I've been home from Orlando almost a week and I'm still totally juiced by the experience of my first Sacred Steel Convention. Having listened countless times to all the Sacred Steel CD's and played the video so often I've almost worn out the tape, I thought I had a good idea of what was in store, but my high expectations didn't even come close. Chuck Campbell, Josh Taylor, Aubrey Ghent, Ted Beard, Calvin Cooke, Dante Harmon - it's no exaggeration to say that hearing any one of these great players alone would've made the weekend worthwhile. I had no idea, though, how remarkable the younger, lesser known players would be. A.J. Ghent and Shawn Hickman perhaps deserve special mention, but every one of the several dozen players who hit the stage Friday and Saturday was outstanding in his or her own way, and I thank them from the bottom of my heart for their beautiful music, hospitality and generous sharing of ideas. Thanks too to Marcus Hardy for producing the Convention. Finally, a big hand to Bob Stone and Chris Strachwitz for helping to bring Sacred Steel to the world's attention, and for their continuing efforts in recording and documenting this extraordinary musical form.
Incidentally, the latest Sacred Steel CD is another live album, recorded at last year's convention. Beautiful start to finish, certainly one of my favorite S.S. albums yet. [This message was edited by Ian McLatchie on 12 April 2002 at 07:47 PM.]
[This message was edited by Ian McLatchie on 13 April 2002 at 09:32 AM.]
