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Topic: How many steel players.... |
Kevin Hatton
From:
Buffalo, N.Y.
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Posted 23 Jul 2002 12:47 pm |
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| Wow, William. Grand Cayman? They got steel guitar there? I visited there in 1972 with my family. Got the worst sun burn of my life on Grand Cayman.Heard its much more built up now. Do you play down there? |
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William Steward
From:
Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands
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Posted 23 Jul 2002 6:51 pm
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Hi Kevin...yeah I play 2-4 nights a week, mostly piano though...my steel playing is not yet worthy of human consumption (which doesn't stop me altogether). Even very dark people can get sunburns here and us pale folk really have to watch it. Give us a call if you are down next time, bring your steel and don't forget he sunscreen  |
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Mike Delaney
From:
Fort Madison, IA
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Posted 23 Jul 2002 7:41 pm
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| The term "Jazz" is as broad as the term "Country". To some, country is "Home On The Range", to others its "Sweet Home Alabama". Duke Ellington said he stopped using the term "Jazz" in 1941, preferring to refer to his music as "Freedom of Self Expression". I think there are a good many steel players who could add to a jazz band in a very positive manner. They may not be the soloist who is out front all night, but could certainly add some tasty fills and comps to what is going on. Charlie Parker wouldn't have been out front all night in a country band, but what he played would have added to the overall sound of the band. |
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William Steward
From:
Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands
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Posted 24 Jul 2002 7:03 am
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| Mike...it is funny you should mention 'Bird' he was (perhaps surprisingly to some) a country music fan. When I have mastered some his melodies on the steel I know I will be half way close to being able to play 'jazz' (in the pre-war sense) on it! |
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Andy Greatrix
From:
Edmonton Alberta
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Posted 24 Jul 2002 6:15 pm
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This is a Bird poem I wrote.
Charlie (Bird) Parker
He discovered a vast new world
inside the melodies of the day.
Souring free far into uncharted
blue dimensions, his alto sang
with an enchanted beauty that
carried him to heights unheard of,
and pipered us with him. When he left,
bop went with him. Somewhere, he sings.
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Mike Delaney
From:
Fort Madison, IA
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Posted 24 Jul 2002 7:17 pm
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Very true, Bird loved music, period. Duke Ellington once said that there are only two kinds of music; music that sounds good and music that doesn't. Although jazz is my first love, I'd rather hear a good bluegrass band than a bad jazz band. In tune, in time, and a tight band amounts to everything.
By the way, Bird went from a "good" sax player to a "legend" after playing with Thelonious Monk. He always claimed that he started bop, but eyewitness accounts say Monk had been there long before. He was the only one who insisted his position was correct. The other alumni of Monk's band, Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane, and his piano disciple Bud Powell, always credited Monk with teaching them how to reach the next level. |
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Joe Casey
From:
Weeki Wachee .Springs FL (population.9)
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Posted 25 Jul 2002 7:11 am
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One name not mentioned and he can flat out pick with any Jazz group is Wally Murphy. Had to be late 70s early 80s when Wally was Playing the Eastern States Fair w/Nick Nixon that he asked me and Jim Smith if any Jazz clubs were in town. There just happenend to be one and it never had more than 20-30 people in it at any time. So on a tuesday night after Wallys last show we headed over to the "Stonehaven" and Wally who is 6'4 or taller with the big Cowbow hat walked in with the Steel in one arm and his amp in the other and I had the seat. After convincing three men Of Afro decent who were playing great jazz with the stand up bass player looking like he was leaning, sleeping on his machine....It was funny when they asked if he had a Keyboard in the case and the look on their faces when he told them it was a Steel Guitar. They agreed to let Wally sit in. They played for about 15 -20 minutes and still no solo for Wally. When the half asleep Piano player looked over and nodded his head to Wally. Then the whole Joint was jumping and they all sat up in amazment and that was some show.They had to stay awake and bust their ass after that ..I believe one dug up a Guitar player mag (that Featured wally on the cover)and recognized Wally and had him sign it. Wally kept telling me not to Worry all the way to the club.....Amazing night and he surely played some of the best Jazz I ever heard and on a 11 string DEKLEY steel Guitar.Great night for Cowboy Hats and Steel Guitars.
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CJC
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fraser
From:
seattle wa
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Posted 25 Jul 2002 1:54 pm
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Regarding Jazz Musicians and their attitude towards steel. I play in a jazz band but not on the steel guitar. I invited some members of the band over for dinner a long time ago. They walked in the front door and practically tripped over my steel. The sax player said, "Is that a pedal steel guitar?". I said "Yes". He said, "Do me a favor....don't play it!".
Fraser |
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William Steward
From:
Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands
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Posted 25 Jul 2002 2:39 pm
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| Joe....has Wally Murphy produced any recordings? If not, it sounds like a great shame as with so many great artists who just don't get around to putting their own stuff down. Andy cool poem. Fraser I know what you mean since some my New England friends blow off the steel as an instrument of torture...down here anything goes (mon) and the guys in the jazz band I play with can't wait for me to get better on this thang so I can bring it to the gigs. |
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Joel Glassman
From:
Waltham MA USA
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Joel Glassman
From:
Waltham MA USA
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Posted 26 Jul 2002 7:26 am
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William--
I'm tired of those snobby New Englanders! :^)
Playing music with people who encourage you is one of the best things in life. --joel[This message was edited by Joel Glassman on 26 July 2002 at 08:33 AM.] |
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Jim Cohen
From:
Philadelphia, PA
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Posted 26 Jul 2002 3:28 pm
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| Yeah, Rufus Harley. He lives here in Philly and played at my wedding! Before taking up bagpipes, he was a saxophonist (still is, I guess), signed on the Atlantic Records label. I've come across some of his LPs in the used record stores. |
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Earnest Bovine
From:
Los Angeles CA USA
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Posted 26 Jul 2002 3:56 pm
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| Rufus's version of "Eight Mies High" is very droll. |
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Marc Stone
From:
Louisiana, USA
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Posted 25 Apr 2006 8:41 pm
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Glad to see Dave Easley's name coming up so much. i couldn't possibly count the number of times I have heard him tearing up every style of music. His ears and his chops are unbelievable. I have heard him run some very accomplished jazz horn players into the ground, even if Dave would be too modest to ever admit it. He can hang with anybody, and has the respect of most of the serious jazz (and every other style) musicians in N.O.
Dave will jam with the Campbell Bros. this weekend. That should be a whole lot of steel. |
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David Mason
From:
Cambridge, MD, USA
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Posted 25 Apr 2006 10:40 pm
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| Quote: |
| Right now, there's no one who could hang in there with a top jazz group. But maybe some young kid out there will read this statement, and take up the challenge. |
And yet again I have to bring up the Easley fellow. Have you heard him?!? His idea of "standards" range more towards Ornette Coleman and John Coltrane perhaps, but coming from an extremely broad, New Orleans-based musical education I think he could muddle through bebop just fine - a few months back he played a classical Indian gig, he tours with alt-country hottie Shannon McNally, this week with the Campbell brothers etc. I think he's simply too nice and non-avaricious to be a big "star" but on chops alone, come on.... |
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Charlie McDonald
From:
out of the blue
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Posted 26 Apr 2006 5:30 am
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I woke up this morning with 'Where or When' on my mind, and then read this great old thread--some of the funniest lines I've read.
There are so many ways you can play Where or When--as a slow dance tune, with the basic sax melody, then the drummer can, like Tony Williams, break off into polyrhythms, the guitar, piano, or pedal steel, can take over with the many variations of the basic changes, until folks are going 'What is it?'
That's the thing about jazz: "Wow! What is it?!" |
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Drew Howard
From:
48854
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Posted 26 Apr 2006 6:35 am
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Thanks for reviving this thread, Charlie.
Herb's quoteable quote:
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| "I know a bunch of standards, but basically on the Benny Goodman level of jazz complexity." |
That about sums me up, minus a few degrees!
cheers,
Drew
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Drew Howard - website - Fessenden guitars, 70's Fender Twin, etc.
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Jake L
From:
Grapevine, Texas
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Posted 26 Apr 2006 7:30 am
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| Steve Palousek could do it... |
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Terry Wood
From:
Lebanon, MO
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Posted 26 Apr 2006 12:32 pm
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I believe Julian Tharpe and Zane Beck could have done it. THey are both gone now but they both could pick some really knocked out stuff.
They were really good at improvising and coming up with some unothodoxed things. I recently recorded one of Zane's original tunes and it turned out to be one of the toughest things I ever learned.
What about Curly Chalker?
Currently, Doug Jernigan comes to my mind foremost ala via the Jazz structured music! The man knows what he was and is playing!
Just my thoughts!
GOD bless!
Terry Wood |
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Dr. Hugh Jeffreys
From:
Southaven, MS, USA
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Posted 26 Apr 2006 1:08 pm
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| I became bored with the TYPICAL jazz fare some time ago; that's when I began to compose my own. I have about 50 today in my portfolio. I write (and record) my own arrangements to go with them. Personally, I think JAZZ is looking for a NEW ID: There is a unique mixture of jazz flavors on local stations; I find this also true of stations when traveling (I have a list of Jazz Stations in the U.S.). PROGRESSIVE JAZZ is the only way to go. The copy-cat stuff one hears (ie, Sonny, Miles, Weather Report) has been chopped up and spit out=---much too much. ----j---- |
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Kyle Everson
From:
Nashville, Tennessee
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Posted 26 Apr 2006 1:59 pm
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I think they call it the E9th Nasville tuning for a reason. Most of the greats out there made a living in that city, therefore used the most marketable/applicable tuning for their sessions. Lloyd Green used to play a D-10, as you all know, but after looking back discovered that out of 600 sessions, 595 were on E9, thus creating the LDG SD. C6 is the closest cousin to jazz that most of us are familiar with. And Lloyd Green thought it was best suited for a song 0.84% of the time.
Anyone that sits down and thinks outside the box will be able to understand how they need to accomplish jazz runs. I think it's definitely helpful in blues playing.
But the bottom line is that I chose to play pedal steel guitar because of its sustain, its tone, and its subtleties. And all of these would probably get lost in a noisy jazz circle with a bunch of horn players.
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Kyle Everson
Sho-Bud Pro-II
Fender Twin Reverb
Goodrich 120
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