StickNews Digest Issue #271 - 02/02/05

An online digest about The Chapman Stick® published by Jim Reilly.

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CONTENTS:
INTRO
  • All aglow after the seminar.
BITS AND PIECES
  • Seminars in Italy, the Midwest and East Coast.
  • Cool Dry Place and Darktown Saints hitting the stage.
  • String Planet busier than ever.
  • NEW STICK - NEW STICK - NEW STICK!
  • WIKI Stickists.
LESSON TIME
  • Steve Adelson's spine is in great shape.
  • Chris Crain taps like Bob.
  • Ron Baggerman shares his music.
TUNES AND TALES
  • Take a trip without leaving home.
  • A wonderful Dutch seminar.
A WANDERING STICKIST RETURNS HOME

Hello All,

Home again, home again. The 2005 Western Canada Stick Retreat is officially in the bag and after a couple good nights sleep, some unpacking and a couple of loads of laundry it's time to reflect on another wonderful Stick event. And what can I say - a beautiful setting, old friends, new faces, great music, another outstanding experience. Much thanks to Jim Meyer for going above and beyond the call once again, Karen for the warm hospitality and home cooking, Greg for the hard work, inspiration and dedication, the folks at the Haven, who treated us like old friends, all the participants who once again amazed me with their dedication, skill and willingness to push their own personal limits and the folks at the White Hart Pub, Queens Hotel and Duncan Garage Showroom for providing stages and enthusiastic audiences.

There were many specific highlights and I look forward to hearing other's reports as they come in but I have a couple I'd like to share. First, simply the music that is coming out of these seminars is amazing. I've had the pleasure to watch players like Qua Veda and Jim Meyer find their voices on The Stick over the last few years. At the Saturday evening concert the attendees performed. Watching the 'students' take the stage and share their music with us with confidence and grace is simply wonderful.

Greg and I played a couple of shows before the seminar. After the Duncan show a young guy named Brady came up to us and said that he was blown away by The Stick and wanted to play it. We told him about the seminar, he was interested. I gave him Jim Meyer's number not expecting him to actually call (the seminar started the next day) but he did, arranged to borrow a Stick, showed up the next day and by the end of three days was performing with the rest of us at the White Hart.

I could go on but I'll wrap up with one last story. This one is about friends. Old friends, many of whom I've been see at seminars regularly for almost 10 years, new friends who I met for the first time on Gabriola, and friends who I hadn't seen for a while who showed up on the Island. Nathan Aswell organized the first Vancouver Stick seminar in 1996. It was there that I met other Stick players for the first time, realized that I actually knew how to play the thing and met Greg Howard. In short, Nathan's event was my first giant leap into the Stick community and I thank him for that. I had seen him since '96 but he showed up on Gabriola with his NS Stick, shared his humour, his music and his incredible voice, bringing down the house with Scott Schurr and their vocal duet on The Beatles 'Come Together.'

So now summer is fast approaching. As I look down at the list of announcements and events below I really, really encourage everyone to get out there, share their music in whatever way they can. Check out a show, support live music, play your Stick.

Take care,
Jim

SO MUCH TO SEE, HEAR AND DO

From: cul2 [cul2@sbcglobal.net]
Subject: National Italian Stick Seminar, (Convegno Nazionale Dello Stick)
Date: Sun 01/05/2005

On May 27-28-29 Virna Splendore will be hosting the National Italian Stick Seminar. Instructors Bob Culbertson and Andre Pelat will be teaching daily classes with focus on individual needs. For a new addition to this event all students will be encouraged to e-mail specific questions and requests to the teachers Bob and Andre before the seminar. This will allow the teachers to prepare both customized curriculum and grouping students. There will be an emphasis on performance. All students will have the opportunity to perform for the group and have the teachers critique and add suggestions. All levels are welcome. Virna Splendore along with Bob And Andre will be giving a master class on Sunday afternoon. Tuition is 160 euros. Attendance is limited to 20 participants for more individual attention! Seminar will take place at the Academy Vivaldi di Bollate Seminar begins on Friday with orientation Afternoon class 2:30- 5:30. Sign up is from 11:00-1:00. Please contact Virna if you intend to arrive on Saturday. Saturday class begins at 10:30 until 5:30 with a lunch break. Sunday 10:30-12:30 with an afternoon master class. Cost 160 euros. Seminar will be limited to 20 persons for more individual attention. Virginia Splendore - tel. 335 53 87 920 - email: virna@stickist.com Also included will be an evening teachers concert

Website in Italiano bobculbertson.com/html/itallian.htm
Website in English bobculbertson.com/html/italy.htm


From: Glenn Poorman [glenn.poorman@autodesk.com]
Subject: 2005 Midwest Stick Seminar Reminder
Date: Fri 29/04/2005

Hi All,

Just a friendly reminder that the 2005 Midwest Stick Seminar will be taking place over the weekend of June 3-5 and there is still plenty of space available.

Both Greg Howard and Bob Culbertson will be here to give two full days of instruction to players of all skill levels. This is a great opportunity to study with two of the masters and also to hang out with a bunch of other Stick players and hear some great music.

Check out the seminar website at www.detroitstick.com/words/events/seminar2005 for more details.

Glenn


From: Jeremy Nesse [miahprod@yahoo.com]
Subject: Cool Dry Place News
Date: Tue 26/04/2005

Things are cooking after our residency at Club Good Hurt in March so thank you for coming out to the shows! Our music's been recently used in two MTV reality shows - Wanna Come In? and Score and is soon to be in Road Rules and The Real World - probably in a scene where guy and girl share a fiery political debate in a frothy hot tub.

Also I was just interviewed by a very cool website called Maestro which was scary/fun/surreal since nobody has ever interviewed me about anything ever in my life. www.maestro.ws/arts/la/mattkapuchinski.html

We've also got new pics up on MySpace featuring the darling Amy O, and of course Jer, Mark, and myself which you can see at www.myspace.com/cooldryplace

And as we cobble out new songs and remixes of the EP songs, we'll be playing another residency soon along with more shows in and around LA as the sweaty summer approaches.

Hope to see you at a show!

matt k


From: Chris Crain [stickmusic@earthlink.net]
Subject: More StaffTab(tm)
Date: Tue 03/05/2005

For those of you interested in sheet music for The Stick, I have just completed scoring six new StaffTab arrangements of cover tunes. They can be found on the 'StaffTab' page on my site.

- Chris
www.ChrisCrain.com


From: Larry Tuttle [stringplanet@stringplanet.com]
Subject: string planet dates and newsletter
Date: Mon 02/05/2005

Hi everyone,

Larry Tuttle here.

Here's a copy of our April/May STRING PLANET newsletter - I'll be sending these out to Sticknews every month, and also posting our live dates to the "Events" page at Stick.com. If you want to get all the news in a hurry, you can sign up for our email list directly - just send me a note at stringplanet@stringplanet.com

Welcome to the April/May STRING PLANET newsletter. Momentum continues to build for the band - thanks to everyone that's been coming out to the shows.Here's this month's info:

Notes:
Novi has become an endorser for the Coda Bow. Coda makes carbon fibre bows for violin, viola and cello. There's a little testimonial at the coda bow web site http://www.codabow.com/talking2.asp?b=1&p=101&g=1&a=76

Last month we told you about Novi's STRINGS MAGAZINE article - well, it's actually coming out in the May issue, should be on the stands any day now. It's in the "ENCORE" section (the last inside page of the magazine).

And here are the upcoming dates:

Saturday, May 21
Borders Books in Simi Valley 7:30-9:30
2910 Tapo Canyon road
Simi Valley CA 93063
(805) 526-2800

Sunday, May 22
Sierra Madre Art Fair
Downtown Sierra Madre
12:00 - 2:00 PM

Friday, May 27
Borders Books in Mission Valley (San Diego) 8:00-10:00
1072 Camino Del Rio North
San Diego CA 92108
(619) 295-2201

Saturday, May 28
Borders Books in Thousand Oaks 7:30-9:30
125 W. Thousand Oaks Bl.
Thousand Oaks CA 91360

Tuesday, July 26
Los Angeles Zoo
"Music at the Zoo"
Always fun - eight bands in four different locations.
6:00 - 9:00 PM

Thursday, September 1
Levitt Pavillion in Pasadena (this one should be really fun and high
energy - we'll have a bigger band, with multi-percussion and keyboards)
7:00-8:15 PM

Hope to see you at a show. Remember, always check the web site for the latest info - updates, new shows, cancellations, whatever

www.stringplanet.com

See you later,
Larry & Novi


From: Ron Baggerman [rbaggerman@galaxygypsy.nl]
Subject: Announcments
Date: Fri 06/05/2005

Hello everyone,

-My concert DVD 'Live in Luxembourgh' is available in PAL system and can be ordered from my site. NTSC will follow in the next couple of months. Here's the link to the concerning page: www.galaxygypsy.nl/page.php?pid=en_901

-Reviews of our last Seminar in Holland: www.galaxygypsy.nl/page.php?pid=en_701

All the best,
Ron


From: Aaron Wolf [aaron@darktownsaints.com]
Subject: Darktown Saints tour
Date: Sat 07/05/2005

Greetings. Just a quick note. Darktown Saints' summer tour is much more finalized. There are still some openings and some unknowns as expected, but many dates are set. Please check www.darktownsaints.com/shows.php for our current tour schedule.

Of particular note, we're playing at Midwest Stick Seminar 2005, so besides all the other great reasons to come to that, you'll see us on Sunday, and I'll be there all weekend and I'm hoping this will be a successful seminar. And don't plan to leave before the show Sunday evening.

Thanks.

-Aaron
Darktown Saints
www.darktownsaints.com


From: SteveAFran@aol.com
Subject: Montreal
Date: Wed 11/05/2005

I just found out that one of my main inspirations, Pat Metheny, is doing five shows in Montreal in July. And to top it all, Matt Wilson who's one of the drummers on my CD is doing a show with him and Dewey Redman. Needless to say, this has me heading North for this time frame. Although there are no scheduled seminars this year, I will offer some time for private lessons in Montreal as soon as we schedule the trip.

If interested, email me privately.

Thanks,
Steve Adelson


From: Glenn Poorman [gpoorman@twmi.rr.com]
Subject: Alto Stick Available
Date: Sat 14/05/2005

Hello Everyone,

I am pleased to announce that we've updated the website at Stick Enterprises to include the new 10-string Alto Stick(TM) and these instruments can now be ordered directly from Stick Enterprises.

To find out more about this latest model, visit the web page at www.stick.com/instruments/alto. In addition to all of the information there, you'll also find an MP3 of Don Schiff playing an Alto model as well as a really cool video by Dan Chapman of Emmett playing John McLaughlin's "Lotus on Irish Streams."

I'm already on the list for one of these and I'm pretty psyched about it. This should be a really cool addition to the Stick family.

Glenn


From: SteveAFran@aol.com
Subject: Guitar show and such
Date: Sun 15/05/2005

A gentle reminder. The 12 th annual Classic American Guitar Show is being held May 21 and 22 at Sports Plus in Lake Grove, NY (LI). I will be there playing and demonstrating Stick all day at my booth. At 4:30 on Sat. May 21, I play in the famous "Jazz Bar" part of the show. In the evening I perform with my duo at Port Jazz in Port Jefferson opening for and probably jammin' with legendary guitarist, Larry Coryell.

www.tcguitar.com for Guitar Show info
www.portjazz.com for evening performance info

Also the weekend brings in Steve Howe, Rick Derringer and GE Smith. The Jazz Bar has some great players like Jimmy Bruno, Howard Alden, Joe Beck and such.

Steve Adelson


From: Manny Tau [mtau@stickist.com]
Subject: WIKI Stickists
Date: Wed 18/05/2005

Being new to wiki's, I'm really impressed with the power of this groupware approach for a site. So, I'm slowly migrating the FAQs on the Stickist.com site into a wiki, Stick FAQs, which will soon be linked from the Stickist site.

This will save me a lot of work trying to update the old FAQs on the site, and hand over this section to the Stick community so you can add all of your IQ points re: the Stick, and have it available for all to add, revise and shape. The entire Stick FAQs area is editable, so have at it.

I've started with some subjects titles, but only migrated over the "cleaning" FAQs. This is just a start. Again, this Stick FAQs site is for all to contribute and shape, so it's YOUR site and playground, everyone here is the webmaster for it! The user interface is fairly intuitive, and instructions are built in by clicking on the "Syntax" link when editing a page or section.

I'm also looking forward to another wiki in development from Vance/Mark, which I think will have more features, like tablature. The more dedicated Stick resources on the web, the better.

Looking forward in seeing how these sites will grow! Stick FAQs is at www.Stickist.com/faq

Manny


From: Glenn Poorman [glenn.poorman@autodesk.com]
Subject: 2005 Midwest Seminar - Gig Time Change
Date: Tue 17/05/2005

Just an FYI to anyone signed up for the seminar, planning on signing up for the seminar, or just planning on attending one of the gigs.

Due to a scheduling snafu, we have a time change on our Saturday Night gig. The Saturday gig is the one that will feature Bob, Greg, myself, and Steve Oz. Originally slated for 8:00PM at Ann Arbor's Firefly Club, the time has now been changed to 6:30PM.

The rest of the itinerary stays the same. For more info on the whole weekend event, visit the official seminar page at www.detroitstick.com/words/events/seminar2005.

Glenn

PLAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

From: Chris Crain [stickmusic@earthlink.net]
Subject: Tap like Bob
Date: Mon 25/04/2005

I trust you had fun working on last issue's "Theme to Mission Impossible". Now you're ready to play like Bob Culbertson, so we will tackle "Malaguena". I know. You don't feel ready. No problem, I will simplify the song for you and when you do feel ready - just add more notes. Download the sheet music and audio and we'll get started.

The rest is here...


From: SteveAFran@aol.com
Subject: Spinal Column
Date: Sat 07/05/2005

Here's a column dealing with my approach to bass lines as suggested by Jim Moy. The typical jazz bass line is a four to a bar, quarter note concept with many variations. "Walking Bass Lines" should outline the chord changes while being melodic and linear in nature. This is in contrast to the broken chord arpeggio technique that offers a different flavor. Let's illustrate using a single chord. i.e. Gm7

There are three primary possibilities to create a bass line:
1- Chord tones-- in the case of Gm7 - G Bb D F
R b3 5 b7

2- Scale tones-- G minor scale (dorian mode)= GABbCDEF
As you can see, the Gm7 chord is in this scale

3- Passing tones-- all tones not in the scale, but must be used in a melodic and functional way.

Tap you rway here for more...


From: Ron Baggerman [rbaggerman@galaxygypsy.nl]
Subject: Celeano MP3+PDF for Sticknews may05
Date: Fri 06/05/2005

Thanks to Ron once again for his latest contribution. This time he is sharing one of my favourite Stick tunes, his original composition 'Celeano' from his CD The Seven Sisters. The melody is written out in standard notation and tablature (for 10-string ClassicT Tuning), chords are marked by their symbols.

The melody is true to Ron's Galaxy Gypsy moniker. The chords he plays are those classic Stick left hand chords but since he's only giving us a standard 'head arrangement' (melody and chord symbols), we're free to experiment with any chord voicing or style we like.

Click here for the links...

SIGHTS AND SOUNDS

From: John Edmonds [je@johnedmonds.net]
Subject: DVD REVIEW: Art Durkee's "Basin & Range"
Date: Sun 01/05/2005

I recently returned from a colorful journey of sound, mind, and vision across some far-flung corners of the wild and sparkling West. The covered ground included California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah. And I didn't burn one gallon of gas.

The armchair tour was guided by Arthur Durkee through his new DVD "Basin & Range." This montage of Stick music and still photography begins wherever you want it to. From the main screen, just click on one of four itineraries and you're off.

The short films, each about 10 minutes, use beautifully rendered cross-fades and graphic collages to pull you through centuries of natural beauty: desert landscapes and rock formations, ancient shamanic light, and Durkee's own labyrinths of vision, timbre, and poetry.

The music is mostly Stick, flavored with flutes, percussion, and violin. The mix is deep stereo, a lush scape in itself, with haunting ECM-like distance and otherworldly spaciousness.

This is truly organic sound and imagery, painted with the eclectic brush of a well-traveled soul. Deeper eyes and ears will detect a subtle commentary, and the messenger's gentle yet striking language leaves plenty of room for you to interpret the message for yourself.

If Godfrey Reggio and Philip Glass' "Koyaanisqatsi" was an urgent shout from a calamitous large town's crier, Durkee's "Basin & Range" is a long and no less impassioned whisper from wide-open deserts, mountains, and shores. The cry may be softer, but the mass and volume have no trouble filling all the space and time that the Wild West can contain.

To check out this DVD visit http://www.arthurdurkee.net.

John
www.johnedmonds.net


From: Mathias Sorof [320073298990-0001@T-Online.de]
Subject: Review Dutch Stick Seminar 2005 in Zaandam
Date: Fri 29/04/2005

Review of the 2nd Dutch Stick seminar 2005 (alias 2nd European Stick seminar in 2005) in Zaandam by Mathias Sorof/Germany

Positive surprises which come completely unexpectedly are particularly beautiful. This recently was confirmed, as Ron Baggerman asked me a few days before the 2. Dutch Stick Seminar 2005 took place, whether I didn't want to go along with that as a teacher completely. For a masterclass, although I had already been engaged, but I hadn't calculated with that. - I may therefore formulate this review from another perspective than last year now.

As a welcoming event the teacher concert in "De kleine Kadde" already advances to the tradition on the Friday evening. Concerning traffic engineering this venue lies really favourably next to namely the practice of organizer Frank Leurs, this one provided with once its house as free accommodation again, together with more than a sufficient drink supply. In order fixed at first and not adhered then anyway were allowed to introduce all Stick teachers after each other in a 20-25 minutes set in front of a full house. Frank Leurs made the beginning with sound-collages, already then it was my turn with a piece of Ron, and two of my compositions, followed by the famous virtuoso André Pelat. After short break it went on with the unique groove of Jim Lampi, the high musical and technical level of Bob Culbertson, with extremely laid-bake presented tunes of Youenn Landreau with rhythmically awkward, with fusion oriented speedlicks and defy organisation-stress with unbroken energy of Ron Baggerman. Also in the interplay with Frank Leurs as super singer and entertainer, with Carel Vrieling (Drums) and (Percussion) Ron showed once his high musical potential again. The third set has had different performing combinations, Ron with Bob, Bob with André etc. until the highlight in the great final with all operating artists on the stage. - Terrific evening and nice start of the seminar.

Continued here...


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End of StickNews #271.