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| Projects Kai Eckhardt Music and Bass Clinics August 6 & 7, 2005 At the Academy of Guitar , 5616 S. College Ave, Fort Collins, CO USA 80525 Student booking, please call: Cindy Schneider 1-970-206-0999 or Jesse Solomon 1-970-223-2466 Call now! Limited enrollment. Individual Pricing below. Discount for attending all three clinics
Kai Eckhardt is regarded as one of the world's most innovative bass players. He has toured throughout North America, Europe, and Japan as a leader, and as a sideman. He has worked extensively with John McLaughlin, Al DiMeola, Bela Fleck, Zakir Hussain, Bobby McFerrin, Bill Evans, Trilok Gurtu, Randy Brecker, Ralph Towner, Manu Katche, Omar Hakim, and Clarence Clemmons among others. Kai is currently touring with Fareed Haque (guitars) , Alan Hertz (drums) and Eric Levy (keys) in the band, Garaj Mahal .
Kai teaches individual lessons and conducts clinics all over the world. He has conducted master classes at Berklee College of Music in Boston, the Bass Collective in New York City and the Anton Bruckner Conservatory in Austria. He has also held a master class with Journey drummer Steve Smith at the Musician's Institute of Technology in Los Angeles.
Built upon the conceptions and teachings he received as a youth in his native Mainz, Germany, and at Berkelee College of Music in Boston, Kai has developed an entirely unique approach to his instrument that includes unorthodox tunings, techniques, and methodologies. He has honed his skills on over a hundred recordings as a sideman and as many more concerts throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. He has been featured in many publications including Jazziz (USA), Downbeat (USA), Bassplayer (USA), Bassfrontiers(USA), Gitarre und Bass(Germany), Der Bass Bote(Germany), Jazz Podium (Germany), Fachblatt (Germany), Guitar & Bass(France), Bombay Times (India) and Jazz times(Turkey).
In 1988, Kai joined the John McLaughlin Trio, which featured percussionist Trilok Gurtu. The Trio toured extensively throughout the world and recorded two albums. The acclaimed Live at the Royal Festival Hall, recorded 1989 in London, documented a new direction in McLaughlin's music, and is regarded by critics and fans alike as historically significant for its outstanding musicianship and unique stylistic blend.
"... music is our divine connection, the most beautiful, the fastest, the most direct way to reach balance and full potential on both sides. " Kai Kai Eckhardt Clinics / Fort Collins, CO, Saturday 8/6 & Sunday 8/7, 2005 1- Band improv workshop for all instruments (3 piece Band accompaniment) /Sat 11-3 pm (4 hours)/ Limit to 80 students /Fee $70 2- Bass Clinic/Sat 4-7 pm (3 hours)/ limit to 9 students /Fee $50 3- Music Marathon for all instruments/Sun 12-7 pm (7 hours)/ limit to 12 students /Fee $120 E-mail recruitconsultant@yahoo.com or call Cindy at 1-970-206-0999 for full overview of clinics Bass Special Only $205 for all three clinic Checks, cash or money orders accepted Student booking, please call: Cindy Schneider 1-970-206-0999 or Jesse Solomon 1-970-223-2466 Limited enrollment. Call now for more information and to ensure your place "Whenever people transcend their isolation through music and the whole becomes bigger than its sum of parts, you are experiencing a glimpse of eternity. " Kai About the August 6 & 7, 2005 Kai Eckhardt Clinics
Here is a summary of the material Kai will be presenting... 1-Band improv workshop/Sat 11-3 pm (4 hours)/Limit to 80 students/Fee $70 This event is open to all musicians who are interested in group improvisation and creative jam concepts. All instrumentalists and levels are welcome. Kai will present this workshop with the help of a band composed of local musicians. We will demonstrate ensemble techniques that can help musicians evolve their craft. We will identify essential musical principals and learn to take advantage of those in removing common obstacles on the path to mastering an instrument. Kai will address:
Then he will spend some time on demonstrating the essentials of next days Music Marathon Every participant will be involved in the process but there will be no sitting in. We will have a band and only the band on stage plays the music.
2- Bass Clinic/Sat 4-7 pm (3 hours)/limit to 9 students/Fee $50 This event is intended for bassists only and is limited to 9 participants. Bass players are encouraged to attend all three clinics to get the most out of this experience. Bass Players will learn what is involved in becoming a master from the instrument up.
Topics to be addressed:
Players need to bring their bass guitars, a long cable and an instrument stand. No need for music stands. Bass Player Special only $205 for all three clinic Limited to 9 Call now to ensure your place 3-Music Marathon/Sun 12-7 pm/7 hours/limit to 12 students/All Instruments/ Fee $120 Even though it sounds scary at first, the marathon is the event with the biggest single benefit to musicians. Kai has designed it in such a way as to make it virtually impossible for anyone to get left behind The system has been successfully tested by Bass Player Magazine during the second music marathon in Oakland last month. Even though it started as a 'bass only' event it is now open to all instruments. Limited to 12 students . From below..., " Why a marathon Jam Session? Because it provides us with a safe environment to probe into our untapped musical beings. The M - session becomes a "Musical Wild Life Refuge" No school, no regular jam session no clinic hangs in there long enough for the most valuable stuff to emerge, the stuff that only shows itself after all irrelevant concerns have exhausted themselves."
The Music Marathon was inspired by an event called "Chilla", a right of passage for Indian classical musicians. In its pure form, musicians spend 40 days with their instrument in isolation and are required to play continuously anytime they are awake. Kai's friend and colleague Zakir Hussain completed two Chillas in his lifetime. In comparison, a 6 hour music marathon represents only a small fraction of his experience, but is very powerful because it takes you one step into the world of musical secrets only to be revealed by continuous play. Kai highly recommends this event.
The Marathon is divided into 3 sessions. A one hour, a two hour and a three hour continuous playing session. There are 30 minute breaks in between and we cover a total of 6 hours non stop within a 7 hour time span. Kai will also explain this system during the ensemble workshop along with a quick demonstration.
How it works with up to 12 musicians:
Kai and all students set up in a circle, pick a key, tune up your instruments and start the metronome. The metronome has been programmed to outline an automatic click track at 60 beats per minute. Every 12 beats you will hear a bass drum and every 4 minutes we will hear a crash cymbal. Your task lies in guiding a rhythmic modulation starting slow but gradually speeding up the rate of subdividing the beat. When you reach the highest rate (thirty second notes), you descend back to the beginning. Every modulation lasts for 4 minutes only and is moved along by the cymbal sound programmed into the beat. The rhythmic modulations are laid out in 15 steps, 8 going up and 7 coming down.
Rhythmic Rules of the game.: @ level 1... the fastest notes allowed are quarter notes (one note per beat) @ level 2... the fastest notes allowed are eighth notes (two notes per beat) @ level 3 ...eighth note triplets (3 per beat) @ level 4 ... sixteenth notes (4 per beat) @ level 5 ---quintuplets (5 per beat) @ level 6---sixteenth note triplets (6 per beat) @ level 7 ---septuplets (7 per beat) @ level 8--- thirty-second notes (8 per beat)
More Technical Details
Kai will start by calling the key of E major. You ascend in levels every 4 minutes. (levels 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 then descending : levels 7,6,5,4,3,2,1.) This sequence (15 levels total) yields one hour of continuous play. Players have complete freedom as to which notes they choose to play and how fast or slow they move (providing they stay within the given level) Players have complete freedom in creating their own phrasing with the exception of conducted segments. Players will be introduced to principles of phrasing, tension and release, to create a harmonious experience. Kai will double as conductor with the option of calling on individuals to take the lead, pairing up duets, bringing out dynamics or avoiding train wrecks in case of major confusion. (Musicians who don't feel comfortable with faster notes and odd groupings can always play quarter notes at any level or lay out while listening to others. Even for those who can play fast notes in time, laying out can often be is a musical choice that makes us all sound better). After completing level eight we all move up a half step to F major before descending back to level 1. (Half step shifts of the key center always occur at the lowest, and after the highest level. This way we cover all 12 keys over the course of six hours). During the last segment we will run through 3 complete 1 hour cycles back to back. All of this sounds more complex than it actually is. Demonstration will clear up all remaining questions:
-Open to all Instruments/Students bring their own instruments.
**************************************************************************************************** Kai Eckhardt's Marathon Jam Session From Kai: Background / Quest
Having focused my attention for the last 28 years on comparing musical traditions, it became apparent what all cultures had in common and in which way they differed from each other. For instance all cultures on earth show two basic tendencies: One is oriented toward power and the other one is oriented toward connectivity. Power and Connection are the two polarities that keep the human race in place so to speak. You can observe any movement, habit or tendency in human behaviors and easily reduce it to these two basic principles, power and connection. The power to move, to talk, to create, to destroy, to control etc. etc. As well as the connection to friends, family, to things, the planet, to god, to yourself, etc. etc.
Once you understand this you will find that balance between those two principles is the best life one can experience. And the best thing one can do to serve the highest cause. The next thing you will notice is that the entire human drama with it's ups and downs, life and death, sorrow and happiness is a manifestation of imbalance. Like waves beating up against each other, creating turbulences, we get rocked back and forth between these huge collective currents of the mind.
There are dominant people who cling to leadership as a way of hording personal power for purpose of self gratification. There are people who are most comfortable in a sheepish role, happy to please the status quo. None of the two are evolving unless they are willing to challenge the habitual roles they play on a day to day basis. As psychological as it sounds, it has everything to do with music and you gaining an understanding of what is really going on.
We cling to anything we can at first by ways of identification. I identify with my mother, wife, kids, my music, my bass guitar, my social status. However, these securities are only temporary and can not give us the balance we seek on the long run. How do we achieve this? How do we find balance if everything in this word is constantly passing, changing and slipping away? The answer is: We don't. The balance finds us. Balance is what happens when we let go of everything. Balance is already there. It is important for you to understand that as a music- and a life principle: "The answer is already there".
If you believe that you have to do something to make it happen, your very doing is going to obscure the highest goal. Don't misunderstand this as a call to passivity. We have to work very hard to remove obstacles, burn excess energy, maintain our lives and replace bad habits with better ones. But all those activities belong into the realm of passing material existence. There is a more permanent mental world that extends all the way to the infinite principles from where music really comes. It is of those principals that I speak and those natural principals that I recommend you discover, observing them like a starry night in the wilderness. You can not do a thing to your higher self. It is what it is and music is our divine connection, the most beautiful, the fastest, the most direct way to reach balance and full potential on both sides.
Why a marathon Jam Session?
Because it provides us with a safe environment to probe into our untapped musical beings. The M - session becomes a "Musical Wild Life Refuge" No school, no regular jam session no clinic hangs in there long enough for the most valuable stuff to emerge, the stuff that only shows itself after all irrelevant concerns have exhausted themselves. It will answer many questions all at once and give you a sense of priority, direction and purpose in music. Attending this marathon is a positively subversive act to defy the mental blocks and misconceptions coming from a lifetime of mixing education with mis-education.
It has nothing to do with what instrument you play, what gear you use, how many chops you have, how many books you've read about music and so on and so forth. The same weaknesses we see in our human society come out in the way we play music. In general that is: Too much information, not enough meaning. Too many choices, not enough commitment. Too many notes, not enough space. Too much equipment, not enough sound. Too much brain, not enough heart and soul. This is what I mean by irrelevant concerns that will exhaust themselves naturally after the first hour of playing the M - session. Then the music really comes out and you will learn to navigate your emotions using the instrument only. There is nothing as effective as choosing a worthwhile discipline that evokes the muse in us and to do that for a long time without interrupting! It is not hard at all. All you have to loose is your inhibitions and self - consciousness. It will turn out to be refreshing, fun and highly energizing. Give me an excuse for that any time of the day. Remember this: Whenever people transcend their isolation through music and the whole becomes bigger than its sum of parts, you are experiencing a glimpse of eternity . That is what I am seeking to provide!
Our common goal is to "disappear" in the music. (when the ego disappears in creativity, the spirit comes out)
Get to know yourself alright!
Kai Eckhardt 7/2005
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