[sonnymobleytrane]

I just read in another thread where David Valdez got a little frustrated with SOTW. Hopefully it's just temporary.

I for one, without getting into his reasons for leaving, just wanted to let those of you that have not checked out his blog/website know that it is one of the best jazz resources on the entire web.

Colleges charge tens of thousands of dollars for the info he gives out for FREE!!!

Again if you haven't gone there you should. You will be hooked.

 

[sinkdraiN]

Agreed. I regularly check out his site. What a wealth of information!

 

[Kelly Bucheger]

I for one without getting into his reasons for leaving, just wanted to let those of you that have not checked out his blog/website know that it is one of the best jazz resources on the entire web.

Colleges charge ten's of thousands of dollars for the info he gives out for FREE!!!

Hear Hear, SMT! David's blog is THE best jazz blog out there, an incredible resource. He subtitles his blog "Serious Resources for Serious Players." Yup.

And, David's a serious and heavy and inspiring player. If I were in Portland, I'd be grabbing some lessons... It behooves folks of any persuasion and ability level to check out his blog:

http://davidvaldez.blogspot.com/

 

[Buck Laughlin]

His departure is another big loss for the forum. I hope he decides to come back. But I understand why he decided to leave. Sometimes this place really does feel like the Twilight Zone . . .

 

[OttoVanFrankenLink]

Huge loss for the forum. Once again science wins![rolleyes]

Hope he continues with the blog. Great resource from a serious musician. Thanks David!

 

[Just Joe]

David Valdez is also a generous, Giving Tree of a man; his blog will do nothing but grow.

Joe

 

[BIG B Convert]

His site is outstanding. I've been checking it for years. Well respected professional IMHO.

 

[10mfan]

Great guy...
Great player...
Great educator...






And if you leave here---
a Great loss!


I have gone on his site for years...always helpful and inspiring.

 

[hakukani]

I have nothing but respect for David Valdez as a player and educator, and have subscribed to his blog and have archived many entries for reference.

However, I will not apologize for questioning his judgment, not as a moderator, but as a SOTW member concerning a substantial or even detectable difference in sound from a neckstrap hook. As a musician, he should be able to take this sort of criticism in stride. I would have the same opinion were he Tim Price, Liebs, Brecker, or even Bird or Coltrane themselves.

I may not be able to play my way out of a wet paper bag, but I can still manage to hear and think my way out.'

That being said, I hope that David will reconsider, just as many other of our brand name members have in the past.

 

[Stephen Howard]

I think I've just lost any respect I might have had for the guy having read the latest blog entry:

"There are some very experienced and talented saxophonists who are members of SOTW, but those guys are massively outnumbered by high school kids, non-playing sax techs who write books on how to take horns apart, mediocre players who might have played with a touring Pop group in the 80's, or cats who do an R&B gig once or twice a month to supplement their day gigs."

I note the pointed reference to myself.

Now, I can understand his frustration - I've seen any number of critques of kit posted here that go something like:
Don't get such-and-such a horn - it's rubbish!
Have you tried one then?
Well, no...but...

In modern parlance it's what's known as a 'face-palm' moment.

So it's a bit rich to find, on the one hand, that someone cites this as the reason for leaving the forum - and then goes on to use precisely the same sort of argument to justify it.
From a personal perspective I don't recall the guy ever coming to one of my gigs or turning up in my workshop, so straightaway there's a call on his judgement - and if you illicit those kinds of calls it's not surprising that the question "What else is suspect?" will be asked.

We've all seen people throw their toys out of the pram before, and in most cases it comes as no surprise - but in this case I expected better.

Regards,

 

[piwikiwi]

However, I will not apologize for questioning his judgment, not as a moderator, but as a SOTW member concerning a substantial or even detectable difference in sound from a neckstrap hook. As a musician, he should be able to take this sort of criticism in stride. I would have the same opinion were he Tim Price, Liebs, Brecker, or even Bird or Coltrane themselves.

I may not be able to play my way out of a wet paper bag, but I can still manage to hear and think my way out.'

Amen, I'm fiercely anti-******** and a person's opinion is not holy just because he is a respected player/educator.

 

[sonnymobleytrane]

Some of you are missing the point......This is an appreciation thread.

 

[piwikiwi]

Some of you are missing the point......This is an appreciation thread.

There is a difference between missing the point and ignoring it.

 

[sonnymobleytrane]

There is a difference between missing the point and ignoring it.

Or understanding why some would leave......

 

[Nefertiti]

I posted on the other thread about how much I appreciate and respect Dave. I check out his blog about once a week. The amount of material and advice on there is amazing. He is a phenomenal player also. I bought a Vandoren V16 from him years ago because I liked his alto sound so much. He has a very different and unique sound in my opinion.

 

[Agent27]

I've always liked his blog. I too have it bookmarked and visit it frequently. I read the first page of the neckstrap thread and never looked at it again and I don't really care to now. So I missed the hub bub. I'm pretty disappointed with his latest blog post. It's not that what he says is necessarily wrong, I always take information on SOTW with a grain of salt and there are some well respected members who I don't respect the opinions of. But the tone of his post seemed more unnecessarily spiteful than being objective criticism and I find that sad. It doesn't make the forum look good and I don't think it shows him in a good light either. Hopefully it was just a heat of the moment thing and he'll calm down in his self imposed exile.

 

[MartinMusicMan]

I wrote a post for this thread but ultimately decided to cancel it. I'll just say that I appreciate the Casa Valdez blog and have used it.

If you want to know what Dave has to say about SOTW and what happened, read his blog.

 

[piwikiwi]

Or understanding why some would leave......

I read the whole thread and I read his blog and I seriously don't get why such an apparently experienced musicians can reacted so childishly. It was just because someone was joking about him making very bold claims about his neckstrap.

 

[saxphil]

I wish I could have played with a touring Pop group in the '80's, or anytime.

It's on my to do list Dave, large brass hook.
I'll post my impressions, in the other thread, when I get one.

Thank you for posting it.

 

[10mfan]

What post are you guys referring to?

I have no idea what happened?

Please enlighten me.