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I saw Steve Smith on the Street Today!!!

Started by MUSIKxDRUMR, August 27, 2006, 01:03 AM

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MUSIKxDRUMR

So, during my travels in northern California this weekend, my girlfriend and I stopped in Berkeley to check out a "Berkeley Jazz Festival." Come to find out it's more of a street fair than a festival, which ended up being very intimate and just a great setting for watching good music. Off in the distance, I heard the crack of a tabla, so I followed my ears to a corner full of people and music. As I walked up to the performing group, I noticed the shiney bald head of STEVE SMITH!!! What a nice surprise! And he was on fire! But it got better... he was playing with the George Brooks Summit which is basically an allstar cast of people: George Brooks- Saxophone, Fareed Haque-Guitar, Kai Eckhardt - Bass, Steve Smith-Drums, Salar Nader- Tabla. Not too bad for a random stop in Berkeley! I just saw 3 of my favorite musicians on the planet... Esspecially Kai Eckhardt on bass! He is one of the funkiest, grooviest, tallented bass players I've ever seen. And of course Fareed on guitar... ahhh yeeah! I could go on all day about this cast.

I was able to capture some video of one of the tunes that featured a drum solo on my girlfriend's digital camera. The quality is low, but you get the idea:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgQ8qWdvlLI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgQ8qWdvlLI










*I was also able to get my ugly mug in a picture with Kai:

byronand

That's The Best that Steve Smith is out on the sidewalk making magnificent music! What a classy guy and tremendous musician he is!

Very cool that you got to see it, and good of you to post the video!

Stewart Manley

Too cool! And a pretty good video too! Sounded like Steve was using his new VF Tala Wands. I'm itching to try these out, but no stores near me have them yet.

MUSIKxDRUMR

Haha, yeah, we had just bought our puppy that day, so we brought him along! He got to experience some amazing music right off the get-go!

Quote from: moosetication on August 27, 2006, 03:49 AM
Too cool! And a pretty good video too! Sounded like Steve was using his new VF Tala Wands. I'm itching to try these out, but no stores near me have them yet.

Yeah, it was interesting because those wands were the first thing I noticed when I walked up. There must have been a few guys in the know because they walked up to Steve inbetween songs and Steve would hand them a pair and some other goodies?!!!!? Should I have known about these new VF Tala Wands I would have definetly talked to him about it. Unfortunetly he was a bit swarmed after the show--

Vintage Ludwig

Thats awesome!  And a classic example of why I love living in the SF bay area (Sonoma/Marin).  You never know who you will bump into!! 8)

Paicey

@$%#!, wish i could have been there. Steves fusion playing does it for me. I listen to him for inspiration quite a bit.

Bob Bartley

Great video, and what luck running into that!!
Yeah, from the pic he is using the Birch Tala Wands. I have a couple pairs of both birch and bamboo. They have great response and punch when needed. Definitely pick up a pair or 2.

Todd Norris

Totally Awesome!  Thanks for posting! 

meestro

Looks like a great time! I've seen Kai a couple times and he never lets me down. Gotta love his scrunchie capo.

MVanDoren1

those Tala Wands appear similar to the Hot Rods, etc.
Who makes them and are they different?

Stewart Manley

Quote from: MVanDoren1 on August 29, 2006, 04:06 AM
those Tala Wands appear similar to the Hot Rods, etc.
Who makes them and are they different?

http://www.vicfirth.com/features/steve_smith_PASIC05.html]Vic Firth  makes them. They're different because they have a core of foam, surrounded by either birch or bamboo dowels. Full story at the link above. Several people have commented on them favourably on various forums.

MVanDoren1