Max: Bass Camp 1 Year Later
A little over a year ago, I went to Victor Wooten's Bass/Nature Camp. I could not believe my luck when I found out I had been accepted. I had applied before and was completely unsurprised, if just a little disappointed, to get rejected. Finally I had been accepted. Not only was I accepted, but I just around the same time I came into the money that would pay for it and the week the camp was scheduled was one of the few weeks still open on the vacation schedule up at work. A more theistic person would see this as a sign of some divine grace. Even though I am a skeptical agnostic, I had to marvel at the luck.
For one week, I got to learn about the bass from Victor Wooten, Steve Bailey, Chuck Rainey, Gerald Veasley, Will Lee, Stanley Clarke and more. These were people I had admired for years and there I was in a cabin in the woods with them. I am still processing a lot of what I learned there. Even the nature side, which I was not at terribly interested in when I went in, proved to be interesting. I even got to connect with Gerald Veasley and Chuck Rainey on a personal level, something I will treasure for a lifetime.
It is hard to write about my experience, not because it was unpleasant, but because it was so rich. When I think about it, the memories overwhelm my ability to put them into words. I spent more time outside that week that I probably had in the preceding six months. I was closer to raw nature that I am usually comfortable with. It was not a pleasure each and every moment. But even when it was kind of nasty and dirty, I still took something of value away.
Music is something I treasure more than just about anything in my life. Every night for a week, I got to see musicians I admire jamming away. Lack of money often keeps me from seeing concerts. But that week, I got a lifetime supply of musical memories.
On top of that, musicians I admire, people who could have easily been out working some high paying session or gig, took a week out of their lives to help me become a better musician. Okay, they didn't do it specifically for just me. But like I said, I am still processing all I learned that week.
I drove away from that camp with a bit of sadness. But I was also energized. I felt like I might actually tame that four stringed beast. And I have to say, I have grown musically more in the past year than in all the years since I picked up my first bass.
When I am feeling frustrated, bitter that life has not turned out how I hoped, if I manage to cut through my negativity enough to remember my week at Bass/Nature Camp, I have no choice to admit that despite all the other bullshit, sometimes life is pretty good.
For one week, I got to learn about the bass from Victor Wooten, Steve Bailey, Chuck Rainey, Gerald Veasley, Will Lee, Stanley Clarke and more. These were people I had admired for years and there I was in a cabin in the woods with them. I am still processing a lot of what I learned there. Even the nature side, which I was not at terribly interested in when I went in, proved to be interesting. I even got to connect with Gerald Veasley and Chuck Rainey on a personal level, something I will treasure for a lifetime.
It is hard to write about my experience, not because it was unpleasant, but because it was so rich. When I think about it, the memories overwhelm my ability to put them into words. I spent more time outside that week that I probably had in the preceding six months. I was closer to raw nature that I am usually comfortable with. It was not a pleasure each and every moment. But even when it was kind of nasty and dirty, I still took something of value away.
Music is something I treasure more than just about anything in my life. Every night for a week, I got to see musicians I admire jamming away. Lack of money often keeps me from seeing concerts. But that week, I got a lifetime supply of musical memories.
On top of that, musicians I admire, people who could have easily been out working some high paying session or gig, took a week out of their lives to help me become a better musician. Okay, they didn't do it specifically for just me. But like I said, I am still processing all I learned that week.
I drove away from that camp with a bit of sadness. But I was also energized. I felt like I might actually tame that four stringed beast. And I have to say, I have grown musically more in the past year than in all the years since I picked up my first bass.
When I am feeling frustrated, bitter that life has not turned out how I hoped, if I manage to cut through my negativity enough to remember my week at Bass/Nature Camp, I have no choice to admit that despite all the other bullshit, sometimes life is pretty good.
posted by Max Dobberstein at 10/08/2005 05:14:00 PM
1 Comments:
I'm really happy you got to go on that trip, Love, even though it was the longest we've ever been apart (besides when you were in London).
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