In my eternal quest to meet every forum member in person, last night I met funkslapmama.

She and her friend came over, I showed off my basses, we went out for dinner and then off we went to the big band I play with where she sat with her eyeballs glued to my fingers.

Yes, indeed, she is a very nice person and I'm glad that her business trip allowed her the time to have this meet up.

Here's the evidence: (she's holding my 6 string)

Very nice! I hope to meet you someday in person too. I am sure we will on on your coast someday again.....

That's very cool.

And this pic means that Funkslapmama is about as tall as Candice Olsen. 'Cause J.C.'s gotta be 6' 2" at least.

I'm 6'1"

5'10" in my stocking feet. I come from tall breeding stock.

Will give you a full report on an awesome evening when I'm not constrained by my BlackBerry.

That's cool. I may be making a weekender to Boston at some point. Not sure if the family would let me get away (or if Davio would want to meet me after all the crap I give him) but I want to meet some of you.....others not so much;)

"Gotta be the shoes, Mars...." 5-10 is up there, but not Candice Olsen territory.

And yes, she is my favorite H&G network Diva......

Man. I could swear from that family shot that J.C. posted awhile ago that he was in the same league as Andre The Giant. Maybe it was just that he was in a tiny house????

And mine as well. She totally rocks.

Believe me: The pleasure was all mine.

Jeremy took my friend Judy and me to his lovely home and shared with us his magnificent collection of basses. It was like visiting a low-down version of Disneyland. (If you haven’t yet seen a rubber-stringed Ashbory bass, start planning your pilgrimage now.) We then had dinner at one of his Berkeley hangouts, a great little Mexican place called “Picante.”

From there we ventured south to Harbor Bay Isle, where we met up with Jeremy’s big-band group. Picture around 20 active or retired professional musicians who get together on a weekly basis and sight-read big-band music. Everyone is set up and ready to go at the appointed hour. Massive books of sheet music are passed around, and one of the two directors calls out the number of the selection to be played. The other director counts off the time, and away they go.

What a treat to watch our friend Jeremy jump into it with this fine group of musicians and make that beautiful blue bass sing. He is totally tight with the drummer and leading the way for the rest. He’s sight-reading some very complex bass lines at warp speed, while beautifully echoing the phrasing and tonal effects of the melody line, whether played by trumpet, trombone or sax. I am transfixed by his dexterity, phrasing and the body English he throws in to play every piece to its fullest potential.

At the break, he graciously answers all my newby questions with unending patience. Example:

Q: I notice you anchor your thumb on the body or the pickup and your second finger on the E or the A string. How do you determine where you will position them?

A: I leave them wherever they ended up the last time I used them.:)

The music was fabulous, the level of musicianship superb. What a great time, and what a great friend as well. All in all, an incredibly memorable evening, proving that Jeremy not only rocks…he also swings.

Man oh man, Picante is gooood food. You treat your guests good Mr. C ;D

Excellent ! Hope to have the pleasure too, some day

Oh and I'm 5'3 - 5'4, give or take. Only slightly taller than my basses

You mean I'm not the only one that watches HGTV?

I'd like to meet some of you folks one of these days. 5 ft 10 in Mama? My younger sister is 6 ft as is my brother. Me, I'm 5'8". I'm the runt of the family.

Cool looking j-bass there -- what year is it?

Looks and sounds like a great visit. Thanks for posting.

It looks like a slab body and yet the neck is a late '66-'69 era, so I would guess 67-69??

Davo

Um, wouldn't the fact that she's standing right next to you be stronger evidence?

My Jazz bass is a '71 and that's when I bought it.

Sounded like a nice trip! I'd like to see JC in action one of these days.

Congrats on the meet-up you two. I can attest that meeting Jeremy and his lovely wife is indeed a pleasure.

Cheers!

Cool- glad it went so well.

Unfortunately, we did not have the pleasure of meeting Mrs. C. But she must be one cool lady, as she allows Jeremy to bring strange women to the house when she's not home. :-)

Did you at least get to see the hurdy gurdy?

No, dangit, but we DID get to see the Ashbory. Way cool.

You don't look all that strange, Mama...

Too bad about the Hurdy Gurdy. It's on the mantelpiece.

I looked at the family picture again. I think that was taken with a fish-eye lens because the proportions are all wrong. I am not taller than the doorway and the nephew who was sitting in the doorway was the tallest person in the room and in the picture he looks tiny.

So you're not a giant. That means your fast swim times are even more incredible.

I'm chiming in late on this thread, but it's cool hearing that you two could meet up. I've seen a hurdy gurdy before, maybe on this forum. Can we see a pic Jeremy?

Here is the Hurdy Gurdy:


The crank at the end turns the wheel which "bows" the strings. The two outside strings are drone strings. The center string is the "chanter" which plays the melody.

The keys push down little bars inside the box which "fret" the strings. It is tuned diatonically (which means it can only play a major scale). By adjusting the rods, you can make a note or two sharp or flat so that you could theoretically switch keys for different songs.

My wife built this instrument by hand. It took her a long time. The peghead was hand-carved with a jackknife and sandpaper. It has six coats of hand-rubbed varnish on it. She used to play it at the Renaissance Faire while singing and accompanied by a lutenist and someone else playing recorder.

Very cool! Kudos to your wife for being such a craftswoman!

Funny, but I'm not at all surprised that Mrs. Cohen is so talented. It's a cool instrument and cooler still that she made it.