matthew wengerd|bassist

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.

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.

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.

Bendelow Road had our monthly hit at Lakeland Steak and Ale tonight. This was our first outing with new drummer, Ryan Marsh. It was with Ryan that I played the Red Rose Room last Wednesday.

This was a quite successful hit. Our second set was definitely shaky, but we haven’t sounded as tight as we did on several tunes tonight. Victoria deLissovoy sat in on an absolutely wailing rendition of Blue Bossa. Several friends came, including Woody and Tina Detwiler (Woody, of Carousol fame) and Paige Pilkington, a co-worker when I was teaching. Thanks to all of them.


Afterward, Meghan and I met up with Paige and her friends at the Blue Nile, a restaurant in Lakeland. It was nice to see Everton and Keenan with Taabu, an R&B band in town, with whom I am well acquainted.

A fun night, about to be followed by a viewing of Pursuit of Happyness.

My alma mater, Southeastern University in Lakeland, FL, has been seeing some press lately in relation to its proposed performing arts center. The property directly to the north of the University has been owned by its affiliated church, the Assemblies of God (for the sake of disclosure, I am an adjunct at this University and my father is a pastor in this denomination), and has been leased to primarily retired pastors and missionaries for as long as I know.

Earlier this week, residents were informed that the property had been sold to the University to make room for a much needed performing arts center and they have 6 months to move. The story has been picked up by the local newspaper here and here and perhaps elsewhere. The residents are very upset and, as the Ledger tells, are considering class action. I truly hope an agreeable solution can be reached.

Got a call last night to be a last-minute sub for Alejandro Arenas for the Mars’ Trio’s steady at the Westchase Starbucks. I found out today that USF drum instructor, Steve Davis, would be playing drums on this gig. This was quite a big deal for me, as Steve has played with some of the great modern jazz musicians. He’s a member of the Lynne Arriale Trio and, as I’ve been told, is the most represented drummer on the Jamey Aebersold play-alongs.

There were definitely some distractions at this gig, including a very loud near-car-wreck, that rattled me a bit. I felt I represented myself as well as I can at this point. I finally see improvement in my playing, but I also see more to work on than I ever have before. I appreciate Steve’s helpful yet challenging playing. When things weren’t always clear for me, Steve helped clear things up with his playing. The trio is rounded out be sax player Rich Van Voorst (who runs the show). Definitely a musician and friend I’m glad to have met.

Look for more photos and stories from recent gigs shortly.

The USF Jazz Blog got a much appreciated nod from be.jazz, a Belgian jazz blog. Check out this visually appealing, insightful blog.

If you haven’t done so already, please add me as a friend on your myspace. I can be found here.

Last night was a hit at the Westchase Starbucks with Rich Van Voorst and Mark Feinman. I have played with them at the Waters and Anderson Starbucks as a sub on several occasions and enjoyed this change of scenery.

Westchase is one of those upscale suburban developments that thinks it is a posh European town, with a marketplace area and cafes.

Truth be told, the houses are cookie-cutter and you don’t always experience the sense of community planners had intended. Nonetheless, the Starbucks here had quite a bit of charm, with the London phonebooth out front, the ample cafe-style seating (I guess they all have that), a the carved, wooden Starbucks sign. We played outdoors from 7:30-9:30.

Rich, a candidate for MM in Jazz Comp at USF, works at this particular store and has worked to get weekly live jazz in four West Tampa/Pinellas County Starbucks locations! I really appreciate Rich’s efforts to make live jazz happen wherever it can and am in awe of management who is willing to see the value of having such music, even if the numbers don’t always come out favorably. Everytime I’ve played a Starbucks gig with these guys, the turnout has been great and the response extremely positive.

I have been in contact with management at several Polk County Starbucks about creating weekly live jazz in Lakeland and am excited to see what may come out of this. If you’re a jazz musician looking for a gig, consider contacting your local Starbucks manager about setting up a weekly. Just make sure you promote like there’s no tomorrow!

Today was (reportedly) the last Taste of the Arts event hosted by the College of Visual and Performing Arts at USF. Taste of the Arts is an afternoon of free food and entertainment from the CVPA designed to bring students and staff from across the campus into the CVPA.

Local Restaurants offered free food from 12:00-1:00 while the Herd of Thunder Marching Band and members of the USF Jazz department played. Students from Theater, Visual Arts, and Dance provided entertainment as well.

Wish you were there…

Bassist and Director of New Orleans’ Preservation Hall, Ben Jaffe, appeared at the USF Monday Night Jazz Series on Monday 24 February 2007. Every Monday Night Jazz program this year has been excellent, but this one was by far the best for a multitude of reasons.

Being a bass player, I was excited to have a bass player come to do MNJ and give a masterclass after the semester of trumpets. I wasn’t, however, entirely sold on the idea of a MNJ devoted to New Orleans Jazz. I am not into trad jazz of any sort and, though I understand its importance in developing my jazz world view and that the music I tend to play wouldn’t exist without it, I just don’t really enjoy listening to it; it’s not my typical choice for “cruise” music.

I picked Ben up from the hotel Monday morning so he could get acquainted with his bass-for-a-day. Right off the bat, I was sold. Ben is much younger than my preconceived notions of a Preservation Hall guy and has far-reaching interests (musical and otherwise) that reminded me that we can only pigeon-hole ourselves. Not only that, but he’s also a gut player. I had just put wound gut (Pirastro Olives) on my bass last week, an old set that I had removed from another bass years ago, and was experimenting with that sound. Ben didn’t travel with his bass, but asked, instead, for any old bass, as long as it has adjusters. For most people, bridge adjusters are used to ensure the action is low enough to make a bass comfortable to play. For Ben, it was to ensure he could get his action high enough!

Ben put and unwound G and D on one of the University’s old Juzeks and kept tuning it for the next several minutes while we talked. He left them almost a third above pitch and, by the masterclass half an hour later, they had dropped well over a fifth! I can see why steel strings were welcomed by the bass community with open arms.


The masterclass centered around a combo that had prepared some music specifically for this event. Ben talked about the differences between Dixieland and New Orleans Jazz and about the roots of the music, about Jazz Funerals and Mardi Gras. His father had played tuba in the band, a mantle which Ben was plenty capable of taking on himself. He worked with USF bassist John Shea on slap technique and drummer Mark Feinman on the timbres native to this NOJ tradition.

The evening’s concert was the first in a series of programs the Univeristy is doing for the Looking at Jazz Series. The concert was opened by the same combo from the day’s masterclass performing at USF Theatre II during the serving of light hors d’ouvres and cocktail tables decorated in a 1920’s theme.

During this time and throughout the concert, videos of early jazz were being projected behind the band. After the combo went on, Ben provided commentary on some of the videos he had brought from his personal collection. These were extraordinary videos about Preservation Hall and Jazz Funerals.

The main event featured the faculty jazz combo with the exception of drummer Steve Davis, whose spot was covered by USF alumnus Ian Goodman. They covered Do You Know What it Means to Miss New Orleans?” and other classic New Orleans tunes. The highlight for me was Jaffe and Wilkin’s statement on Gershwin’s I Got Rhythm, a recreation of the famous Don Byas|Slam Stewart Town Hall recording.

I found this MNJ concert and Ben Jaffe to be extremely inspiring and have decided to devote a portion of my study/practice to understanding more traditional forms of bass playing. To that end, I will be using the school Juzek (strung with all guts) and have ordered How Low Can You Go?, a three-disc collection chronicling the double bass in early music.

Liveblogging from the USF Symphony Orchestra concert. We are in between dress and concert and hit in about 15 minutes. I had planned on doing some homework, but dinner took too long and there is no place to do the requisite listening here.

I described the program here, so I won’t do so again. Tonight was the first time we heard the Chausson all the way through and it was quite nice. Dress went very well and I’m hoping not to jinx the performance.

Off to warm up…

Re-Posted from the USF Jazz Blog

Wednesday, February 07, 2007
The joint Junior Recital of USF Jazz Studies juniors Alejandro Arenas and Mark Feinman presented attendees with a well-conceived showcase for drums and double bass. A considerable crowd turned out to hear this duo, accompanied by jazz piano student John O’Leary and recent Graduate Studies graduate Rich Van Voorst on tenor sax.

The program opened with Charles Mingus‘ Hatian Fight Song. After stating the theme, Van Voorst and O’Leary each took a turn soloing, followed by traded choruses between Arenas and Feinman. Someday My Prince Will Come followed, with excellent solos by Arenas and VanVoorst, followed by a re-statement of the head and Feinman’s solo.

Next was a transcription of performing Oscar Pettiford’s Tricotism, replete with moving double-stops and sinewy double-time passages. I have heard Alejandro play this piece several times before and he plays it with more confidence and conviction every time.

The next several tunes were performed by the rhythm section only. Bud Powell’s burning Tempus Fugit (with which, I am embarrased to say, I was not familiar until this evening) was followed by John Patitucci’s arrangement of Santamaria’s Afro Blue. This Arenas/Feinman duo was an excellent showcase for Feinman’s afro-cuban chops. The next tune was an Arenas original, We’ll See, which he dedicated to his parents. Hearing this made me wish I was able to take Dave Stamps‘ Jazz Comp classes. Ray Brown’s arrangement (sense a pattern here?) of Ellington & Tizol’s Caravan provided the penultimate work of the evening. This arrangement required Arenas to perform the A sections of the head arco and perform an uncomfortably fast switch to pizz. for the B section. O’Leary and Feinman soloed on this tune.

The closer, Van Voorst’s Ray’s Blues, was a funky romp that brought Van Voorst back on stage and moved O’leary to the Fender Rhodes. This exhuberant tune provided one of the biggest surprises of the evening when a false ending led into Black Sabbath’s Iron Man!

In all, an excellent evening and one of the most creative instrumental recital programs I’ve had the pleasure to enjoy.

I began teaching at my alma mater autumn 2005.

Upon graduation just a year earlier, I swore I would never step foot on the campus again. Growing pains (the school had less than 1000 students when I arrived in 2000 and enrolls over 3000 today) had made my time at the University unpleasant and I was bitter. An unexpected layoff just 8 months into my post-college career left me in a job I couldn’t find fulfillment in and very little face-time with any music. I figured teaching would be a great motivation to hone my chops and keep me thinking about the choices I was making regarding technique and the music I was playing. The market for private instructors in my area is quite weak and I had little hope of sustaining a studio outside of adjuncting at the University from whence I came (which never really had an electric bass specialist during my academic career).

Long story short is I am here and I really enjoy working with my students. This is my 4th semester and I’ve moved from two students for 4 credit hours to seven students at 17 (!) credit hours. At present, I only have one music major; the other students are music minors or hobbyists. I am blessed to have students who are willing to try anything (for the most part). My electric bass technique is similar to that of Todd Johnson or Gary Willis and it is a big shock at first to use the floating thumb technique or maintain consistent finger-per-fret spacing, but most are willing to try it, which is all I ask.

I even have students willing to try double bass and loving it!

The thing I do not like is the facilities. As a student, I had (gasp!) my own practice room. “The Bass Room” was reserved for bassists and bass equipment and, when I became the only bass major on campus after a year, the room became my private practice space. During my year away from the University, the practice rooms moved to a former housing area named Spence Hall and, aside from new carpet, they are pretty much as they were when people called them “home” (A good music student will still call it “home”). We even have bathrooms and closets!

The growing school means a growing faculty and the studios (in another building) reserved for adjuncts were converted into full-time faculty studios, which means adjuncts have to teach in the practice rooms. All I can say is that every time the construction of a Performing Arts Center gets pushed back, a little piece of me dies. As you may or may not be able to see, there are very large gaps at the bottoms of the (hollow) doors, meaning the hallway (and other rooms) are nowhere near isolated from the cacaphony of practicing students. Yes, I know many schools are like this, but it feels much different when you have to teach in the middle of it. Add to that the fact that someone had the idea of covering the walls in foam to alleviate the noise bleed. Unfortunately, this isn’t Auralex we’re talking about, but egg-crate foam. You know, the stuff college students put on top of their plastic matress? yep. It did nothing but kill a lot of reverb, leaving the room dead, but loud.




At least I have a very nice view (and the glass, when I open the blinds all the way, helps breathe life into the sound). The room is large and would be ideal, if I could leave an amp, desk, and bookshelf there (with the books and accoutrements to go with them) in the room, but the room is accessible to all music majors. To be fair, the PAC is in the works. The only problem is the plans call for it to be built on land currently being occupied by a retirement village.

The best thing about the University is the influx of talented, enthusiastic instructors from some of the best schools in the nation. I am thrilled to work next to outstanding musicians and excellent human beings,

I know I’ve got it way better than Jason Heath and am not looking forward to leaving this gig some day.

Rashaan Roland Kirk and John Cage in a Dick Fontaine film (for television?) entitled “Sound.”

I am maintaining what I hope will be an official USF Jazz Blog at Blogspot. I am planning on cajoling more USF jazzers into contributing. Keep your eyes peeled.

Early hit at Lakeland Steak and Ale with Bendelow Road las night. It was my first hit with BR since IAJE, as I was sick and missed a scheduled hit and two last-minute bookings.

I think this was easily the best hit we have done. We played just a couple Bagwell originals, mostly standards and a couple groove tunes (Mercy, Mercy, Mercy; Cold Duck Time; etc.). We’ve got a long way to go, but I am really happy with how things are progressing with this group.

Leader Nick Bagwell:

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