Some Fun Things with Wood And Strings
22/5/2016
I was listening in the car the other day to an album, "Some Strange Country", 2010, by a band called Crooked Still, who play acoustic instruments in the Folk/Bluegrass/Country/Americana vein.
It goes to show how much genre-bending goes on these days that a band with a line-up of vocals, violin, cello, double bass and banjo gets labelled "Neo-bluegrass" by American music website allmusic.com. I bet there weren't too many cellos and double basses up in them thar Kentucky hills!
I was struck by the energy of the double bass & cello playing, and thought that I should celebrate my appreciation of these traditionally Classical music instruments.
I hope you will enjoy being reminded below of the capabilities of these acoustic instruments in the current world of auto-tune and electronic instruments.
It goes to show how much genre-bending goes on these days that a band with a line-up of vocals, violin, cello, double bass and banjo gets labelled "Neo-bluegrass" by American music website allmusic.com. I bet there weren't too many cellos and double basses up in them thar Kentucky hills!
I was struck by the energy of the double bass & cello playing, and thought that I should celebrate my appreciation of these traditionally Classical music instruments.
I hope you will enjoy being reminded below of the capabilities of these acoustic instruments in the current world of auto-tune and electronic instruments.
First up below are Crooked Still themselves doing their version of a recording by Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead, released December 1988. Music & Words Traditional.
Turn up the bass!
This one is an awesome slightly tongue-in-cheek presentation showing what can be done applying the techniques of the
modern music video to some dynamic playing of an old Rock classic on these traditional instruments.
This one is an awesome slightly tongue-in-cheek presentation showing what can be done applying the techniques of the
modern music video to some dynamic playing of an old Rock classic on these traditional instruments.
What's not to like:
An attractive young lady plays the double bass in a retro-style rendition of a contemporary hit, and sings to boot.
Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox featuring guest Kate Davis rework Meghan Trainor's "All About That Bass".
An attractive young lady plays the double bass in a retro-style rendition of a contemporary hit, and sings to boot.
Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox featuring guest Kate Davis rework Meghan Trainor's "All About That Bass".
Cellist Nathaniel Smith and violinist Alex Hargreaves accompany my recent favourite Americana artist Sarah Jarosz
on a self-penned number from her 2009 debut CD "Song Up In Her Head".
on a self-penned number from her 2009 debut CD "Song Up In Her Head".
A rare collaboration, a French double bass player (Renaud Garcia-Fons) and a Flamenco guitarrista (Pedro Soler).
This is a Flamenco song and dance form called Bulerías, its 12-beat cycle has accents on the 3rd, 6th, 8th, 10th & 12th beats.
The guitar plays a normal accompaniment, the double bass plays the vocal line.
This is a Flamenco song and dance form called Bulerías, its 12-beat cycle has accents on the 3rd, 6th, 8th, 10th & 12th beats.
The guitar plays a normal accompaniment, the double bass plays the vocal line.
Chess Records alumni Willie Dixon, blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer.
"His songs were covered by some of the biggest artists of more recent times, such as Cream, Jeff Beck, the Doors, Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones, Steppenwolf, Bob Dylan, and Jimi Hendrix. The debut albums by the first six of those artists all feature at least one of his songs, a measure of his influence on rock music." (Wikipedia page on Willie Dixon)
"His songs were covered by some of the biggest artists of more recent times, such as Cream, Jeff Beck, the Doors, Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones, Steppenwolf, Bob Dylan, and Jimi Hendrix. The debut albums by the first six of those artists all feature at least one of his songs, a measure of his influence on rock music." (Wikipedia page on Willie Dixon)
Apocalyptica is a Finnish metal band from Helsinki, Finland formed in 1993. The band here in 1998 is composed of classically trained cellists Eicca Toppinen, Max Lilja, Antero Manninen, and Paavo Lotjonen,
and they perform their version of Metallica's "Nothing Else Matters".
and they perform their version of Metallica's "Nothing Else Matters".
Cellist Nathaniel Smith and violinist Alex Hargreaves accompany my recent favourite Americana artist Sarah Jarosz
performing the self-penned title track from her 2013 CD "Build Me Up From Bones".
performing the self-penned title track from her 2013 CD "Build Me Up From Bones".
.Paul McCartney shows off his wealth and influence by producing and playing
the original double bass from the early Elvis Presley recordings.
the original double bass from the early Elvis Presley recordings.
I saw J. D. McPherson and band in Auckland earlier this year and the bass player Jimmy Sutton was dynamic.
I recommend them as a great night out for anyone who can appreciate the whole spectrum of styles
from Blues through Rhythm & Blues to Rock 'n' Roll and Rockabilly.
I recommend them as a great night out for anyone who can appreciate the whole spectrum of styles
from Blues through Rhythm & Blues to Rock 'n' Roll and Rockabilly.
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Finally, a nod to the world of Jazz.
One of my favourite discoveries of the last 20 years, Swedish singer Lisa Ekdahl, with the Peter Nordahl Trio performs the title track from her 1995 CD When Did You Leave Heaven. This showcases the wonderful moody style of cool jazz bass playing. Bass – Patrik Boman Drums – Ronnie Gardiner Piano, Producer – Peter Nordahl The video is published by Vevo, who have unfathomable reasons for allowing me to view it on YouTube, but not to show it to you. Instead you have to play their silly game and go and view it yourself. That being the case, you may just as well go and watch it at Vevo Update 2024: - Now I find Vevo have made a liar of me, the link to Vevo just goes to their front page, and the video is available to be linked to from YouTube, as at Left. (Note: don't blame Vevo for the quality of the picture, it is just the "Arty" production that makes it shaky and grainy and out of focus :-) |