Vibraphone

Gary and His M48 Cases: Here's How Gary Travels!

Any vibe players around Tuesday night August 14th? We're trying to start an all night vibe night at Chris' Jazz Cafe here in Philly. 7-10 will feature myself, Behn Gillece and Randy Sutin. 10-2 opens the Jam Session.

Hope some of you can come out!

...or something like that, is what Tony said as he decided which of us would get the three Mike Balter t-shirts at the 2012 UDel Vibes Workshop. I guess he was right because when I wore my shirt for the first time today, the cashier at the grocery store asked "So who is Mike Balter?". Aha, a golden opportunity to enlighten another poor soul missing out on the wonderful world of vibraphone!

Hi everyone,
Considering purchasing a new Yamaha vibe. Currently looking at the 2700 series. David Friedman and I have been chatting a bit, and he encouraged me to consider the 3710 vibe as well. I would love folks thoughts and opinions about the following..

The Delaware Workshop last week was great. The instructors were patient, but they pushed us. The playing was (always) enthusiastic and (sometimes) superb, and the opportunity to learn from other students by playing duets, by getting and giving critique, that was priceless. The Afro-Cuban presentation by Gina Ferrara on authentic Ghanaian marimba, and the xylophone show Sat night were awesome showing a wide range of mallet music. So I return home inspired to practice and play gigs.

Practice:

I just attended my first workshop (Jazz improv on the vibes) with Tony Miceli, Benh Gillece and David Friedman in Delaware. As a relative newcomer to the instrument I wasn't quite sure whether the workshop was for me. That doubt was removed within the first few minutes of meeting everyone and working with the group. There was a wide variety of talent and interests, yet it seemed to work for everyone. All of the masters made sure no one gets left behind, and while I can't speak for the very advanced players, I think they also got a lot out of the week.

If you missed this year's Vibes Workshop at the University of Delaware, you missed a lot. This was the third one and in many ways, I think it was the best one yet. Tony gave us some solid playing ideas and techniques while David Freidman took us through solo playing using an exercise he made up on the spot - totally amazing. Behn Gillece dropped in one afternoon to provide some instruction too.