Re: Screening at The MIM on April 20th
Right after the MIM event, I was embroiled in getting back to day job duties and was forced to let go of my fantasy filmmaking passion for the time being, in order to keep the bills paid.
I really didn't get much of a chance to write about this wonderful experience. So here goes.
Em and I drove out there together. Long drive 6.5 hrs each way. We were only there for two days. He had to get back to the shop the next day. Since I spent what was barely left of the night after the concert, downloading all my digital files, audio and three video cameras, I got no sleep and was exhausted driving back to L.A.
The lecture and concert in Scottsdale went amazingly well. Emmett was treated like "royalty" by the museum, him being one of the rare living inventors of a new musical instrument. He played to a very receptive audience along with Steve Adelson and I feel very privileged to have been able to come along and film the entire event. I'll be sure to feature it in my long-gestating documentary about Emmett and his new instrument.
The MIM (Musical Instrument Museum) started five years ago by the
CEO of Target, Robert J. Ulrich, and was inspired by the Musical Instrument Museum in Brussels. When Ulrich retired from Target, he spent a good chunk of his own money to build this $250 million, 80,000 square foot world class museum in Scottsdale, which has become an international hub for music and now the number one attraction in Phoenix.
The Stick section of the museum has been a permanent exhibit since 2012 and this was the first time Emmett was there to check it out. And I was there to film it. Every exhibit is set up to be experienced walking around using headphones for audio, so when you are there without them on, the whole place is strangely silent. I followed Emmett as he was ushered to the numerous floating Sticks on display and captured his analytical reactions on camera. A brief history is written out with pix of Em in the workshop, along with Tony, Dale and Abby. And performance videos of Bob C., Steve, Kevin, Tony with Crimson and a clip I submitted of Em demoing his new instrument for the first time in 1978, playing his original tune, "Scot Rock."
After The Stick exhibit his attention was drawn to the very cool Martin Guitar exhibit close by. He was fascinated by Martin's personal guitar workshop on display. He commented that Martin needed to see all of his tools at a glance like he did. That's the way he works. Only difference is that Martin's were all up on a wall. Em keeps all his on his table.
With my continuous shooting schedule, I hardly had enough time to stroll through the humongous museum. I'm told you could spend days there and still not fully experience the more than 10,000 instruments from 200 of the world’s countries. For anyone interested in instruments, it's a must see. I will definitely go back to see everything I missed.
In the afternoon, Em and Steve gave a lecture and demo of their instruments to a packed crowd. Steve got the biggest applause line:
"The cool part is, I think there's 10,655 instruments in this building and none of the inventors are walking the planet, except Emmett Chapman." The theater where Emmett and Steve played and my docu-in-progress screened was, (like all the other architecture of the MIM), just stunning - a state-of-the-art audio and video venue and the crowd could not have been more enthusiastic. For the evening concert, Steve played first with two amazing percussionists, local Arizona guys who were super tight and fun to hang with. (Thanks Steve for reminding me of their names again) Eddie Barattini on drums and Porangui on percussion. Besides shooting the event, I was also there to screen a brief work-in-progress of my documentary, which showed after Steve. Then Em came out to play his gold zirconium one-of-a-kind (so far) Stick. He and Steve played so well and sounded sensational in that grand auditorium.
Who knows, maybe next time it'll be the EMP in Seattle.
Anyone interested in a discussion about our trip together and this memorable experience in detail, check out Free Hands Friday - episode #53 at the following link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTZJ83koOKcWill post clips when I can.