matthew wengerd|bassist

When I was a young boy, I had convinced myself that, if I belly-flopped to the ground, I would not land, but could fly. I could never attain much height but was capable of gliding along the ground, giving my too-young-to-be-weary legs a rest. I had vague memories of actually performing this manoeuvre, but was unable to do it on command (or even really do it at all, for that matter).

I’m old enough to know better now, but I still allow myself the pleasure of those memories. Denis Darzacq’s La Chute (The Fall) brought me right back to those fond dreams.

Darzacq’s no-trick photography is a reminder of the alienation of youth, straddling the border in my mind of the childish gliding of my dreams and the sense of utter freefall I felt as a teenager. Many thanks to be.jazz for the story.

In light of recent additions to Lakeland traffic safety, I guess it’s time to re-examine my driving style.

I am very reticent to slam on my brakes at any time because, 9 times out of 10, my double bass is in the car when I am driving. I often run yellow lights and occasionally see red before I’m through the intersection. I’ve always told myself I could talk my way out of it, informing the officer that I was concerned about the safety of my $16, 000 bass and the possible damage it could cause to me.

Well, this poor member of the Memphis Symphony was unable to use this defense (only with a $60,000 viola) to get out of the ticket.

My favorite part is the fact that his response was, “My dissatisfaction with Judge Brannon’s ruling can be summed up in three words: procedure over substance. This is not honorable.” Sounds like a viola player, huh?

He deserves respect for a valiant effort, though! Guess I better come up with a new excuse.

If you are unfamiliar with Tom Harrell’s playing, do yourself a favor and get familiar. Tom is an extraordinary jazz trumpet player who suffers from Paranoid Schizophrenia. I saw this interview when it occurred, well before I had any clue what it actually takes to be a jazz musician.

This is not the full interview; there is a longer version on Youtube, but it has japanese overdubs.

My friends have been ribbing me for quite a while now about the fact that I will be attending Jamey Aebersold’s Summer Jazz Workshops this year. Yes, I’m going to summer camp at 25.

Thousands of people have played jazz tunes counted off by that inimitable heartland accent of Jamey’s (”One, Two, One, Two, Three, Four…”) via his jazz play-along books. Every summer, the Aebersold staff and an A-list jazz faculty descend on the University of Louisville for week-long intensive training in jazz improvisation. The two one-week courses are supplemented by rhythm section primers (g,b,d) on the weekends.

Of interest to me (and hopefully some of my readers) is the bass faculty:

J.B.Dyas
Glenn Fisher
Chris Fitzgerald
David Friesen
John Goldsby
Bill Moring
Lynn Seaton
Bob Sinicrope
Frank Smith
Sonny Stevens
Tyrone Wheeler

This Who’s who of the bass community is at students’ service throughout the camps. Additionally, USF Jazz Faculty members Jack Wilkins (sax - jazz department chair) and Steve Davis (drums) are on faculty.

I will be attending both weekends and both weeks, working one week and being a student the other. If you already plan on attending, let me know and we’ll be sure to get together while in Louisville. If you are just now hearing about the Workshops, please consider them. Jamey encourages players of all levels to attend to maximize their playing potential.

By the way - that’s Chris Fitzgerald and Steve Davis in the picture.

Some of you may already know that, due to recent damage, I have sent my bass of to Gary at Upton Bass for repairs. Gary runs a well-thought-of business and is an active participant in the Talkbass forums. He also sold me my Revolution Solo pickup with which I am extremely happy.

Once I confirmed that insurance would cover the loss, Gary sent down a Kolstein Trunk (for his Klotz - The bass mine is modeled after) in which I was to return the bass. Gary advised that I remove everything from the bass (most importantly strings), which meant knocking down and removing the soundpost. The removal of strings meant no tension on the top (so as not to exacerbate the structural problems) as well as on the extension.

My extension has the same chassis as this one, though a different stopping mechanism - it is the KCStrings extension. You can see a little wheel at the top around which the string double back to the tuning machine. This is held in place and falls out when the string is removed. So, I packed this up in a box along with my Laborie endpin, strings, KC Marvin Tailpiece, Revolution Solo Pickup, soundpost, etc. The box was in my car, ready for shipping that afternoon.

Now, I had just made a purchase from Lemur Music of some SuperSensitive Clarity rosin and some hide glue. Do you think you see where this is going? The hide glue was at home, but I had brought the rosin along to switch out at orchestra rehearsal. The tub in which the rosin came was cracked and, in a car under the hot Florida sun, oozed out of the container and onto my seat and this little metal wheel, which had fallen out of the box (I should have taped it up by then). In a hurry to make a class, I set the container upright, pried the rosin/wheel mass off the seat and placed it on top of the open rosin container. I think you know what happened next.

Upon returning to the car, I found the rosin had leveled itself back out, looking lovely as ever, but almost overflowing. Encased in it:

I busted out laughing. What else could I do? I didn’t realize Gary was going to put my bass together to check the setup before he started work (what was I thinking?), so I delayed the inevitable freeing of this object from it’s synthetic tomb. I tried freezing, melting, and scraping the stuff off to no avail. I finally sent it out with a thin film of rosin, assuming Gary would know what to do. I haven’t heard any complaints from him yet. I assume he’s on an island in the pacific somewhere, cloning my bass.

Unless you get your butts out to Starbucks on the North side of Lakeland, this will be matthewwengerdtrio’s last night. School obligations prevent me from playing tonight, but I have a faithful and diligent sub.

Please make your way out and let management know that you appreciate what they’ve been doing. Oh, and buy lost of coffee.

At the Brecker Concert this Monday, I had the pleasure of conversing with two friends about the nature of blogs.

Saxophonist|composer Rich Van Voorst is returning to USF for his second Masters’ this Autumn. Rich is the reason I am attending USF this year (another story for another occasion). He doesn’t blog and isn’t really all that interested in the blogosphere. The conversation turned towards the inevitable: What is a blog exactly? Well, for me, it’s an interactive diary. I put my thoughts out there for the world to agree or disagree with. To improve, dissent, and generally respond to. It’s a view for potential employers and clients into my life (well, then, it’s definitely self-censored, right?). It’s also a way for me to organize my history. I can go back and work through the blog for inspiration for my CV|Resume (When was that gig with Tenor Sax Giant X? (Ha!)).

For my friend, Philip Booth, who I am glad to see blogging regularly again, the stakes may be a bit higher. Philip is a freelance journalist who works as Media Relations Coordinator for the University. Because he is a journalist, his standards are rightfully higher. While I am content to tell you about what I ate for breakfast and slip in a few typos and mis-quotes, Philip’s journalistic orientation means a more carefully crafted (and often more substantive) post.

The beauty (and the pitfall) of blogging is that Philip, Rich, and I are all able to speak. For the casual reader, credibility may be determined by the blogger with the most user-friendly interface instead of the one with the best credentials. In cases like Jason Heath, you get both. In cases like mine, well, you decide.

Trumpeter Randy Brecker got on a plane for Reno this morning after having spent the weekend in Central Florida, performing with Chuck Owen and the Jazz Surge. He flew in from Zurich Saturday morning for the culminate of the USF Center for Jazz Composition’s Jazz Masterworks Series. This program, a tribute to Michael Brecker, had been planned with the hope that Michael would attend and perhaps participate in the music. Little did we know at that hopeful time, when Michael’s health seemed to be improving, that he would not be with us.

In conjunction with this concert was the 1st International Jazz Arranging Competition (IJAC), where competitors in the open and Young Artist categories were asked to arrange Michael Brecker original compositions for Big Band. After Michael’s passing, the Center went to the only person it could really imagine filling the guest artist spot on this tribute, Michael’s brother Randy. Randy very graciously squeezed us into his schedule for performances in St. Petersburg, Winter Park, and Tampa as well as a Masterclass on the campus of USF.

The performances were extremely poingant, highlighting all original arrangements, save the Gil Goldstein arrangement of “Strap Hangin’” from Some Skunk Funk. Other arrangements were provided by CJC directors Chuck Owen and Dave Stamps as well as IJAC winners Fred Stride and David Peoples in addition to Vince Mendoza. The charts were amazing and Randy was in top form. Guest violinist Rob Thomas also contributed excellent solos.

We are very grateful for Randy’s visit and relish the opportunity to work with him.

Jason Heath offered an excellent addition to Drew McManus’ Post-a-Day series for Take a Friend to Orchestra (TAFTO).

Jason makes an excellent point about the effectiveness of conductor rambling in drawing the audience into orchestral programs. I am young and inexperienced enough to still be pretty wide-eyed when a thoughtful, intelligent conductor sheds new (to me) light on a piece I am playing. I often wish he had said that in rehearsals, so I could allow it time to settle in and affect my performance. Seasoned musicians, on the other hand, often find these same-old, same-olds tedious and unnecessary. Jason’s thoughtfulness on the value of these moments is a longview which should be taken by more musicians who value their jobs.

Take a minute to read some of the TAFTO contributions at Drew’s site.

matthewwengerdtrio played its first gig this evening: a 2 hour hit at the Lakeland North Starbucks. I just posted a gigspam on this one. I have to say that I haven’t been this nervous for a gig in a long time. This was the first time I’ve led a band and my compatriots had never met one another before tonight. Things weren’t as loose as they’ve been with either player in the past (under other circumstances), but the people who came really enjoyed it and we had a good time. There was a biker meet right next door that caused quite a ruckus for the first half. I even called a break after only a half hour because I was so nervous (and slightly frazzled)!

I am very disappointed that only one of the jazz students at the University showed up, and he will be playing the gig next week! This was a perfect opportunity for young jazz students to hear free live jazz (only 10-15 minutes from campus!) and they didn’t take advantage. I really hope the student turn-out is better next week.

I’m pretty excited about the idea of matthewwengerdtrio and eager to find more places to play. I learned a lot about doing this kind of thing tonight and am looking forward to next week.

I even made a poster for mwt outings.

If you are in or near the Lakeland, Florida area, come see matthewwengerdtrio play its first outing at the Lakeland North Starbucks. We hit at 7:30 (but come early to get your daily dose) and will play two sets. I’ve been telling my faithful readers about the subbing I’ve been doing in Tampa with the Mars’ trio. Tampa has a stronger market for this sort of thing, so I am very grateful to Stephanie, the manager at the 98 N store, for having the foresight to book live jazz in Lakeland.

Meghan and I had the privilege of eating at downtown Lakeland’s Chop Shop this weekend. The Florida Food blog mentioned this restaurant recently, but it was a sighting followed by a mention in the Lakeland Ledger that piqued my interest in this restaurant. Festooned with tin signs and Biker Bar neon signs, this restaurant is owned by a husband and wife and boasts a tough chopper ambiance.

I had an excellent cheeseburger on Texas Toast and the wife a chicken wrap. The food was excellent and the owner wanted to make sure the burger was cooked to my liking. Like floridafood says, the hours are prohibitive for regular eating, but I’m looking forward to checking this restaurant out again. It’s nice to find something new in Lakeland.

I experienced some sickening damage to my bass last week. To most, this damage may seem inconsequential. It is, as far as I can tell, not structural nor does it affect the sound of my bass, but my musical partner, as it were, is hurt nonetheless.

Rumano took the top off last summer and an area on the upper bout of the table’s treble side seemed as though it may have seen an already troubled area exacerbated by the work. There is a very obvious crack or seam (I can’t be sure) that was fine inside the purfling, but never very stable outside the purfling. I had meant to tack it in better with some hide glue, but never did. The table had seen some compaction on the edge from load-in and -out of my car.

Well, the very corner’s gone now, following the pre-existing line on the vertical and a new break on the horizontal. It had been gone for days before I discovered it. My friends and colleagues assumed I knew it had happened and never mentioned it. I cannot find the missing piece and will have to have it rebuilt. I do not plan on having the top removed for this work.

Rick Desgrange and Ron Annis have been recommended for the work. Ron did my Laborie endpin and I am somewhat familiar with his work. I’m just not sure what to do. I definitely don’t have a ton of money to do this, so we’ll see.

Thoughts and (ahem) well wishes appreciated. Click on the pictures for larger views.