Up on the Downbeat
So on the way home from a wedding in Lake Tahoe (where I was annoyed that my room did not have a cd player, so I could listen to my brand new Brand New Heavies) the missus and I stopped in Davis at the local magazine rack and picked up the latest issue of Downbeat (September 2005). I admit the immediate draw was a rather well done piece featuring Vernon Reid, Dave Fiuczynski, Doug Wamble and Ben Monder in a Guitar Innovator Roundtable. It was good to finally read Reid waxing philosophical about any number of topics. I love Reid's playing, and have had the pleasure of meeting him briefly. His presence is very serene off stage and even onstage he appears utterly at peace even when producing cascading sheets of powerful noise. He is the Coltrane of electric guitar, and more power to him.
At one point he ranted that "...unbrandable individualism is a target of assault by the guitar industrial complex. There's a culture of guitar playing that's thing oriented, and not just in terms of gear--also manufacturing ways to be with the guitar. Methodologies. Things you have to do to be considered a good player, though how to find a way with your instrument isn't something you can get from an instructional video by the guy who just came out with the most chops, who everybody's talking about. Playing guitar is difficult. To find your way with the instrument is a life pursuit."
Reid of course is admittedly a gear freak (having seen his stage setup live with Living Colour and Yohimbe Bros, he would be lying if he claimed otherwise) but he makes another rather critical distinction, "...certain things--your quality of soul, quality of hearing--are not determined by what you have plugged in."
It then progresses with the rest of the group developing a rather classic but still seemingly misunderstood concept: that music can (and maybe should) transcend the player and the equipment. It is more than the fastest sweep picking technique or the most precise triple ratamacue or having a 5 octave vocal range. It is about what happens when it is applied in a context of some kind.
They also covers topics like categorization (or the problems that come when your playing sits in so many categories) and the arbitrary barriers between jazz and popular music.
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There is also a good write up on Sonny Rollins, who looks pretty healthy at 75. The Missus and I managed to watch him at the Masonic Auditorium a few years ago, and while he is not the Saxophone Colossus he once was, he is still not a trivial presence. An imposing figure who is focused, and still with a formidible endurance and prowess on his instrument. A booming tenor with a softness around the edges that gives his even most blitzkrieg solos a certain warmth.
At one point he ranted that "...unbrandable individualism is a target of assault by the guitar industrial complex. There's a culture of guitar playing that's thing oriented, and not just in terms of gear--also manufacturing ways to be with the guitar. Methodologies. Things you have to do to be considered a good player, though how to find a way with your instrument isn't something you can get from an instructional video by the guy who just came out with the most chops, who everybody's talking about. Playing guitar is difficult. To find your way with the instrument is a life pursuit."
Reid of course is admittedly a gear freak (having seen his stage setup live with Living Colour and Yohimbe Bros, he would be lying if he claimed otherwise) but he makes another rather critical distinction, "...certain things--your quality of soul, quality of hearing--are not determined by what you have plugged in."
It then progresses with the rest of the group developing a rather classic but still seemingly misunderstood concept: that music can (and maybe should) transcend the player and the equipment. It is more than the fastest sweep picking technique or the most precise triple ratamacue or having a 5 octave vocal range. It is about what happens when it is applied in a context of some kind.
They also covers topics like categorization (or the problems that come when your playing sits in so many categories) and the arbitrary barriers between jazz and popular music.
----
There is also a good write up on Sonny Rollins, who looks pretty healthy at 75. The Missus and I managed to watch him at the Masonic Auditorium a few years ago, and while he is not the Saxophone Colossus he once was, he is still not a trivial presence. An imposing figure who is focused, and still with a formidible endurance and prowess on his instrument. A booming tenor with a softness around the edges that gives his even most blitzkrieg solos a certain warmth.
posted by theloniusfunk at 3:12 AM
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