Jazz for aficionados

Great points frogman. Dave Tough was a big band drummer who was adored by bandleaders and fellow musicians for his ability to make a band swing harder than any other drummer around, but whose ability to play a solo was rather limited. Some musicians, in their pursuit of technical prowess, lose sight of the ultimate object, the big picture---making great music. The legendary guitarist Danny Gatton had just hired a new drummer, and after their first set on a live gig, had a talk with him. Danny said to the drummer "You know that fancy sh*t you play? Don't."

Jazz is a music that requires and benefits from players possessing advanced technical ability, and by the late 1960's that ability was becoming more valued amongst Rock players as well. My peers and I had become quite enamored by drummers Mitch Mitchell (Hendrix), Ginger Baker (Cream), and Carmen Appice (Vanilla Fudge), all players with Jazz-level chops. But pure technique for it's own sake was not universally admired or valued. In 1969 I saw The New Buffalo (led by the sole remaining member of The Buffalo Springfield, drummer Dewey Martin) live, and as they played their first few songs I found myself mystified. None of the four band members were playing anything particularly noteworthy (no pun intended ;-), but the band sounded SOOO good. I suddenly, in a flash, came to understand the principle of ensemble playing. Playing for the greater good of the whole---the band, and the song, rather than to simply display technical prowess.

Ry Cooder is great not only as a guitarist/frontman/bandleader/singer (of a "certain" sort ;-), but also as a sideman. When John Hiatt was preparing to record his Bring The Family album, the record’s producer invited him to choose the players for the album---his "dream" band. He chose Ry, Nick Lowe, and Jim Keltner, on guitar, electric bass, and drums, respectively. Ry’s playing is fantastic throughout, but his short solo on "Lipstick Sunset" is absolutely stellar---one of my perhaps three favorites of all time. That line-up later made an album under a collective band name---Little Village, but the album is not so hot (why that is so is a story for a different time). I was fortunate enough to see and hear Little Village live, and when Ry played that solo in "Lipstick Sunset", it felt as if time had stopped. It is the single greatest musical experience of my life; I had an out-of-body experience, the only other time being upon hearing J.S. Bach’s Concerto For 4 Harpsichords and Orchestra for the first time.

Ry is a fanatic about the tone and timbre of his guitars, and when in the late 70’s he heard about a new recording system---digital---he arranged to do his next album---Bop ’Til You Drop---in that format. The resulting recorded sound quality not just disappointed him, but actually displeased him. When years later he heard a Water Lily label album, recorded by the great Kavi Alexander on his custom made tube reel-to-reel (electronics by Tim de Paravicini of EAR-Yoshino), he asked "Why don’t my records sound this good?". He ended up doing an album for Water Lily, the Grammy-winning A Meeting By The River.

In the early 70’s Ry did an interview for Rolling Stone magazine, in which he told the story about working with the Rolling Stones. Brian Jones had just died, and they were working on their next album. They hired Ry to come over and play guitar in the studio. Ry came in every day, and Mick had him play along with the backing tracks they had already gotten on tape, recording him as he did. He found it odd that Keith was never there. One day Ry showed up unscheduled, and found Keith playing along to the tapes, trying to learn Ry’s parts. Ry packed his bags and flew back home. That was the end of my respect for The Stones and Keith, and their credibility with myself and the musicians I do respect.