Quick report on Kaufman Mando Kamp

[Dave Reiner]

Got back Sunday from a week in Maryville, TN (near Knoxville), filled with classes, jamming, and concerts. #There were a couple of other Mandolin Cafe folks there, and it was held simultaneously with guitar and bluegrass banjo camps (plus beginning fiddle, bass, and vocal classes). #About 80 mandolin students there, a few less banjo players, and 150+ guitarists.

There were two 2-hour classes per day, plus one-on-one master classes in the late afternoon. #The quality of the classes and instructors was uniformly very high, and everybody seemed to be learning a fair amount and having a fine time. #I was in one of two advanced groups; there were six groups total for mandolin.

Emory Lester taught economy of motion, tone, warp speed picking, and playing up the neck. #An amazing player!

John Reischman had great tunes and transcriptions, and worked on tone and clarity (both evident in his own playing).

Roland White showed us absolutely classic closed position fills for Blue Moon of Kentucky, first in 3/4 and then in 4/4. #

Butch Baldassari helped with Monroe style picking -- great tunes (like Evening Prayer Blues) and solid technique (down strokes and tremelo).

Carlo Aonzo focused on classical pieces and scales and exercises for independent finger movement (try playing Devil's Dream on the E string while keeping your 4th finger parked on the D string).

Alan Bibey showed us fine versions of tunes such as Old Dangerfield, and helped with bluesy B licks.

I came out of the week realizing that it might be possible to play mandolin both cleanly and quickly. #While I tried to focus on mando, I admit that my fiddle had a way of leaping into my hands at some jam sessions.

The accommodations were fine and the food was ok, although heavy.

Some highlights for me were:
- Marvelous concerts every night, filled with humor, virtuousity, and great playing
- Jamming with Butch Baldassari, Emory Lester, Jens Kruger, and Robin Kessinger and a few other instructors I knew from before
- Playing Ragtime Annie with Robin during one of the evening concerts
- Practically non-stop jamming with fellow campers (after meals, during breaks, late at night)
- Especially jamming with Tommy Jordan and his kids (excellent pickers), and with my friends from last year (like Andrew and Bob)
- Getting to try out some fine mandos (Heiden, Kimble, Gibson, etc.). #I had my Collings MF5DV along.
- Hearing all the camper bands at the band scramble on Saturday
- Fascinating conversations with fellow campers from all over the world (as far as Europe and Alaska) at mealtimes

Naturally, I hope to be back next year. #There's a lot more to tell, so maybe a few others who were there will weigh in with their observations.

Dave
www.reinerfamilyband.com

[AlanN]

Nice report, thanks. Emory is amazing, as are all the instructors you list.

Did Butchie divulge the secret to his hairdo? http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

[Dave Reiner]

Did Butchie divulge the secret to his hairdo? #http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif
Forgot to ask him that particular question. #But I had fun jamming with Butch on some unusual tunes, including Big Chief Sitting Bull, Blue Eagle, Snowflake Reel, Tipsy Gypsy, and Music for a Found Harmonium. #

And at another jam, Emory played great breaks to some tunes I'd written -- Out the Window, Butter Side Down, Ghost, and Slider's Reel.

Dave

[F5G WIZ]

Was Emory playing his Ludewig?

[Dave Reiner]

Emory was playing his Heiden much of the time, but did play his Ludewig mandolin and mandola on stage. I tried the Heiden, which had a perfect setup to play fast and clean, with a pronounced radius on the fingerboard.

Dave

[mandopete]

I had my Collings MF5DV along.
I have never heard of that model - is that a distressed, varnish model designation?

[Dave Reiner]

mandopete-

Collings MF5DV = MF-5 deluxe varnished model. #I've had it for about a year and a half.

Dave

P.S. There were lots of giveaway prizes at camp. #The best prize for mandolin campers, given away the last evening, was a Weber F-5 (a Big Sky, I think).

[cgwilsonjr]

I was there too and it was great! One of my many highlights was during the mandolin wrap-up in the music hall and seeing the mando masters playing before my very eyes a '24 Loar, a Hieden, a Gibson MM, and a Kimble. Nothing beats getting up close and personal tips from John Rieshman and his Loar. Another highlight was just all the great student pickers and our late night jams. I also got to play some awesome mandos including Kimble, Randy Wood, Collings and Brentrup. I would have loved to strum John's Loar but somehow didn't have the nerve to ask. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[maroon]

Dave,

Thanks for the report. A few questions, for you:

The prizes--where those for competitions, raffles, or what?

You were in an advanced group. Did you get a sense for what the beginner and intermediate students thought about their experience?

How late did the jams go every night?

[Dave Reiner]

Thanks for the report. #A few questions for you: #

The prizes--were those for competitions, raffles, or what? #

You were in an advanced group. #Did you get a sense for what the beginner and intermediate students thought about their experience?

How late did the jams go every night?
Good questions, maroon.

Prizes: There was a separate raffle for two items -- a Bourgeois guitar and a Whaley mandolin. #$5/ticket, proceeds to the camp scholarship fund. #But most of the hundreds of prizes, including the Weber Big Sky mando, were awarded through random drawings every night of the week. #Just about everybody won something -- T-shirts, strings, tuners, CDs, etc, mainly donated by sponsors.

Beginning and intermediate experience: The pickers I talked to and sometimes jammed with had a fine time -- and they improved during the week. #The personalized camp notebooks handed out at the beginning had the chords for many common jam tunes, and there were instructor-led slow and intermediate speed jams every day that were very popular. #The instructional materials in the mando notebook for beginners and intermediates looked good, and my impression was that they enjoyed classes a lot. #I often saw groups of students practicing tunes together, and even the bands in the band scramble contest were judged partly on how well they accommodated different levels of players. #There were quite a few intermediate mando players in Carlo Aonzo's camp orchestra.

Jams: Predominantly, there were bluegrass jams, oldtime jams, and lots of flatpicking jams. #Irish tunes surfaced, as did swing and Western Swing, newgrass, gypsy, and rags. #Lots of fiddle tunes. #I was up until 1 or 2AM most nights, and 4AM the last two nights -- the jams went pretty late but not all night. #The first class in the morning was scheduled for a reasonable 10AM (not counting the daily 8:30 jam down by the camp store), so that helped recovery from late night jams.

Dave

[Rick Crenshaw]

Dave, Rick here. I met you and we talked in the breakfast line for quite a while one morning. Folks, let me tell you. Dave can PLAY.

cgwilsonjr, are you Chuck? If so, you have a nice Bentrup A. Sounded great.

Kamp is a blast. But if you come, don't expect someone to hold your hand and lead you around. If you are too shy to start a jam or join a jam, then you may get stuck on the sidelines. I have no such troubles and am unashamedly forward in that way. So if I was walking by a jam, even if it was in someones room with the door open, I would stop and listen and join in if I felt like it. Most new campers seemed to get in the flow by midweek, but I swear it seems like Kamp is over in a day or so, it goes by so fast.

If you go, post here that your going. Try to find a familiar name or face. Get into the swing of jamming RIGHT AWAY! You'll be glad you did and so will the people that you meet. I didn't meet one jerk all week.

[cgwilsonjr]

Rick, this is Chuck. Was nice to meet you and play your Daley (which was awesome). I also met MandoDan. Rick is right about the jams...if your not shy and have some BG etiquite then you will trip all over good pickers who are ready and eager to play with you. Also, I was in the intermediate class and I thought it was great...I got rotated through the same instructors that the advanced students got. Life is good. Cheers, Chuck

[Rick Crenshaw]

Hey the Flatpick-L list met up and had a photo taken. Maybe we should do that with Mandolin Cafe members who go to Kamp. Let's pick a time after lunch. I'm thinking maybe Monday or Tuesday so's we could meet up early in the week. Take a photo around 1:00 and post it with names. It's cool to meet people you've had cyber conversations with.

[Dave Reiner]

Rick-

Good idea to meet up next year -- How about Tuesday at 1PM so they can announce it at the Monday evening concert? #I do remember our conversation in the breakfast line.

Thanks for your comments about my playing. #I thought I improved during the week. #It was a combination of less arm/more wrist, slightly more pick angle to the strings, picking a bit further from the bridge, and using a new (old) tortoiseshell pick. #The classes were really helpful in figuring out how to play faster and cleaner.

Hey Chuck- How come I didn't get to try your Brentrup A?

Regards,

Dave

[cgwilsonjr]

Dave: Sorry...you can play the Brentrup next year. That's a great idea having us mando cafe types met up next year to put a face with a name. Chuck http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[Pattroglyph]

My greetings to you, Dave, Rick and Chuck. The jams were continuous and available. Everything from finger busting, flat-out wailing BG to soft deliberate fiddle tunes in a quiet jam circle. Laundry rooms seem to be a very popular place for the serious fiddle tune junkies. Dave your gypsy, rag, celtic session with Tommy & Co. were deliriously enjoyable, even though I was pretty bleary by the time I stopped in. Lot's of original tunes to learn in these sessions. Dave you have a wonderful "knack with notes". Sounds like a tune to me.
Best paraphrase of the session: I do tunes the only LOOK hard to do, not ARE hard to do.
The Band Scramble was a hoot. You have 45 minutes to come up with a name and three tunes that work with all levels of players. You end up with about 8 players you never met before. It takes cooperation, creativity, coordination, choreography and humor to pull it together. Using cute teens and kids to your advantage helps. You can bribe the judges too. It's hysterical. Wouldn't miss it.
Band member of Day Old Pastry and Cold Grits. PK

[Ken Berner]

GEFool, Your Martin HD28 with the larger sound hole; are there two herringbone rings around the hole? I had a early '90s HD28-2R with this feature and it was a very nice feature; a very warm-sounding guitar! I think Martin was (in a way) presenting a Clarence White/Tony Rice guitar issue.

[Rick Crenshaw]

Ken, there are two rings around the soundhole but neither is herringbone. The inner ring is a double (b/w/b/w/b) and the outer ring is single b/w/b. The herringbone trim is around the top.

It's a great guitar. I was thinking I'll have to sell it or the D18GE to pay for the new Daley when it is ready, but at this point I think I'll try to sell everything I can except my current Daley and these two guitars to get the new Daley. They're both just awesome guitars, even if I don't play them much lately. The necks are 1-3/4" with a great modified V that is just what I like. I'll be selling both Eastmans, a Tut Taylor dobro, probably the CA guitar, lots of instructional stuff, ... anything that's not nailed down.

If I have to end up selling one of the good guitars, it'll be the D18GE at this point. They're more common, but the top on mine is very unique looking.

[Dave Reiner]

Hi Patsy-

Thanks for checking in, too. #It was lots of fun playing tunes and going to classes with you, and I loved your singing. #I still have a couple of hundred strange tunes saved for next year. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

Hope you liked Eric's CD... #The mando strap you made is now on my new Kimble A.

Regards,

Dave

[Mark Normand]

I may try to get in on this for next year. #I noticed for 2007 they offer two different week choices. But the first week seems to have more different instruments sections available. How does this transpose into jamming and other general activities outside of class? #

I would think that either week would certainly satisfy anyone's jamming needs, as shown by the responses above. But my preference is straight ahead bluegrass jamming. #I assume all the kampers intermingle with all others, not just mandos?
Which week might be better? #One week has bass, the other has banjo! #
Hey this is a major consideration when one spends..what?..8 hours in class, and the other 16 jamming. #Nevermind where sleep fits in!
http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/laugh.gif

[Rick Crenshaw]

Well, 4-5 hours of class. I was up till 3 am most mornings. 4 am for a few. Week one is much more 'sedate' from what I hear, but that may change next year. There will be all instruments around. Many folks are multi-instrumentalists, but I think hard core bluegrass would likely find a better foothold in Week Two since that's when the Scruggs style banjo is held. But, what do I know? I was a newbie this year.

It's a load of fun.

[Dave Reiner]

Hey mnormand-

On bluegrass jamming, I think it tips to week two.

The bluegrass banjos and mandolins are in week 2. (Oldtime banjos are in week 1.) On the other hand, dobros and fiddles are in week 1 (although some of that is oldtime fiddling). On the other hand (three hands, but who's counting?), there are quite a few good bluegrass fiddlers in week 2, and some strong singers.

In either week, the flatpicking guitarists play a lot of bluegrass fiddle tunes.

There you have it... Maybe see you next year.

Dave

[Chris "Bucket" Thomas]

45 minutes to put togther 3 songs and go on stage for the Band Scramble.

OBTW-none of us have played together before.

[Chris "Bucket" Thomas]

More practice.........

[Chris "Bucket" Thomas]

On stage---there are two Cafe members in that shot.

[Chris "Bucket" Thomas]

We did not win.

All of the top contenders had something in common.......

[Chris "Bucket" Thomas]

More practice.......

[Chris "Bucket" Thomas]

The secret to success among the top contenders (besides playing better than us) was:

1. A cute kid (most played better than the adults)
2. A gospel song
3. An attractive woman (we had her, just missing the other two)

[Chris "Bucket" Thomas]

A "post lunch" jam.......

[Chris "Bucket" Thomas]

Where is Waldo?