This is you don't often hear a five-string tune that can be described as contemplative. This is from a Kruger Brothers show where there'd been some tension in the crowd. So Jens and the boys played this lovely bit of business and cooled the place out. Listen for the 5 second pause about halfway in. Leaving a hole that big takes some serious cojones
The Kruger brothers are Swiss-Austrian. But they've been on the bluegrass circuit long enough that their first names are well-known in the mountains of Virginia. I don't think I've ever heard a better 5-stringer than Jens.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyQOm2i9DMs
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Golden Bear ReunionTables SOLD OUT
We've decided since it's an expensive ticket we should only go to 2nd show and book a decent restaurant for our own pre-show dinner. Looks like we'll have a gang of 20 or so. We just finished locking up table 7 and table 8 for the 2nd show Sept. 26 10:00 pm
Dining arrangements still to be arranged. That gives us 24 seats at our 2 tables @ $68.50 each. I have verbal and email confirmation on 14 already. I think the rest will go fast so if your coming please re-confirm with myself or Helen. You can your send money for tickets to either of us. Any questions shoot me an email. Should be fun!
Dining arrangements still to be arranged. That gives us 24 seats at our 2 tables @ $68.50 each. I have verbal and email confirmation on 14 already. I think the rest will go fast so if your coming please re-confirm with myself or Helen. You can your send money for tickets to either of us. Any questions shoot me an email. Should be fun!
Monday, August 24, 2009
Coming September 22
Recorded in Nashville's Blackbird Studio and produced by legendary recording guru George Massenburg and GRAMMY award winning singer/songwriter Jon Randall Stewart, 'Speed of Life' kicks off with Jimmie Fadden's blistering harmonica on the opening track "Tulsa Sounds Like Trouble to Me," setting the tone for an album that spans the gamut from the wistful and flawless vocal harmony of "Resurrection" to "Lost In The Pines," John McEuen's evocative banjo showpiece. 'Speed of Life' features 13 tracks, including new tunes penned by the band (with help from a handful of friends) and two covers: the Woodstock classic "Going Up The Country" and "Stuck In The Middle." Not to mention a blazing two-step throwback nod to bluegrass progenitor Jimmy Martin, on the aptly named "Jimmy Martin."
Friday, August 21, 2009
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Monday, August 17, 2009
Time The Conqueror
Ralph and I drove up to Santa Barbara Sunday and caught Jackson at the Santa Barbara Bowl.
It's always great to see artist's on their home turf.
Jackson and Band cranked out a fine show. The band was extremely tight and Jackson and the bu singers were in great voice. If you saw the show in Ojai it was pretty similar, but way more refined. First time for us at the Bowl and it's a beautiful place to catch a show. Seats were behind the mix position and sound and light were pretty much spot on.
Life is good!
Went back stage after the show, but it was a total zoo so didn't get to talk with Jackson. We did spend some time talking with Buddha and mentioned maybe doing a Paradox Reunion Concert. He seemed to think time permitting for Jackson, that it could happen.
He said Jackson is well aware of his roots and where he came from. I thought that was encouraging and pretty cool.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Friday, August 14, 2009
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
My favorite band on Planet Earth
About eight years ago I found a record in the bargain bin at Amoeba Records on Haight St. It was called "Music Cheaper Than Food" and was a $2.95 sampler of acts on Northside Records, which imports Scandinavian pop-folk acts into the US. The entire album was an ear-opener, but one act, a Swedish band called Väsen (VEH-sin) was heads and shoulders above the rest. So much so that when I heard that they were playing in Medford, OR, almost 400 miles away, I packed the car and took a road trip up. Norma, good sport that she is, came along, having no idea why.
Väsen was far better live than on record. I'd never heard anything like them. They played viola, lightly amplified 12-string, and an amazing kludge called a nyckelharpa, which is a cross between a Hurdy-gurdy and a string section. They had begun life 25 years ago as a dance band that played Swedish traditional music (sort of a Viking New Lost City Ramblers), but have become superb composers in their own right, and the music has become something unclassifiable and all their own. Some of it rocks, and some of it is achingly lovely.
In the last eight years we've become like Deadheads about these guys, sitting in the Freight and Salvage ticket line for an hour and a half so that we can sit in the first row. Driving to Felton to see them at a Mexican restaurant, and to Santa Cruz to catch an amazing show they did in the sanctuary of a Catholic church. We've seen them ten times and they've only been good once. The other nine times they were transcendentally great.
Here's a taste of the contemplative side of Väsen. Itäs a road tune, written in an hour by the guitarist and the viola player, while they waited for the nyckelharpa player to come back from an errand. It's an AABB traditional folk form, but with a C section added so that they can regroup.
The nyckelharpa plays the melody for most of it while the viola player dances around him. The guitarist, who is the key to their sound for me, reharmonizes the tune on each pass, so his stuff is what builds the tune emotionally. Listen all the way through and listen on good speakers, and pay attention to Roger Tallroth, the 12-stringer who will play rhythm, harmony, and will add a bassline that continually changes as the tune progresses. Olov Johannson, the nyckelharpa player anchors the melody while Tallroth and Michael Marin, the viola player improvise. I can't get enough of this stuff.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsFhRtmOow8
Väsen was far better live than on record. I'd never heard anything like them. They played viola, lightly amplified 12-string, and an amazing kludge called a nyckelharpa, which is a cross between a Hurdy-gurdy and a string section. They had begun life 25 years ago as a dance band that played Swedish traditional music (sort of a Viking New Lost City Ramblers), but have become superb composers in their own right, and the music has become something unclassifiable and all their own. Some of it rocks, and some of it is achingly lovely.
In the last eight years we've become like Deadheads about these guys, sitting in the Freight and Salvage ticket line for an hour and a half so that we can sit in the first row. Driving to Felton to see them at a Mexican restaurant, and to Santa Cruz to catch an amazing show they did in the sanctuary of a Catholic church. We've seen them ten times and they've only been good once. The other nine times they were transcendentally great.
Here's a taste of the contemplative side of Väsen. Itäs a road tune, written in an hour by the guitarist and the viola player, while they waited for the nyckelharpa player to come back from an errand. It's an AABB traditional folk form, but with a C section added so that they can regroup.
The nyckelharpa plays the melody for most of it while the viola player dances around him. The guitarist, who is the key to their sound for me, reharmonizes the tune on each pass, so his stuff is what builds the tune emotionally. Listen all the way through and listen on good speakers, and pay attention to Roger Tallroth, the 12-stringer who will play rhythm, harmony, and will add a bassline that continually changes as the tune progresses. Olov Johannson, the nyckelharpa player anchors the melody while Tallroth and Michael Marin, the viola player improvise. I can't get enough of this stuff.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsFhRtmOow8
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Black Fly Song
Thought I'd throw up this link for those that haven't seen this. The National Film Board Of Canada made youtube take it down.http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=28173986
Saturday, August 8, 2009
A SAD DAY FOR ALL
Mike Seeger passed peacefully in his sleep last night. His great contributions to the folk music world were legendary. Some of us were fortunate enough to be at the Paradox when The New Lost City Ramblers performed. It was a great lesson in musicology for us all.
We will miss you ,Mike.....
Friday, August 7, 2009
This just in from Daisy
Daisy is waiting for you all to come back, missing sharing food and music with all of you.....
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Rand's "Windy" Dada
Helen - We'll send your Reunion documentation package soon. As you can see, we're awful busy! Mandie
This is a 1962 Harmony studio-grade guitar sold for $24.95 at Sears and Roebuck and rescued at a garage sale for $1
This is a 1962 Harmony studio-grade guitar sold for $24.95 at Sears and Roebuck and rescued at a garage sale for $1
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