Been playing a lot of bass these days, and after finding this, I have decided I can learn to play this — after, oh, say, another 100 years of practice:
Nothing short of amazing, this.
Music
Now THIS is multiculturalism…
“There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
Bon Iver – Holocene
Haunting, beautiful song, courtesy (by turns) of Sippican Cottage.
How Many Musicians Does It Take to Play a Guitar?
Five, apparently.
Wednesday Night Blues
Otis Rush & Eric Clapton — some fine blues for a Wednesday night.
B.B. at His Best
A bit more morning music: B.B. King is, of course, a blues legend. This is some of his best work, when he was quite a bit younger.
Enjoy.
Sharp Dressed Man
A little ZZ Top with your morning coffee.
Guitar Wizardry
For those of you who are guitar players (as I was in a former life), or admire guitar players, or have played air guitar when you thought no one was looking, here’s a rather amazing performance by John Butler.
What amazes me most about this performance is that he is working his magic on a 12-string guitar. For those unfamiliar with such things, a 12-string has two paired strings corresponding to each string of a 6 string guitar, either doubling the note or an octave higher. The two strings of each pair are struck in unison (not plucked separately), providing an extraordinarily rich and nuanced sound, with rich overtones and sonic saturation. Because of the added heft the the paired strings, however, it is far more challenging to perform agile fretwork (12-strings are often used for chording and accompaniment rather than detailed melody lines and arpeggios).
And speaking of wizardry on stringed instruments, this is another must-hear experience: Harrison’s “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” — on a ukulele, by the world’s best player, Jake Shimabukuro:
It is simply not possible to get that much sound and complexity out of a ukulele. 4 strings. Unbelievable.