Bass Extremes Rehearsal

With an upcoming tour, Victor, Steve, Derico and Oteil took the day to rehearse their show. This was one of the more informative sessions for me. All they did was practice the songs, but it was not like very many practices I have had. They broke each song down, deciding what to keep and how to change it to fit the musicians at hand. Each time, they would start playing the song until some question or issue surfaced, then they would stop and work it out. Each time through the tune, it would fill out more, adding a chord coloring here, note choice there, a rhythmic progression or two until the song eventually became quite polished. ...

Stanley Clarke

Early in the morning, we were asked to come into the main hall for a special event. Sitting on a stool, in front of all of us, not six feet away from me was Stanley Clarke. Stanley Clarke!! One of my idols, the first real jazz I ever listened to, standing right in front of us.

As I'm writing this, it's been a week or so (I told you I was going to backdate posts), and I'm still all a-giddy from meeting Stanley. If you aren't familiar with Mr. Clarke's work, let me try to explain it to you. Imagine going to a basketball conference where Michael Jordan is there, Larry Bird is hanging around, Shaq and Kobe lounging in the back, and then meeting Wilt Chamberlain — someone who was a mentor/idol to all these amazing people around, someone who completely redefined his pursuit. I really can't quite describe the feeling adequately.

Closing Jam Session

We had a free form jam, four or five bassists at a time with Roy Wooten, Derico Watson or J.D. Blair on drums (just back from touring with Shania) and the occasional guest on other instruments. Everyone who wanted to play got up, took a solo or laid back, holding the groove.

For myself, when I was up on stage...

Closing Observations

One of the things that I most noticed about the camp was watching the students grow (including myself). Not just as bass players, but as people and musicians in general. Hopefully, one of the main things to take away from this experience...