Sander Roscoe Wolff

by Sander R Wolff
The Union
Published some time in the early 1990’s

As I sat, watching and listening to The League of Crafty Guitarists perform Sunday at Peppers in The City of Industry, I was struck by the eyes of the players; gazing into space, unfocused. They seemed the perfect example of calm assurance, sitting on folding stools, with perfect posture. When not playing, resting their left hands on their knees palm up and their right arms hanging at their sides.

I spoke at length with Paul Richards, a member of the L.C.G., and he told me of the Guitar Craft school, created by King Crimson founder Robert Fripp. Richards began the Level One course in ’86, and except for breaks to complete his college education, has continued studying and performing under the direction of Fripp.

“I knew that Robert had a different approach than a lot of other guitarists, more of an intellectual approach or maybe even a spiritual approach to playing the guitar,” Richards said. “The best thing [was] trying to let go of all that and just go for it, because actually when I came to the course it wasn’t anything like I could have imagined anyway.

“During that [first] week, the focus is on technique, on how to play the guitar rather than what to play, so there are a number of exercises that are presented, right and left hand techniques. In addition to that there are exercises in attention that are presented to develop and cultivate attention. It’s a beginning for developing a personal discipline in practice.”

The focusing of attention is central to the Guitar Craft training, and the work involved in learning the specific techniques moves beyond mere guitar playing.

“Everything is geared toward this type of work. Besides playing the guitar all day we each take our turn in helping prepare the meals and [taking] care of the house, things like that. This is also part of the course. Part of the Level Three course is to apply the same quality of attention and work we apply to our guitar playing to an ordinary mundane activity like cleaning the toilet or sweeping the floor or chopping onions for a meal. So it expands, in that sense, from just being a guitar player to doing things in general. At one point Guitar Craft becomes a way of life.”

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by Sander R Wolff
The Union
Published sometime in the early 1990’s

He was a founding member of the progressive rock bands Yes and King Crimson. He’s played with Genesis, and has toured or recorded with countless others. But Bill Bruford, drummer extraordinaire, really isn’t interested in recounting past glories, but in devoting his creative energies to his current group, Earthworks.

“[Jazz] is the thrust of my career right now, in that particular direction, ’cause there’s something I think I can do there with electronic percussion particularly. Taking that into jazz and having it taken seriously as a jazz instrument and trying to be creative on the chordal and pitched melody side of the instrument.”

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by Sander R. Wolff

Fred Frith is a man whose work is not easily classified. His career as an improviser is only surpassed by his career as an instrumentalist, except for his career as a composer, which may, at this point, have surpassed both.

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Lauren, Shari, and I went for a walk this morning along a reclaimed area that runs beneath some power towers. We love the walk, and the City of Lakewood has done a wonderful job of planting lots of native and drought-resistant species. Prompted by Lauren, I paused for a moment to snap a few pictures.

Lauren’s been taking riding lessons, and I go with her and hang out with the horses. One, in particular, is my bestie. His name is Rodeo. I’ve taken a bunch of pictures of him, and here are some:

I love my wife dearly, and am especially grateful when she poses for me, as in this picture:

I can admit that I’ve always been a fan of ocarinas and, more specifically, sweet potatos. They have a sweet warm mellow tone, feel wonderful in the hand, and are easily portable. I’ve been preparing for a large scale recording that will use, primarily, acoustic instruments and have been aquiring instruments that have unique or interesting tonalities.

A while back I purchased an old Gretsch plastic sweet potato and, although it has a wonderful nostalgia to it, it doesn’t sound or play very well. While poking around on Ebay, I discovered a fellow by the name of Charlie Hind who hand builds wooden ocarinas and sweet potatos. His work, which can be seen on his web site, is really beautiful. He works, mostly, in walnut, a wood that I’m really fond of. In exploring his site, I noticed that he’d created a few instruments in mahogany, and I remembered that I had a rather large piece left over from my guitar project. I emailed him and asked if he’d be willing to work with my wood, and he said yes.

Charlie has been more than kind. He’s been photographing the process of creating the instrument for me, and has allowed me to post his pix here.

I’ll also include some of his comments.

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