I purchased the latest strings from Velvet this week - the Compas Blues - from Chris at Quinn Violins.  I have seen very little on these new Velvet strings at Talkbass or elsewhere on the web.  Furthermore, I haven’t found any good pictures of them.  I’ve seen a set of Velvets or two in person, but not everyon has that opportunity.  That said, here you go: 

On the heels of the long-anticipated, oft-delayed Don Cheadle biopic centered on the life of the shape-shifting prince of darkness, it was just announced that Forest Whitaker will be playing the great Dipper Mouth in a film scheduled to begin production next year.What a boon 2010 will be for jazz fans!  Whitaker’s performance as Charlie Parker in 1998’s “Bird” was a stellar depiction of the heavyweight’s rise to stardom and decline to the depths of addiction and, ultimately,  to his death.  My personal discovery of “Bird” was a revelation and moved Whitaker to my #1 Actor spot.    Whitaker can be expected to bring a depth to the onscreen portrayal of a man to whom we all owe a great deal of gratitude. 

Dave Douglas, founder of FONT, posted this great video yesterday:

I really do like the camera work on this; it makes the viewer feel more involved in the action.  Also, take a second to click through to the YouTube page and read the comments.

 After taking a year off to devote myself to the completion of my degree, I have returned to the world of Orchestral playing.  I am on the roster of the Imperial Symphony Orchestra.  It’s a regional pickup (and primarily volunteer)  group, comprised of several professionals and many educators and people with day gigs.  Being what it is, we rehearse once a week and have little rehearsal time to really bring things together.  I must admit, the whole “bowing the same as your section” thing is probably the most difficult thing for me right now, as I had worked fairly hard to shake my classical bowing tendencies to open up what I’ve been doing in Jazz. Well, we’ve got an excellent program coming up.  From the ISO’s website: 

A Different Beat

 

October 07, 2008 - October 07, 20087:30 PM - 9:15 PM

The ISO is proud to present “A Season of Guests” featuring guest artists on every concert of the 2008-09 Masterworks Concert Series in Youkey Theatre at The Lakeland Center.

A Different Beat features Bulgarian-born Svet Stoyanov, a 2003 Concert Artist Guild International Competition Winner, performing with the ISO on 20 different percussion instruments during American composer Joseph Schwantner’s Concerto for Percussion & Orchestra.

 

Program Selections:

Shostakovich - Festive Overture

Schwantner - Concerto for Percussion with Svet Stoyanov, Percussion

Borodin - Symphony No. 2

  

 

It should be an excellent program.In case you were wondering, the “Imperial” comes from the antiquated moniker for the county: Imperial Polk County.  You can read more about it here.

  The two Solano Klotz basses currently residing in Lakeland met for the first time this week. My 2003 slab-top Klotz (on the right) has been in town since February of 2004 and Zach’s bass has been here less than a year. Before ordering his Klotz, Zach and I met so he could play mine and get a feel for whether this type of instrument (a very large bass) would be suitable for him. It was and he opted to get a fiver.

Zach’s bass sounds amazing.  with his current, more classical, setup, digging in is a little difficult, but the sound is still there all the way to the ‘B.’  I think that the more traditional quarter-sawn top is a wise choice for the additional tension on this top, as my bass has suffered some ills as a result of the structurally-less-stable, sweeter sounding top.

Rumor has it a third Klotz is being made for a student at my alma mater, the University of South Florida and should be here some time soon.  I’ll make sure to get all three together.  Monte Butts, the man who started my itching for this bass has made a threat to come down as well…maybe four in the same room? 

I eagerly awaited the announcement of the T-Mobile G1 (formerly known as the HTC Dream) at 10:30 am today; this will be the very first GooglePhone to hit the market.  The best news of the live video conference was the G1’s price at $179 for existing T-Mobile customers.  Imagine my surprise when I went to order one and saw this: I called T-Mobile customer service to confirm that, because I am not in the last month of my contract, I am ineligible for the full discount and a G1 will cost me a whopping $344, a far cry from the $179 (even if you assume tax and fees) announced today.I will not renew my contract with T-Mobile at the end of this term if this is not rectified.   They had a great chance and blew it today in a single move.  If they are willing to subsidize the difference between what was stated and what was offered, I may reconsider.  Other evidence:

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Thanks to Kells Nollenberger for his post on CD Baby’s guide to “Legally Sell(ing) Downloads of Cover Songs.”  I have been interested in this subject for some time as I am interested in doing a recording project in the near future and have been thinking about how to get my ducks in a row.  As I understand it, the Harry Fox Agency serves as a one-stop-shop for mechanical performance rights.  I had never heard of compulsory licenses before and feel much better about the process than before. What about you?  Please comment if you have recorded another composers’ works before and secured the rights to do so through HFA or some other means. 

Things are picking up as Autumn is now upon us (noth quite the same to an Ohio boy living in Florida).  While there are several exciting gigs on the horizon, Platform Florida’s Art Party #12, titled Connecting Flights, is bound to be a highlight.  The matthewwengerd trio will be playing throughout the night for this multi-faceted celebration of Art.  There will be several musical acts, but we will be featured thoughout the night.

September 27, 2008
6-10 pm
Sun ‘n Fun
(4175 Medulla Rd. Lakeland, FL 33811)

b|matthew wengerd 
d|paul keesling
p|paul butcher 

see? 

Matt Wilson’s Arts and Crafts is one of my favorite jazz bands out there. Matt’s (and the whole band’s) personality and musicianship just scream “Let’s have some fun!” This song does just that. Based on the sage advice of Matt’s (who sometimes goes by “M@”) yoga instructor, this very hip ii-V vamp is begging you to feel the sway…