How does on prepare for a trip to Haiti? There are shots, articles, conversations you have with people that have and have not been there…. How does one prepare for producing artists you have never met before? Listen to their music, try to catch their vibe, email, skype, and learn their tunes.
Here we are in the first phase of the recording process here in Boston. Will Wells is here directing the rhythm section… when he is not playing keys/ organ.
Berklee College of Music has been fortunate enough to be involved in a project to help kids overcome life-threatening challenges with Life is good Kids Foundation. We are working on a cd project together. Will Wells has put together a band of students and professionals to rework folk songs written by Playmakers in Haiti, who we will soon be recording in Haiti. Here is the Chief Playmaker, Steve Gross, explaining the project during one of the rehearsals.
Dan Carwile knows fiddle contests
Coming to you Wednesday afternoon from the Mark O’Connor/Berklee Summer String Program… fiddle cases are everywhere!
Fiddler Dan Carwile is so detail-oriented he has a spreadsheet ranking brands of rosin. He told a dozen students he wanted them to learn past masters’ fiddle tunes so well that they could name every lick they stole. “I’m a fossil,” he said. But not a fogey: “I like to go for something different every time… it’s controlled improvisation.”
The program’s “contest-style” or “Texas-style” teacher, Dan ran the class through a classic fiddle breakdown and shared tips from his experiences judging (among other competitions) the National Oldtime Fiddler’s Contest and Festival in Weiser, Idaho. That’s “Weiser,” pronounced “weezer,” to insiders.
Please imagine this all in a soft Alabama drawl.
Suzanne Oleson of bluegrass group Chasing Blue
Although I really enjoyed seeing The Bad Plus, and hearing Bobby McFerrin speak left me speechless, attending Berklee’s first ever String Showcase was the event of my semester
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