What I learned at the workshop....

1. Mallets made with tie died yarn are magic.
2. Perfect 4th intervals are nomads and are useful just about anywhere.
3. If you play the #9 + b13 + b9 of a dominant 7th chord it makes two perfect 4ths. Interesting. Example D7 F + Bb + Eb.
4. Playing music is very hard work and those who do it for a living have special athletic ability.

Tony: The Delaware workshop was sensational. I got sooo much out of it and I'm sooo pumped up about playing. This"total immersion" kind of workshop is really the best way to learn things. I am sooo F-in tired for all the hours I put in last week ... but I'm smiling!

This was a great way to sum up the summer!

Hi all!

As my baby and his mother are sleeping I can't play vibes and instead I play guitar.

David Friedman talked at the Delaware workshop about Jazz as a language one wants to learn. This recording of mine shall show how I speak "Jazzguitar" after about 18 years of "training" now.

Sorry, no vibraphone this time, hope you don't mind, btw the piece is called Somebody's Soul and I actually play only the comping - maybe someone wants to dub something over it?

any feed back welcome

cheers Stefan

Hey vibists.. check out this show I caught tonight: double bill with Bobby Hutcherson & Stefon Harris Blackout at Caramoor Jazz festival. It was interesting to see these guys play back-to-back (they did not jam together). Bobby is looking a lot older than last time I saw him, and moving kinda slow, but still playing great. He was with Renee Rosnes, Dwayne Burno & Lewis Nash, and the NYC A-list backup was a good setting. He did a lot of ballads, which were all killing. And boy, it was clear how much his thing paved the way for Stefon's thing.

we talked for a while about voicings at the delaware workshop which was great. but i'm wondering everyone's approach on voicings when your playing solo and in a duo with a bass player. do you guys keep the root out for the most part when your solo or not?

I had in mind a 'Summer of Good Vibes' much different from the one that happened. But this one was pretty cool, thanks to Stephen Hambright, Harvey Price, John Daly, the one and only David Friedman, Marie Noelle and all the vibes workshop people.

We can't forget the companies that helped us out. VanderPlas Baleo, Yamaha, Mike Balter and the biggest percussion dealer in the world Steve Weiss and the U.S. Embassy!!

Not vibe related, but any cats my age will go OH YEAH.

Here's my latest email from 92 year old vibe player Angelo. Man did he just design the ultimate frame? I think video is coming!

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Hi, Tony! Haven't heard from you for a while. How did your gig in Europe go?

Remember me telling you that I was working with my machinist in redisigning the
vibraphone frames (keybed & base) so that the  heavy weight of these parts are
detrimental to the vibraphonist especially for multi-gigging.