Review of the European seminar in Holland

First I would like to thank Ron and Frank on putting on the event, I know how much work it can be.  The seminar officially started on Saturday but there were 2 shows the previous nights. After 4 straight nights of playing and 2 full days of teaching we were all living in the twighlight zone. But I have to say it was all WELL worth it. The highlight for me was the enthusiasm from the students.  And to play with so many great players.

Thursday night jamming with Andre and Ron is always fun. With these two you never know what type of tune will get called next. I especially like some of the total improvisations. You never know how they will turn out. Sometimes they turn out inspired and sometimes few train wrecks. Frank on lead vocal and Carol added a lot of dimension to the sound. Frank added a nice change of pace with his soulful voice. Carol followed right along no matter what rhythmic concoction we threw at him and added some of his own inspired soloing.

Friday night was the main Stick night with all the teachers. These events are always fun and are usually a good time do perform a few solo stick pieces for the others. There was some jamming as well.  It is nice to hear such a diverse set of styles. Each player really had a distinct personality. All of the teachers seem to approach their craft with great passion and emotional expression. Somehow I believe the Stick really facilitates this so well. Ironically the Stick in one way can be such a technical instrument. But it is the very technique that seems to push the musical and emotional sounds of the artist through as much as if not more any other instrument. The stick jam pieces with and without Carol drums worked out pretty well but it is always a challenge to not step on each others  toes with 1,000,000 strings.

Saturday was the official beginning with the seminar. One thing that stuck out was the fact the students were asking more questions. Especially questions relating to techniques they have been working on for a while.. I think this is a great indication of how much the Stick community has grown over the past few years. I even had a couple students play my own songs for me. I found this very inspiring for me.

Saturday night was spread out over two venues. I thought this worked very well. Ron had me perform with Youenn Landreau and Jim Lampi. I have not had much opportunity to perform with Jim even though we have known each other a long time. And even less with Youenn. It was really a great night. Not only were the solo performances real nice but at the end of the night we played 3 completely improvisational pieces. The connection between the 3 Stickists was quite amazing. All three pieces seemed to be very musical and dynamic. This is a difficult thing to pull off with 3 Sticks! Everyone was really listening. Plus having Carol follow the dynamics so well. The evening was opened by Bruno Ricard, Yannick Le Petit and Oliver Vuille. All three sounded really nice. They are examples of  players who are the ones  who will keep the Stick going. Oliver came up to me after his performance and said how nervous he was and that he was going over to the other club and try again.  I thought  this was great and shows you how important live playing is. He came back to me at the end of the night and said his second performance was a lot better. He probably learned more about that song and playing than most of the time he spent practicing it.

Sunday brought more teaching and a "master class at the end" I was ready to do a clinic discussion about  my music and techniques but everyone played straight through. Thus we had another concert. It was nice to hear the new teachers Mathias Sorof and Youenn Landreau as well as the usual suspects B.P.L and C. Mathias has a really unique approach to his music. Not only in the tuning but the way he attacks the notes. Very cool. Youenn plays very rhythmically and clean. I especially liked how he could take a simple bass pattern playing on one and 3 and add all these intricate melody rhythms around it. It sounded very hypnotic. I learned quite a bit from them. Being at the end I decided to do the same. One thing I mentioned to the students is that every live performance is a type of practice. You can practice for 10 years but when you go out to play live it is very different. To name a few;

1. You have a different room or sound system

2. There is other sound in the room that can take away subtleties and make you play differently.

3. You may be nervous or even slightly tight,

4. You get feedback from the audience that effects the way you play

6. You have a time limit.

7. Even your breathing patterns will change.

All of these things and more are factors. Everyone should play out as much as they can to learn how to play in different situations. I even decided to try a song that I really was just beginning to work out to put that type of pressure on myself. It is all a learning experience.

Then the final night, the jam with the big band. I have to admit when Ron and Frank mentioned this idea I thought "hmm, this will be interesting" The evening turned out to be a real blast and a nice change of pace from 10,000 Sticks. Playing with the big band was quite an experience and learning process. The group really sounded tight. Plus there was a solo piece from each teacher. The combination actually worked out well. Sometimes contrast is a good thing. This event was such a complete mix of experiences. It was what it is all about THE MUSIC!

Thanks again to Ron, Frank, the teachers and especially the students who give us all that much more purpose to our art