The Uxi is closing very shortly.
It is pretty cold out.
I made it here with 44 minutes to spare.
This after having stopped at Bobby's apartment, in response to a "missed call" on my phone that was 44 minutes old at the time I saw it.
Bobby was watching a fascinating documentary about Jeff Beck.
That drew me in for about 44 minutes of rapt viewing. Jeff has been the champion of a lot of "extremely talented" female musicians; Jennifer Batten was on the bass when I saw Jeff in Phoenix in 1999.
That had been my one extravagance during about five months in that place, spent in just about equal parts between driving a cab and staying in a cave up on South Mountain, which is crowned with Dobbins Peak.
The ticket had been 27 bucks, something that I had to save for out of cab driving take home pays that were very busking-like in that they ranged from lows of the above mentioned 27 bucks, after driving the thing on a 12 hour lease that cost 57 dollars; to over 300 bucks one day.
The cool thing about the cab job was that the 12 hour shift began at whatever time you showed up at the window with 57 bucks and ready to go.
It was common for guys to take a cab in the late afternoon and then drive until almost sunup.
But, I secured the money for the ticket to Symphony Hall, and then remember the thundering bass and drums and Jeff coming out wearing jeans and a white tee shirt and my mouth dropping open and my not breathing for something like 20 minutes.
My first thought was that the album Blow By Blow, which I have always considered a masterpiece and which I always assumed Jeff recorded in little pieces, taking guitar solos played at different times on different days and splicing together the most hellacious riffs, was probably recorded by him in one take.
The stuff he played at Symphony Hall could have replaced what he played on the album and it still would have been equally a masterpiece.
It is pretty cold out.
This after having stopped at Bobby's apartment, in response to a "missed call" on my phone that was 44 minutes old at the time I saw it.
Bobby was watching a fascinating documentary about Jeff Beck.
That drew me in for about 44 minutes of rapt viewing. Jeff has been the champion of a lot of "extremely talented" female musicians; Jennifer Batten was on the bass when I saw Jeff in Phoenix in 1999.
That had been my one extravagance during about five months in that place, spent in just about equal parts between driving a cab and staying in a cave up on South Mountain, which is crowned with Dobbins Peak.
The ticket had been 27 bucks, something that I had to save for out of cab driving take home pays that were very busking-like in that they ranged from lows of the above mentioned 27 bucks, after driving the thing on a 12 hour lease that cost 57 dollars; to over 300 bucks one day.
The cool thing about the cab job was that the 12 hour shift began at whatever time you showed up at the window with 57 bucks and ready to go.
It was common for guys to take a cab in the late afternoon and then drive until almost sunup.
But, I secured the money for the ticket to Symphony Hall, and then remember the thundering bass and drums and Jeff coming out wearing jeans and a white tee shirt and my mouth dropping open and my not breathing for something like 20 minutes.
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| Tal Wikenfeld, too |
The stuff he played at Symphony Hall could have replaced what he played on the album and it still would have been equally a masterpiece.
Jeff Beck is a modern master. I'm surprised you would have underestimated his abilities as an improvising lead guitarist.
ReplyDeleteSure, he may have picked the 'take' he liked best in the studio, but spend the kind of time he's spent onstage improvising guitar solo's, at least two, often three solos per song....
Not comparing myself to JB but when I was working ( '75-'82), extended improvised guitar solos were king and thats most of what I did onstage, 3-4 sets a night, sometimes 3 shows per week ( house band) My calluses were like concrete back them!
I'm sure Jeff Becks playing time absolutely dwarfed mine during those years, and for perhaps a decade previous!
There's no way to overstate JB's mastery.
After watching the Ronnie Scotts shows I was actually picked up a bit of his whammy bend/ volume knob manipulation thing
but what I quickly realized is...Jeff Beck has huge hands! It's a big stretch for me to have an index finger on the whammy while picking with the thumb and working the v-knob with ring or third. Really cool to get that slide bend sound without a slide.
Tal is indeed a smoking hot bassist (and smokin' hot babe!) and Vinnie Colaiuta may well be the worlds best drummer. JB only employs world class musicians.
Some live musicians are amazing. I ran into "Lone Sound Ranger" at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco, atop his tower of mostly self-made equipment, and he sounded as good as in a recording, minus the odd audience cough or passing seagull of course.
ReplyDeleteAnd he wasn't making shit that day too - maybe like one of your $27 days as a cabbie.
On Jeff Beck's hands, yeah, Paganini was reputed to have big hands also. And it's not just a matter of big hands on the violin but the shape and flexibility of the hand, because the violin neck is not all that big.
Even really great musicians can make squat on the street without a 'show' of some kind ( I'm sure you've heard of the Joshua Bell busking experiment). I learned this though hard personal experience during my time as a 'house-less' busker.
ReplyDeleteI would really love to simply be a 'walk by' musician, but the money just isn't there, except under optimal conditions, position of the stars and so forth.
Without a 'frame' for your art, like a video, a stage, or highly produced audio recording, the modern street audience needs more. They need to be (metaphorically) stalked, baited and captured! Then they need rewarded with a show that has a beginning, middle and an end.
I was messing around watching the video and trying to play Becks 'Brush with the blues' when I noticed him wrapping his hand around the neck, using his thumb to fret the E string and sometimes even the A string at the bottom of the chord with ease! I can just barely pull off fretting the E but I have pretty small hands.
I read Paganini could finger an entire octave on one string of the violin.
In what brief little learning I dd on the violin, I believe an octave on a string is routine, he may have been able to do it from 1st position, or do two octaves from 1st or something like that.
ReplyDeleteThe violin is an amazingly capable little instrument.
I played violin for 10 years. One octave on a single string is a huge stretch. From first position (at the nut) you must reach with your pinky all the way to 5th position (where the neck meets the body) to get to the octave.
ReplyDeleteOK he could probably do an octave on one string with ease (move around easily) then. Keep in mind Europeans were smaller then, and he was not an especially tall guy, just long-fingered. And all that practice he was forced to do. Read about him; his father would lock him in a room to practice for hours on end.
ReplyDeleteI've got to say one thing: Violin's got to be the most intuitive instrument there is. You look at the thing and think, "Oh, no, no frets" and it turns out frets only make your life harder and you can just use your ear. Everything about it is made to make life easier for the player.
ReplyDeleteYeah, a violin can be out of tune with the rest of the band; and can be worked around by avoiding open strings
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