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Everyone in life finds some discipline.  The word discipline referring to how to play guitar for example. Never underestimate the slow learner. They can turn out to be better players in the end when compared to the students that understood, and played better in the beginning.

It is the hidden talent in them was obscured. It took them a little more time. The weaker players latent potential can be far more vast in understanding the guitar and music, of course they have to work at it. Some students  are natural guitar players but are not interested in the guitar.

To sum up my teaching beliefs and experience.  I had a wonderful music teacher Mr.Magrath.
I studied with in high school. He excited my creative thoughts. I looked forward to his lessons.

I remember him explaining to us young kids many times that music has to do with everything. This is very hard to understand when your just 17. We slowly understood him.  Some would understand his comment from their own experience of loving music. Others would understand it from body movement and dance, and others want to understand how many bars is each section, and when does the composer introduce the theme melody with the other instruments, and so on.

If music has to do with everything then why not math, has to do with everything, and so on, and so on.

In life we find artistic learners, logical mathematical learners, body movement types, music artist learners, interpersonal learners, and intra-personal out going learners, linguistic learners, and so on. We all are all so beautifully different.

Discipline doesn’t just mean for a father to say finish all the dinner before leaving the table.
The other meaning of discipline is.  The discipline of woodworking, the discipline of how to play guitar,math, spacial body movement expression, the discipline of playing football, the discipline of helping people like a social worker.

Young or old….. an old dog can learn new tricks. It is never to late to learn a new discipline. Why? Young or old, each of us has a discipline we know well and enjoy. When you want to learn something new one should learn it through their eyes of the discipline they already know well. This is the key.

-Rick

From the Cafés cantantes to the gypsy festivals, the ardor of Flamenco music is the heartbeat of passionate string-driven romance. Whether it was the rubber-stamped classic sound of Ramón Montoya, the first performer to theoretically introduce classical guitar techniques into Flamenco music or the driven fret manipulation of the 19th century troubadour, the fervor remains lit. Therefore enter stage left, Rick Washbrook and his remarkable interpretation and methods of the ageless art of Flamenco. Roncesvalles Tango, released in 2007 is worthy of lofty acknowledgment, not so much for his innovative ability to manipulate technique but more so, the execution of the legendary proficiency needed to release the Latin mood.

The experimentation of the guitar technique in relation to the conventional style is intense and complex yet Washbrook succeeds in elevating his efforts. There in lies the beauty of the Washbrook arrangements and delivery; as each cut is executed precisely without compromising the historical ambiance. These are very intense and compelling spins; showcasing the discipline of Washbrook, his work ethic and liberated approach.

To single out any cut…. on this project would be futile at best. Look and experience the inner flow of every string definition and manipulation; as it relates to the intensity of the crafts personality. His performance is romance set to frets and chords; that capture the pure joy of heartfelt charm between two passionate set of eyes.

Roncesvalles Tango is extreme. Mediocrity, in any shape or form in these performances becomes transparent, as it does not exist. This is a very intellectual spin.

For those into the techno-methods of the Latin flavor, this is out-of-the-margins, into the binder textbook. Those whom have fire in the soul, the hopeless romantic, this is the catalyst to your dreams. Where ever one lies on the spectrum of Latin musicianship, one thing is certain…. Rick Washbrook understands the psyche of romance ablaze and delivers its emotional flint….

Article Source: JazzReview.com

It wasn’t until two years later, but the singer, songwriter and guitarist did get a phone call. It led to one of the highlights of his career.

“I couldn’t believe it, because two years had gone by, and suddenly I got this phone call. It was Glass Tiger’s bass player, Wayne Parker,” Washbrook said during an interview at his home studio in Oakville.

“He said ‘I loved your cassette tape, and I’d love to co-write with you.’

“I was so excited. It was unbelievable.”

The result was a number three hit on the American Billboard chart: Rescued by the Arms of Love.

The song, written by Washbrook, Parker and fellow Glass Tiger member Alan Frew, climbed to number one on Canadian charts. It was one of the top 10 songs in the country.

A story of getting through life’s tough lessons, it hit the airwaves just as Washbrook was dealing with one of the roughest times in his life.

“The song was a huge hit. I was just in tears about it, because at that time, in particular, was when my mom was dying of cancer,” he said. “It would come on in the donut shops and I would hear it and just be so emotional.”

That was 1992.

Two years earlier, Washbrook lost his father, also to cancer. In 1997, one of his brothers passed away. In 1998, he lost another brother.

“I sort of went into hiding for a while after that,” he said. “It was a difficult time.”

Washbrook got through it, though, in part by writing and recording his feelings.

Now, at age 48, and with more than 30 years of professional musical experience under his belt, he’s focusing on sharing his musical expertise with others.

A native of California, who moved to Canada in the 1970s and settled in Oakville five months ago, Washbrook has been teaching guitar lessons for 27 years.

Having just completed his 12th album, Roncesvales Tango, Washbrook is now making teaching guitar – everything from rock and blues to classical and flamenco – his focus.

Released under the independent label, Dirty Ice Cream Music, Roncesvales Tango took nearly five years to put together.

It took time, Washbrook says, because he wanted it to be as good as his album before that, A Gypsy’s Bed.

That was his tribute to renowned Canadian guitarist, the late Lenny Breau.

“Just to come close to his geniusness, just to touch his geniusness as a guitar player was an amazing thing,” he said.

“I had the honour to follow the footsteps of a genius.”

Washbrook started to admire Breau at age 14. It wasn’t until 2001, at the age of 42, that he released a tribute.

The effort earned him accolades from musical legends including Randy Bachman and Moe Koffman, and was his most successful album to date.

Washbrook achieved what he calls “every guitar player’s dream” after the album was released – a mention in Guitar Player Magazine USA.

“That’s like the epitome of making it, getting a mention,” he said, smiling. “It’s the magazine that all guitar players read. They read about their heroes in there.”

Washbrook’s second most successful album was his debut in 1986, Summer Roads. His single I Don’t Believe was a top 10 hit on Canadian charts.

But for a member of the Washbrook family to have success in show business is no surprise.

The youngest of four brothers, he grew up watching two of his older brothers become child stars on sit-coms including Petticoat Junction, My Friend Flicka and Lassie.

“I came from a family of two child stars, and I was the one who chose to play the guitar,” Washbrook said.

At age 16, he started performing in bars, singing with a voice he describes as “storytelling.”

From the age of 20 to 40, he made a career of playing in bars and teaching guitar lessons.

An eclectic guitarist, Washbrook describes his latest record as World Music, incorporating Latin, flamenco, tango, jazz and Spanish styles.

In addition to studying at the Royal Conservatory of Music, Washbrook worked to educate himself and learn his craft from others.

“Anybody that I wanted to learn something from on the guitar, I was banging on their door, asking them to teach me,” he said.

Among those teachers was Bob Erlendson, who taught and influenced his idol, Lenny Breau.

“I got a whole bunch of lessons just from asking people to teach me what they know,” Washbrook said.

To arrange guitar lessons with Rick Washbrook, call 416-824-3377 or e-mail rwashbrook@hotmail.com.

Article Source: InsideHalton.com

CD One

Songs

There Is No Greater Love; Autumn Leaves; Cannonball Rag; Summertime; Manha De Carnival, “Black Orpheus”; Childhood Memories; Am I Blue/Baby Face; Gypsy Gala; Harmlessly; On A Clear Day; Texas Breau; The Days Of Wine And Roses; The Shadow Of Your Smile; A Gypsy’s Bed and Love Story.  Total 15 Tunes/Songs

CD Two

Songs

West Coast; Pamela’s Space; Blues Evolution; Mercy, Mercy, Mercy; How Can I Forget; Long In The Tooth; Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain; Good Lord Sent Me A Woman; Chattanooga Shoe Shine Boy; Other Places; Keepsake; Yesterday; Here’s That Rainy Day and Davos Platz.  Total 14 Tunes/Songs

On CD One, each tune averages 5 minutes ranging from 3 to 8 minutes each, and on CD Two, the last tune lasts 10.42 minutes; total time on this second CD is 72 minutes.

The accompanying booklet is full of interesting lines on how the Washbrook project evolved.  The inspiration and spadework over a score of months to January this year in producing this tribute to Lenny Breau has brought a just, and well-earned reward.

“I have to reach other people and bring an awareness of Lenny’s musical genius to their lives” Rick Washbrook.  Washbrook was born in California, and as a teenager, he moved with his family to live in Canada.

The album, compiled to archival extent by the use of five various types of guitar, embodying creativity and versatility, has been achieved by a lifetime’s experience on how one acquires the status of becoming a master guitarist.

Known as one of the most innovative solo guitarists in the jazz idiom, Lenny Breau, who began playing country music, worked in the main, in Canada, and became recognised for his exciting skills in the execution of octave harmonies. He was born in Auburn, Maine, in August 1941 and died in 1984 in Los Angeles, USA.

A baker’s dozen of the tunes are credited to Rick, all of which are endless, intricate, some are dual, lots of double fingering which must be difficult to achieve, all wonderful didgeridoo, flamenco, walking double bass lines, and in-between horn sounds.

I detected but only three quotes, Delia Gone, I Wonder Who Is Kissing Her Now and Oh How I Miss You Tonight so as I claim not to be knowledgeable on the guitar, I’ll leave it to potential buyers to make up their own minds and interpretations of individual tunes, save for me, to mention Gypsy Gate as this tune reminded me when living in Nantes in the late 40s, that I first became interested in jazz, listening to the music of Django Reinhardt and the Hot Club de France, Love Story which will remind one of the film – Love Story, and lastly, the title tune, A Gypsy’s Bed which in July 1999, started off this Rick Washbrook CD project.

This double album is for – and a girl in the mood – it’s wonderful.

Article Source:  Ian King – Kings Jazz Review – Friday 17 August 2001

SONGS
1. Gate 403 * 2. Red Rose Sambo * 3. Argentinean Tango * 4. Mantha de Carnaval * 5. Cabana Gypsy * 6. Orange Sunset * 7. Roncesvalles Tango * 8 Gentle Rain * 9. The Girl From Ipanema * 10. Craving * 11. Petite Waltz * 12. Beth

Song number 4 is by Luiz Bonfá / Antonio Maria : numbers 8 & 9 are by Carlos Jobim : number 11 is by Joe Heyne : number 12 is decated to pianist Elizabeth Shepherd, this one and the other seven songs are all by Rick Washbrook

Recorded at Zolis Audio, Covers front and back are by James Brown and Greg King respectively.
www.washbrookmusic.com : www.dirtyicecream.ca : DICM-CD-064 – Rick Washbrook 2007 ©

This is a soothing listening to solo performance album portraying the very fine attributes of the man and instrument in the playing of his six gut stringed acoustic guitar.

The title of the album – Roncesvalles Tango, according to Readers Digest is the name of a mountain pass and village of Navarra, Northern Spain, which was the site of the defeat and massacre of the rearguard of Charlemagne’s army in the year 778 under Roland by the Saracens.

King of the Franks, Charlemagne ruled from Aix-la-Chapelle, Aachen, Westphalia, Germany – but that’s another story.

I’m familiar with only one of the Washbrook tunes, but I do not claim the same of having no knowledge of his dance numbers, although my skills would no longer be seen a matching grace enough to be carried out on the floor of any of the late top-class ballrooms, the Washbrook music brings memories to mind, imaginative, if such wishful-ness could have been the case.

The CD liner notes give invaluable information on the techniques of his guitar playing that I’d say would be of great interest to many, whatever their standard of proficiency on their instrument.

“…This is a soothing listening to solo performance album portraying the very fine attributes of the man and instrument in the playing of his six gut stringed acoutsic guitar…”

Connoisseur reviewers of the guitar will naturally aim to describe and relate the methods and the styles of a performer – I can’t. Instead, I’ll go back 60 years whilst living in France listening then to the famous Belgian guitarist, which shed roots in depth on me that years later it created my interest in jazz music – so I move to say that my views on the Washbrook, Roncesvalles Tango CD are that listeners may deduce such a gem of an album could only have been produced through insatiable dedication and love of his music, so fated to be cherished by its seeking future owners.

Article Source: Kings Jazz Review – Thursday the 2nd of August 2007

TRACKS
1. West Mystic * 2. Nashville Dreams * 3. Ma’am Blue * 4. Scorched Earth * 5. Tabloid Exchange * 6. Métis Love *
7. Rick n’ Bob * 8 In Your Own Sweet Way * 9. Sun Tea * 10. I Got The World On A String

Recorded at Zolis Audio, Toronto, Canada
www.washbrookmusic.com : www.dirtyicecream.ca
DICM-CD-082 – Rick Washbrook 2008 ©

Rick Washbrook – West Mystic

The word jazz must be one of the most misused words in the dictionary and likewise, in the wrong hands, the guitar can be a most misused musical instrument; but certainly not in this situation. Rick Washbrook proves without any shadow of doubt to be a devoted slave and perfectionist in the art of contemporary guitar playing. Like many fellow guitarists he claims to have been influenced along the way by others, yet if the truth were told all modern day guitarists, especially in the jazz field, owe it to the gifted artistry of Django Reinhardt the Belgian gipsy who in the 1930’s fashioned guitar playing to virtually unassailable heights.

Rick Washbrook’s CD West Mystic offers a collection of pleasant, relaxing and enjoyable tracks including a number of his own compositions. These include the perfect opener West Mystic which visionary sets the mood for what follows. Nashville Dreams and Ma’am Blue are equally enchanting, whilst Tabloid Exchange, Metis Love and Sun Tea are also stamped with the Washbrook hallmark.

Rick has assembled a first-rate backing ensemble and the piano playing of Bob Erlendson is commendable as can be heard on the track Rick n’ Bob which he and Rick co-compiled, also on the Harold Arlen number I Got The World On A String.

This CD may be short on listening time, the ten tracks lasting just over forty minutes, but each number avoids the fault that so many other musicians perpetrate when featuring their own compositions, that of emphasising them with lengthy solo over-runs, often into the world of fancy.

Not wishing to detract from the otherwise appealing collection of numbers selected for this CD, the inclusion of a vocal on the last track I felt somewhat strange. No doubt the introduction of vocal renditions are necessary for Rick’s solo and club sessions but, having enjoyed the first nine all musical tracks the modern style vocal by Rick I felt was expendable in this instance.

Just by way of a thought for the future, are we likely to see a ‘Quintette du Hot Club of France’ style of album emerge ?