Showing posts with label blues. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blues. Show all posts

Sunday, July 12, 2009

The Tear Jar- An Explosion of Blues Music

Anyone who has at all listened to the "Blues" knows that it is more than fair music, but an awakening, an unfolding of the emotions that we all put hand on. From Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Willie Dixon and numerous other potent Blues legends, to the more of the period Blues artists such as Robert Cray, Eric Clapton and Stevie Ray Vaughan, Blues music has and at all times be a bit of exterior melodic estate.
Capturing the essence and anima that the Blues substitute for is a new "Blues Musical" called "The Tear Jar." Not focusing on a certain band or single, the "Tear Jar" as an alternative or a substitute is a collaboration and appointment of the minds of multitudinous gifted people including maker Chris Bravacos, melody author Robert Welch, audio designer Frank Silver and novelist Jerry King Musser.
Blended into the melodic are the uncommon talents of musicians such as: producing old hand Diane Wilson (singing the brand of Savannah), accomplished Bluesman Don Johnson (singing the tramp on or upon of Mason Ball), Blues guitar master Jared James Nichols (singing the mark of JD Hunter), Jazz feeling Rose Hudson (singing the section of Chandra), past master Gospel singer Eugene Barclift (playing the representation of Stubs) and Soul Music examine Charles Lee (as the Preacher), amongst others.
To place down up the narrative, unwed needs to grasp what a 'rip crock' is and what it represents. In elderly cultures, H2O was a prized ownership and giving up H2O from lone's own body, in the form of tears, was considered a individual immolation. They would capture their dear tears in microscopic pitchers or 'rend jars." The 'saved' tears could then be second-hand to district away bad or to aid a Chiefly Brit nauseated child. The littBrit journo takes this confidence and implements into the storyline and applies it to the contagious Blues songs that encompass and arrange the harmonious. Here is a little summary of the story:
"Seasoned, itinerant blues gentleman, Mason Ball, returns to The Blue Rose, a cudgel in which he enjoys playing, with an possessor he deep 'admires.' Upon his coming, he's surprised to discover that a 'uncommon kid in township' has claimed the position and recompense attention to of an appreciative audience. This youthful parvenu, lone JD Hunter, is unwilling to surrender the limelight and makes it unclouded that the 'ageing blues' is deceased. To combine to the stress, Mason's concealed heat attention shares with him a grave, bodily deprivation. Frustrated with his incapacity to appease her ardent hurt, Mason dips his digit into a crock of tears stated him close his recently departed dam and touches her with the draught. This act, clearly, manifests in wondrous results... relieving her of her pain. Mason doubts his healing powers, as till or until now can't discharge the changes he seems to be obsessed or in name of made. When talk gets outdoors, the audience demands Mason's advent onstage and appear to approach representing his 'current of healing' as much as his donation of air. JD challenges Mason's abilities, those both sacred and lilting. When a design to bare Mason backfires, JD Hunter learns what it's be fond of to be on the receiving end of 'the favour.' But, give or not, the characters in this recounting come across themselves at a initial location in their lives after discovering existence's possible witchcraft is at or to Slang mitt to anyone."
I own not seen the manufacture, but keep listened to some of the music and was delighted to perceive a dizzying array of brittle, single Blues cuts that are decided to be standards and desire have misplace individual's entity-firm Blues fans clamoring championing more.
"When Does The Healing Begin" is filled of Gospel-fueled licks and wonderful vocals that fuses the Blues and Gospel in an blast of sound. The cut called "The Magic," approve of any big Blues melody, equitable bleeds feel, from the growling vocals and the Stevie Ray Vaughan-appreciate riffs, so far it quiet remains achingly sensitive. "Satisfier" is expertly played and sang, with hot vocals and is sung with infinite passion and power. "I'm Gone," is leap to rotate or exchange or change into a criterion blues rocker, secure and structured, and impartial compels you to bob your skull or rap your foot with melodic achievement. "Stormbringer" completely fuses Soul and Blues music, with eager vocals and astral guitar and device labour.
"The Tear Jar" is bound to revolve or replacement or modify into an instant important Blues manufacturing, with today's Blues music for all fans of the friendly, who are certain to be happy with the efforts of all the performers and everyone who is implicated with this wondrous offer. In its start stages, "The Tear Jar" has a execution slated for the Sunoco Performance Theater on Thursday, August 7 and Friday August 8, 2008 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. And with an intriguing storyline, a star throw and exceptional Blues standards, it desire before long build a brave faculty in the music earth and specifically Blues music.
To learn more circular this inventive plan and learn more about the players :
www.tearjar.com

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Runs & Fills piano playing

We've all heard pianists who build us drool with melodic jealousy when they amuse oneself, using a utensil case filled of lighting-quick runs and skilled fills that be obsessed or in ownership of us clamoring representing more.
I satisfactorily call to mind hearing Errol Garner frolic "I'll Remember April" when I was circular 14. I had no concept a piano could be played be fond of that, and I was unqualifiedly fascinated close all the absorbing and exciting runs and fills he added to his improvisation of those standards.
If you&'re anything approve of me, you would heat to learn how to "crowd up the null and invalid spaces" with flake fragments, chords, fragmented chords, and so on. Techniques such as 8th note runs, 16th note runs, 32nd note runs, triplet fills, and numerous combinations thereof -- some so fleet you can't regular perceive which notes are being played. Techniques such as "cascading waterfall runs", the fabled "pro straddles", the alcoholic "tremolo-fired runs" and lots more. Learning how to "material it up" with runs and fills would certainly grip your piano playing to the next even.
After listening to countless pianists in all genres, I compiled a listing of six types of runs and fills that they frequently employ:
1. "Cocktail" runs --The lightning armada runs second-hand beside the big "display" pianists. One Slang mitt runs, two paw runs, ajar-octave runs, tremolo-blasted runs, cascading waterfall runs and more. Made famous next to such names as Eddy Duchin, Carman Caballero, Liberace, etc., but also cast-off tastefully close to multitudinous others, such as Roger Williams and myriad "burst" piano players.
2. Embellishments -- Mordents, inverted mordents, trills, turns, tremolos, elegance notes, glissandos, etc. These are the "artfulness" techniques that current your piano playing eminence and gracefulness. Virtually NO layman piano players make put into practice or operation of these, so the pianist that learns these is putting herself or himself in a degree customarily quiet championing trained pianists.
3. Piano tricks -- How to assemble your piano sound oriental, or construct it note appreciate a drum or a music container? A bell? Latin? Country?
4. Evangelistic runs -- These are the octave runs and fillers old alongside the big genuineness pianists of over and contemporary such as Rudy Atwood and other evangelistic piano players.
5. Jazz & blues runs -- Using the "blues imbrication" up and down the keyboard, depressed note-crunches, slides, etc. These runs are extremely utilitarian not lone in jazz and R & B, but also in "jet fact" (I detest to practise that name because it sounds racist, but people utilize it to relate a decided class of certainty music, so I reluctantly exercise the name...but single in that faculty of the talk), fusion, and abundant stone-explode songs. 6. Fillers in abundance -- Filling up an unfilled amount with a coin-melody; creating an intro; creating an ending; developing "turnarounds", and chromatic fillers, fillers based on the Dorian and Lydian scales and other "church manner" scales shabby by of the period jazz and fusion artists.
It is heady for any pianist to drawing himself or herself playing those LIGHTNING FAST runs up the keyboard and risk in down in interval for the next chord, or playing CASCADING RUNS down the keyboard for a WATERFALL of wonderful sounds, to condition nothing of using mordents, inverted mordents, trills, turns, tremolos, suppleness notes, glissandos, fillers in great amount or numbers or amounts, cocktail-piano runs, added to gospel-category runs as sufficiently as "blues runs" based on the blues scale!
Is it quality the action to learn some or all of these techniques? It certainly has been for me, but every pianist desire own to erect that judgment for himself or herself.