“Shuffle Vibe Blues” – a fun little song that I composed to play with a left-hand shuffle feel. It’s an AAB form with the A section being a 12 bar blues. It's a bit reminiscent of something the late great Dr. John (Mac Rebennack) would play. I enjoy his music and was listening to some of his songs recently. Gary Burton had told me about Dr. John when I was studying with Gary in the 70s.

Finally was able to play it by ear in 12 keys, thru circle of 4ths. Great exercise!
Next I want to do it in Harmonic Minor. I am teaching myself to hear chord qualities, like the ii7(b5) and minor(Maj7).

Can You Do This?

Balafon to Vibraphone: a unique path to new ideas

I wanted to share some thoughts about my balafon lessons and how they might connect to your primary instrument: vibes, marimba, piano, etc.

I've been recently working on a solo version of Bobby Hutcherson't "Little B's Poem". It's a 16 bar tune with no bridge. The form is simple but getting the feeling of the tune plus feeling good about the time and the groove have taken me quite a long time. Although I've been "dabbling" in the tune for years I feel I'm finally kind of getting it down. It's a killer. Questions like, "What should I play in the left hand?" "Should I play every change?" "Sould I comp during the solo or just play lines?" Lots of things to consider.

Playing a solo vibraphone version of a new composition titled "Minor Haven". The lead sheet can be downloaded via the link in the video description.

I am not able to play two times exactly the same and with the same attack, but I hope you can get a feeling of the sound.
It was a simple recording using ZOOM H4n on both foldable suitcase frames in my workshop.

A little late, but I'll be uploading a lot more soon.

The "short" story.