I have just returned from Salzau, where I have seen our dear member joe Locke for the fourth time in a row today. I've seen him with Geoffrey Keezer, Terreon Gully and Mike Pope and sharing a stage with Bobby Hutcherson. A year later he played with Jonathan Kreisberg presenting the "Sticks and Strings" repertoire. Last year he played with the "Force of Four" band and in a project called "Percussion Discussion" that featured a tap-dancer - Mr.Chestnut.

I saw a recent subscriber arriving among us... Jean Gigot is from Belgium and speaks French. I have know idea where he comes from and so naturally I wonder... well...

Who is Jean Gigot? Huh?

When I first heard the Steps Ahead album back in the eighties I was floored. Mike took the vibes into brand new territory! I'm a huge fan and today is his birthday so why don't all us VW cats wish him happy birthday.

This guy is an Indian version (He is from India, right?) of the guy from Las Vegas. We have his vids on the site also. These guys are entertainers. To be honest when I was the lights I had a second where I Thought, hmmmm, maybe that is cool?

I had a show with my first wife where we had a black light on stage and I had the edge of my sharp bars colored with dots of glow paint. So maybe people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones, huh?

Also coming to mind are times in my life where I was so poor that I would done anything to make a buck.

Cop it!

I thought this was interesting. To me it means that the process of learning to be great on this instrument should be more exciting than actually being great on it.

I've always loved practicing and studying music more than anything.

Which ties in with another quote. Some asked Pablo Casals why he still needed to practice long hours at age 80. He said 'Because I have the notion that I'm getting better.' That kills me!!!

So what does that quote mean to you?

This guy is a character and a real trip, it seems. Watch the video and watch towards the end when the shot pulls out on his vibes.

See the castors? so these just stand up and roll. Also they're electronic.

So this cat is in india trying to eek out a living and make this instrument work with his music as well as pop music. He's added some quarter tones. Seems like he's smart.

I was checking this out. I dig this guys hands. They seem pretty fluid to me. He's improvising the piece and I like his melodies also. he studies at Peabody under ??? Van Sice a great percussionist and teacher.

This tune had me playing late last night. Couldn't get enough of it. It was the same when I was playing "Song For Meg", when I first got the lead sheet.

BTW, the Tony Miceli MODEL mallets just play by themselves. I just have to hold them. They are that amazing.

Barry