They're here and ready for you to judge for yourself, the new mandolin V-picks. We mentioned finding these at the Winter NAMM show, and though we really didn't want to discover a new pick, we aquired a sample and brought it to the JazzMando Campus to personally explore its merits.

We bought some for the mandolin community to enjoy and now have them listed in the JazzMando Merchandise Center. Are they better than the JazzMando picks? Yes, no, maybe...

We'll leave that for you do decide!

You can never have too many picks.

Mandolin V-picks Purchase information

Posted by Ted at 08:45 AM

January 29, 2008 | Midwest Midwinter Gypsy Swing Festival

Striving to cement Madison as the capital of Gypsy Jazz in the Midwest, the Midwest Midwinter Gypsy Swing Festival, where Wisconians can immerse in this unique European music. This festival's lineup features some unique performances, including a rare duo performance by Amsterdam's Robin Nolan and Chicago's Alfonso Ponticelli on Friday. Both of their respective bands will also take the stage Saturday. Also on tap, another "home team" with the premiere performance in Madison of The Hot Club of Detroit in the headlining slot on Saturday.

The Midwest Midwinter Gypsy Swing Festival
Friday February 8th and Saturday February 9th, 2008, 8:30pm

The Brink Lounge
701 E. Washington Ave.
Madison, WI
608-661-8589

FEATURING:
The Hot Club OF Detroit -- (Detroit, MI)
"The key to the group's success is that they value both the sound and spirit of Reinhardt and are able to capture some of each."
Stephen Thomas Erlewine - All Music Guide

Robin Nolan Trio -- (Amsterdam)
"One of today's smoothest and most soulful Gypsy guitarists"
David McCarthy -- Acoustic Guitar Magazine

Alfonso Ponticelli and Swing Gitan -- (Chicago)
"Django Reinhardt clearly is alive and well and swinging in Chicago."
Howard Reich, Chicago Tribune

Also featuring performances by great Madison bands:
Harmonious Wail and Caravan Gypsy Swing Ensemble

Friday 2/8, 8:30
Caravan Gypsy Swing Ensemble
Harmonious Wail
Robin Nolan & Alfonso Ponticelli Duo with Ted Gottsegan(Rhythm Guitar) John Christianson(Bass)

Saturday 2/9, 2pm workshops
Lead and rhythm guitar workshops are to be held on Saturday (2/9) 2:00. Robin Nolan and Alfonzo Ponticelli will teach the art of Gypsy Jazz guitar. Ted Gottsegan will be on hand to teach "LePomp" rhythm technique

8:30 Swing Gitan
Robin Nolan Trio with Ted Gottsegan(Rhythm Guitar) John Christianson(Bass)
Hot Club of Detroit closing with a grande finale jam

Contact Chris Ruppenthal (608)217-2758 or for reservations and details.

Posted by Ted at 05:48 AM

January 27, 2008 | John Jorgenson on NPR

In case you missed it, guitar and mandolin buddy John Jorgenson was featured on NPR's All Things Considered January 23. He talked with Melissa Block about gypsy jazz, his approach to the music and they played several clips from his newest CD, Ultraspontane.

In this context (speaking to a broader audience), John gives some clear insights into Gypsy Jazz plectrum articulations as well as technical interpretation that could easily understood by the layman. There are also a couple exclusive live unaired solo selections her performed on guitar in the studio. You can order his newly released CD in advance online. (See below)

The link to NPR John Jorgenson: Preserving Django Reinhardt.

Purchase CD (online exclusive!): Ultraspontane

Artist website

Artist MySpace Page

Posted by Ted at 07:21 AM

January 25, 2008 | NAMM finds: V-pick

We would never sell short our own signature JazzMando Proplec pick, but we must confess the discovery of a formidable foe, the V-pick. Made of an acrylic, the pick is significantly more expensive, but hand-shaped to a very comfortable feel and response. The bevel gets a nice slide, pulling string fundamental as well as the JazzMando. Considerably thicker (2.75mm vs. the 1.5mm of the JM), it takes a little getting use to, but the Gypsy Jazz guitarist can go 3 to 4 mm.

These are also 1/4 the cost of the popular Wegens. We asked about the possibility of one with holes; their response was the material grips well enough that holes are unnecessary. (Chris Thile jests the holes make the pick more aerodynamic...)

There's a trade-off. We've found an "apples vs. oranges" sonic pick click in each, with the V-pick slightly higher, and the jury will be in the player's hands which is more pleasing to the ear. They are simply different. Both feel good in the hands, the gold stamping on both sides of the JazzMando give grip security, the acrylic material of the V-pick seems to stick to the fingers after 30 seconds of playing. At 2.75 mm, the V-pick is heftier than the 1.5 mm JM pick.

After a couple days passing these around the JazzMando campus, we can't deny their destiny in the market. They are capable of pulling huge tone out of the mandolin. We've ordered bulk quantities and will start selling them with our own signature model in the next couple weeks.

Stay tuned.



Website information: V-pick

Posted by Ted at 06:05 AM

January 23, 2008 | Guitar Shreds

Frustrated guitar players turned mandolinists are really going to enjoy this. These "Guitar Shred" YouTube videos are laugh-until-milk-comes-out-of-your-nose funny:

Eddie van Halen shreds

Paco De Lucia shreds

Eric Clapton shreds

Jaco Pastorius shreds

Michael Angelo Batio shreds

Carlos Santana shreds

First person to produce a quality "Mandolin Shred" YouTube with a popular current world premier mandolin player gets a free JazzMando T-shirt. Let us know!

Posted by Ted at 05:19 AM

January 21, 2008 | A new Twist

Happy to report the new JM11 mandolin strings have a new backing twist to prevent the intermittent unravel failures recently experienced by some of our JM customers. (See previous release.) We met up with Richard Coco, Jr at Labella at last week's winter NAMM show. He weighed in, "The mandolin has some of the highest tension of all the fretted instruments. Even guitar isn't as high which the initial winding was meant to accommodate."

The solution? The new batch has a new reverse wind to lend lock and stability to the loop at this tension. We just got our fresh supply and hope to see no more problems. If you have an older set, and you're E unravels when you put it on, let us know!

Purchase: JazzMando JM11 Flatwound Mandolin Strings


Click for close-up

Posted by Ted at 11:22 AM

January 18, 2008 | Winter NAMM 2008

We're doing our best with our remote pictorial assignment of the Winter NAMM show on the Mandolin Cafe Message Board. Spotty internet reception in the hotel room doesn't help the job; remembering the 60's holding, Television rabbit ears at odd angles to get better reception. (Imagine standing on the bed with a laptop, pointing the wireless card in all sorts of contortions...)

We have the first day's pictures in; maybe more if/when we have the time. Great to see some of the usual suspects, Peter & Cynthia Mix, Gordon Roberts, Bruce Graybill, Radim Zenkl, Scott Gates (& folks) as well as some new friends.

View report.

Posted by Ted at 08:14 AM

January 16, 2008 | Music and Exercise

Music and exercise; a connection? We think so. Endorphins raging high in an aerobic workout, treadmill, swimming, biking, nothing like that to get the creative juices going as well as the oxygen. Steady rhythmic pulse over an extended period of time, it's hypnotic and other-wordly. Kind of like playing in a jam.

Great NY Times article on music and exercise: What music do you like to listen to when you work out?

Posted by Ted at 06:41 PM

January 14, 2008 | 2008 Site Renovation

Once in a while, a little redecorating is in order. You may have noticed the tweaks on our front page, not exactly an "Extreme Home Makeover," but we're looking to make your stay here longer; navigating the 261 pages (plus 420 "News" entries) just got easier. Click the graphic icons in the three areas we already established, Fingers, Ears, and Brain. Now we've added five more: FFcP, Downloads, Builders, Purchase, and CDs & Books.

Of course we also have the "Tips and Tricks," "MandolinSessions"," and "What's New" areas, too, so pull up a chair (or pick) and stay awhile...

Like what you see? Having problems with any of the icons? Let us know.

Posted by Ted at 05:12 AM

January 12, 2008 | Winter bad. Mandolin good...

Okay, so maybe picking on the porch in January may not be so good on the body if you live in the northern latitudes, but according to this article in the Thunder Bay Source, playing mandolin is good for the mind. Seems something called Seasonal Affective Disorder, when we get less sunlight--truly makes us SAD.

Feeling dopey, sleepy, or depressed this side of Solstice? It's good to know doctors recommend a commitment to picking or an activity similar; "what matters is you find something that re-balances and activates the mind, that can stimulate and recuperate what, sometimes, the dark periods of the year can take away, with the effect of the seasons."

Yup...

Read article: There are strategies for people affected by winter weather

Posted by Ted at 05:39 AM

January 10, 2008 | Mel Bay Mandolin

We caught this recently added picture in the Mel Bay Publications MySpace page and couldn't resist posting it here. We'll confess a little bias; Site Author Ted Eschliman has been on staff (TAB, too... har, har,) with MB's fabulous online MandolinSessions webzine now for three years, and we hope to see the release of his book "Getting Into Jazz Mandolin" later this year.

A rare picture of this great global pedagogical force playing mandolin, himself:

From the site, "Mel Bay Publications was founded in 1947 by Mel Bay, a prominent teacher and musician in St. Louis, MO. His method books gained worldwide popularity and are still well-known and used to this day. Mel established the structure for modern guitar education and by so doing, laid the foundation for the continued growth and advancement of the instrument."

Check out our back issue submissions in the Mel Bay Jazz Mandology archives.

Also the amazing resources for mandolin: Mel Bay Publications

Posted by Ted at 05:14 PM

January 08, 2008 | The Bickford Mandolin Method; Volume 4

New technologies mean new opportunities to learn, even if the material itself is generations old. Such is the case of DjangoBooks offerings of the Bickford Mandolin Method in Ebook form. A simple PDF online download and you can have this rich educational heritage at your fingertips in minutes. The latest offering, Book 4 (get the previous three, too!) is an excellent way to improve your rest stroke picking technique (crucial to Gypsy Picking technque) on the mandolin. It's amazing to see how much the Django style guitar pickers borrow from the mandolinists in this sophisticated approach to grabbing maximum sound.

From the website: "Like the first volume, there is heavy emphasis on learning the rest stroke picking technique. Bickford has analyzed this technique in great detail. He explains many of the virtuosic techniques possible with rest strokes: Gliding (or sweep picking), various tremolo effects, alternate strokes, string crossing techniques, etc. Mandolinists with a background in bluegrass and celtic music will be pleased to find numerous hornpipes, reels, and jigs throughout the book (with picking notation)."

99 pages with over 100 examples
View: Table of Contents

Price: $15.00

Purchase: Bickford 4

Also, some cool recent new videos at the Djangobooks Video Archive:

Andreas Oberg

Wawau Adler

Bireli Lagrene

Posted by Ted at 09:20 PM

January 06, 2008 | Reruns help kick TV habit...

American television writer's strike got you down? Frankly, we think this is one of the best things to happen to pop culture entertainment in a long time. Marianne Schlies, agrees, according to the Satesman Journal (Salem, OR) Opinion column; "What will I do instead? Read more books. Join the gym. Watch movies (without commercials!). Do research on the Internet. Start a book club. Learn to play either the mandolin or the violin -- both are sitting in the closet. Thank you ABC, CBS and NBC. With your help, I can be mentally and physically healthier. I can kick television permanently."

We agree completely. More time to dig into that book of Choros purchased last Spring....

Posted by Ted at 01:05 PM

January 04, 2008 | Vespa Love Festival Sessions

In the can for awhile, but now ready for public consumption, Butch Baldassari breaks new ground with his foray into Smooth Jazz, the Vespa Love Festival Sessions with co-producer and guitarist Frosty Horton. Other than a brief detour into Chrismas music, the JazzMando corporate CD player has been spinning in this CD ever since its arrival.

This is magnificent arranging, production, and supportive playing, and of course everything we'd expect out of Butch. You certainly won't wind any G-chop chords or G-runs, but despite his proficiency with Bluegrass, his reputation for diversity goes one notch wider with this project.

Great stuff, indeed!

Read our latest review: Vespa Love Festival Sessions

Purchase information

Posted by Ted at 05:41 AM

January 02, 2008 | Phoenix Jazz

Featured in our New Model Mandolin Spotlight section is premium veteran builder Rolfe Gerhardt's answer the stage dilemma of many mandolinists seeking pure unadulterated acoustic tone. Microphones are authentic, but often logistically unwieldy (even clip-on), fighting optimal positioning and annoying feedback. Piezo pickups translate vibrations well but don't always capture the "essence" of mandolin tone, especially if not attached to the best point. Magnetic pickups offer best feedback-free playing, but rarely give dimensionally genuine acoustic character.

It's a perpetual problem, but Rolfe's combination is a solid approach, a blending of the latter two technologies and the opportunity to dial into a mix that responds to a multitude of environments. In a more intimate setting, the McIntyre internal piezo can do it's thing. In a competitively louder, large ensemble environment, the Kent Armstrong custom pickup allows the player to up the decibel ante and project. It doesn't hurt that this unique system supports a well-engineered body, strategically placed graphite-epoxy laminations in the internal tone bars give the ergonomic "stealth" body its sonority, and lighter-than-air feel. (It plays like a million bucks, too!)

It calls for a special 1/4" stereo cable, but two years of stage experience with this instrument, and we are sold on its capability. If you're interested in this, contact Rolfe about having one made, or check on the one currently in stock at Acoustic Vibes Music premier music store in Arizona.

If you're interested in a used Phoenix, contact us; we have a lead on one, too!


Click pic for reveiw

Posted by Ted at 05:32 AM