Stick Night '99 Review

The magic and incredibly divergent artistry of eight of the most experienced Stick players has now been captured on our 106 minute long VHS stereo, hi-fi video cassette entitled "Stick Night '99".

The night caught fire as Stick players from various parts of the world assembled at a San Fernando Valley nightclub on the evening of January 28th, after the first day of the LA NAMM show. Performers all brought their own sound equipment onto the little stage at La Ve Lee on Ventura Blvd., cables and pedalboards covering the floor, yet nothing failed, and the night proceeded without hitch or glitch. This was due in large part to the organizational efforts of Greg Howard who hosted the evening event after having spent a strenuous day at the NAMM show, performing and helping us manage our booth display as well as various Stick concerts at nearby lobbies and stages.

No one knew how successful the "Stick Night" event would turn out to be. Each player seemed to accept the challenge (really no spare time to be nervous) and to raise the standards a step higher. Each player reached a high level of performance, especially considering the short sets of the evening program. The sheer variety of music, sound and concept was impressive, no doubt reflecting the diversity of Stick players who have been out there performing on their own for many years.

Luckily, we had the presence of mind to bring three High-8 video cameras to document the event, as well as my two-track DAT recorder. Sal Guitarez manned the fixed center camera, and we later mixed just a bit of that camera's stereo audio signal with the DAT's direct-to-stage feed, adding some metallic brilliance and club ambiance to the full DAT sound. My brother Dan was the roving cameraman, homing in on closeups and personality shots.

The room was very well attended with an enthusiastic audience. Greg's thoughtful announcements as MC made the documentation of this special evening complete, lending depth and perspective to the event.

Stick artists include, in order of the actual night's program:

Larry Tuttle, solo on Grand Stick, performing clean and intricate orchestrations of four originals from his new CD, "Through The Gates".

Don Schiff, solo and duo on MIDI'd Grand Stick and on NS/Stick (with Casey Arrillaga accompanying on percussion), Don singing and playing four dramatic rock originals from his new CD, "Timeless".

Steve Adelson, duo and trio on Grand Stick with Roman Cho on drums and Casey on percussion, taking us on a solid jazz excursion with walking bass and bebop lines.

Casey and Kira Arrillaga with Heather Niss in "Third Door Down", Casey's ten-string Stick rhythmically driving the unique and sensuous vocals.

Bob Culbertson, solo on Grand Stick with ACTV-2 Block, bringing an incredible array of finger techniques and emotional expression to his original and Celtic songs, while sitting with his instrument near vertical on a bar across his lap.

Greg Howard, trio on ten-string Stick with trumpeter Shyam Kannan and drummer Roman Cho, bringing a festive Latin energy to the evening with an improvised rendering of two songs from Greg's recent CD, "Sol".

Emmett Chapman (that's me) improvising solo on a tarara Grand Stick with Matched Reciprocal tuning and high bass fourth, an instrument I had just finished building and setting up with heavy gauge strings and the ACTV-2 pickup module on the day of the show.

Jim Lampi, solo on Grand Stick, the ultimate stylist with the loosest, yet most coordinated, Stick arrangements and vocal expressions you'll ever hear.

An incredible variety show of mature talent and mastery, the only recurrent themes being The Stick itself, the ambiance of La V Lee's audience and drinks, and Greg's inimitable personality as a host.

We held a video premiere and beer with pizza party at our house on Friday for all who were involved with this project. We played the video through stereo JBL speakers, and judging from the joyful and enthusiastic reception, I have to say it was worth all the months of work since January. I must add, Greg Brouelette's home brew was also a hit, reminding me a lot of Sam Adams Boston Lager, except better.

As producers of this new video, Sal Guitarez, Greg Howard and I have gone to great lengths to provide the sounds (audio mastering by Bruce Hanifan and DAT recording by Chuck Ivy), the camera angles, dissolves and visual effects (video editing by Alan Popkin at Time Warner Studios), and the graphics (by Dan Chapman) that best complement the inspiration of each artist.

In the world wide competition for your attention span, I'm hoping you'll remember this "ride" for a long time.

All the Best, Emmett.