working on pedaling over "How Deep is the Ocean?" and "You Don't Know What Love Is". I'm playing with the metronome and playing mostly single notes rather than chords.

Critical feedback welcome.

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Check this out everyone.

https://jamesclear.com/lay-a-brick

Allyson sent this to me. He's the guy doing all the posting these days. He's on fire and wants to be a great vibe players.

I thought this short read really sums up the process.

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“A Time for Love” composed by Johnny Mandel – one of the great ballads by a wonderful composer. Legendary pianist Bill Evans plays a superb version of this song.

A few thoughts on solo playing as featured on this clip:

Over the last 33 years, I have worked a day job in addition to being a professional performer. During that time, the rest of my life has sometimes limited the time I spend with my instrument (a situation I have now resolved in retirement).

Out of necessity, I have learned how to practice more efficiently.

If I had known this when I was young, I would have advanced much more quickly and likely would be a far better player.

In the spirit of sharing what I know, especially with the younger performers on the site, here are my thoughts on practicing efficiently: