Stan Getz is someone I need to hear more of ... his solo on O Morro Nao Tem Vaz (Favela) is soulful and beautiful and even though Luiz Bonfa is a beast on guitar the song is owned by Mr Getz.
This guy can really blow.
This guy can really blow.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Pay Attention
The first time I had a lesson with Martyn it struck me how attentively he listened to a Pat Metheny track he had obviously heard 100 times before. That and reading "The Music Lesson" has is helping me to become a more attentive listener, but I think need to start developing the level of focus I pay to my playing and the playing of others. I suppose the obvious way to do this is with some meditation ...
Soul is King
Listening to BB King and Albert King for a while got me thinking ...
Jazz blues is harmonically much more interesting than big city/chicago blues, and even though people like Wes Montgomery drip soul and feel from every pore, there is something really special about electric blues.
Santana says when people stop talking and walking to listen to you, then you can say you can carry a melody. The only way to get people to pay attention to put soul into your playing. Practically this means putting real emotion into it. In The music lesson, the kid says that you should always smile when you play, and your playing will be better for it. Maybe some would think that isn't the best advice for playing the blues, but playing the blues always makes me feel better and I think emotional intensity the key.
On the Albert King and Stevie Ray album, the King mentions that there are so many guitarists out there and a lot of them can play a lot of notes and play fast but they don't have any soul.
For a long time I have been leaning more towards acoustic blues, but listening to the Kings made me think about how much you can do with one or two notes, some fuzz and a whole lot of soul.
Time to turn up the gain a bit, slow things down a bit and put some soul it !
Jazz blues is harmonically much more interesting than big city/chicago blues, and even though people like Wes Montgomery drip soul and feel from every pore, there is something really special about electric blues.
Santana says when people stop talking and walking to listen to you, then you can say you can carry a melody. The only way to get people to pay attention to put soul into your playing. Practically this means putting real emotion into it. In The music lesson, the kid says that you should always smile when you play, and your playing will be better for it. Maybe some would think that isn't the best advice for playing the blues, but playing the blues always makes me feel better and I think emotional intensity the key.
On the Albert King and Stevie Ray album, the King mentions that there are so many guitarists out there and a lot of them can play a lot of notes and play fast but they don't have any soul.
For a long time I have been leaning more towards acoustic blues, but listening to the Kings made me think about how much you can do with one or two notes, some fuzz and a whole lot of soul.
Time to turn up the gain a bit, slow things down a bit and put some soul it !
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