1 Huddersfield Jazz Guitar Society Newsletter No. 37 September 2014 Contents Page 1. Meeting Summary ………………………………………….….. 2 2. Member’s News ……….……….………………………………… 5 3. Swap an Idea ……………………………….………..……………… 6 4. Membership ……………………………………………….…......... 11 5. Gig List …………………………………………………….………….… 13 6. Reviews ……………………………………………..………………..… 14 7. Of Interest ……………………………………………………………. 15 8. Tuition ………………………………………….………………………… 16 9. Sales/Wants/Trades ………………………….…………… 18 10. Charts ………………………………………………………….………… 25 11. The lighter side of music………………….………….26 Celebrating the art and craft of jazz guitar
Transcript
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Huddersfield Jazz Guitar Society
Newsletter No. 37 September 2014
Contents
Page
1. Meeting Summary ………………………………………….….. 2
2. Member’s News ……….……….………………………………… 5
3. Swap an Idea ……………………………….………..……………… 6
4. Membership ……………………………………………….…......... 11
5. Gig List …………………………………………………….………….… 13
6. Reviews ……………………………………………..………………..… 14
7. Of Interest ……………………………………………………………. 15
8. Tuition ………………………………………….………………………… 16
9. Sales/Wants/Trades ………………………….…………… 18
10. Charts ………………………………………………………….………… 25
11. The lighter side of music………………….………….26
Celebrating the art and craft of jazz guitar
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1. Meeting Summary
Hi Jazz Guitar Fans,
I’m amazed, what started one afternoon in a pub as a bit of a moan, over a pint, about the parlous state of jazz, and jazz guitar in particular, and ended with the throw away ‘why don’t guys you do something’ has just started its fourth year. A big thank you to everyone, players and guests alike, who have helped make this the success it is.
The August “Players’ Night” saw yet another fantastic turnout for the society; let’s hope that the word is spreading. For one thing, any extra funds that can be raised can be used to fund further concerts and promotions. Ian and Adrian are on a guitar playing holiday in the USA for a month later this year and will certainly be on the lookout for future guests. Remember, also, that being “up-north” we have a slight disadvantage, in that booking players from “down-south” i.e. Matt Chandler, Jim Mullen, Nigel Price, Phil Robson et al, always incurs the additional cost of travel. It is helpful, therefore, to have a good body of members as we do not, as yet, attract any funding from elsewhere!
Anyway, back to the August session. As ever, the evening began with Tom Prior joined by Larry Van Kriedt for a spontaneously composed Blues in F both players played well and appeared to be egging each other on to literally, go for it!
Next up were three of the Idle Guits (Mini Guits?), who played a ragtimy Breeze from Alabama before being joined by Dave
Vangelderen for John Pizzarelli’s Seven on Charlie, his tribute to Charlie Christian, with a play on words from the Christian/Benny Goodman classic Seven Come Eleven. Dave’s regular duet partner was away on holiday and, consequently, Dave seemed to be having a ball by joining in with all kinds of things. It’s really nice to see HJGS members so comfortable with one another that they are able to do this.
Darren and Robin then played Moonglow, at an uncharacteristically brisk tempo. It did, however, swing along very nicely. They then played the Django perennial Nuages led in the main by Robin. Apart from a couple of times, when they became out of sync., with the changes this also went well and as it is one of those tunes (like Hoagy Carmichael’s Georgia) that almost everyone plays different chord changes to, it is hardly surprising that there were occasional clashes.
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Newcomers Pete and Jan, sporting classical, nylon stringed, instruments, played two effectively arranged tunes: The Pink Panther and Stardust. The later effortlessly segued into Polka Dots and Moonbeams which worked well, at a brighter pace than usual, but, consequently, was closer in tempo to the original.
Next, bassist Charles finally got his chance to play a Stevie Wonder tune when he teamed up with Darren to play Lately! Darren was then joined by
Adam for an unusual reading of So What, in which Adam played the bass line, of the call and response head, a couple of octaves above the norm. They followed this with Jobim’s One Note Samba which brought the first half of the evening to a close.
Following the usual, “raffle and catch-up”, interval the Idle Guits took to the stage
with a cast of thousands! Perhaps in anticipation of the next Gershwin night, or perhaps because they had had another month to rehearse its tricky rhythms, they played Gershwin’s Fascinatin’ Rhythm. In contrast, Cleo aided by Ian and Darren sang a bluesy rendition of Black Coffee. Dave Vangelderen and Darren then played the Charles Mingus classic Nostalgia in Times Square, which worked very well on two guitars, and Body and Soul.
As usual, this later stage of the evening, Martin and Jez treated us to Manha de Carnival and I Wish I Knew How it Would Feel to be Free. Superb playing all round, with some very Mullenesque hammer-ons in Jez’s solos. Darren was then up for his final appearance of the night to back Adrian and Ian on Wes Montgomerey’s 4 on 6.
Adrian remained to accompany newcomer Dave Allen on All the Things You Are. Another great evening was brought to a close by Ian and Stephen Frazier, who played the Minnie Ripperton classic Lovin’ You.
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Don’t forget the next meeting, Tuesday 3rd Sep is a concert. There will be some limited opportunity for playing. At the moment we are looking at a schedule of: -
8:30 – 9:15 Start and society players. Please be prepared to play, if chosen, no more than 2 short tunes.
9:30 – 10:30 ish Concert
10:30ish – end decided on the night
Entrance fee is £3 members. £6 non-members.
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2. Member’s News
Call for Membership Participation
We have had a few successful, I believe, examinations/investigations of member’s favourite tunes. If you feel you could do a similar job please let me know. Send an email to [email protected] or chat to any of the committee at the next meeting.
Remember the HJGS exists for the benefit(s) of its members, so we need to hear from YOU: good, bad, indifferent, news, views, gossip, ideas, viewpoints, gigs,
sales wants, swaps… etc, etc!
Please keep us informed of any jazz guitar related gigs, events, sales or other item of interest, so that we can pass information on to other members. HJGS needs
to develop its wider network as an important forum for jazz guitar related information and information exchange, so that we may all benefit from the collective wisdom and uncoordinated information that undoubtedly exists amongst fans and connoisseurs.
This column appears to be popular so we will keep it for the time being. But, and this is an important but we do NEED YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS for this to be successful. Contributions please to [email protected].
This month Darren continues his mini series looking at influential guitarists.
Tal Farlow Darren Dutson Bromley
Continuing with our series on players who have helped define the sound of the modern jazz guitar we next move to Tal Farlow. As a player, these days his name isn't necessarily on everybody's lips, jazz guitar, to many, is Joe Pass, Django Reinhardt, Jim Hall, Pat Metheny.
Tal’s importance and output however shouldn't be underestimated, he was a formidable player and anyone unfamiliar with his recordings should search them out. Tal Farlow began playing the guitar seriously in his early twenties and like so many other guitarists was influenced by Charlie Christian. He taught himself how to play all of Charlie Christian's solos by listening to Benny Goodman records. So great was
his abilities and dedication he was performing professionally not long after. Interestingly it is often claimed that Tal didn’t take up the guitar until he was twenty-one and he began playing professionally less than a year later. Whilst this is a nice story it isn’t necessarily true. Here is what Tal says in an early interview for guitarist magazine.
"My dad had a guitar for as long as I can remember, real small; he strung up a mandolin for me, tuned in the same intervals as the top four strings of the guitar, and I played on that for a while. Then, when I grew a little bit, I started to play on the guitar. By then my hands were so large that I could negotiate the extra two strings with my thumb. So I got into playing with two different experiences: first with the four strings and then with the six.
I wasn't fascinated by the music of the area that I lived in; it was called hill-billy then, and I guess it was the forerunner of country and western music. Tunes that are standards now: some of them were written during that time, tunes by Cole Porter, Jerome Kern, Gershwin, etc. I didn't have any instruction at all; though I guess my father must have shown me the basic first position chords. But he played a different kind of music on the guitar, mostly reels and jigs. I always got a good feeling from discovering chord progressions and being able to work them out. I think I must have heard Carl Kress, Dick McDonough, Eddie Lang, Lonnie Johnson, but I don't remember their names from then. A lot of musicians used to use different names but kept the same initials, they did this so that they could make records but still safeguard their contract with their main label.”
After a stint with the Marjorie Hyams band Tal joined the Red Norvo Trio in 1949 and it was here he began to develop recognition in the jazz world. He had unusually large hands and an ability to play rapid runs and phrases giving rise to the nickname ‘Octopus.’ After a stint with Artie Shaw in 1953 Tal decided to form his own band. It was at this time when he recorded a number of albums under his own name and cemented his reputation as one of the all time great
guitarists.
After being named best guitarist in the Down Beat critics' poll in 1956, 1957 and 1958, Tal surprisingly retired from recording and touring and settled in New Jersey, returning to his original occupation of sign painter. He continued to play in local clubs around Seabright and made one recording.
It was the Concord Jazz label that brought Tal out of retirement in the mid 1970’s to make a series of recordings that share equal importance as the ones he recorded in the 1950’s. It is these two sets of recordings that offer a unique glimpse into the incredible style of this amazing guitarist. He was also profiled in the documentary film, Talmage Farlow, made in 1980/81.
Farlow died of cancer at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City on July 25, 1998, at the age of 77
Tal’s Guitar
The Gibson Tal Farlow model was first released in 1962. It has a body that is reminiscent of the popular ES-5 in its basic dimensions, but from there it departs in its own unique way. It’s trademark faux-scroll rounded cutaway (Farlow’s own design), upside-down J-200 fingerboard inlays, double-crown headstock inlays, and Tal Farlow trapeze tailpiece with inlaid rosewood block set it apart from any other archtop Gibson had ever created. This unusual signature model has always been rare and only 215 examples were produced between 1962-’69. Due to poor sales and a lack of popular interest, the Tal Farlow model lasted only five years (1962-1967)
Gibson’s Custom Shop now makes the Tal Farlow in the exact image of the original, down to the enlarged five-point pickguard and the Farlow scroll cutaway, created—now as then—by curling the binding into the body at the cutaway to create the impression of a mandolin-like scroll. It’s a full-sized archtop at 17” wide and, more comfortable than other models of its day, 3” deep. As preferred by many jazz guitarists, including Farlow, the ES rounded neck profile is made to a 25 1/2” scale length, with a 1 11/16” nut width. The model also features multi-ply
binding on the body’s top and back, single-ply white binding on the fingerboard, headstock, and f-holes, and is available in vintage sunburst and viceroy brown. Fully acoustic, the Tal Farlow model is also fully electric with two set-in humbucking pickups with individual volume and tone controls and a three-way selector switch. It has a floating rosewood bridge base carrying an ABR-1 tune-o-matic bridge.
Selected Discography
• The Tal Farlow Quartet (1954; Blue Note)
• The Tal Farlow Album (1954; Norgran)
• Autumn In New York (1954; Verve)
• The Artistry of Tal Farlow (1955; Norgran)
• The Interpretations of Tal Farlow (1955; Norgran)
• A Recital by Tal Farlow (1955; Norgran)
• Swing Guitars (1955; Norgran)
• Poppin' and Burnin' (1955; Verve)
• Guitar Player (1974; Prestige)
• Tal (1956; Norgran)
• Fuerst Set (1956; Xanadu Records)
• Second Set (1956; Xanadu)
• Metronome All-Stars, 1956 Verve MGV 8030
• The Swinging Guitar of Tal Farlow (1957; Verve)
• This is Tal Farlow (1958; Verve)
• The Guitar Artistry of Tal Farlow (1960; Verve)
• Tal Farlow Plays the Music of Harold Arlen (1960; Verve)
• The Return of Tal Farlow (1969; Prestige Records)
• Trinity (1976; CBS Sony)
• A Sign of the Times (1977; Concord)
• Tal Farlow '78 (1978; Concord)
• On Stage (1981; Concord)
• Chromatic Palette (1981; Concord)
• Cookin' on all Burners (1983; Concord)
• The Legendary Tal Farlow (1985; Concord)
• All Strings Attached (1987; JazzVisions)
• Standards Recital (1993; FD Music)
• Project G-5: A Tribute to Wes Montgomery (1993; Evidence Records)
• Jazz Masters 41 Tal Farlow (1995; Verve)
• Tal Farlow (1996; Giants of Jazz)
• Chance Meeting (1997; Guitarchives Tal Farlow & Lenny Breau - Music from the Soundtrack of Talmage Farlow.)
• Live at the Public Theatre (2000; Productions A-Propos The Tal Farlow Trio (with Tommy Flanagan & Red Mitchell - Music from the Soundtrack of Talmage Farlow.)
• Two Guys with Guitars (2004; Frozen Sky Records)
• The Complete Verve Tal Farlow Sessions (2004; Mosaic)
With Sonny Criss
• Up, Up and Away (Prestige, 1967)
There is a book by Shane Hill called Tal Farlow: Jazz Guitarist
published by Razzamajazz Publications, 1987
A documentary was made about Tal called Talmage Farlow. It has some footage of him playing with the late Lenny Breau. It is worth searching this out and is currently available as a DVD.
The Jazz Style of Tal Farlow, The Elements of Bebop Guitar, ROCHINSKI STEVE -
Published by 1994 Hall Leonard Publishing, 1994
Tal’s Playing Style Here is an excerpt from an interview with Tal that was published in Guitar Magazine in December '81 and January '82. Tal was, at that time touring the UK with Red Norvo. Here he discusses who and what influenced his playing style.
“So, as soon as I left school, I started at the sign shop for about two dollars a week. After working there for a few years, when I was competent enough to sell my work, my boss let me work at night. This allowed me to listen to the radio and hear what they called remotes - outside broadcasts of the big bands of the day. I heard bands like Artie Shaw, Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey, and Benny Goodman. It was then that I first heard Charlie Christian playing. I bought all the records he made with Benny Goodman and had a standing order for any new ones that came out. Listening to them, I started to copy the solos by relating what he was playing to the chords that I knew - he seemed to play pretty firmly in chord positions. My interpretation of what he did was that he spelt out certain chords: 9th and 6ths that I was playing in chord style. From these I was able to work out his choruses note for note; and in that way I got a little insight into why he played certain things in some places and how they related to the harmonic flow. Sometime later I heard the piano playing of Art Tatum - he would make little harmonic changes to a song in order to get his jazz phrases to fit better. This fired my interest in restructuring harmony to get the feeling of the jazz concept. I also discovered Lester Young, who was playing with the Count Basie Band. Listening to him, I heard similar phrases to those
played by Charlie Christian and came to the conclusion - I don't know if it's correct but I believe that it is - that Charlie was listening pretty sharply to Lester's solos. So I did the same, and learnt quite a few of them. His style was really effective, but also not too complicated. Then I heard Coleman Hawkins. He explored the changes a little more thoroughly than Lester did - Lester sort of floated on top of the chord changes and stuck nearer to the tunes. Of course, all that sort of thing fascinated me a lot.”
The example I’ve chosen to illustrate Tal’s playing style is a chord melody introduction to the song ‘Like Someone in Love.’ This is on the album The Swinging Guitar of Tal Farlow. Interestingly the albums Autumn in New York, The Swinging Guitar of Tal Farlow and This is Tal Farlow have been released on one CD that is available from Amazon for £8 as a hard copy (much cheaper for a download). These albums are an excellent addition to any jazz guitarists collection and are highly recommended.
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4. Membership
Some memberships are now falling due for renewal, remember membership lasts for a full 12 months from the paid up month and the following benefits are only available to current paid up members.
The following deals have been negotiated for members on production of a current membership card: -
Bulldog Pickups (Huddersfield) www.bulldogpickups.com 15% off all pickups and repairs/rewinds.
ElectroMusic (Doncaster) www.electromusic.co.uk
Variable discount depending on the item(s) purchased.
GTR (Huddersfield) www.gtrguitars.co.uk 10% discount on strings and accessories.
The Music Room (Cleckheaton) www.the-music-room.com
Variable discount depending on the item(s) purchased.
Matt Ryan www.guitarrepairer.com 10% off guitar repairs/setups
Variable discount depending on the item(s) purchased.
Foulds Guitars - Derby www.fouldsmusic.co.uk
Variable discount depending on the item(s) purchased. The Amp Shack – Contact Andrew Lazdins Valve/Solid-State amp and Effect pedal repairs. Discount available.
We are actively pursuing other supplier/retailers and will let you know as soon as we confirm them. Remember also that we welcome your suggestions re the future direction of HJGS. Please get in touch.
Committee
Martin Chung Publicity, joint treasurer, website/facebook and development
Darren Dutson Bromley
Ensembles, education, website/facebook and development
Adrian Ingram Newsletter, education, international liaison and development
Ian Wroe Host, joint treasurer, artiste relations, events and development
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Meetings
The first Tuesday of the month at The Rat & Ratchet, Huddersfield (see
Remember the society needs YOUR views and input so, if you want to provide
a short introduction/discourse for a tune yourself or make any suggestions for a tune, please speak to a committee member. We have already had some other interesting ideas put forward which we are looking into. YOUR ideas are both vital and welcome. It is YOUR society and the committee is there entirely on YOUR behalf. Please,
please get involved if you can!
2014 meetings
Sep 2nd - Guest night (Matt Chandler) 8:00pm prompt. Oct 7th - Cole Porter Night Nov 4th - Players night Dec 2nd - Showcase
Workshop/seminars
Please note that in order to ensure an effective combination of complete
workshop and some time for playing, these sessions will commence at 8:30 on the dot.
5. Gig List – September Mon 1st Groove Indigo with Adrian Ingram and Stuart Macdonald, The Hare & Hounds, Rothwell, 8:30pm Fri 19th The Phil Robson Organ Trio, Wakefield Jazz (see below) Sun 21st Jazz Dawgs, Woods, Chapel Allerton
Thurs 25th Jeremy's at the Boathouse, Wharf St, Brighouse HD6 1PP
Darren Dutson Bromley, Ric Armstrong (guitars) and David Hogan (sax)
7.30pm free entry.
Sun 28th Jazz Dawgs, Chesterfield Jazz Club Oct 3rd Nigel Price Trio with Alex Garnet (see below)
New Jazz Gig
The Jazz Dawgs will be hosting a regular monthly gig every 1st Sunday (4:00pm – 7:00pm) at the Grove, Huddersfield.
The Dawgs will feature different guest(s) each month interspersed with the occasional jam session in which anyone can play, (please bear in mind, however, that it is a jam session and not an open mic!).
The Grove is considered by many to be the best pub in the area, it certainly has the greatest variety of real ales! The roster so far is: -
Sun 7th Sept Robin Sunflower Sun 5th Oct Pete’s Birthday Bash
Live Jazz every Sunday and Tuesday at The Railway, Stockport 74-76 Wellington Road North, Stockport SK4 1HF
Tel 0161 477 3680
9-11pm – free admission
Wakefield Jazz
Wakefield jazz have made an offer of a discount on their normal entry price, if we can block book tickets. A number of you have already expressed interest in the Phil Robson gig. We believe the cut-off point is 10 tickets, which reduces the entry cost to £10 (normally £14).
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6. Reviews
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7. Of Interest
Found anything on the web or heard of something which may interest our members, then
this is the place for it.
Other Jazz Guitar Clubs/Societies
(We are 1 of only 4 jazz guitar societies in England)
Here are a few links: -
http://cheadlejazzguitarclub.wordpress.com/
http://www.southjazzguitar.org
http://www.treforowen.com/index.php?id=38
http://www.meetup.com/LondonJazzGuitarSociety/
http://members.iinet.net.au/~jgswa/index.htm Jazz Guitar Society of Western Australia
Please let me know as soon as items are sold to remove them from the list.
An important message to all contributors to the sales column.
Modern digital cameras take highly detailed pictures. This detail comes at a cost, namely huge file size. If this newsletter becomes too big (approximately 6-7 Mb), some email services, particularly academic institutions and businesses, will not deliver it.
If you want to include a picture of the sale item, or indeed item in our swap a lick column, then the pictures need to be reduced in file size, preferably no more than 100KB per picture.
Hints. Try searching for ‘optimising images for the web’ for help on this.
Crop the image view to show just the item.
I, unfortunately, don’t have the time to spend optimising images for the newsletter. If they are too big they risk getting left out.
Ian
Many guitars have been sold through our monthly sales listings. If an item is sold, as a direct consequence of an ad being seen in the newsletter, we, the committee, would be pleased to receive a small contribution to HJGS funds.
In order to keep the content fresh, we have decided that all ads will run for THREE editions and will be deleted unless specifically resent. All current ads will be removed from next month’s newsletter unless we receive notification from advertisers.
2001 Heritage Eagle TDC. This is effectively a Thinline L5. Excellent low action and lovely sound, complete with Heritage Case……………………………………………..….£1,800
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Very Rare Buscarino Starlight Classical guitar. The ultimate stage friendly classical, two pickup systems give a very natural sound at band volumes………………………………£2,000
Both guitars are in excellent condition but, sadly, have only 6 strings!
I am sending you some photos of a Chinese 7 string which I want to sell. I only want
£500 for it. The quality
is as good as top flight instruments. I spent quite a bit getting it set up and upgrading fittings and pu., which is a Bare Knuckle Black Hawk. Excellent for 7 string because of the defined bass response. It is semi hollow and Les Paul size. I thought you might know someone who is interested in 7 string and wants to try it but without spending a fortune.
Early ‘80s Yamaha AE 1200, solid top ebony fretboard and gold hardware. With original hard shell case. Yamaha’s version of the 17” Gibson L5CES, very playable & great value. Martin Taylor played this model for several years as did Tommy Tedesco and Phil Robson.
£850
will consider trades against a Guild archtop or Polytone amp
I'm running short of jazz guitars again! I've still got a bigger stock than most but decent jazzers between £300 and £1500 I'm selling everything I get so if you have any members that would like to move any unwanted guitars on we may be able to help.
Of course I am happy to offer a deal on goods for members, they just need to mention when enquiring.
11. The lighter side of Music After all of the sweat and tears of practising/playing/hunting gigs we thought a little humour may not come amiss. If you come across any joke, bon mot, cartoon, story etc. which tickled your funny bone, then please send it in and share. Here are this month’s offerings: -
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Did you hear about the guitarist who locked his keys in his car? He had to
break the window to get the bass player out.
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A young child says to his mother, "Mom, when I grow up I'd like to be
a jazz guitarist." She replies, "Don’t be silly dear, you know you can't do
