[SpeavaJap]

Mike -

This is a great question and one I am sure will generate a wide range of responses.

I've told many of my students this before.

By 1976, my graduation year at UBC, I been seriously bitten by the writing bug. That fall I went to Los Angles with 2 friends - trumpet player Roger Owens and drummer/percussionist Graham Boyle. While Roger and Graham were primarily in LA to take private lessons on their instruments, we all took classes at the Dick Grove Music Workshops (this was a few years before Grove got the big school up and running). Temporarily putting aside my trumpet, I was in LA to get some more writing technique so I signed up at the Grove Workshops for 10 writing oriented classes. I took pretty much everything that was available. While we were in LA we would also go to various places in the area to hear music, particularly The Baked Potato, Dontes and King Arthur's, which featured local and touring big bands on the weekends.

By 1976 I had also become quite familiar with all the great players and writers around Vancouver and I knew LA had even more, but what really hit me was how many more great players and more importantly for me, how many great writers there were. Everywhere we went, including the LA AFofM rehearsal hall and in our own classes (I had Sahib Shihab and Sam Most in one of my classes). We continually heard great playing and writing, it was very inspiring. This relatively short time, about 4 months, turned to be one of the most important experiences in my life.

Not long after we arrived back to Vancouver (we all ran out of money) I began to think about the experience. While I knew I had learned a great deal of technical information, what really stood out was that I had now realized what "good" was. Even more importantly, I saw that I was not. I then set my sights on becoming as good, and as well rounded, a writer as I could. My role models became the giants of arranging and composition and I wanted to write like them. I wanted to be as good as Bill Holman or John Williams. I’m still working on it.

An aside:

After about 3 or 4 weeks in LA I finally convinced Dick Grove to listen to some of my “charts.” After listening to 2 or 3 he asked me what I wanted out this listening session. I asked him to critique my work, to comment on my lines, voicings, orchestration, the usual writing stuff. He paused for a moment then said: “You’ll write better when you leave.” He was absolutely right. While Dick’s response was blunt, it did not deter me and I set out become “good.” I am ever grateful for his directness and for his great skill as a teacher (which also played an important role in my development). I am also glad I was able to tell him so many years later.

Fred Stride