ITF/Paul the Trombonist

[Gribnes]

Delayed by unfortunate AV hiccups Paul dove into his presentation at fast talking, breakneck speed. He offered some clever and encouraging ideas on how to begin the process of learning to improvise. What eventually was revealed was a slick commercial for Ginsu knives only for ITF participants. What he offered was a list of 'free' teachings that in the end was tied to nearly $1K of private/Skype lessons. The deflation in the room was palpable. If he only soft pedaled the used car sales approach he might have appeared to be teaching. This was a Cal Worthington moment...

[Mikebmiller]

What does that guy actually do other than make Youtube videos? I'm sure he is a good player, but there are thousands of good players out there.

[mrpillow]

I signed up for mine, now I have to get 5 of you to sign up as well so I can get the big bonus!

[brtnats]

I will say that his interviews with famous players have been an enormous resource, and that anybody that does that much work still needs to eat and pay rent.

[PhilE]

I was there and I have to say that I was a bit disappointed. I was hoping to pick up a few clues about the nitty gritty of improvising. All that he told us about actually improvising he could have said in 10 minutes.
The rest of it was about the $. Either the $ you could make by learning how to improvise or the $ you could save by taking up his highly discounted offer.

The next day I attended a presentation where the presenter felt the need to reassure us that he was not there to promote himself or his materials.

[PhilE]

Hit the submit button too quick.
All in all, it was an amazing experience to be there.
World class musicians and performances.
I absolutely loved it.

[TheBoneRanger]

So that was a session listed as "Masterclass: Paul the Trombonist" right?

Seems to be completely against the spirit of such a festival. If this is truly the case, and word gets back, I'm sure this will be the last invite he receives...

Andrew

[Gribnes]

I don't think he should be banned but rather admonished to stick to the teaching aspect, which he can do. Nothing wrong with making a dollar. He simply put the cart before the horse. I suspect his advisors for 'success' are not sensitive to the ethos of such a gathering.

[lauriet]

I unsubscribed when he sent me a stock recommendation.

[mrdeacon]

I've gotten a chuckle out of his latest thing on facebook where he is offering a series of video lessons "worth thousands of dollars" for free! ...theres a catch!

First you have to input your credit card number. Once you finish the series of video lessons if you decide that the lessons aren't worth at least 10 times the amount he is charging you get those lessons for free! You just have to send him a email before your credit card is charged saying you weren't satisfied with the lessons.

Reminds me of this Nathan for You episode about the best burger in LA



Seriously if you've never heard of Nathan for You, you guys owe to yourself to check it out