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Topic: Please close |
Susan Alcorn
From:
Baltimore, MD, USA
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Posted 16 Aug 2008 10:41 am |
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Please close
Last edited by Susan Alcorn on 2 Dec 2020 12:32 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Kevin Macneil Brown
From:
Montpelier, VT, USA
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Posted 19 Aug 2008 7:02 am
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Expansive, inspiring.
Thanks, Susan, for the links. |
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Bobby Bowman
From:
Cypress, Texas, USA, R.I.P.
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Posted 19 Aug 2008 11:13 am Susan,,,,,,
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Although I can't truthfully say that I am a big fan of these interpretations of music, I can say this with all honesty,,,,
Having known Susan for many years and having the pleasure of seeing and hearing her in other musical venues,,,when she wants to or the situation calls for it, she can and will play some of the very best of what most of us would call "real toe tappin' country, Texas/western swing, big band and steel related jazz", as in what we've heard from Buddy, Doug and a host of other well known steel players. And I'm here to say that she can do it a whole lot better than most of us.
She was over here at the house a week or two ago and she sat at her guitar playing me some of the most beautiful "country" steel that I've ever heard.
Absolutely amazing,,,the two or more sides of Susan.
BB
_________________
If you play 'em, play 'em good!
If you build 'em, build 'em good!
http://www.bobbybowman.com |
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graham rodger
From:
Scotland
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Posted 19 Aug 2008 2:29 pm
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Steel dosn't have to be all about country music,I like it in Scottish and Celtic music.Though I'd like to ask Susan if she plays these pieces the same way each time?or does she freelance like a lot of Jazz players do,is it prerehearsed or just off the cuff as she feels it? Thanks Graham  |
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Larry Jamieson
From:
Walton, NY USA
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Posted 21 Aug 2008 4:32 pm
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Amazing, Susan...
It is always interesting to me to see the different things people do to stretch the limits of different instruments, things I would never think of. While I can't say this is my cup of tea in terms of music, it is never the less art, and interesting to listen too.
Thanks for the post, Susan.
Larry J. |
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Giorgio Robino
From:
Genova, Italy
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Posted 22 Aug 2008 7:14 am
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thanks Susan!
| graham rodger wrote: |
| Though I'd like to ask Susan if she plays these pieces the same way each time?or does she freelance like a lot of Jazz players do,is it prerehearsed or just off the cuff as she feels it? Thanks Graham |
as far as I know, have listened some of her CDs, Susan is mainly a free music improviser;
as jazz musician (myself, many years ago), I recognize, in some pieces she use play, a structure a bit derived from standard jazz (in very a general sense): exposition of the theme (many time "simply" tonal) and a successive improvvisation that many times is atonal or exit and enter between tonality and atonality ... that's what I love! in his art ... the freedome to space in wide spaces out of tonality.
in brief videos I watched seem free improvisation.
But of course a better answer is the Susan one.
giorgio
_________________
http://solyaris.altervista.org www.youtube.com/solyarismusic
Last edited by Giorgio Robino on 27 Aug 2008 7:43 am; edited 2 times in total |
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Jean-Michel Giry
From:
Britanny, France
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Posted 27 Aug 2008 4:54 am
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It's a pleasure of you meet here, after your performence in Brest 2007. Good job, good feeling.
A bientot
JMG |
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Paul Graupp
From:
Macon Ga USA
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Posted 27 Aug 2008 7:38 am
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I remember my father not understanding my love of steel guitar in any manner, shape or form. Now I find myself in the same position and I am not comfortable with my lack of appreciation or understanding of this musical genre.
Could there be something wrong with me as I thought there was something wrong with my father for not hearing what I heard (or FELT) ??  
Regards, Paul |
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Ben Jack
From:
Fayettevillle, Ar. * R.I.P.
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Posted 27 Aug 2008 10:27 am Opinions
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AMEN TO WHAT PAUL SAID.
Ben JACK |
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Susan Alcorn
From:
Baltimore, MD, USA
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Posted 27 Aug 2008 3:55 pm
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I guess it's my turn to chime in. To answer Graham's questions. Are these pieces pre-rehearsed and played the same way every time or "off the cuff as I feel it? Giorgio's response is pretty accurate [by the way, for those of you who aren't familiar with Giorgio Rubino, he is a very talented musician, a gifted composer, and innovative steel guitarist]. However, there are a few things perhaps I should add. With the structured "pieces" I do -- my own (Mercedes Sosa or And I Await) and the adaptations of others' music (El Arado, Adios Nonino, O Sacrum Convivium, etc.) I play the structure of the song pretty much the same way every time, and I go through great pains to play the notes in a particular way that will give them the musical weight that I feel the composition deserves. Then I improvise freely keeping the structure, intent, and tonality in mind, and, like the jazz musicians, usually return to the melody at the end.
For the more "free" pieces, as in the Paris and Zebulon videos (and some of my recordings), I try to approach the performance with a somewhat empty mind, empty meaning uncluttered rather than unaware. I am somewhat obsessive about about practicing (I practice songs, scales, ideas, and techniques every day) and technique (if I feel I don't play well, I feel horrible about everything else, and my self esteem goes crashing). At a live performance, before I play the first note, I try to put myself in just the right place mentally, emotionally, and spiritually, and I try to feel what the needs of my audience might be and how whatever it is I do in music can be of use to them (and for this, the first note is the most important) -- this is really my motivation; whether I succeed or not is a different question. When I'm improvising freely, it's like being on a high wire without a net, with only my intentions, my technique, inventiveness, and the tone gods (who are not always on my side) to get me through. It's a balancing act between the intuitive nature of what I wish to share to the listener, my knowledge (or lack of knowledge) of music in general, and the need to keep ideas progressing structurally in a musical way to keep everyone following it. When things go well, I can physically feel the shape of a certain attentive silence in the room. When this happens, I feel there's a chance for magic -- perhaps a higher power if there is one. To me if magic exists, it is music, and if healing exists, that is music also. The videos probably show half the picture because they are by necessity too short to show the beginning or the end of improvisatory pieces which can last 25 minutes to over an hour. It is difficult to keep an audiences attention and to keep myself attentive without "noodling" for a length of time. At the end of a performance I am physically, emotionally, and mentally exhausted.
For Jean-Michel, je te souviens et je me souvien bien cette nuit a Brest. I remember you and the night in Brest. And I remember what you said to my friend Ninh who translated everything for me. Your words were a great source of comfort. It is nice to meet you here too.
To Bobby Bowman and Kevin -- thank you for the nice words.
For Paul and Ben, I remember when the Beatles came out (I guess that shows my age), and how they sounded so fresh. Everything in their "sound" just seemed so new and wonderful to my hormonally challenged adolescent nervous system, and my parents who liked Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington, Micky Finn, and Al Hirt thought the Beatles were just noise. And later I ran into older jazz musicians whose only comment on the Beatles was that they couldn't play their instruments. It took me awhile to realize that they were listening with different ears, different tastes, and a different set of previous musical experiences (probably gained when they themselves were young) that couldn't adapt to this new sound. And, though I thought I knew it all, I couldn't hear what it was that made Big Band music so exciting to them. Louis Armstrong didn't like Charlie Parker, but that didn't mean there was anything wrong with Louis Armstrong. That's just how he was. There is a lot of music -- much computer and electro-acoustic, some hip hop, etc. -- that, try as I might, I have a difficult time relating to.
Musically I came up playing country-western music -- the same music that perhaps you like. I love this music like I love my own heart -- the understated and deceptively simple directness, the boundaries -- like haiku. However, there has always been something different, I guess, in my musical outlook. When I was young I was listening to Edgar Varese, Arthur Honegger, John Coltrane, and Sun Ra so to me this different tonality makes sense on a very deep level. And then when I encountered Pauline Oliveros, everyting opened up like a flower in bloom. This kind of sensibility probably makes its way into much of what I do. I hear meolody and harmony, but differently to what some may be accustomed. It's such a huge, diverse, and beautiful musical world -- Gamelan music, Andean folkloric music, Chinese, Vietnamese, Bulgarian, American Indian. The more you open your mind, the more you can take in the wonder of it all.
We all have tastes, and if you don't care for something, there is no shame. However, I often wish that some people (other steel guitarists) wouldn't write disparaging and insulting comments on the youtube videos that show my music -- I don't take drugs when I play, and whether it comes out or not, there is a lot that goes into making each note. Music is about awareness rather than shutting out. Perhaps I'm rambling. I think if you listen to new music with an open mind and an open heart, perhaps it will speak to you in some way. If it doesn't, well, we're all different, and that's what makes life interesting. |
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Steve Alcott
From:
New York, New York, USA
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Posted 27 Aug 2008 6:12 pm
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| Susan put it very eloquently. If you don't get it, don't worry about it. What really counts, for me anyway, is making an honest effort to hear the music, whatever it is. We all have some kind of music we just don't relate to. You never know-the light may come on one day, and you'll get it. Til then, enjoy what you enjoy, play what you want to play, and above all, keep an open mind and ear. |
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Paul Graupp
From:
Macon Ga USA
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Posted 28 Aug 2008 5:29 am
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Susan: Gee, I hope you didn't think my comments were meant to be disparaging !!
I think what you have written is very true and I would only add one additional comment to your explanation: I too recall the Beatles but moreso, I recall reading about a time when music in 3/4 time was considered a sin by the Church. That it survived is proof of what you speak.
If I cannot appreciate something, I should perhaps keep my thoughts to myself lest I offend another steel guiatrist. And I do that with some of the steel entries I have viewed on the webb. I have actually turned some of them off after the first sound but have been surprized by some of the comments praising the effort. I actually listened to all of your links and now feel I should have kept my silence on the matter.
Perhaps my recollection of my father's distain for my music was too strong to resist and it still hurts. I am equally sure that you will maintain your musical heritage as you sound like a very strong personality.
Without exception, I think every steel guitartist I have ever heard has told their following generations; to find their own self in their own music. I think you have done that to a T as your tour schedule would indicate.
Regards, Paul
Last edited by Paul Graupp on 28 Aug 2008 5:31 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Giorgio Robino
From:
Genova, Italy
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Posted 28 Aug 2008 5:31 am
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thanks a lot Susan,
for your words revealing your world, that always appear to me deep and sincere (in the best philosophical meaning). Let me quote something of your letter:
| Susan Alcorn wrote: |
| At a live performance, before I play the first note, I try to put myself in just the right place mentally, emotionally, and spiritually, and I try to feel what the needs of my audience might be and how whatever it is I do in music can be of use to them (and for this, the first note is the most important) -- this is really my motivation; whether I succeed or not is a different question. When I'm improvising freely, it's like being on a high wire without a net, with only my intentions, my technique, inventiveness, and the tone gods (who are not always on my side) to get me through. It's a balancing act between the intuitive nature of what I wish to share to the listener, my knowledge (or lack of knowledge) of music in general, and the need to keep ideas progressing structurally in a musical way to keep everyone following it. When things go well, I can physically feel the shape of a certain attentive silence in the room. When this happens, I feel there's a chance for magic -- perhaps a higher power if there is one. To me if magic exists, it is music, and if healing exists, that is music also. The videos probably show half the picture because they are by necessity too short to show the beginning or the end of improvisatory pieces which can last 25 minutes to over an hour. It is difficult to keep an audiences attention and to keep myself attentive without "noodling" for a length of time. At the end of a performance I am physically, emotionally, and mentally exhausted. |
Your free music performances seem to me just achieving that "magic" that is the essence of art. I understand your position ... in that "high wire without a net" ... that's the condition every artist (every human being) could experiment to discover a possible beauty. This open, sincere, voyage it's an artistic difficult position, majority of people reject...
| Quote: |
| When I was young I was listening to Edgar Varese, Arthur Honegger, John Coltrane, and Sun Ra |
and our heroine Alice Coltrane ( http://www.myspace.com/alicemcleod )
| Quote: |
| so to me this different tonality makes sense on a very deep level. And then when I encountered Pauline Oliveros, everyting opened up like a flower in bloom. This kind of sensibility probably makes its way into much of what I do. I hear meolody and harmony, but differently to what some may be accustomed. It's such a huge, diverse, and beautiful musical world -- Gamelan music, Andean folkloric music, Chinese, Vietnamese, Bulgarian, American Indian. The more you open your mind, the more you can take in the wonder of it all. |
YES! BTW, because you mentioned Sun Ra, some days ago surprisingly I watched on Italian national TV a sort of documentary about Sun Ra and free-jazz music ... all shutted in mioddle of '60s I suppose ... it seem to me so irreal nowadays in 2008 to listen his music .. his thoughts ... so old, so new ...
| Quote: |
| I don't take drugs when I play, and whether it comes out or not, there is a lot that goes into making each note. |
Of course. Your music is realized with a virtuosism, a huge control (In a positive sense here!) of instrument, something requiring a very "watch" consciousness status! That's could understand averyone with a minimum of attention and seriousness!
| Quote: |
| Music is about awareness rather than shutting out. |
yes, awareness,
so simple to say,
so difficult to realize and share ...
thanks for your art
giorgio |
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Susan Alcorn
From:
Baltimore, MD, USA
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Posted 31 Aug 2008 5:09 pm
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Paul,
There is no need to keep your mouth shut, and I never took offense at your comments. Thanks for taking the time to listen to all of my links.
Take care,
Susan |
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Steve Alcott
From:
New York, New York, USA
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Posted 31 Aug 2008 6:40 pm
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| The most important thing we can do is to listen with ears as open as possible. Understanding and/or liking a particular kind of music may be less important than the honest effort to do so. |
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Paul Graupp
From:
Macon Ga USA
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Posted 1 Sep 2008 5:59 am
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Susan: I was wondering if you had a chance to hear Roy Thompson's version of Monk's Mood ?? It is currently posted in Steel Without Pedals and presents some interesting sounds for a non-pedal arrangement. There also a link to the original with Monk and Coltrane.
Regards, Paul |
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David Doggett
From:
Bawl'mer, MD (formerly of MS, Nawluns, Gnashville, Knocksville, Lost Angeles, Bahsten. and Philly)
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Posted 1 Sep 2008 9:37 am
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Very interesting and very ambitious, Susan. And thanks for the personal commentary. Sorry I missed you when you were in the area recently. Hopefully there will be another time.
Don't be too disheartened about the comments from the peanut gallery (over on YouTube). They show their own limitations, not yours. 
Last edited by David Doggett on 1 Sep 2008 11:44 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Jim Cohen
From:
Philadelphia, PA
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David Doggett
From:
Bawl'mer, MD (formerly of MS, Nawluns, Gnashville, Knocksville, Lost Angeles, Bahsten. and Philly)
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Posted 1 Sep 2008 11:46 am
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Oh, yeah, that's marked on my calendar. Didn't know she would be there. What a diverse performer list.  |
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Bo Borland
From:
South Jersey -
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Posted 1 Sep 2008 5:27 pm
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Sept 19th @ the World Cafe... looks like a sure thing..
One listen to Susan playing here...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9NAPHpUV-4
should be enough to broaden the narrowest of minds.` |
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graham rodger
From:
Scotland
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Posted 2 Sep 2008 2:16 pm
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| Certainly broadened mine,way to go Susan and thanks for the great breakdown of my earlier question! Graham |
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