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

The Long Beach Union Newspaper

 

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.

His work with other groups and artists just adds to the confusion. He’s a fixture in John Zorn‘s Naked City, which is a jazz/be bop/hardcore cut-up band. He’s lent his distinctive guitar playing to The Residents, Brian Eno and The Violent Femmes, to name but a few. His own band, Keep The Dog, began as a retrospective group.

“The group is constantly evolving into things we don’t expect,” Frith said. “In one sense, it’s a traditional group, in as much as it’s like bass, guitar, drums and keyboards, but on top of that, with the accordion, which is very important in the group, we have a quaint, Cajun influence sometimes.

“We went through this business of me writing out all the parts for these old songs from Gravity and Speechless and we’d been performing that, but we don’t do that any more. We’re now concentrating on things I’ve written more recently, especially dance pieces I’ve written for Bebe Miller or old pieces I’ve written with Ferdinand Richard for a record of ours that just came out. We played some gigs in Switzerland a couple of weeks ago and it was the first time I really felt the group was really a band in the sense of something I could write for,” Frith said.

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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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Once again, I was invited to participate in a group project. This time, it is 99 Bottles of Beer. Each ‘chorus’ will be performed by a different group/individual, and then they’ll all be put together.

Here’s my first try:

If the player doesn’t work,

.

I was talking to a friend the other day, discussing the 45 second track I produced for the upcoming vinyl compilation I was invited to participate in. I learned that another compilation was in the works, but this one had a slightly different spin.

The project, “Sloppy Seconds,” will feature 80 one minute tracks. Each one minute track will comprise 60 one second submissions, each from a different artist or group, totalling at 3600 individual submissions. Of course, I had to make one.

If the player, above, doesn’t work, you can

.

Also, you can

that has my one second composition in it.

Please leave comments, as I always welcome feedback!

For as long as I can remember, music has been a part of my life. At a very early age I was fascinated by music, and listened to it all the time. I remember, when I was about 7 or 8, walking to the library and, in my mind, hearing a complete orchestral performance of Rimsky-Korsakov’s Sheherazade. At the library I’d listen to records somewhat indiscriminately. I really enjoyed romantic era orchestral composers, but also loved pop music, rock, and even some wacky experimental stuff. All this before I was a teenager.

I also studied music, learning violin, keyboard, guitar, and trumpet at various times… None of which with any proficiency. I also sang and, in the 6th grade, was invited to be the featured soloist for a performance of Leonard Bernstien’s Chitchester Psalms with the Santa Monica City College Choir.

By the time I hit Jr High, though, I stopped playing instruments completely and didn’t take music up again until after High School. I started attending the local community college, and they had both a sound recording program AND an electronic music program. I immersed myself in both. I was working with multi-track reel to reel tape machines, analog synth’s large and small, and even some very primitive digital computer-based synthesis on an Apple 2E.

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I created another 45 second track, yet still this is not the one I planned to create from the very beginning. This is a purely vocal exploration…

Please note that, even though the track is short, I’ve posted the uncompressed WAV file, which is actually rather large.

Or click

to hear the track!

As a result of my last gig I was invited to participate in a compilation album that’s being produced by a young fellow I met at the gig. I guess that the plan is to produce an LP (those 12″ vinal things…) with up to 40 tracks, each no longer than 45 seconds. To be honest, I love stuff like this. So far, I have produced two tracks.

is from my performance, the middle bit with my Lap Steel, that runs about 12 minutes or so. Using special software, I reduced the running time to 45 seconds. Thus, the entire performance is represented, but it happens at a much faster rate. The pitch would have stayed the same but I decided to drop the whole thing down one octave, just because it felt better to me.

is more of a multi-track studio affair. I built the thing up one track at a time, improvising each track as I went. For example, I recorded the first guitar track, then improvised the 2nd and 3rd tracks just listening to the 1st. These three tracks became the 3 note chords. I then recorded the 1st 1/4 note arpeggio, also an improv, and then the 2nd without listening to the first. I improvised the bass part while listening to the chords, then added the 3 vocal tracks, the lap steel, and the bells.

It wasn’t exactly what I had in mind for the project, but I do like it. It is simultaniously lilting and wacked… (BTW, I described it to my wife using the same two words and her reply: “Lilting and wacked… Just like you!”)

Enjoy!

This song, called

, was written a few years back when I was recording songs as birthday gifts for my friends. At a local farmer’s market, I found a small stone heart that was carved from some sort of crystal. It looked rather dull and gray until the sun hit it. When it was illuminated directly, it sparkled and shined, refracting the light from within. This became a lyrical metaphor for me, and sparked the song. My singing, especially at the beginning, is a bit ragged. The harmonies are all staggered and informal. This was all planned. The guitar solo is perhaps one of the best I’ve ever recorded, not for its technical skill, but because to me it is filled with feeling. As the solo progresses, the rest of the music fades away. To me, this was also a metaphor for being couragous in letting one’s heart shine… At the end, my vocal is softer, warmer, and more intimate…. Almost a whisper.

To me, this is a very special song. I don’t know if anyone else likes it much, as I understand that aspects of it can be challenging. Still, for me, I felt like I reached a place in the creation of it that was emotional and personally profound.

Having said that, I absolutely welcome and encourage any and all feedback and impressions you care to share, positive or negative.

Here are the lyrics:

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