Reflections

 

-Pete Beggs-

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(photo by Tony)

"Stick NYC"

            The parts of the seminar I was present for were wonderful. The simple emotion of being around twenty or so Stick players is in itself a strange feeling of camaraderie and joy. The knowledge, encouragement, enthusiasm in the faces, voices and playing was elating.

Being in the classroom only for the final hour, it did strike me that nobody seemed tired and spent, bored or looking at their watches, as evidenced by many still hanging around after the session ended. A fine testament to Greg Howard and Steve Adelson, the instructors, as well as Tony Rodriguez the organizer, and of course the man a million miles away, to whom we all remain indebted, Emmett Chapman.

The questions I was asked were all good questions. When two questions were asked at the same time, deference was quickly given - which suggests polite a gathering. The classroom was well lit and plenty spacious even with all the amps - a nice atmosphere on the campus in general.

            “The Cup” nightclub where the performances happened the night before, was just right. A raised, well lit stage in a small intimate room. The sound was clear and well balanced. The seating was varied with chairs, tables and couches. The owners were nice and seemed to enjoy the music very much. Unfortunately, I arrived so late from my gig I only heard one Stick player of the 12 or so that played. I really wish I got to hear Tony Rodriguez and Ernie Jackson, as I know them both from Staten Island. Hearing Greg was, as ever, humbling and motivating, but mostly enjoyable.

            When folks comment approvingly to me about my playing, I often say it’s not really me you like, but rather the Stick. The instrument just has such a nice sound. It really is enchanting.

            Hearing Steve play the next day in the classroom was a similar response for me as it had been to Greg the night before (by the way I arrived late for the classroom session because of two gigs at St. John’s Church in Bed-Stuy Brooklyn, where my aunt has been a nun many years) but playing a duet with Steve was great.

          I do a solo gig for my day job so I don’t get to play with Stick players very often. I don’t know any that live in the Poconos, by me. I wish I did; yet the numbers grow daily due to the folks that put this together, as well as those that taught, played and attended. 

          I thank you all and look forward to hearing you and seeing you again!

                                                                                           All God’s Blessings - Pete Beggs

 

-Kenn Lowy-

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(photo by Tom)

     The stick is such a unique instrument that it's very helpful to have some structured training. Of course I personally never looked for that and if the seminar hadn't come to NYC, I might never have had any formal training with the stick. In just two days I learned some techniques that I would have never learned on my own. Greg and Steve's styles are different, and the way they approach the instrument is quite different from each other. I found that to be good for the seminar because this allowed us to see two different ways to play and learn the instrument. I'm still putting those new found tools to the test.

- Kenn Lowy

 

-Ernie Jackson-

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(photo by Tom)

"I just had too much fun...

That's all I can say."

 

-Brooke Haramija-

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-Jason P. Scully-

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(photo by Holly Guerin)

      Witnessing everyone's passion for their instrument and music, was an uplifting and motivating experience. I can't wait to do it all again!

-Jason P. Scully

 

-Tom-

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      The Staten Island seminar was right in my own backyard! Came away with my head spinning from all the knowledge from both the instructors and students. Looking forward to this being and annual event.

Great people + Great instrument = Great music!

-Tom

 

-Chris Merlo-

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     NYC - Stick Seminar (web-source Chris' Blog)

     This past weekend, I was one of 20 students at a Chapman Stick seminar held in Staten Island, NY, and I am incredibly glad I attended.  Greg Howard and Steve Adelson, who both make their livings performing and teaching, were the two instructors for the weekend.  We were split into a beginner group and an intermediate group, and each group had each instructor for one day.

     The main reason I decided to attend this seminar is because I have accomplished virtually nothing with the Stick, except to have an awesome, expensive piece of equipment sit in the corner of the studio and mock me for not playing it.  I knew that attending this seminar would get my head in the right place to want to play again, or at least make me jealous enough of all the guys who can play to start playing again.   (I wrote "virtually nothing" above, even though I have written and recorded Carouxtia Minor with it.  But I wrote that song close to eight years ago, and it doesn't even use the melody side of the Stick.  That's virtually nothing.)

     So, since I have accomplished virtually nothing, I identified myself as a beginner for this Seminar, which was absolutely the right choice.  Greg taught our group the first day, and from one professional instructor to another, Greg knows what he's doing.  We spent the morning session talking about our bodies, how we achieve physical balance, and how the entire system works together to accomplish tasks such as walking.  We don't just walk with our feet, Greg told us; we use our legs, hips, arms, and even our head, in an entire systemic process, to get around, and he impressed upon us the importance of approaching the Stick the same way.  I won't write too much more about all that (because if I do, what's your incentive to take his class?), but the few simple points he made really made a difference.  And, again, most importantly, it got me excited about approaching the instrument again.

     Greg was also able to fix my Stick-playing posture, as well as to get me to stop physically approaching the Stick like a bass player, and to start playing like a Stick player.  And once we plugged in after lunch, he worked with us, both individually and in groups, to help us with our finger, hand, and arm movement to get the right attack, which led to the right tone.  It was a lot to process, and I will be working through these lessons for a long time, but all of his advice was spot on.  Go figure -- the guy's been playing for something like 20 years.

     Saturday night, between the two days of instruction, was Stick Night, a chance for all the students to get up and play for five or ten minutes, capped off by short sets from Greg and Steve.  Since I had been neglecting my instrument, I had no music to play (other than the bass line to "Carouxtia Minor", which is pretty boring without Charlie and Rich), and so I chose not to perform.  But as we were getting ready to head to the club, someone realized that we had no MC for the evening, and so I volunteered.  The guys all thanked me and told me I did a great job, and certainly I was happy to do my small part to make the night happen.  But I talk to people for a living, including people who don't necessarily want to listen.   I wished I could have performed on the Stick, because that's not something I'm good at.  Yet.  Still, it was a great night, and the students who played all really smoked.  They inspired me as much as Greg and Steve did.

     Yesterday was our day with Steve, who did a great job getting us to think about the music we want to play, and how simple it really is to break a song down into parts.  He gave us the same lesson I give my math students, which is to break a complicated problem (song) into simple parts, and then solve the simple parts individually.  Why this stuff doesn't occur to me when solving my own problems I don't know, but it doesn't.  So I was grateful for the opportunity to break this stuff down slowly, and with help.  Steve also walked us through the basics of polychords, why they exist, and how easy they are to play on the Stick.

     The only thing the seminar doesn't provide, and only because it can't, is practice time.  But now I have the time at home to take the Stick out and get all these lessons to take root and make me a better player.  Even to get one of these lessons ingrained, to make me a better player, will make me a better player, and therefore the seminar was awesome.

     And, so, last night, at the studio with Charlie and Rich, I didn't even put my bass on until about 11:00.  We spent a good hour and change with me playing Stick, and Charlie showing me some of the tunes he jams with the fusion guys he knows.  And I had to make him slow waythedamnhell down a few times while I worked out what I was doing, but I started getting some parts, and we can now vastly increase our repertoire.  We've never been able to do most cover tunes because we don't have a guitarist.  But we can handle quite a few jazz and fusion standards, with me covering the guitar parts on the Stick, as long as Charlie is willing to do all the solos for a while.  (And I know he's willing.)

     I would be remiss if I don't at least mention Pete Beggs' appearance at the end of the day yesterday, who is as gracious and entertaining and genuinely funny, even if unintentionally so, as he is talented at playing the Stick.   This guy can play any of about 300 songs, from memory, by request, because that's his job.  He's working as a dinner-hour musician at a resort in the Poconos, and he's having a great time.  He's also a master storyteller, and had us all in stitches, even while playing what seem like difficult tunes.  Pete was no less an inspiration than Greg and Steve.

     But, most of all, this weekend turned out to be about camaraderie.  I think we were all surprised to see just how many of us there are in the NYC area.  A few guys drove in from far-flung lands like Baltimore and Quebec, but there is quite a nice-sized group of us here.  And everyone involved is really nice and easy to get along with.  We intend to stay in touch, and maybe even get together again in a couple of months and hold a little baby Stick Night again.

     Here's the best part about the seminar, though.  I played the Stick today, and music came out.  I even have about half of a song written.   Using both hands.  Minor and major chords.  And it's not in E, or G, or A or D, or one of those easy-for-bassists-to-write-in keys.  It's in Ebm.  E Flat Minor.  I'm just going to write that again because I don't believe it yet.  E Flat Minor.  God, I feel like a... like a... like a musician.

     Oh, yeah.  We took some really goofy pictures of ourselves this week.  None were with my camera; otherwise, there would be one or two here.   But be on the lookout.  I will post some whenever someone e-mails them to me.

     Thanks again to Greg, Steve, and seminar organizer Tony Rodriguez for a great weekend.  I'm really looking forward to the next one.

-Andres Jimenez-

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      Recently, while maintaining e-mail correspondence with Guillermo Cides, stickist extraordinaire (who was organizing an ongoing seminar with his Centro de Stickistas in Spain), I addressed to him my concern about so few seminars being put together in the East Coast, let alone the NY area, in contrast with the thriving Stick community in Spain, and all over Europe. Guillermo, apparently not being a frequent NY visitor, imagined the NY music scene as “…very active, with a lot of rich and diverse musical styles emerging from every corner”. Everyone who has had contact with NY’s musical atmosphere, as a fan, or as a performer, knows this assessment is not shortsighted at all. However, I kept wondering why the Stick is often unnoticed, even among NY musicians…

     Then, suddenly, Stick Enterprises announces a NYC Stick seminar…!The cast of characters was already familiar (but by no means any less impressive): Greg and Steve. However, a single name emerged as the ringleader of this noble effort: Tony Rodriguez, a guy who mobilized his friends, family and associates to make all of this possible, instead of waiting for it to magically happen. Such skills were matched, as it turned out, by his tremendous talents as a Stick player. What followed, was an incredible experience where seasoned pros (such as Ernie Jackson), local legends (such as Pete Beggs), computer education wizards who double up as bass/stick players and emcees, and also the prog metal masters, the fusion heads, the jazz freaks, and the classic rock ambassadors, all melted together into a single pile of human curiosity and enthusiasm. Greg Howard has asserted that, after his extensive experience teaching seminars all over the world, he has come to realize that Stick Players are a rare breed of interesting people who also happen to be musicians. Rightfully so. This time around some of these people were discovering music within themselves for the very first time. Venturing into the Stick as your first instrument? Bravo!

    I will not go into a detailed recount of what occurred on a day-to-day basis. Just scroll up: Chris Merlo’s eloquence has a life of its own. At the outset of an experience of this caliber, we all tend to wonder: “…what’s in all of this for me?”

    I have owned my Stick for several years, and have met with Greg and Steve in different occasions for seminars held in New Jersey and Montreal. After being exposed to as much information as one could get from these experiences, one recurring thought keeps haunting me: “am I really the right musician for this instrument?”. Back in the day, growing up in my hometown in Bogota, Colombia, the odds of getting a Stick, playing it with (or in front of) people, or even imagining how it looks, plays and feels, were close to none. Fast forward to present times and places, we find the exact opposite: the odds of getting a Stick, playing it and sharing our impressions with similarly-minded people? Not far from many. However, has my dedication to this instrument ever matched the accessibility to these chances that I chased for so long? Absolutely not.

     At Stick night on Saturday, Greg asked me: “Are you going to perform tonight?”, to which I replied: “No way! I’m not ready yet!”. Then, sitting in the audience to witness the performances, I was prepared to see an onslaught of millions of notes, delivered with flawless, conservatory-level execution. I was wrong. At different levels, every player delivered his personal best, not to satisfy any preconceptions, or to prove their own. They simply played because they loved to. Isn’t this why we all started playing, in the first place?

     After that night, a new thought was triggered into my mind. I’ve been missing the point of playing the Stick (and probably, of playing bass, my first instrument), ever since I first had it. In many ways, the Stick still looks like the Holy Grail of contemporary instruments to me. And I find that this approach has severely limited my improvement, or better yet, my confidence towards it. This happens apparently because every time I play it, I feel compelled to prove something to other people who think the number of strings is directly proportional to a musician’s talent. What’s the result of all of this? Having too many self-imposed expectations led me to chronic discouragement.

     You often hear about how our heroes (the Victors, Jacos, Stanleys, Geddys, Jimmys, Stevies, etc.), cast a big shadow on all of us. Now, with the Stick this is totally different. Take Greg Howard for example, who feels at home playing with the best of them. He can be easily reached by e-mail. When you meet him, you immediately know he is talking directly to you, because he is not distracted by his “entourage”, nor the role he plays in the overall history and evolution of this instrument. He can talk all things Stick, as much as all things life, and more importantly, all things human in today’s world. What do we all have in common? We play because we love it, and we feel a need for artistic stimulation, interaction and growth.

     I want to thank wholeheartedly everyone involved in the coordination of this effort. And also, to all of you who attended, from beginners to masters, for giving me this opportunity of sharing this event, and for allowing to convey my thoughts to you.

 

See you all next time!

Andres Jimenez

From NYC

-More Reflections to Come...-

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