Matthew Wengerd's Weblog

We had a bit of a respite last night (following Transformers with Anotonio). The week starts back up today. I just had a less than pleasing audition, but this is one of those few low-pressure moments where it doesn’t really matter.

At the end of my audition, Friesen had me play my bass backwards (RH on the neck) for a slow blues. Boy, did it go poorly! Afterwards, Friesen reminded me that this was pretty much how I played when I first picked up the bass. “See how far you’ve come?” he asked. That made my day.

I will not be teaching at Southeastern University for the 2007-2008 Academic Year. Those of you studying bass at SEU will be studying with Mark Neuenschwander. I will continue to teach privately in Lakeland and throughout Central Florida.

Where else can you see Transformers with Antonio Hart?

Things have been much busier than expected and I haven’t had the time to write as I desired. I’ve been recording a lot of my experiences for a big audio dump and possible podcasting. While you’re waiting, here are some bass shots:

Today was move-in day for the first of two week-long Aebersold Workshops. Many of the rhythm section players arrived earlier in the week for the two-day drum and bass workshops in addition to players here for The Man‘s two-day improvisation primer. The staff had a very reasonable call of 10:00 am today (after a much-needed early end yesterday) and we prepared for registration.

[interruption]
Lynn Seaton just played an arco/vocal solo a la Slam Stewart on a blues that knocked my socks off! I wish I had recorded it to share with my (few) loyal readers. Wow!

[/interruption]

I took the minors to lunch at Taco Hut (much to their chagrin) for the second day in a row. It’s not agreeing with me one bit. After lunch, there was much moving of furniture. Rooms needed to be re-arranged to accommodate the classes and combos of the camps. This was the part of the day I choose to forget. It was exhausting and I’m glad it’s over.

Tonight was the last dinner on the meal plan. Meals are served on the campus of UofL at Masterson’s, which I am told is not at all unpleasant, but gets tedious for those of us on the two-week plan. Dinners at Masterson’s are accompanied by faculty concerts. Our own Jack Wilkins played in a quintet featuring dueling tenors, guitar, bass, and organ. The truth of the matter is, I was a little too exhausted to give it my full attention. There were, however, a few moments where the quintet burned so hard…well, I’ve never been a very vivid writer, use your own good jazz analogy.

Evenings at the Aebersold camps feature three sets of faculty concerts. I was blessed to miss the first set (it’s not as bad as it sounds) because Rich Armandi pulled me away for a lesson. The best part of this camp is the amazing faculty that avail themselves to us almost non-stop for the entire week. Rich is a Chicago area bassist that, as he says, is focused on being a strong utility player, knowing as many tunes as possible and playing in time and in tune with an excellent sound. We talked a lot about vomit, the Gary Karr exercise that, when played by a room full of bassists, has been known to induce vomiting. We also talked about using large muscles to maximize sound production. I’ll write better notes on the lesson tonight.

The second set was:
Lynn Seaton.b
Phil DeGregg.p
Steve Barnes.d
Tim Armacost.ts
Dave Stryker.g
Jennifer Barnes.voc

You already heard what I think about that.

Starting now is:

Don Braden.ts
David Hazeltine.tp
Antonio Hart.as
Rufus Reid.b
Steve Davis.d
Barry Ries.p

I’ve got more important things to do than type….more later.

It’s funny to see so many musicians playing the same instrument in one room. Campers are rehearsing as I type.

…and the staff fooling around:

I just finished escorting some of our under-age campers to a Taco Bell/Pizza Hut for lunch. Starting Sunday evening, meals will be at Masterson’s (on campus dining) and we will not need to escort anyone off campus. We have been really productive and expect another huge push through tomorrow before settling into some semblance of a routine. It’s invigorating to see such excitement on some of the attendees’ faces.

It was nice to meet Talkbass moderator Chris Fitzgerald, who is on faculty at the University of Louisville. Chris is the second TB moderator I’ve met in person (Jairaj Swann being the other) and has proved consistently that bass playing is a brotherhood. I’m looking forward to lessons with the faculty here. Our very own Jack Wilkins just arrived and I expect Steve Davis to come in shortly, rounding out the USF contingent.

Students are waiting in the hall to attend their second rhythm section session.

I’s seven thirty in the morning, much later than I normally get out of the apartment, but I am not dealing with it well today. We’re getting ready to check people in for the two-day seminars, getting instructions from Ben Gritton. I’ll be checking in people’s gear, but they get to schlep it. Perfect!

We’ll see when things change for the day, but I’ll be off for my a.m. assignment in just a minute.

Very late last night, I arrived in Louisville, KY for the Jamey Aebersold Summer Jazz Workshops. I am in the middle of helping set up for two weeks (and weekends) of camp. Look for updates as I get a bit of downtime.

Aside from the fact that I’m lazy, I have an excuse for my brief silence. On Tuesday the 12th of June, Meghan , Rylee, Audrey and I packed up and headed North. We stopped in Beckley, WV for the night and finished the next morning, getting in a little before noon. Though the drive was less stressful than I expected, but not without it’s difficulties. Rylee refused to drink from the travel water dish and, several hours into day one, started panting like a dog. I’ve never seen a cat pant, and found this disconcerting. She got lethargic and temperamental and worried us quite a bit. She drank from her own dish that night, though.

We went to Ohio for my Brother-In-Law‘s wedding. The four of us have known each other since High School, which is why I was actually looking forward to this. The week was busy with golfing and parties and rehearsals and such. Each time I head to Ohio, I’m reminded of how much I miss it. It was beautiful up there.

I kept intending to blog and transcribe and do so many other things, but it just wasn’t happening.

Picture proof: