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Post by creolian on Jul 9, 2019 15:40:51 GMT
....and now for something completely different... Shaye Cohn - Cornet Erika Lewis - Drum/Vocals Todd Burdick- Tuba/Sousaphone Robin Rapuzzi - Washboard Jason Lawrence - Guitar Max Bien Kahn - Banjo Greg Sherman - Guitar/Vocals Barnabus Jones - Trombone Ewan Bleach - Clarinet Shine On Michael Hello all, For as long as I can remember Tuba Fats ( Anthony Lacen ) was playing on the streets in the quarter. He passed in 2004... This band was the regular revolving cast of characters that set up on Jackson Sq a block away from where Tuba Skinny is playing. The two hottest busking spots in the city, with one or more players out before dawn to claim the spot. Ive been told by one of these regulars that they make far more money playing on the street than the clubs... when I see what goes in the hat, I believe it. Most of these muscians have moved on, but the bands still play... Tuba Fats was not only a regular busker but he also sheparded a lot of the street kids from the Treme, buying them food, teaching them to play and generally keeping them out of trouble. Big gentle man, always a smile, a friend indeed...It was not uncommon to see him walking with his horn over his shoulder being surrounded by a gaggle of urchins. His funeral and second line was attended by thousands. I do believe Anthony carried the torch that lit the way for Tuba Skinny and many many more. The clarinet player in this Ensemble is Doreen Ketchens... Amazing player. The reso rhythm section is doing the rumph rumph that I imagine a lot of reso players were doing at the time... enjoy Jeff en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Lacen
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Post by creolian on Jul 2, 2019 5:32:49 GMT
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Post by creolian on Jun 29, 2019 22:45:40 GMT
Hi Bing, welcome to the forum. Wot everyone sez! But not for a while! Play it for a few days (while you have your Newtone MM strings on order) and just get used to the guitar. Banjoey is an expression we've all heard before, might sound entirely different in a couple of days. Don't do anything major for a while, you'll start listening to your music rather than the guitar after a while, then you can think about the tweaking you'd like to do in the same way as your acoustic guitars. You've got a lovely guitar there, give it a chance to speak to you. Best wishes to you all, John I read this and am in tears... the bulldog done met the buddha ! All of my guitars sound quality have improved with my age, woodshed zen and a sip of whiskey... Cheers ! jeff
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Post by creolian on Jun 28, 2019 14:44:28 GMT
Hi,
I listened and enjoyed the reel. Hard to judge on I pad speakers but the bass register seemed a bit weak. Most slide players here are using heavier guage strings... a heavier gauge will give a deeper voice.
I have a national delphi that the p.o. Had underslung the strings around the tailpiece giving an extreme break angle that was really choking the guitar giving it a weak thin voice. Just routing the stings as originally intended made a world of difference.
String choice has also made a big difference with Martin Sp something or others sounding really tinny and harsh. Newtone strings are too expensive here for me... Im still trying to get that one sorted.
I suggest taking a pic of your break angle at the tail end and posting it. Lots of good help here...
All best, jeff
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Post by creolian on Jun 27, 2019 21:10:58 GMT
With the greatest respect, I can't understand anyone having thoughts of weird tunings or extra strings. Having listened literally inch by inch and looped almost every phrase of every song to decode the playing, there is nowhere I or any other people I know that do similar research, hear anything that makes us think of an extra string or a weird tuning. Robert was one of a line of delta blues musicians that sung and played in the same style and used the same tunings as each other. What Robert did was approach the writing in an unusual way for a delta musician and sometimes the singing is closer to jazz than to blues (Love In Vain for example), and of course he souped up the playing. Shine On Michael Hi Michael, Ive never tried to do anything more specific than grab the general feel of the changes... comping. Its about the best I can do as note for note transcription is really tough for me and playing anything the same exact way twice is nigh impossible. Ive never really tried to cop what RJ was doing probably because I generally find my fingers are about two inches short... maybe what hes doing is beyond my reach... in more ways than one... Ill defer to your assessment Michael... even if its not something as sensational as I hoped to hear ;-) Ive always thought some of his songs and the way he plays had sort of an orchestral approach like hes playing guitar parts in an ensemble. Something about the space between the notes being suggestive... sometimes the time jumping and decorated chords sound arranged. His vocal style sometimes seems to sorta pay homage to some of the white jazz crooners of the 20s and 30s. Like his guitar playing, he has more than one voice. Too bad we will never know what his musical training or experience was. Ive spent some time with Kevin Moore ( keb mo ) working on a film in the early 2ks and have wondered if RJ might have had a more urban ( trained ) musical experience ever since... as far as the devil business goes. I think its important to understand the spiritual perspectives of the original Africans descendants living in the American south, both then and still today. Fiercly superstitious, big on ritual, offerings, symbolism, a reliance on oral history, lore, legend and not least of all, music. When I hear those primitive blues, I can hear the influence of the drum, the Kora, the chants, etc. Sadly, western African spirituality as combined with European Christanity has been exploited for its entertainment value and most people have a rather dramatized perception. I cant explain, but I still hear people talk about the influence of the loa and the importance of listening to your first mind... things most of us do but just use different words to describe. Gris Gris Monkey Dust, may the good lord do right by all of us ! Jeff
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Post by creolian on Jun 26, 2019 1:31:02 GMT
I read some interwebs speculation regarding a 7 string... what I recall was someone with the idea that he ran two strings through one tuner on a trad six string. This seems absurd in that there would be almost no way to tune both strings to unison or any other interval.
Im listening to kind hearted woman and it sure sounds like a pair of unison tuned strings in there.
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Post by creolian on Jun 25, 2019 12:35:34 GMT
Oooooh TT, you are awful! Tempting us with shiny bargains! Lol! I did make a buy it now offer on the Republic last week, but the seller thought she would let the auction run. I see it's now relisted, but the moment has gone, (the rum has left my bloodstream)! Best wishes to you all, John 1st vintage national Ive seen for private sale south of Nashville Tn this year... 900 work at Schoenberger... the neck looks hinky new to me ? neworleans.craigslist.org/msg/d/new-orleans-1936-national-style-0-14/6905867761.htmlIm real happy with my Republic and the Beard but If I were looking, Id be all over the Rep on eBay at 300l or so... considering the case. ( I might have missed it but I think the case pics are new ) J ps. Ive been praying that I not be led into temptation... apparently god has been listening as I am too broke to consider another guitar today ;-)
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Post by creolian on Jun 25, 2019 9:58:40 GMT
Hello all,
I spent a few hours this evening listening to RJ, wondering about tunings and technique and still am baffled as to how he got so much texture out of a single track. From my experience with a 12 string I know its possible to pick just one string or brush both... especially with the high notes. Watching how Rory Block and Woody Mann approach RJ technique wise is enlightening but... Listening to hellhound Im wondering if RJ might have been using a 12 string guitar with only 7 or 8 strings. I read some speculation that he possibly strung two strings through one tuner but that doesn't make sense from a tuning standpoint. There is something going on there that doesn't sound like a six string guitar strung with .13s...
thoughts ?
best, Jeff
p.s. I apologize if this is a worn out subject... yesterday, I heard that Dave Bartholemew passed and Im tired of funerals...
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Post by creolian on Jun 23, 2019 15:50:34 GMT
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Post by creolian on Jun 23, 2019 15:28:19 GMT
Ive always wondered how much of the tuning question might actually be a function of oddball string gauges. Either by intent or necessity, I dont know... I have seen a few older blues players mixing gauges and there are some country musicians well known for it.
Fortunately, "devil tuning" ... along with the evil eye, mojo hand, the loa and papa legba are not taught in music schools...
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Post by creolian on Jun 22, 2019 12:36:37 GMT
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Post by creolian on Jun 21, 2019 18:01:11 GMT
I have a republic delta rocket... it took a bit of work to get it sorted but it gets played every day now. It has a fat neck, 2" nut, sticks, shrooms etc. looks like they copied a vintage reso right down to the not too pretty carpentry of the neckstick. Mine weighs somewhere around 8.5 lbs and is plated. It has the screen door ports and a deep voice.
I had to clean some metal burrs off the tuner shafts, re work the saddle and clean up the nut ( all things i would not have tried pre mm forum ).
That would be a fair price here I suppose... ebay? A week old unplayed reso ? Im admittedly cynical and would be hesitant to gamble on what might be a box of " issues"
The disclaimer of having no guitar knowledge by someone selling a guitar online always puts me off.
edit: I went back to look at the ad and the seller wants it hand delivered... generally not practical where I am. I dont see myself ever buying a guitar without playing it first.
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Post by creolian on Jun 20, 2019 19:07:13 GMT
Hello Yall, Big fan of Roy B here... still mourn his tragic passing. I have an O.C. duff "Nancy" pickup in my Peavey omniac tele clone... it wails. Its been the one to hand the last few weeks. Stanley Clarke is one of my favorite muscians as well. I initially heard him playing upright with cats like Freddie Hubbard on sessions produced by Creed Taylor. Im not sure I like the electric playing as much as that tends to be sometimes be a bit overly cooked... If im going to listen to electric jazz, there is a high probability he or Jaco Pastorius is playing bass... Fusion was not as much a musical genre for me but a class of band that generally had monster players of infinite technical ability and required at least 40 thousand watts of amplification. Ive never liked the sound of the early synths, particularly the warbling bend of the pitch wheel... nuff said. I think that about covers it...lol. Hope all are well, Jeff
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Post by creolian on Jun 18, 2019 22:44:45 GMT
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Post by creolian on Jun 8, 2019 14:18:13 GMT
In New Orleans they know how to show respect and celebrate a great life lived! Shine On Michael Hi all, Just to clarify... the traditional nola jazz funeral and mourning when I was a bit younger consisted of a mourning and visitation period usually at least a week long followed by a solemn march to the grave accompanied by the band playing 'A closer walk with thee' After the internment is the traditional point at which one gives his own sorrows up and celebrates the life of the deceased in a processional to the Repass or Feast. There has been a lot written about this but the consensus is that it is a combination of West African and European tradition. In the 60s there was a funereal procession at least once a week from the mortuary on Maple st. to the Green st cemetery a couple blocks from our house. We would hear the drums solemn beat and ride our bicycles to see the second line...The mortuary is now a piliates studio. The Horn player is James Andrews ( you will probably see him playing this same role in the Buddy Bolden film ) His call to celebration is just as I remember from the funerals in my neighborhood. The band marches to the repass and followers are called a 'second line.' For me, this celebration is the same as the Blues in being a way to overcome life's sorrows by joyfully crying. This particular 'second line' might be technically premature... I dont mind and I dont think Mac would have minded. The last thing I think he would want is a pity party... Im still greiving but Im thinking there will be numerous celebrations remembering Mac. . At the core of the Dr John character was a very intelligent, witty, considerate and generous man. Ive worked 40-50 dates with Mac ( monitor mix ) along with a sound on a couple of film projects. Although at times frustrated, I never saw Mac talk down or get verbally angry with anyone ever. He treated everyone as an old friend and was a pleasure to work with. ( mixing monitors, one expects the wrath of frustrated artists occasionally.) I have a visual memory from 40 years ago of him at dawn in the window of his motel room in Breaux Bridge... standing in his tighty whities wearing a beret waving and grinning as we pulled out of the parking lot in the gear truck. I could tell stories for days but I honestly have zero unpleasant memories of my time with Mac. One of his quirks was making rhymes and rhythm when speaking. Imitating the ethnic gumbo nola dialect he would regularly make up words while philosophizing... leaving everyone in stitches. Its sorta sad for me that he will be more remembered as 'dr john' than the man he was under the mask. The voodoo stuff sells I suppose but it is not how I remember Mac. He was a special person who carried a lot of New Orleans culture and music... may both Mac and his memory rest in peace. Sadly today, im still... Jeff Ps. In y2k I worked on an episode of the South Bank show documenting Mac and Nola music. One of the better ones, it has interviews with Allen Touissaint, Cosimo Matassa et al... last I looked, its not available here. The U.K... i dunno.
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