I sat in on John Brennan & John McGillian’s session at Tir na Nog last night. What a great time! Both were in great form and Johnny was playing some slick guitar stuff I hadn’t heard him do before. A lot of funky rhythmic turns using block chords, broken bass lines, melodic fragments and so [...]
Archive for July, 2003
Session @ Tir Na Nog (Philadelpha)
Posted in Early Entries, Sessions on July 30, 2003 | Leave a Comment »
Blending/Session Playing
Posted in Early Entries on July 24, 2003 | Leave a Comment »
I had an interesting chat with a flute player friend of mine the other night about using recordings as learning resources vs. “session” learning, and the different skill sets each approach develops. While we debated and discussed, he made an interesting point: a session is more a musical “conversation,” rather than a performance.
He talked about [...]
Advice from Jerry Holland
Posted in Early Entries, Practice on July 17, 2003 | Leave a Comment »
Some good practice advice from Cape Breton Fiddler, Jerry Holland. (Taken from a review by Tom Knapp in Rambles, 30 Dec 2001)
“Dynamics, ornaments and other embellishments are ‘a personal kind of thing’…The next fiddler who plays a tune may have a different concept of it. That’s what makes it his.”
“…[Cape Breton] music is closely tied to [...]
Elders and the Language
Posted in Early Entries, Jazz on July 14, 2003 | Leave a Comment »
This from the liner notes of Steve Turre’s Telarc Jazz Release TNT:
“I’ve always sought out the elders. I realized early on that the elders have the key to the lineage, the key to the phrasing, the key to the language. This music [Jazz] is not just learning the notes. It’s more than emulating some records.”
And regarding his [...]
Miles Davis Remembered
Posted in Early Entries, Music & Spirituality, tagged Jazz, spirituality on July 10, 2003 | Leave a Comment »
I discovered Mark Isham’s Miles Remembered: The Silent Way Project recording today…listening to the opening track, “In a Silent Way – Milestones.” I can’t get over how strongly Isham recalls Miles’ playing and spirit on this track. For the first time since his death in the late 80’s, I again feel like I’m missing Miles; his [...]
