Nothin' LIke "Southern Comfort"
No, it's not the Elton John song of the same name, it's the title of the Jazz Crusaders CD I got yesterday. This is yet another replacement of my record collection. I hadn't heard this in years, and it's as good as I remembered. Sometimes the old tunes don't quite stand the test of time, but this is some very lyrical, funky jazz that just swings and simmers along. It's basically timeless, except for the telltale phase shifter on the guitar occasionally, usually a dead giveaway for the '70's. My old MXR's (both the 90 and 100) both gave out on me and I haven't replaced them. They do have a nice pulse and texture to them. A decade ago they wrote off wah pedals, they're back!!
Larry Carlton plays some very tasteful stuff on this, he used to use a Sho-bud volume pedal for swells and of course I had to get one. They were quite the pain to work on, Ernie Ball came up with a much more modular unit later on. Enough "gearhead" talk...I was surprised how few actual solos he plays on this, but when he does they are melodic and he takes a few nattily picked hummingbird flights. He plays it pretty! I spent quite a bit of time jamming with this album as well and it's quite interesting to hear some of the runs that I "borrowed" off of it (ha ha). I laugh because I had nowhere near the technique to play his style exactly. But I think I still use some of his approach. (Lull the listener to sleep with droning low register stuff, then blast them out of their chairs with squealing high harmonics with heavy whammy bar-I'm kidding...)
This was done in '74, before he helped arrange the charts on the sessions for the Steely Dan masterpiece "Aja". This band plays as a well oiled ensemble, precise and yet very free. Joe Sample is all over this with his signature Fender Rhodes electric piano. I usually prefer piano, but in the hands of someone as talented as him, a Rhodes is somethin'! It's a true joy to hear him and Carlton lay down the chordal thing while the horn players play some cool melodies in unison and then branch out on their excursions. And Sample plays superb solos himself.
I forgot what a masterful drummer Stix Hooper was on this-he lays down tight grooves, then pushes the soloists to further heights, building the tension with his brilliant cymbal work. Pops Popwell weaves his way through the entire set on bass, there are a couple intros that are absolutely brilliant. Flashy, completely different than you would expect, but not too "busy" detracting from the music. Melodic and rhymically so "in the pocket" it's pure joy to listen to. I do own and have played gigs on bass, but he's lightyears away from what I can do. But the beauty of it is hearing him makes me want to practice. I saw these guys live once and he broke a string on his bass solo--never seen that before or since! Unfortunately, Carlton had just left, but they were awesome. I think they are out of Houston, y'all, if my memory serves me right. The horn players (I've forgotten their names right now--later) double on soprano and alto sax as well as some smokin' trombone! It's not ordinarily an instrument I want to hear in a solo capacity often, but he "works it"! (My opinion of "band" music and John Philips Souza another time) I used to work with a bassist who played excellent trombone, but I could never talk him into playing the Who's "Face to Face" with a real honest-to-God trombone solo in a rock song! Dammit, that's when I knew a career as a used car salesman was doomed. "Hey you, you need this car! Driven by my very own grandmother only a total of 800 miles! Trust me, I'll get you the best deal...only pennies over what we paid for it!" nod nod, wink wink...
Part of my early musical education on guitar was I was introduced to some "fusion" by some friends of mine and it certainly turned my head on it's ear. In a way, it was sort of a hideous experience listening to these players like Alan Holdsworth, John McLaughlin and Al DiMeola knowing that I didn't possess anywhere near the technical facility to pull off any of their solos. These are just three out of perhaps 500 players who have interested and inspired me. I'm sure I'll get to them later. History has judged this era as way too self-indulgent and it's a fair assessment in some cases, but there was a playing level that was extremely high. There is another very scary band in this genre called, appropriately enough, "Brand X", John Goodsall has one of the most amazing right hands in the biz. Precision up the ass-I think I've heard him play 64th notes quite often and in a reasonably musical way! He could play some very riveting slow legato passages, then go into the blindingly wicked breakneck runs-ouch!
It's been a rough week at the restaurant (aka my career in the parallel universe) and it's been, as they say, a "mofo". I go from feeling fairly good about the world and my ability to live, play and prosper to all enthusiasm and ambition being sucked out of me until I crawl home a complacent droid. It's the repetive nature of it that tends to really make it a grind. Sometimes I don't even want to hear music, just silence=
It can be golden. Sometimes I don't want anything reminding me of what I should be doing. I had ten magical years where all I did was gig. That's all. I miss it! I've done an incredible amount of work on music in the past, it would be nice to be able to get back into "the flow" again. It's a tough proposition though. However, I've seen the rebirth of many things over the years and still retain some hope, and pray for a miracle or two occasionally. At times they even tide me over during the disillusioned periods where lackluster reigns supreme. I'll take "A Love Supreme" instead, thank you.
Larry Carlton plays some very tasteful stuff on this, he used to use a Sho-bud volume pedal for swells and of course I had to get one. They were quite the pain to work on, Ernie Ball came up with a much more modular unit later on. Enough "gearhead" talk...I was surprised how few actual solos he plays on this, but when he does they are melodic and he takes a few nattily picked hummingbird flights. He plays it pretty! I spent quite a bit of time jamming with this album as well and it's quite interesting to hear some of the runs that I "borrowed" off of it (ha ha). I laugh because I had nowhere near the technique to play his style exactly. But I think I still use some of his approach. (Lull the listener to sleep with droning low register stuff, then blast them out of their chairs with squealing high harmonics with heavy whammy bar-I'm kidding...)
This was done in '74, before he helped arrange the charts on the sessions for the Steely Dan masterpiece "Aja". This band plays as a well oiled ensemble, precise and yet very free. Joe Sample is all over this with his signature Fender Rhodes electric piano. I usually prefer piano, but in the hands of someone as talented as him, a Rhodes is somethin'! It's a true joy to hear him and Carlton lay down the chordal thing while the horn players play some cool melodies in unison and then branch out on their excursions. And Sample plays superb solos himself.
I forgot what a masterful drummer Stix Hooper was on this-he lays down tight grooves, then pushes the soloists to further heights, building the tension with his brilliant cymbal work. Pops Popwell weaves his way through the entire set on bass, there are a couple intros that are absolutely brilliant. Flashy, completely different than you would expect, but not too "busy" detracting from the music. Melodic and rhymically so "in the pocket" it's pure joy to listen to. I do own and have played gigs on bass, but he's lightyears away from what I can do. But the beauty of it is hearing him makes me want to practice. I saw these guys live once and he broke a string on his bass solo--never seen that before or since! Unfortunately, Carlton had just left, but they were awesome. I think they are out of Houston, y'all, if my memory serves me right. The horn players (I've forgotten their names right now--later) double on soprano and alto sax as well as some smokin' trombone! It's not ordinarily an instrument I want to hear in a solo capacity often, but he "works it"! (My opinion of "band" music and John Philips Souza another time) I used to work with a bassist who played excellent trombone, but I could never talk him into playing the Who's "Face to Face" with a real honest-to-God trombone solo in a rock song! Dammit, that's when I knew a career as a used car salesman was doomed. "Hey you, you need this car! Driven by my very own grandmother only a total of 800 miles! Trust me, I'll get you the best deal...only pennies over what we paid for it!" nod nod, wink wink...
Part of my early musical education on guitar was I was introduced to some "fusion" by some friends of mine and it certainly turned my head on it's ear. In a way, it was sort of a hideous experience listening to these players like Alan Holdsworth, John McLaughlin and Al DiMeola knowing that I didn't possess anywhere near the technical facility to pull off any of their solos. These are just three out of perhaps 500 players who have interested and inspired me. I'm sure I'll get to them later. History has judged this era as way too self-indulgent and it's a fair assessment in some cases, but there was a playing level that was extremely high. There is another very scary band in this genre called, appropriately enough, "Brand X", John Goodsall has one of the most amazing right hands in the biz. Precision up the ass-I think I've heard him play 64th notes quite often and in a reasonably musical way! He could play some very riveting slow legato passages, then go into the blindingly wicked breakneck runs-ouch!
It's been a rough week at the restaurant (aka my career in the parallel universe) and it's been, as they say, a "mofo". I go from feeling fairly good about the world and my ability to live, play and prosper to all enthusiasm and ambition being sucked out of me until I crawl home a complacent droid. It's the repetive nature of it that tends to really make it a grind. Sometimes I don't even want to hear music, just silence=
It can be golden. Sometimes I don't want anything reminding me of what I should be doing. I had ten magical years where all I did was gig. That's all. I miss it! I've done an incredible amount of work on music in the past, it would be nice to be able to get back into "the flow" again. It's a tough proposition though. However, I've seen the rebirth of many things over the years and still retain some hope, and pray for a miracle or two occasionally. At times they even tide me over during the disillusioned periods where lackluster reigns supreme. I'll take "A Love Supreme" instead, thank you.
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