A Tribute to Wes Wehmiller

Will Snyder playing solo piano in Santiago, Chile

The morning sky has a hint of orange and blue, mixed in with some puffy clouds. It’s 6:30 AM and I’m heading back to Boston from the island of Nantucket after playing a gig last evening. I’ve been meaning to keep you all informed as to the whereabouts of our three scholarship recipients, and this is as good a time as any to write. In a two-day stretch last week, I ran into all three: Will Snyder ‘06, Claire Finley ‘07, and Steffi Willis ‘08.

Will just returned from an extended tour playing piano and bass in Chile. He

Andrew Gouche, Claire Finley, and Danny Mo at WesFest 3

looks marvelous, with his hair a resplendent orange. Claire just returned from a southwestern tour, much of it in Texas playing her distinctive neo-soul bass lines. Claire’s energy is reflected in her groove, and her sound has been augmented with her new Epifani bass rig, courtesy of an endorsement she received after playing her set at WesFest 3 in L.A. last February.

Steffi with her new Fender bass lockin' up the groove

Meanwhile, Steffi was holding down the low end in Brazil over the summer playing reggae music. If you’ve never met or heard Steffi play the bass, be assured that her vibe will shine a light on you. If you weren’t at the Danny Mo’s Jam last March, I have to tell you, the David Friend Recital Hall at 921 Boylston St., Boston, MA has never seen more folks crammed in to witness a vibe like that. The rear doors of the hall had to be opened up to the outer hallway. I didn’t even realize those walls could move. Thank you Wes!
The musician has an obligation to their soul. Playing music often soothes this very need. Our three recipients are all playing lots of music, learning, creating, grooving. In the tradition of Wes’ commitment to serving the song with a righteous bass line, I’m happy to report that all is cool in the low end around here.

Peace and see you soon,
Danny

WesFest 3, the third annual WesFest benefit concert, took place at Paladino’s in Los Angeles on February 25, 2008 and raised $10,000 for the Wes Wehmiller Endowed Scholarship Fund at Berklee College of Music for the third consecutive year. This brings the total amount raised by the WesFest concert series to over $30,000 since its inception in 2006.

In addition to concert proceeds and private donations, WesFest 3 was also officially supported by corporate sponsors Epifani Custom Sound, Mike Lull Custom Basses, D’addario & Co., and Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. The monies and awareness raised by the WesFest concert series have quickly made the Wes Wehmiller Scholarship one of the most noted awards given by Berklee College Of Music.

Headlining WesFest 3 was gospel/R&B bass legend Andrew Gouché, whose world-class jazz/fusion quintet left the audience of nearly 200 with jaws open and hearts filled from their combination of musical excellence and spiritual presence. A tradition also continued as 2007 Wes Wehmiller Scholarship Award winner Claire Finley performed at WesFest 3 with Danny Mo & The Exciters, a band led by Wehmiller’s Berklee Bass Professor and close friend Danny Morris, and featured Berklee alum and Zappa Plays Zappa drummer Joe Travers (’92). Finley, the second winner of the award, confidently took center stage and grooved mightily as The Exciters pounded out original and classic rock material.

Three other acts, all a part of Wes Wehmiller’s broad and diverse musical world, performed at WesFest 3: Nashville-based soul/R&B singer/songwriter (and Berklee alum) Kira Small (’93), newly-formed Los Angeles rockers Mother Eff, and perennial WesFest performer Mike Keneally, whose virtuosic band headlined the original event in 2005 and brings continuity to an ever-expanding community.

“The WesFest concert series really has come of age very quickly, and it’s still growing,” says WesFest 3 producer Bryan Beller. “And though we’re very grateful for its success, it’s not just about meeting fundraising goals. Every year we do this, we’re meeting and bringing new people - students, musicians, folks from all walks of life - into the community, and they get for themselves a huge awareness of Wes and why he’s so special to the people who knew him. Plus, everyone’s seeing with their own eyes the tremendous impact of their support. Seeing Claire Finley carry on the tradition is a reaffirmation of what the event really stands for, and then watching Claire watch Andrew Gouche while Wes’ family and friends look on…that’s when you start to get the bigger picture of why this works so well. We’re all connected, and you can’t help but get swept up in the positivity generated by the whole thing.”

Established by Wes’ family and friends in 2005, the Wes Wehmiller Scholarship is awarded annually to a continuing student at Berklee who best exemplifies the excellence and grace Wes showed as a bassist and as a human being. The WesFest concert series serves as the centerpiece for a continuing fundraising drive for the scholarship fund, which honors the legacy of Wehmiller, a Berklee graduate (‘92) and highly accomplished bassist, athlete, and photographer who died of thyroid cancer in January, 2005.

The first two WesFest concerts are available on DVD, with net proceeds also going to benefit the fund. For additional biographical information on Wes Wehmiller, WesFest and the WesFest DVD’s, please visit the official Tribute To Wes Wehmiller Website at www.weswehmiller.net. Pictures of WesFest 3 are available here.

For more information on the scholarship, or to find out how to contribute to the fund, please contact Peter Gordon, Director of the Berklee Center in Los Angeles, at (818) 380-3041, or by e-mail at pgordon@berklee.edu.

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Steffi Willis performing at Danny Mo's Jam 2008

Welcome, Steffi Willis, 2008 recipient of the Wes Wehmiller Scholarship! Steffi will warm your heart with her spirit and her groove. They are interchangeable. Steffi is one of the most in demand bassists around the Berklee community for good reason: She plays the bass with a conviction to the song, to the groove. You can shut your eyes and feel that commitment, that strong pocket linking the rhythm to the harmony. If you open your eyes, you’ll witness someone doing what they love.

She plays the 5-string bass with a penchant for the low register. After all, the bass is the lowest voice and Steffi never lets you forget it. With her warm personality, glowing spirit, and rootsy feel on the bass, Steffi was the perfect choice for this scholarship in Wes’ honor. She now joins fellow scholarship recipients Will Snyder (2006), and Claire Finley (2007) in this pantheon of deserving students from Berklee’s Bass Department.

On March 12th, 2008, Steffi joined me for a performance at Berklee’s David

Danny Mo with Wes' Taylor 5-String Bass

Friend Recital Hall. She brought with her a 15-piece choir for which she arranged the music. It was Sunday morning [BB's note - I'm guessing that's the intended meaning here?] on a Wednesday night at Berklee. The rear doors had to be opened to allow for the over-capacity crowd. Steffi joined my group for a few tunes, and together with a great audience we raised the roof. I want to thank all the musicians who performed, Paula and John Wehmiller, my wife Jacqui and son Charles, Bass Department Chairman Rich Appleman, Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot, and everyone in the house that evening. We tore down yet another Danny Mo’s Jam for the record books.

We’ll be in L.A. next winter for Wesfest 4, and hope to see you again next March for the Danny Mo’s Jam 2009 in Boston. You’re all on the guest list.

Peace everybody.
Danny

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