Wes Montgomery plays ‘Round Midnight…..

This is another one from the Belgium sessions in 1965. I can’t think of another jazz player before or since with such an easygoing, soulful, and fluid way with the guitar…. ego never got in the way with Wes… he was way beyond that….! 

http://www.reverbnation.com/ronclegg

I have decided to sell my  outstanding  Painting by Jeanne De’Orge which we believe was done in the 1940’s. .  She made a point of not selling her work so there are very few “escapees”.  I am asking $3000……

The painting is done on silk ,  and  has never been mounted and is in mint condition…  The dimensions are   9″ x 12″  This post was updated on 3/25/13.      Please call me at 831-252-6790  if your are interested…

This  is a piece that keeps on giving… The bulk of her 1200 or so paintings, sculptures, and sketches  are archived at the Carl Cherry Center in Carmel.

www.carlcherrycenter.org

 Discover the Carl Cherry Center for the Arts and its ever-changing display of artistic delights, reflecting the bohemian inventiveness that gave Carmel its original charm.  This is a first class  art gallery/performance center…   A great stop on a trip to Carmel.

THE CHERRY COLLECTION The Cherry Center collections include more than 1200 artworks in a variety of media by Jeanne D’Orge. Works in oil, prints, drawings and sculptures form the core of the D’Orge collection. The Cherry Center displays the works on a rotating basis to highlight different aspects of the collection. The Center’s archives contain 50 years of early Carmel history and memorabilia, including plays by Jeanne D’Orge, early books, poems, correspondence, rare photos, manuscripts and notebooks. Also contained in the archives is Jeanne and Carl Cherry’s extensive library of philosophic and religious texts, poetry, and art books. Carl Cherry Center for the Arts P.O. Box 863 Carmel, CA 93921 (831) 624-7491 Cherry_center@yahoo.com Located on the corner of 4th Avenue and Guadalupe Street in Carmel-by-the-Sea. (View Map) Hours: Cherry Gallery is open 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday-Friday and by appointment. Houston Sculpture Garden is open 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. daily.

nicasdream

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This is from the session in 1965 (Belgium). I love the way he stretches out on this performance (almost 9 minutes). Relaxed and joyful… that’s the Wes way.

Wes often approached solos in a three-tiered manner: He would begin a repeating progression with single note lines, derived from scales or modes; after a fitting number of sequences, he would play octaves for a few more sequences, finally culminating with arpeggiated chords.

The use of octaves (playing the same note on two strings one octave apart) for which he is widely known, became known as “the Naptown Sound”. Montgomery was also an excellent “single-line” or “single-note” player, and was very influential in the use of block chords in his solos. His playing on the jazz standard Lover Man is an example of his single-note, octave- and block-chord soloing. (“Lover Man” appears on the Fantasy album The Montgomery Brothers.)

Instead of using a guitar pick, Montgomery plucked the strings with the fleshy part of his thumb, using downstrokes for single notes and a combination of upstrokes and downstrokes for chords and octaves. This technique enabled him to get a mellow, expressive tone from his guitar. George Benson in the liner notes of the Ultimate Wes Montgomery album, wrote, “Wes had a corn on his thumb, which gave his sound that point. He would get one sound for the soft parts, and then that point by using the corn. That’s why no one will ever match Wes. And his thumb was double-jointed. He could bend it all the way back to touch his wrist, which he would do to shock people.”

Well, listen and enjoy one of the greats of jazz guitar….

My friend Emiko has recently written an instructional book for pianists covering left and right hand technique.
When Kenny Barron raves about this book, you know it must be good. RC   Check her out on http://www.reverbnation.com/ronclegg

Emiko Hayashi: Etudes for Jazz Piano- Conversation of the Hands

Available at: http://www.jazzbooks.com

A “must have” for all pianists seeking a creative approach to developing left and right hand coordination. The exercises and solos (based on the chord changes to well-known standards) are rhythmic, colorful, and fun to play. The chapters cover six specific areas of left hand development and left/right hand integration, with practical application from standard jazz tunes in the form of musical solo piano pieces. This book will definitely be an essential part of your practice routine. Besides improving your hand coordination, it will challenge you to think differently about it. All of the concepts are easily applicable to the “real world.” Highly endorsed!

“Pianist Emiko Hayashi has written a very comprehensive, challenging yet very accessible method book. With exercises designed for left hand alone and exercises designed to develop interplay between the hands, I wholeheartedly recommend this book. I’ve already started practicing!” Kenny Barron

“In Etudes for Jazz Piano Emiko Hayashi illuminates a challenge that faces scores of jazz pianists at all levels; that of integrating the left hand in improvisation in a meaningful way, not only as an accompanist, but as an integral part of the whole. By taking various jazz standards and creating etudes specifically for the left hand as well as for developing coordination and the conversational aspects between the left and right hands, Ms. Hayashi illustrates many possibilities for expanding one’s technical and expressive range. I would think this set of etudes would be extremely useful to jazz pianists at any stage of development since the obvious outcome of the study will improve one’s ability to play melodically and expressively throughout the keyboard, without regard to the traditional roles of the left and right hands.” Todd Coolman

“It is understood that all musicians must play piano. Emiko’s book fills a void for non-pianists addressing specific technical problems which will help towards being able to use the piano to improve and enlarge one’s playing and composing, no matter what instrument you play. This is a hands-on book directed towards immediate results.” David Liebman

This is about the greatest sounding mandolin ever.. and played by one of the greatest mandolinists. I met John at Steve Palazzo’s house for a concert and got to hear it from about 5 feet away and even picked a few notes on it… thrilling! Recently I was lucky enough to get a one on one lesson from Matt Flinner and he let me play his Gilchrist mandolin. It is so much like John Reischman’s F-5 in tone, playability, and appearance… they both have a depth and beauty that is hard to describe. ! What a sonic treat to experience these instruments…

©2007 ron clegg

Here is Tony Rice with his Pre War Martin D-28 from the same concert.
ron-clegg

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Juan Zelada is an impressive singer-songwriter and session musician for bands touring UK and Spain. He recently left a nice comment on my post of Emiko and I playing Angel Eyes. I checked him out and and found a sophisticated songwriter with a very deep understanding of chord movement and melody, and a soulful and authentic voice. . His influences include , Sting, Dave Matthews Band, Billy Joel, Paul Simon, Michel Camilo, Maria Rita, James Taylor, Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, Pat Metheny, Radiohead, Coldplay, Bill Evans, The Police, Pearl Jam, Maceo Parker, Jorge Drexler, The Beatles, The kinks, Seu Jorge, Weather Report, Chick Corea, Eric Clapton, Ketama, Nina Simone, Louis Armstrong….. He has listened well and has been able to absorb the best these artists have to offer. And, he is a very accomplished piano and guitar player.
“Juan is truly a global artist and his music reflects this cultural and linguistic diversity. Originally from Spain, Juan currently lives in London after spells in Hong Kong, Liverpool and Madrid. His songs are a rare mixture of intricate chord progressions, uplifting melodies and impressionist lyrics that merge with the music to create a mellow and sophisticated sound.” (from Lost FM)

Juan is here to stay and destined to become one of the greats… in my humble opinion. So give a listen to some of his songs on his MySpace site http://www.myspace.com/zeladaband….. and be sure to read his musings on music and living the musical life on his interesting blog at http://www.juanzelada.wordpress.com

“THE BLUES REMAIN”

This video gives you a bird’s eye view of Tony’s fantastic technique. Check his fluid picking, clever and economic left hand technique, and, of course the exquisite tone that he is famous for. He is one of the few that can use a Martin flat top style guitar in a jazz format and make it work (Scott Nygaard is another that does it). Of course, this song is not a jazz piece… I’ve presented it mostly for its close camera work of Tony’s facility with the guitar…… I took this series of photos of the Tony Rice Unit in 1985, about the time they had released the album entitled “Still Inside” which I think is one of the all time best “jazz grass” records.

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I love Tony’s his jazz-infused, experimental “spacegrass” with the Tony Rice Unit on the albums “Mar West”, “Still Inside”, and “Backwaters”. These albums with John Rieschman on mandolin, Fred Carpenter on Violin, and Tod Phillips on bass are breakthrough albums which feature Tony and his bandmates playing at a high level that has rarely been matched.

Backwaters has a superb version of “My Favorite Things”… I highly recommend a listen to this exciting and original interpretation of a jazz classic.

More about Tony…… Two highly regarded albums with traditional instrumentalist and songwriter Norman Blake garnered a great deal of acclaim, as well as two Rice Brothers albums that featured him teamed with his late elder brother, Larry and younger brothers, Wyatt and Ronnie. 2007 saw Tony team up with Alison Krauss and Union Station for a string of spring concerts, drawing material from Rice’s 35 year career. Krauss always has cited Rice as being her prime musical influence.

Rice’s most recent recording for Rounder is “Quartet”, the second collaboration with bluegrass and newgrass legend Peter Rowan. Despite recent problems with his voice related to dysphonia, Tony Rice remains one of new acoustic music’s top instrumentalists, bringing originality and vitality to everything he plays.

Photos and Text by Ron Clegg

These photographs were taken at Highland Park in Ben Lomand, Ca around 1985!

These are takes from the a session in 1965 (Belgium). Here’s that Rainy Day…… and Jingles.

Wes often approached solos in a three-tiered manner: He would begin a repeating progression with single note lines, derived from scales or modes; after a fitting number of sequences, he would play octaves for a few more sequences, finally culminating with arpeggiated chords.

The use of octives (playing the same note on two strings one octave apart) for which he is widely known, became known as “the Naptown Sound”. Montgomery was also an excellent “single-line” or “single-note” player, and was very influential in the use of block chords in his solos. His playing on the jazz standard Lover Man is an example of his single-note, octave- and block-chord soloing. (“Lover Man” appears on the Fantasy album The Montgomery Brothers.)

Instead of using a guitar pick, Montgomery plucked the strings with the fleshy part of his thumb, using downstrokes for single notes and a combination of upstrokes and downstrokes for chords and octaves. This technique enabled him to get a mellow, expressive tone from his guitar. George Benson in the liner notes of the Ultimate Wes Montgomery album, wrote, “Wes had a corn on his thumb, which gave his sound that point. He would get one sound for the soft parts, and then that point by using the corn. That’s why no one will ever match Wes. And his thumb was double-jointed. He could bend it all the way back to touch his wrist, which he would do to shock people.”

Well, listen and enjoy one of the greats of jazz guitar….