StickNews

StickNews Digest Issue #283 - 06/04/06

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

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CONTENTS:

SPRUNG SPRING

I'm heading outside!

MORE THAN EVER TO SEE DO AND PLAY

Midwest announcement.
Steve's gigs and travels.
CD release.
Michael and Greg's latest news.

GREG ADDS HIS TWO CENTS (AND THREE FINGERS)

All you need is three.
Walk on.
Flatten those nines.
Two-handed funk.

A NEW REVIEW FROM JOHN

Diego Souto's "Ciudad de Grises + Gnosis Five".

SPRING, SPRING, SPRING

Hello all,

Well, spring is definitely in the air. Even though with the wind and rain outside my window this morning it feels more like fall, there is no mistaking the grass turning green, the longer days and the buzz of activity in the Stick world Ā– all sure signs of spring.

Seminars abound. Jim Meyer is hard at work putting together this yearĀ’s Western Canada Stick Experience and Glenn Poorman has just announced a Midwest event. Both are shaping up to be special events with some unique, new twists. Plenty of gigs going on too. Read below for the latest.

Speaking of reading below. IĀ’m very glad to add a lesson from Greg Howard to the usual set of stellar lessons from our trusty regular contributors. Try out GregĀ’s three-finger approach. It works pretty darn good for him. And John Edmonds has returned with another review as only he can deliver. This time Diego Souto falls into JohnĀ’s spotlight.

Hope all get a chance to enjoy the spring weather, take in a few Stick related events, maybe even play their Stick outside. ThatĀ’s my plan.

Take care,
Jim Reilly

SO MUCH TO DO SO LITTLE TIME

From: Glenn Poorman [glenn.poorman@autodesk.com]
Subject: Mark Your Calendars, Michigan 2006
Date: Tue 04/04/2006

Hi all,

Details are still being worked out but I just wanted to get this out there so people could start marking their calendars.

We are working on quite a special event this year in Michigan. As usual, we are working on our annual Stick Seminar in Ann Arbor. This will mean a weekend of activities, lessons, socializing, etc, etc. We're doing something a little different this year though. We've already gotten the ok from the city of Ann Arbor to, on Saturday, close down an entire block of Liberty in downtown, setup a big outdoor stage, and have an all day festival style gig that will run from around noon until around 10:30 in the evening.

The lineup is still a work in progress. The plan is to bring in a half dozen or so "heavyweights" who will not only take part in the Saturday gig but will also provide teaching during the seminar itself. So that will be several brains to pick while you're here.

As I said, the details are sketchy right now but I wanted to make everyone aware of it.

The gig date is Saturday, July 15th. Most likely, the seminar will take place on the Thursday and Friday beforehand (July 13-14).

Website is www.stickfest.org (although it's still in it's infancy).

Glenn
www.detroitstick.com

From: SteveAFran@aol.com
Subject: DeGruy
Date: Sun 26/03/2006

Very cool. I was just invited to sit in with master guitarpist Phil DeGruy in NY. The gig is to celebrate the release of his latest CD "Just Duet". Phil is an absolutely ingenious player, one of my faves. Good to see him back in action. For those who don't know, Phil lived in New Orleans and was displaced to who-knows-where.

The NY date is Friday April 7 at The Cutting Room in NY (time to be decided). Also playing with Phil will be slide master David Tronzo.

Should be a really interesting evening of music. BTW- Phil's Guitarp has 17 strings. My Stick, 12. When we play together that'll be 29 strings. We have to hit a right note once in a while.

Steve A

From: SteveAFran@aol.com
Subject: Phoenix and Sedona
Date: Fri 17/02/2006

Just booked another return trip to the Phoenix/ Sedona area, end of June. As usual I will make some lesson time for those interested. Maybe a mini-seminar this time? Email privately.

Steve Adelson

From: SteveAFran@aol.com
Subject: Numero Uno
Date: Fri 24/02/2006

Finally, finally, I've made it to first position. Very exciting.

www.takeitfromthehead.com

(Scroll down to gallery)

This will mean much to my career.

Esteban (not the Zorro lookin' dude)

From: Dan Panasenko [Dan.Panasenko@mulberryneckwear.com]
Subject: New CD by Peter James
Date: Mon 06/03/2006

Hi there,
I'm very excited to announce that the CD I've been working on for the last few years is finally done and available online! Although we describe it as 'lush, cinematic folk music', one might do well to imagine King Crimson as a quiet folk band with David Sylvian providing the vocals. I hope you'll take a moment to listen, give feedback, and maybe even buy one! I hope you enjoy it.

Cheers,
Daniel Panasenko

Peter James - Footnotes to Fairytales
www.peterjamesmusic.com/index_purchase.htm

The band: Peter James - vocals, 6 & 8 string guitars, David Lofton - fretted & fretless guitars, vocals, Daniel Panasenko - electric upright bass, Chapman Stick, harmonium, Gino Robair - percussion

From: SteveAFran@aol.com
Subject: dates
Date: Tue 14/03/2006

Some announcements for Steve A sightings.

Sun. April 15- Solo Stick at Health Fair in Roosevelt Field (LI)

Fri. April 28- Special guest appearance with John Fav's Dharma Band (IMAC Huntington)

Sun. April 30- trio at Mulcahy's in Wantagh NY (a fundraiser with many bands)

Sat. and Sun. May 6-7 Demos all day at Classic American Guitar Show (Lake Grove NY) also half hour duo performance in "The Jazz Bar" with Chieli Minucci from Special EFX fame

June 23-30 Sedona AZ. teaching and performances TBA

Thurs.June 29- demo (Montreal Jazz Fest) TBA.

Fri. July 7- Fairfield Conn. Lecture and concert at the Second Annual Ten String Guitar Fest

Scheduling has begun for the fourth annual Long Beach (NY) Jazz Festival. TBA.

By popular demand, for the 54th consecutive year I will not be performing at Carnegie Hall

Steve A

Also look for soon to be published interviews for Twentieth Century Guitar mag featuring Tony Levin, Ben Lacy, Chieli Minucci and more.

From: Michael Kollwitz [michael@michaelkollwitz.com]
Subject: April 2006 Calendar, New Website, EPK, etc
Date: Thu 30/03/2006

Well, here we are- almost April and, gosh- it sure doesn't feel like Spring yet to me. I'm looking out the window at those dark rainclouds that just seem to be permanently placed in the skies above Sacramento. Won't Someone; PUH-LEEEESE TURN ON THE SUN!

I'm sending this month's email a few days early so I can tell you about a great show scheduled for tommorrow night in Pleasant Hill- I'll be the opening act for Peppino D'Agostino and Stef Burns who will both amaze you with dueling acoustic and electric guitars! Peppino is a master acoustic guitarist from Milan, Italy who, by the way, is very well-known in Europe. Stef Burns spent many years touring with artists such as Prince, Sheila E., Michael Bolton, and is currently the electric guitarist with the Huey Lewis Band. The two recently released a new CD, 'Bayshore Road' on Steve Vai's Favored Nations label. Should be one heck of a show! Click on www.CommunityConcerts.com for ticket prices, directions, etc. Hope to see you if you can make it!

News on the e-front: For the fun of it, I've recently built and launched a new, secondary website- www.ChapmanStickMusic.com It has a great new photo gallery (some of the pics go back to my early Stick days in the mid to late 1970's!) along with new sound samples that are EASY to get to. Some friends and fans have given me great ideas and suggestions, so here's my chance to implement them. Hope you'll take a look when you get a chance...

In an effort to save trees, stamps and confound the Post Office- I've also launched a brand-new EPK (Electronic Press Kit) that can be viewed by anyone on the Internet. It can also be emailed to anyone anywhere, if you like. It has some really neat features that just can't compare to the old manila envelopes (like no more nasty paper cuts!). Feel free to take a look at: www.SonicBids.com/MichaelKollwitzTheChapmanStick

[Hint: There's a 'sneak preview' track from my new, as-of-yet unreleased CD here...]

The new CD, "Waterfallin'" will be out next month and I'll be at three different festivals in April (complete calendar & details below). Hope to see you again. Sorry if this email was long-winded; there was just sooo much to tell!

All the best,

~Michael Kollwitz
Chapman Stick performer
www.ChapmanStickMusic.com
www.MichaelKollwitz.com
www.SonicBids.com/MichaelKollwitzTheChapmanStick

Sat Apr 8th 7:00-9:30 pm

ARTISANS GALLERY
1901 Del Paso Blvd., Sacramento, CA
www.sacforart.com/nsac.html
I'll be performing as a part of this 'Second Saturday' Art Gallery show.

Fri, Sat & Sun Apr 14, 15 & 16th All Day

2006 PLACER COUNTY STRAWBERRY FESTIVAL
Placer County Fairgrounds
All America City Blvd., Roseville, CA
strawberry-festival.com/info/
Price: $ Ticket prices at website above
On Fri Apr 14th, I'll be in concert on the Comcast stage from 2:30-4:00 pm and in a booth for the rest of the festival.

Fri, Sat & Sun Apr 21, 22 & 23rd All Day

21st ANNUAL STOCKTON ASPARAGUS FESTIVAL
Downtown Waterfront, Stockton, CA
www.asparagusfest.com/
Price: $ Ticket prices at website above
On Fri Apr 21st, I'll be performing in concert on the Family Stage at both 12:00 & 3:00 pm. I'll be performing in the Arts & Crafts area for the remainder of the festival.

Thu Apr 27th 9:00am - 1:00pm

SAN RAFAEL FARMERS MARKET across from Marin Center, San Rafael, CA
www.marincountyfarmersmarkets.org/srcc.htm

From: Stickist@aol.com
Subject: Stick Figures and Code Magenta special
Date: Sat 18/03/2006

Hi Everyone. I hope that 2006 is treating you well.

I've found I have too many of these two CDs sitting in the closet and I'd like to move some, so here's a chance for you to get a better deal on my two best-selling records.

Stick Figures (2004 remixed version) $10 Code Magenta (2002 remastered version) $10

Any quantity mix and match

If you feel like picking up additional titles you can get these thrown into the mix:

Ether Ore $15
Lift $15
Sol $13
Sticks and Stones: a collection of spontaneous improvisations $12 Water on the Moon $13 Transmigration $13

I'm currently out of stock on Shapes.

FREE or discounted SHIPPING
I'll even pay the shipping to US addresses and give a corresponding discount to overseas orders

So if you're interested, please email me for details on PayPal or payment by check. Just let me know which titles you want and what your mailing adress is.

This deal is good until April 15th..

You can find sound samples from all of these discs at:

www.greghoward.com/sounds/download/cdmp3s/

Thanks for supporting independent music and musicians.
Greg

From: SteveAFran@aol.com
Subject: Solar Stick
Date: Sun 02/04/2006

Check this. www.sharkinlay.com Hit "What's New" and then Solar Stick. Nice documentation. We will follow up with a story for a guitar mag.

Steve A

From: Stickist@aol.com
Subject: New Smokey Gray Tuners
Date: Tue 04/04/2006

Stick Enterprises now has a fourth color option for tuning machines. These new Gotoh tuners have a smokey gray pearlescent sheen, making them a great complement for the graphite StickXG models as well as the lighter woods like tarara, maple and mahogany and their darker inlays.

Pictures and more information at:

www.stick.com/news/newtuners.html

NOT THREE BUT FOUR LESSONS

From: Stickist@aol.com
Subject: 3-finger chromatic approach
Date: Sat 25/03/2006

Sometimes I hear my reluctant 3-finger students proclaim as one of the virtues of 4-finger playing that chromatic runs are easier if you use 4 fingers rather than three. While that may on the surface be true of the run itself, I always try to look at how to integrate different sub-techniques together into a "whole technique" approach, so I can seamlessly move through the music.

My experience with the fluid motion of 3-fingered play makes me want to find a way to integrate chromatic movement more easily into that broader technique, so I've been working on a practice technique that is more powerful than the one I used before.

For reference, here's the old system on five melody strings:

|   | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 |   |
|   | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 |   |
|   | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 |   |
|   | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 |   |
|   | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 |   |

I know Emmett likes to go 1-2-3-2-3 as well, but I'm not finding either of these approaches ideal. They are most useful when you are already on the 1st or second string and you need to go to higher pitches, without additional strings to jump to.

Line up your three fingers here

From: Chris Crain [stickmusic@earthlink.net]
Subject: "We're Movin' Now"
Date: Mon 13/03/2006

This issue, I'm going to finish my trilogy on walking bass.

I wrote, "We're Movin' Now" to combine aspects from the first two lessons. This tune incorporates a repeating scalar chord progression (like "Slow & Steady") and alternating rhythm & melody parts (like "Walkin' the Line"). The biggest difference, from the other lessons, is the bass line tempo - it is fast.

Move over here for more

From: SteveAFran@aol.com
Subject: Spinal Column #14
Date: 14/03/200

Here's some handy chord chemistry that will open quite a few doors. It's real flexible and can be used liberally.

Rule: In any Major key, the V chord is always a dominant, that is 1 3 5 b7. The tritone between the 3rd and b7 causes the instability and must resolve.

C7 = C E G Bb .

C7 (V) will resolve to F Maj.(I)

In past columns we discussed how a chord can be altered and become a direct substitution. For C7 let's alter it and make it C7b9. (C E G Bb Db) - 1 3 5 b7 b9

The easiest way to accomplish this on the fretboard is to just raise the root (C) half a step to Db. The C will not be missed as it is still implied by the progression The left hand can add the missing root on the bass strings if desired.

Flatten your nines here

From: Ron Baggerman [rbaggerman@yahoo.com]
Subject: Two-Handed Funk Bass
Date: Tue 04/04/2006

Time to dig in and lay down some funky two-handed bass lines. The Stick seems ready made for these groovy little riffs: bass in fifths, two-handed percussive attack, lots of room to move. ItĀ’s a natural.

On the MP3 Ron plays each example then leaves a two bar break between each groove for you to continue the rhythm.

Try the chords with different rhythms, try the rhythms with different chords. ItĀ’s all about laying it down.

MP3 and PDF here

LISTEN TO THIS

From: John Edmonds [je@johnedmonds.net]
Suject: CD REVIEW: Diego Souto's "Ciudad de Grises + Gnosis Five"
Date: Wed 15/03/2006

Whoever said a man can't be in two places at once never met a two-hand tapper from Argentina. In a single CD, Diego Souto - Stickist, composer, arranger, and bandleader - marries the flair and fire of South America with the meticulous metrics of some European guy named Robert Fripp. In between the hemispheres lie the album's namesake shades of gray that pull the worlds together.

The 18-track "Ciudad de Grises + Gnosis Five" spins nicely off balance with roughly one-forth north and three-fourths south. Among the first 13 tracks are the five inconsecutive parts of Souto's "NeoTango Suite" and eight other tunes that are a cohesive collection on their own. The suite's scattered installments keep pulling the mood back toward its dark, steamy epicenter. From track 14 on, Souto treats us to a repertoire of Fripp's Guitar Craft arranged for solo Stick.

The spiciest flavors are indeed Souto's tapping, plus fabulous dashes here and there of Pablo Gignoli's bandoneon. The latter infuses the "NeoTango Suite," whose fascinating orchestration and artfully restrained composition make for a subtle complexity. Check out the call-and-response lines of the first part followed by the lolling 5/4 groove of the second, then the sampled Beat-like narration of the third. The album's title track, "Ciudad de Grises," though not numbered as such, is evidently the suite's fourth part. While it is woefully too short, its imaginative Stick textures meld a chimey chorus of the melody strings into the contrasting weight of the fifth part, which growls in a woofy bass rumble reminiscent of "Red"-era John Wetton. The last tango also reprises the melodic theme and haunting air of the first.

Between tangos, Souto detours through an eclectic list of tunes that showcase the band and his proficient tapping. Some lean Stick solos, with remarkably harpsichordal timbre, foreshadow the whimsy and agility of the Fripp pieces. Souto's melody hand, with sparkle and pop, squeezes a citric thickness from the strings, while the bass side delivers the classic punch of his Stickup-equipped instrument. Intonation is just slightly off now and then, and this actually seems to add to the off-center otherworldliness of the album.

The "Ciudad" portion of the CD closes with a bright surprise in "Asintota," which combines a steady, percussive bass motor with lulling female voices that overlap round-style for a distinctly William Orbital space mood. It's a fitting close to the album's first section, encompassing its rich warmth with Catalina Maguire's angelic vocals and more of the band's intriguing instrumentation.

Rhythmically, this band can make 6 feel like 5 (hear track 2) and 3 feel like 4, then morph that groove into 6 (track 6 into 7). On the various other tracks, hands also dance through a snap-crackle invention, a cascading finger chase or two, and rotary acrobatics that swirl like a circus calliope. And it's all done with simultaneous pizzazz and studied understatement. The CD's tight, slappy drums and amply compressed mastering add narrow focus to wider themes, and at times the result is a kind of retro sci-fi proggishness delivered through a fresh global outlook. This is the magic of Souto's existing in two places at once.

After all this, Souto breaks ranks with the group and sets off solo into the wilderness of Fripp's psyche. With only a Stick, and just the right amount of reverb, Souto launches into "Gnosis Five" with no loss of fuego carried over from preceding expeditions. These arrangements really showcase both Souto as a player and Fripp as a composer by removing the latter from his own body of work and making room for the spirit of the performer to take over within. While Souto makes these pieces his own by tackling them on the Stick, he also captures Fripp's warbling melodic phrasing and even the metallic chirp of Fripp's round-back Ovation. In the stereo mix, the Stick's bass and melody sides alternate places right and left, and the tight spacing between tracks perfectly matches a pace that Fripp himself would set. The track "Darts" in particular is quite a display of two-hand interplay that would require Fripp and a league of crafty gents to achieve.

It's always exciting to hear an instrument with western roots mate so passionately with other bloods. Souto simmers with a self-styled inferno, using his colorful band of cohorts like paint and brushes to render sonic scenes as if on location anywhere on Earth and occasionally beyond.

Find Suoto and his music at diegosouto.com.ar

Please send your posts and responses to: sticknews@stick.com.

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Stick and Chapman Stick are registered trademarks of Stick Enterprises, Inc., and are used in the title of this digest with permission.

Archives of previous Sticknews Digests can be found at sticknews/archives.

End of StickNews #283.