Guitar Camp wrap up Part One

When John Scofield showed up...

Guitar Camp 2024 Part One

Another momentous guitar camp has ended, and I'm left again worrying whether I will run out of superlatives in describing what happened. So much was packed into our four days, that a number of essays could be written.

Let me remind you who the actors are in this drama: 88 participants, four days cloistered in a world class facility in the Catskill mountains of New York, and a surfeit of guitar talent including John Scofield, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Nels Cline, Gilad Hekselman, Rodney Jones, Mike and Leni Stern, Camila Meza, Wolfgang Muthspiel, bassist Jerome Harris, and drummer Harvey Sorgen.

I’ll begin with a wonderful quote from a camper:

“I was attracted to AGS in 2023 by the names on the list of presenters. I figured I would learn a bunch of technical training, practice exercises, and new ways of approaching the guitar in general.  I certainly got that, but more importantly something was awakened in me. I was reminded to ask myself:  ‘Why do I want to play guitar in the first place?  What is this grip that the guitar has on me?’  This became the beginning of (or a return to?) a journey of self-discovery. The benefits of spending a week with such a group cannot be overstated, especially to an old person like me (I’m 71 years old). The cumulative effect was to bring the ‘seed of awakening’ that I had noticed the previous year closer to the surface. I am determined now to get back onto the path of finding out who I am as a musician, and that might involve getting reacquainted with some of the music that sent me down this path to begin with. It might be time to ‘recalibrate’.”

More on this “journey of self -discovery” soon…meanwhile—the night John Scofield showed up.

This is the third time that Grand Master “Sco” has taught at our guitar camp. For his performance segment in the previous 2 camps John mostly played solo with a looping pedal. While this was of course delightful, I secretly harbored the desire to watch him perform with the other teachers. I knew that there was virtually no other situation where meetings like this could possibly occur. This year I asked him if he would do so, and he agreed.

I’ve seen John play many times, beginning in 1976 with Billy Cobham. I’ve listened to many of his records with near reverential attention, learned some of his tunes and lines. But still, I was dumbfounded by the torrential outpouring of brilliant, surprising, and soulful music that rained down from the stage last Wednesday night. There have been many spectacular performances at the guitar summit. But what happened that night? Whew…

Picture it this way: the previous two days I had been in the company of a handful of the greatest players on earth. Then someone walks in and teaches them!

First off, during his workshop he happened to play two choruses of Stella by Starlight solo (no looper). It was amongst the most impactful, surprising solo guitar performances I've ever heard. He rarely shows this side of his playing. It didn't hurt that I was three feet away from his guitar neck. The way John negotiates time, feel, chord melody, and stanky/sweet single notes is something every guitarist alive can learn from. John then played three tunes in a trio setting. You never know when a phrase will begin or end. His feeling for bebop harmony is as advanced as any. You always hear the Blues down at the base. Most memorable to me was when he hit the brakes with the beautiful, ambiguous Miles Davis ballad Blue and Green, here done at a glacial pace, sprinkled with spine tingling dissonance. Masterful pacing and ever-surprising chord voicings held a deep and lovely melancholy.

Could things get any more exciting? Yes. He started to bring up the other teachers.

With each duo partner (mostly with bass and drums) John subtly shifted his approah, ever empathetic. Gilad called the most gentle of ballads, every note seemed to hang like a feather in the air. Wolfgang and he played a mid tempo swing tune that flirted with perfection. With Mike Stern he played the iconic Miles Davis piece Jean Pierre and they rocked out like a couple of 18 year olds, shaking their booties, cuing the drums and bass to drop out as they unleashed virtuosic, far out, funky lines. Rodney called “Alone Together,” a great foil for  Benson-inspired flights. Man, the notes were flying. He free improvised with Nels Cline! Wondering how John Scofield is at atonal free improv? Incredible

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Everyone, including Jerome and Harvey, played at absolute peak level. The goddamn room was vibrating so much with all the good vibes the plaster may have cracked. Throughout John’s joy in the music was palpable. Scofield inhabited the instrument completely. He invested spirit and soul in each note. He brought out the best in everyone, and it may be that some did the same to him.

And…gulp—I got to play with John for the first time. Well, technically speaking I was an interloper on stage with him two years ago when we closed the Bearsville show with “Ida Lupino.” But this was the first time we improvised together.

Was I nervous? YES!

Excited? YES!

YES. YES!

I called his arrangement of the American spiritual “Wayfaring Stranger,” from Country For Old Men. It was known territory for me. God knows I wouldn't call an uptempo Bud Powell tune. I stepped on the over drive, dug deep, and played the Blues, and did ok. I comped (a little!) as John pushed and pulled his own blues-drenched phrases all over the neck. To hear our man call out “Yeah, Joel!” from his side of the stage is a moment that will stay with me a long, long time. Yup…up to ol’ St. Pete’s gate.

Side note: we did not have time to have every single teacher play. Kurt offered his spot to me, having already played with John quite a bit in years past. Wondering what kind of man Kurt Rosenwinkel is? That kind. Bless you, Kurtis

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Well, I did it. I raved about wacky, eccentric guitar players as if I were talking about The Beatles. I used up all my superlatives. But you know what?

This was guitar history. Everyone felt it. It wasn’t just me. The night elevated us all, laughs, smiles, head shakes, sighs, all in abundance. A cascade of learning moments.

This beauty. This honesty. This soul. This…fun! Oh, how I wish everyone I know who loves guitar could have been there. Not jazz guitar. All guitar. How deeply grateful I was, and am.