Mandolin symposium v

[SternART]

I just slept for 14 hours.....darn I musta had a good time to be that sleep deprived. I've been to all five Mandolin Symposiums in Santa Cruz, and hey they just keep getting better. Met folks from Holland, Germany, Italy, Brazil, Iceland, Canada, Australia, Norway.....and from all over the US. I'd say about 60% newbies and 40% folks I already knew, with numerous others who have been there every year. EVERYONE is playing better than when I first met them.

My most memorable class was the Dawg Master class where you were supposed to audition a Dawg tune for Grisman & he would critique your playing. It was sparsely attended so it just became a jam, where we could suggest a tune & he'd run through it & we'd all play it. The phenoms were in this class, Sam Grisman on bass & Dominick Leslie, from CO on mando...both headed to Berklee on scholarships. Sarah Jarosz from Austin, this young lady is still in High School & plays amazing , as well as singing like an angel...I predict a bright future for these three. Matt Sircely, from the Seattle Django band Hot Club Sandwich was in there too, he was leading the nightly Swing jams at the Symposium. One other fella I didn't know..... I walked in a bit late, they were playing Janice......I opened my case in time to play the Bmin 7th to start the bridge & was off & flying. We also played, Dawg Funk, Waiting on Vassar, and polished it off with Dawg's Rag. I've been to heaven, seen he other side...and it was GOOD! More later......

[SternART]

Herschel Sizemore was a revelation to me......incredibly clean playing and what a nice approachable man......he told some wonderful Monroe stories,
as well as his time in bands with Vassar, Jimmy Martin, & Del McCoury.....Ronnie was there this year, and talked about watching Herschel when he was a youngin'. They performed one night with members of the DGBX backing them up.....rousing renditions of BG tunes including Herschel's Rebecca....they were then joined by Grisman & after a few more tunes Tony Williamson.....how's that for a mandolin front line?!........Andy Statman continues to astound me....I used to think he just played outside.....but after his class on modes realize he just is playing a bit more Eastern than Western, having studied Greek, Turkish, and Klezmer modes/ scales. He performed a riveting duet with Sam Grisman on bass......Sam fastened his seatbelt looked Andy in the eye and went on a wild improvised ride.....WHAT FUN....Paul Glasse was a new instructor this year and geeze Louise can this cat play.....the jazz brains running thru his head had me reeling....his classes might have been a bit over my head, but it is nice to know....."what you don't know".....ideas to work on. His classes on non BG Rhythm strategies and another on Chord substitutions really got me thinking.....and again, a VERY nice and approachable man....ready to answer any question. The Symposium isn't really about learning tunes or licks....it is more about learning to "think like a musician" and a love fest of all kinds of mandolin music. It is as much about meeting and experiencing the people in an informal week long atmosphere, as the classes. You can take meals & find an open seat next to Rich DelGrosso (his blues jam got bsted by the cps at 3AM one night)...or Tony Williamson, that good ol boy can play about anything & was packin' yet another great Loar...or how about those Brazilians?! Choro was a major force again this year....Danilo Brito on his 8 string bandolim is a revelation, what an incredible more traditional player...and Dudu Maia on his 10 string, with a more modern Choro sensibility were fun to be around. I really enjoyed young Ashley Broder & her partner Jamie Laval's take on Irish music.....kind of updating the music with intense mando-rhythmic sensibilities.

I really need to get back to work......but still have this huge grin on my face & can't quit thinking about another GREAT week in Santa Cruz!
Thanks to all..... but especially Mike Marshall & David Grisman for all the hard work pulling this together, and for sharing themselves and their
mando knowledge with everyone.

[jaco]

Art, thanks for the post for those of us green with envy. Recently saw the movie "The Bucket List". The symposium is on mine.

[SternART]

Most fun I have all year......a friend went for the first time.......he was like the Cheshire Cat all week...just had a HUGE grin on his face......first day he was like I'm a newbie........by the 2nd day he was right at home.......3rd day he was like in his element.....wandering around mumbling something about "being in heaven"......everyone is so supportive, there was a full course meal there for a beginner
as well as the hot pickers, and every level in between.

[Marcus CA]

I only slept for eight hours, not fourteen, last night, but that is because I took three naps after I got home on Sunday morning. #

When Art talked about people coming across an ocean for this, he didn't mention that most of them make the trip just for this. #They might spend a day in San Francisco before or after MandoSymp, but that's usually it.

The Symposium is a Brigadoon experience. #You go to this amazing place on a Monday afternoon, and then by noon on Sunday, everyone is gone. #Fortunately, a year later, it all comes to life again. #You see lots of your old friends, and meet lots of amazing new ones.

You get a wide range of musical experience there, both in genre and approach. #Andy Statman won't give you sheet music because he wants you to learn the tunes by ear, as he always did/does. #Herschel Sizemore will give you music, but he can't read it, so he is more than happy to patiently teach you by ear if you don't want to rely on music or tab. #Mike Marshall and (of course) Caterina Lichtenberg insist that you read music, and clearly show you the need to be able to do so. #David Grisman will give you music and tab, and doesn't care how you learn the tunes as long as you learn them. #It was a golden opportunity and a complete thrill to take classes from all of these stellar musicians and some of the other ones.

Another treasure of MandoSymp is the morning music appreciation series. #You would not believe the audio and video gems that are presented there. #The video of Hamilton de Holanda and Chris Thile taking solos on "Gator Strut" at last year's WinterGrass was absolutely jawdropping.

I've gone the last three years, and definitely hope to go again. #There is SO much to see, hear, discuss, and play. #After you leave, you really do need at least a day to reacclimate to normal life. #It's like retox.

[Dan Eaton]

I only slept for eight hours, not fourteen, last night, but that is because I took three naps after I got home on Sunday morning. #

When Art talked about people coming across an ocean for this, he didn't mention that most of them make the trip just for this. #They might spend a day in San Francisco before or after MandoSymp, but that's usually it.

The Symposium is a Brigadoon experience. #You go to this amazing place on a Monday afternoon, and then by noon on Sunday, everyone is gone. #Fortunately, a year later, it all comes to life again. #You see lots of your old friends, and meet lots of amazing new ones.

You get a wide range of musical experience there, both in genre and approach. #Andy Statman won't give you sheet music because he wants you to learn the tunes by ear, as he always did/does. #Herschel Sizemore will give you music, but he can't read it, so he is more than happy to patiently teach you by ear if you don't want to rely on music or tab. #Mike Marshall and (of course) Caterina Lichtenberg insist that you read music, and clearly show you the need to be able to do so. #David Grisman will give you music and tab, and doesn't care how you learn the tunes as long as you learn them. #It was a golden opportunity and a complete thrill to take classes from all of these stellar musicians and some of the other ones.

Another treasure of MandoSymp is the morning music appreciation series. #You would not believe the audio and video gems that are presented there. #The video of Hamilton de Holanda and Chris Thile taking solos on "Gator Strut" at last year's WinterGrass was absolutely jawdropping.

I've gone the last three years, and definitely hope to go again. #There is SO much to see, hear, discuss, and play. #After you leave, you really do need at least a day to reacclimate to normal life. #It's like retox.

I like the Brigadoon analogy. #I'll have to remember that.

[Don Christy]

I'm still recovering. The combination of withdrawal from our Brigadoon experience, being on Pacific time and staying up until 3-4am has made it rough getting back to midwest life

This was just my second year, and I also thought it was great. I saw so many great folks that I met last year but I think there was around 60% (or was it 40%) new people.

I mostly play bluegrass, but ended up primarily taking classes by Paul Glasse (who I had never heard of), Mike Marshall, and Andy Statman. Paul Glasse was a great player and teacher. Not being all that familiar with Jazz and Swing, I learned more about Johnny Gimble, Tiny Moore, and Jethro.

So much of what I learned this year would have been completely over my head last year! Classes on improvisation, extended chords, chord substitution ...

One of the take home messages for me is to spend more time transcribing the great mandolin players.

Any other "resolutions" for the coming year from others?
Don

[SternART]

Resolutions- to be a better team player & listen harder.....
Statman taught a class on how to improvise from scratch that really hit home for me. He played a 1 note solo....had the class playing the chords, and he kinda tapped out in morris code a very cool 1 note rhythmic solo, the space between the repeated note, a triplet on the repeated note, sliding into the repeated note, tremelo the note, hammering on or pulling off the repeated note.....he played it quiet, built it up in intensity.....hey there are a lot of ways to play a note. Rather than my usual 16th note explorations with some 8th note downstroke stuff, I'm going to think more about "how" the notes are played and how they sound in relation to the other players. That was another thing I took away from this Symposium, was to listen more and interact....Andy was pretty funny when he said something like you don't walk into a room & just go blah-blah-bla-blah-blah-blah, rather you come in and say Hello, wait for a response then introduce yourself, that music should be more like a conversation.....boy did that hit home, so simple, but the way he explained it, a light went on for me. Another was in Dawg's ensemble class.....and I already knew this but a bit of repetition isn't bad...he said if you can't hear the soloist (in that case him) you're playing too loud. So again dynamics and the ability to vary volume, both to be polite, and make a better "group" sound, but to also exploit volume and dynamics for effect. He had our ensemble fade out & build up volume in several places to great effect. He also had us not all play the same thing, for example several of us would tremelo a 5 note run over an Eminor cord for a measure in the bridge, while others played the chord, and others the melody.....darn if that wasn't a VERY cool sounding section of the bridge. I think one of the most important things I took away his year was to be more of a team player, to listen harder and find a part to play that supports the group sound. This might sound simple....but how many of us just get into a jam & chop away until it is our turn to go blah-blah-blah?! They really get you thinking like a musician......

[Brad Weiss]

This was my second year, just like Don's. I was struck by how different the experience was from one year to the next. #Last year, it was all inspiration and exhilaration. #A huge sense of discovery and feeling like I fell into a deep well with limitless possibilities. #This year, sure, just as inspirational and exciting, but I was able to pay more attention to what I was hearing and learn from it. #

Paul Glasse was a great addition (and I LOVE Don Stiernberg, so no aspersions cast), a really helpful teacher, lots of ideas, and his playing was really outstanding. #I loved his original compositions, the way he's really pushing the limits, not just of the mando, but of the bebop idiom. #I was in his ensemble, too, and the tune was infectious, and Paul's arrangement made it TOTALLY swiiing. #Loads of fun. #And he could hardly be a nicer guy. He seemed sincerely glad to have the opportunity to work with everyone, students included (or especially!)

Dudu Maia is one of the best teachers of any subject I've ever had (and I went to school for a looong time...). #His explanation of chord theory, voice leading, and harmony, would be incredibly useful to any player of almost any instrument. #And the Brazilians just always make you smile. #At one point during his set he said "what matters the most are the friendships .... and the love we have" and then followed it up with "I'm sorry, guys, Brazilians are so sentimental!" #He's a cool cat, and a great friend, too.

I'm not usually inspired by the music appreciation hour, but it's certainly interesting to hear everyone's history and take on their work. #But David G played a clip by Bill Evans during his segment that just floored me- Evans is talking to his brother and, in essence, says just play what you KNOW with honesty and sincerity, and accuracy and truth, and that will be much better, and a better foundation for you than trying to play an abstract, overwrought, complicated improv. #It sounds obvious, but it made a huge impression. #Be honest! You're playing will be better!

There's so much more to say. As everyone here as noted in their own way, it's really about the supportive relationships you develop with everyone, the feeling of joy in sharing time, not just with the big shots, but with a community that's come together to have the common experience, and really express themselves as participants, not just as a way to show off their chops. #I also got to play a lot more music than last year, including - gulp - hanging in there in a choro roda with Dudu and Pablo and Colin that was pretty exciting for those of us just finding our way. #I really benefited from being affiliated with everyone else I played with. So thanks to everyone who was there- can't wait to see you next year!!

[tuhker]

I'm the Cheshire cat art referred to above but I wasn't the only one with a constant smile on my face. as a 1st year student, I couldn't have been more thrilled with the experience and dawg willing, sure hope to come back. to me, this is the mecca for mandolin players and to complete your mandolin studies, one should go all out to attend at least once in your life.

[BlueMountain]

It was my first time at the Symposium, and I had a wonderful time. It was also the first time I'd heard any of the teachers play live. What a kick to go to the cafeteria the first evening and find myself sitting with Steve Gilchrist and Tony Williamson trading puns.

Three hours jet lag was tough on a guy who lives in Pennsylvania and is usually asleep by ten. I finally gave up on ensemble practice and took a daily nap, which let me jam until 1 a.m. or so--and the jamming is what is most helpful.

Critical comments? I enjoyed the morning interviews with the pros, but some of the sound or video samples could have been shorter (15 seconds of Coltrane is enough for me). I benefited from the classes, but some of the teachers were less prepared than others. I don't like it when a teacher chooses a session topic, then doesn't bother to prepare to teach that topic and prepare handouts. (But I must say that even those who were less well prepared often had pearls to share with us.) Except for the first evening, the pros ate together--and not with the rest of us. I wish they'd eat with us.

Positive comments? My wife and I got up at 5:30 every morning and went for a two hour walk on campus through the redwoods and fields and away from the people. Arrow builder Paul LeStock hosted a nightly swing jam in his "Tiki Room" that was great. I've just been trying to play jazz standards for a month or so, so this was a wonderful opportunity. And in another room, Matt Sircely's Gypsy Swing Mandolin jam offered another approach and lots of handouts. Amazing opportunity I certainly don't get at home. Then there was the blues jam that Rich Del Grosso hosted. (The pros didn't generally show up at the jams.) He's a great leader and gave everyone a chance to solo. It was fun to watch the amazing classical mandolinist Caterina Lichtenberg struggling to play basic chop chords and scratch out a solo (a very fun person who is game to try new things).

The nightly concerts were excellent and well laid-out. For example, matching Paul Glasse and Tony Williamson--both extraordinary players of jazz mandolin but with wildly different styles. Or watching Sam Grisman and Andy Statman channeling each other through locked eyes during long solos.

I really liked meeting the contributors above and many others in the cafeteria and getting to talk with them.

There was quite a mix of abilities at the symposium: people who have played for only a few months and people who have played for years. (I loved it when a photo was flashed on the screen of Grisman and Sam Bush about '79 and Art called out in delight, "Hey, that's my hat in the bottom of the picture." He was there!) There was less mandolin snobbery than I've sometimes seen, though I got to try out quite a few mandolins by builders who contribute here. I was astonished to see a guy riding his skateboard at high speed down the road with his Loar in one hand.

All in all, a real treat, and many thanks to those who worked so hard to make it possible.

[tuhker]

we have video of the final night concert thanks to the ever giving John Baxter. Camera is shaky at times but worth the time if only for the audio.

http://www.mandotunes.com/mandosym/mandosym2008/

[SternART]

You'll have to excuse Bluemountain...of fan fret fame...he must still be recovering.....or staying up till 1 AM jamming and then walking around the campus really early...possibly from sleep deprivation he must have hallucinated " seeing a guy riding his skateboard at high speed down the road with his Loar in one hand."

Hey...I could believe maybe a Derrington signed Master model...but I'm not sure I buy the Loar lore. I think we need to get verification of this sighting from his wife.....or possibly....no... it couldn't have been Mike Marshall.....could it?!

[tuhker]

yep, i saw the mountain man with an instrument on a skateboard too but can't verify it was a loar as I couldn't see the serial # as he went flying by

[Doug Hoople]

I can echo much of what was said above. This was my 4th iteration, and they've all been amazing. The evening concerts, the jams with the greats, the jams with our peers, the classes, the morning appreciation lectures, the ensembles, and the hanging out. It's all unthinkably great.

And even though some of the topics get repeated, I find that I get different things out of them because of changes (hopefully mostly good) in my own perspective over the years.

As a tie-in to the message boards here at the Cafe, we've had a bunch of theory threads that have spun out of control (with me as one of the perps, I admit). It's been speculated that, at critical junctures, simply hearing what we're writing about would clear up any misconceptions in the discussion. That was proven over and over again in the classes. I'm thinking especially of Dudu and Danilo's theory sections. Dudu would present his "diamonds," charts that lay out the way that harmonies work in choro. They're great, but they also require some explanation. When Dudu got to the topic of "secondary domininants as they relate to the IV chord," the natives got restless. There were a couple of false starts as the room started to spontaneously combust with students offering explanations (ala the Cafe), and the usual bafflement that comes from explaining aspects of sound through the medium of words.

At that point, here on the Cafe, the thread usually spins out of control, and we're off to the races trying to debate the whole of music theory and pedagogical approaches. But there in the classroom, with Dudu and Danilo, we just asked, "Can you play that?" Danilo would then play through two or three examples from the repertoire (beautifully!). Lightbulbs would go off all over the room, and the natives would become quiet and content with their newfound understandings!

That's something we should bear in mind here whenever we try to explain things like secondary dominants and harmonized scales. It's also something, BTW, that Don Stiernberg has a real flair for presenting on the Cafe. He lays out examples from the repertoire, usually with chord sequences written out. Not quite as effective as hearing it on the spot, but it goes a long way in that direction.

Sorry to sidetrack, but thought it was a worthy tie-in.

Yes, the Symposium! It's a magnificent experience! Highly, highly recommended!

[Ranger Ric]

Again....an amazing experience. So many great pickers and teachers. Kudos to Paul and the Tiki Lounge for inspiring some great jams. Now I gotta get practicing for next year....

[arrowmandolin]

I [we] have absolutely NO idea WHAT you are talking about.....and even if such a place did exist, we would have no comment.

[Doug Hoople]

yep, i saw the mountain man with an instrument on a skateboard too but can't verify it was a loar as I couldn't see the serial # as he went flying by

I'd be surprised if this mysterious presence were anyone other than our very own Darren Dix, a man with (as the DA would say) the means, the motive, and the opportunity!

[seanonabutton]

Paul just made my day with that comment

[MandoishMiss]

It was a loar.