It was with great sadness that I took Sid to the airport early this morning but I feel great joy in having had the pleasure of meeting such a beautiful human being. The few days with this man went by far too quickly.

Bob Roberts and I picked Sid up at the airport Friday night and we drove to Bob’s wonderful new home on the Indian Trail Prairie. Soon after arriving Sid had his guitar out and played some of the most amazing music I have ever witnessed. He spoke passionately about his discoveries about music composition and improvisation, about the similarities between Bach and Bird, and at midnight he was still going on at full power, playing his Hofner Verythin with silky soft lines going off in every direction, but I had a long drive home so I reluctantly pried myself away to the car and to home. Sid is a bundle of positive energy.

The next day he taught two lessons and then rushed downtown for the workshop. The clinic was astounding. The concepts he gifted to us will change the way all of us play the guitar. If the clinic doesn’t change how you play, you weren’t listening. Sid tells us to strip away all the old chord shapes and visual ways of viewing the guitar which are holding us back and to build our playing back up from scratch to a higher level. He teaches us to think like the great classical masters of old and the great jazz improvisers of the last century. Focus on the guide tones, know where your third and seventh are and build from that with endless embellishments, and especially with counterpoint.

The performance that night was mind blowing. Sid is such a master player, a gifted guitarist, not just among his peers in contemporary jazz but a timeless virtuoso. With impeccable classical right hand technique alternating with the use of the pick and a brain that can divide itself in two, he can effortlessly play contrapuntal lines, each winding around each other, heading out and then coming back together seamlessly. He truly is someone very special.

Sunday I had the opportunity to take Sid to a wine matching dinner with fancy six course meal prepared by chef and staff at the Hayden Lake country club, right on the lake. We shared great food and wine and a stunning view of the lake and pine forest hills that take off forever into the distance. The other diners marveled at this entertaining jazz musician from LA. Sid marveled at the beauty of our area which we might take a little for granted. I will never forget the conversation we shared and the stories he told all the great players he has played with, Joe Dorio, John Pisano, and countless other great musicians. I could tell he takes these great things in his life a little for granted too.

Sid taught 14 hours of lessons in three days plus put on a clinic and a performance. He was under a slavish workload. Yet he gave each student individual and personalized attention. To speak to Sid is to have him make you feel important, because to him, we all were important. That is a rare quality in a musician or in any human being for that matter. He is a genuine guy with a pure soul.

My lesson Monday was simply unbelievable. I took All The Things You Are to him to help me with the chord melody arrangement I have been working on. He stripped down the song, took away my clichés, and built the tune up again with concepts that are practical now but that I will be working on and developing into my playing for years. I was enjoying being in his presence, playing music with him, learning from this master and suddenly what seemed like five minutes had become an hour and I had to move on for the next fortunate soul that would be able to absorb some of his powerful musical energy.

I learned so much from the clinic, the lesson and the performance. Many of these things are already being incorporated into my playing. But beyond the academic, I think the greatest benefit to my playing was gained purely by the power of osmosis. Being in the presence of greatness inspires great things.