#masterguitarschool

[jayeudaly]

I had a gig but it got COVID-cancelled. New Year’s Eve ain’t what it used to be. #masterguitarschool https://www.instagram.com/p/CJfNCg5JdrC/?igshid=1551ntioubu89

[jayeudaly]

Rediscovering old vinyl due to #masterguitarschoolrenovation: Ed Bickert. What a wonderful player that guy was! An album like this is my favorite format: sparse instrumentation, live in a club. We’ll find out what you’re made of! Ed’s playing is something I can listen to over and over and get stuff out of it each time. He’s an encyclopedia of chord voicings and melodic musicality with no frills or flash. I wrote a tribute blog last year upon learning of his passing: https://www.masterguitarschool.com/post/tribute-to-ed-bickert. #masterguitarschool (at Master Guitar School) https://www.instagram.com/p/CJT-ijLpr0V/?igshid=zqwr2go2z8r9

[jayeudaly]

Rediscovering old vinyl due to #masterguitarschoolrenovation: This stands the test of time! Great! An anthology of previously released tracks, all the tunes were recorded from 1970-73. The production holds up. The drums aren’t buried in the mix. Every cut is upright bass and it’s mixed upfront. This is not a guitar album but get this: George Benson, Eric Gale and Cornell Dupree are on various cuts. I don’t have space here to mention all the great players - Ron Carter is on every cut, Freddie Hubbard, Billy Cobham, Milt Jackson, Randy Brecker and TONS more! “Sugar” is a tune I really liked the first 10,000 times I played it but in the hands of these guys it’s amazing. I’ve become jaded and repent in dust and ashes. The surprise is “Speedball.” It’s a riff Blues by Lee Morgan. I spent hours listening to it back in the day; I know I have gig tapes of me playing it and I’d completely forgotten about it. The instant I heard it it all came back to me. The way the mind and music interact is an amazing thing. #masterguitarschool (at Master Guitar School) https://www.instagram.com/p/CJR78Okp2KX/?igshid=10kmgbqeylusr

[jayeudaly]

Rediscovering old vinyl due to #masterguitarschoolrenovation. I was turned on to this album in 1976. Thanks to George Benson crossing over with Breezin’ I was in the first stages of exploring Wes Montgomery and Jazz in general. A few years later I was using this as a model for my own solo jazz gigs. Listening to this now, decades later, several things stand out to me. To say he’s loose with the time is an understatement. It’s a very rubato approach with lots of rabbit trails being chased in between the changes. Listening to this has made me realize that maybe I’ve become too rigid in my solo jazz playing; adhering to the time and the changes too closely has its limitations. I’ve got a couple of solo instrumental jazz gigs next month and I’m going to adopt Pass’ looser approach and use the looper less. Another thing is how he transposes songs into more guitar-friendly keys. “Night and Day” in D instead of C allows liberal use of open strings. “Misty” in E instead of Eb might drive a sax player crazy but lays so much better on the guitar. Hey, when you’re solo you can do whatever you want! #masterguitarschool (at Master Guitar School) https://www.instagram.com/p/CJRQPJjprVM/?igshid=8jkn1n9wx2ub

[jayeudaly]

Rediscovering old vinyl due to #masterguitarschoolrenovation: Terje Rypdal is a Norwegian guitarist and composer known as, “tone poet of the Fender Stratocaster.” He’s a multi-instrumentalist, playing keyboards, trumpet and flute. He’s recorded extensively on ECM. I have several of his records from the late 70s-early 80s. He is a jumble of influences. His music is almost Avant-garde, but not quite. Free Jazz, kinda. A little psychedelic Rock, Classical - one reviewer said, “...blending of Rock and Jazz phrasing with a rubato concern for tone color and dynamics often redolent of the classical world.” Interpretation: you can’t dance to it! It’s dark, awash with producer Manfred Eichers’ characteristic reverb and delay. When I listen to it I see frozen Norwegian fiords. My feeling is most people aren’t going to relate to this. However, I have an avant-garde streak and I like to be influenced by stuff like this. I’m going to dig out some more Terje in the coming days. #masterguitarschool (at Master Guitar School) https://www.instagram.com/p/CJHAMvhJsh3/?igshid=m938qw19q97m

[jayeudaly]

Rediscovering old vinyl due to #masterguitarschoolrenovation: my feelings for Jim Hall are on record elsewhere - the guy is one of my main influences. I’ve never thought of him as an overt technician. I’ve always thought he was working within some limitations in that department with supreme restraint, taste and musicality. Perhaps this is due to his own stated opinions about his own playing. After listening to this record for the first time in decades I’m revising my opinion without changing the restraint, taste and musicality part. The first track, “Simple Samba” is anything but simple! I hear a blistering tempo, consistently clean sweep-picking arpeggios and huge melodic jumps in his soloing. Ditto for the rest of the album. I don’t like the drum mix! I can’t hear the cymbals and high end percussion very well. Lest you blame my damaged hearing from playing too much Rock in the late 70s and 80s, I’m hearing keyboard and guitar parts in the 5k range, plus I hear the drums just fine in other recordings, so I blame the producer. Airto Moreira deserves to be heard. #masterguitarschool (at Master Guitar School) https://www.instagram.com/p/CIgTXObJYzp/?igshid=rv1koeozmst

[jayeudaly]

Rediscovering old vinyl due to #masterguitarschoolrenovation. I haven’t listened to this album in DECADES. The first thing that jumped out at me was Mick Goodricks’ chord voicings. I have not been consciously influenced by him but holy crap! It sounds like he has gone through my Unique Chord Voicings lesson series! I bought this album in the late seventies and haven’t listened to it since the mid eighties. I thought I had some very unusual if not totally unique stuff. Just goes to show there is nothing new under the sun. Not a big fan of the mix. And 70% of the drumming irritates the crap out me! I’m confused by that because I’m a big fan of Jack DeJonette. Drummer friends: find and listen to the first track (Feebles, Fables and Ferns) and explain to me what’s going on there; to my ears it would be greatly improved with no drums at all. IMHO. #masterguitarschool https://www.instagram.com/p/CIJIb0pp9RG/?igshid=mfsky2fm0jjq

[jayeudaly]

More stuff from cleaning out my file cabinets from Guitar Dock. A type-written letter I sent out to small studio owners pitching my services as a session musician. The studios I name were a couple of the big pro studios in town at the time. I could foresee the chaos the emerging digital technology was going to cause in the recording industry and was trying to get a head start on the run-around of the status quo. An interesting snapshot of a moment in time in 1992. #masterguitarschool https://www.instagram.com/p/B_Wkkx5JnPF/?igshid=1kw0nee0hi9jx

[jayeudaly]

Turned over my keys. One last look at Guitar Dock. #masterguitarschool #guitardock (at Guitar Dock) https://www.instagram.com/p/B_Sr3NQpSRO/?igshid=l8v2es7aspoc

[jayeudaly]

The crew at Guitar Dock. The end of an era. I’ll miss y’all. It was a good run boys! #masterguitarschool #guitardock (at Guitar Dock) https://www.instagram.com/p/B_Sq_yDJAdA/?igshid=ybn8bsmgfycb

[jayeudaly]

Thanks to Bob Alan for letting me play his bitchin' 335 for a few songs yesterday. Great guitar - I was really comfortable with it. The singing pig liked it too! #masterguitar #masterguitarschool #saturdayafternoonjam (at B.B.'s Lawnside BarB-Q) https://www.instagram.com/p/B9xpKKMJ1tE/?igshid=1d433wxa42c5e

[jayeudaly]

Short-notice booking; I’ll be back out at Jazz Legends tonight. Solo 7:00-11:00. #masterguitar #masterguitarschool #jazzalouisianakitchen (at Jazz, A Louisiana Kitchen - Kansas City, KS) https://www.instagram.com/p/B9s8BbfpOmZ/?igshid=cr5s8q3t1i8b

[jayeudaly]

Bree Plaster is House Drummer for the Saturday Afternoon Jam at BBs this week! 2:00-5:30. #masterguitar #masterguitarschool #saturdayafternoonjam (at B.B.'s Lawnside BarB-Q) https://www.instagram.com/p/B9peeZCJCvb/?igshid=zgzs0rifsuqy

[jayeudaly]

Looking at the stats for the Master Guitar School March Newsletter with a free guitar lesson on the Shuffle - and there he is again! Hey, you can’t prove it’s not him! #masterguitar #masterguitarschool (at Master Guitar School) https://www.instagram.com/p/B9jo8VEJzj-/?igshid=11ruea0f85b6a

[jayeudaly]

Mojo workin’! #masterguitar #masterguitarschool #jazzalouisianakitchen https://www.instagram.com/p/B9hF1m4pXP2/?igshid=1zmwaacupa78

[jayeudaly]

Solo Mojo! #masterguitar #masterguitarschool #jazzalouisianakitchen (at Jazz, A Louisiana Kitchen - Kansas City, KS) https://www.instagram.com/p/B9ZZ7N3JhJ_/?igshid=1ddtz2rj6xpvy