Robbie Basho - Red Wood Ramble Guitar TAB

Hey folks, got a great email a while ago from Delta-Slider reader, Andrew Hammond.  Andy is guitarist that knows the value a TAB can lend in learning all the music we love to play.  He downloaded the Jack Rose - Kensington Blues TAB from here and you can hear his recording of that here.

Jack Rose - Kensington Blues by Andrew Hammond

Andy decided that he would give back to the soli community by working out Basho's Red Wood Ramble.  I'm not aware of many Basho tabs so this is a real treat.  However, there are some in the files section of the Yahoo! group dedicated to Robbie, you can check that out HERE.

Download Red Wood Ramble

Andrew Hammond

Andrew offers guitar lessons in South Manchester/Stockport, check him out on the web, HERE.

Be sure to leave Andrew a note of your appreciation in the comments below.

So, who's got some more TAB?

Beppe Gambetta tells Banjo Jokes

I just got home from a Beppe Gambetta house concert just up the road in Lyons, Colorado.  What a great show.  I'm not sure how this guy has slipped my attention but I suppose it has to do with that whole flatpicking thing that I'm not much into, most of the time.  This was dangerously close to a bluegrass show.  

Beppe is a charming entertainer and comfortable telling stories about his songs.  I love that.  He also tells banjo jokes.

I've got one for you...but it's no joke.

What do a banjo and Beppe Gambetta have in common?  Dixie Breakdown.

Beppe plays it on the 6-string.

And by the way, he was playing that R. Taylor tonight and it's a beauty.  What a great looking and sounding guitar.

Beppe plays just about anything you can think of, his tribute to a meeting with Pete Seeger called Hobo's Crossing to actually playing and singing a Woody Guthrie song, Hard Travelin'.  Fantastic!  He would know a bit about hard travelin', he's on the road about 270 days a year and that is good for you and me.

Get on over to his site to see when he is a comin' 'round the mountain.  Beppe Touring

He also played a Scottish folk song, Italian love song, plenty of American roots of course and breaking new ground with his solo guitar interpretation of an opera.  Oh yes, yes he did.  And it was fantastic.  The set was well balanced with a few vocals but plenty of instrumentals to keep the guitar soli crowd happy.

Folks, Beppe Gambetta is a guitarist you shouldn't miss.

 

John Fahey - Your Past Comes Back to Haunt You

Ah, is there anything more beautiful than a boy and his guitar?  Maybe if I had slept with my guitar more I would be a fine player today.  Yes, I said "more" didn't I?  Well, who hasn't slept with their guitar, a little?  More previews HERE.

The Dust to Digital site is about ready to release this mammoth set of recordings on the world.  In case you aren't up with all the details, here's a bit of what it's all about.

More than 10 years in the making, this box set features the earliest recordings and the first book ever written about one of the most influential guitarists from the 1960s and ‘70s, John Fahey. The five CDs feature 115 tracks, most of which are available on CD for the first time. The audio was remastered from Joe Bussard’s reel-to-reel tapes to achieve pristine sound quality. As for the accompanying book, the list of scholars who contributed essays includes Eddie Dean, Claudio Guerrierri, Glenn Jones, Malcolm Kirton, Mike Stewart and John’s childhood friend R. Anthony Lee. Byron Coley contributed a poem about John, and Douglas Blazek’s 1967 interview with Fahey is published for the first time. Released 10 years after John Fahey’s death, this set puts one of the final puzzle pieces of Fahey’s career in place. Everyone can now hear where this guitar legend got his start – a smoky basement in Frederick, Maryland. Co-produced by Dean Blackwood of Revenant, Glenn Jones, and Lance Ledbetter of Dust-to-Digital, this set is released with the support of Joe Bussard and the John Fahey Estate. The set is dedicated to John’s mother, Jane C. Hayes and the late musician Jack Rose. 

THIS SET IS AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDERS AND WILL SHIP BY OCTOBER 11, 2011 -- THE OFFICIAL RELEASE DATE.

There's talk that there may be release parties with as many of the fine people that worked on this in attendance as possible, including Glenn Jones.  Keep you eyes open for those events, I'll try to post them if I hear about them.  Meanwhile, go buy this thing!

   

Glenn Jones - The Wanting

I love it when an artist dares to open their release with a cut that probably isn’t the first choice of the marketing department.  Not that we of the guitar soli are exactly worried about that or even have a marketing department.  Glenn Jones opens his new release with “A Snapshot of Mom, Scotland, 1957.”  And it’s all we’ve come to expect of Jones and his eclectic tunings and complex compositions.  Complex, beautiful and perfect for opening this release.

You might wonder what you are in for in the first minute of “The Great Pacific Northwest” but it turns out to be one of the most traditional American Primitive songs on the effort.  Now here it might be interesting to discuss the fact that I am differentiating traditional AP from…well, what?  From what Glenn Jones has done with the style to make it his own.  But back to the song, it has a very comfortable, familiar feel to the melody.  It just grabs me and pulls me in.

Now let’s talk about the banjo tunes.  My first impulse is to compare them to the last release, BBQ Bob and see what kind of direction Jones seems to be navigating.  It is kind of cool that he is exploring this instrument and letting us steal a look at the process as he works through an instrument that he admits he doesn’t play in any of the traditional styles.  Hmmm, sounds like the root of American Primitive to me!  Self taught.  So…the compositions seem to be in the same vein on both efforts but the main thing I notice is the technique is smoother, more subtlety applied here and there.  I think what stands out most about these pieces is the simplicity.  Jones has stated that he does not approach the instrument from a traditional angle, but what I think is readily apparent is that he also isn’t composing on the level of sophistication that approaches that of his guitar compositions.  These aren’t mysterious tunes.  They’re attractive in a plain and simple way, like that freckled girl with the dirty blonde hair.  If you are enjoying the banjo tunes, be sure to pick up the MP3 of “Even to Win is to Fail,” the double A-side release with the Black Twig Pickers.  There are a couple duplicate titles (alternate takes, though) with this release but it’s not the banjo tunes.

You might find this an odd tangent but I love the song titles on this release.  Sometimes guys just try too hard at the title thing but these are really working for me.

Only one slide piece for this release and it’s a beauty.  Twice as long as the split release track.  This is the slide piece by Jones that I’ve always wanted, I just didn’t know it.  “Even to Win is to Fail” speaks to me.  Yes, yes it does.

“Of Its Own Kind” has that same great classic AP feel.  Is it weird that I find the rattling of the low strings a beautiful thing?  It just sounds so thoroughly in the moment.  And that can’t be dismissed these days as the small but talented field of guitarists composing pieces for solo guitar continues to expand it’s difficult to set yourself apart.  Jones does a fine job in continuing to lead the way.
Hey, here’s a video of the song, let’s watch it!

I defy you to watch this video and not run to your guitar and start playing!  Can’t be done.

Glenn Jones - Of Its Own Kind from Thrill Jockey Records on Vimeo.

Glenn Jones Tour Dates:

Sep 24   Philadelphia, PA         Johnny Brenda's w/Meg Baird

Sep 25   New York, NY     West Park Presbyterian Church

Oct 14   Boston, MA       The Fourth Wall Project

Oct 16   Chicago, IL      The Hideout

Oct 17   Iowa City, IA    The Mill

Oct 18   Dubuque, IA      Monk's

Oct 19   Bloomington, IN Russian Recording

Oct 20   Lexington, KY    Collexion

Oct 21   Louisville, KY   TBA

Oct 22   Knoxville, TN    TBA

Oct 23   Asheville, NC    Harvest Records

Oct 24   West Columbia, SC        Conundrum Music Hall

Oct 25   Atlanta, GA      TBA

Oct 26   Atlanta, GA      TBA

Oct 27   Chapel Hill, NC The Nightlight

Oct 28   Charlottesville, VA      TBA

Oct 29   Washington, DC   TBA

Oct 30   Baltimore, MD    TBA

Nov 1    Brooklyn, NY     Zebulon

Nov 3    Easthampton, MA Flywheel

Nov 5    State College, PA        Schlow Centre Region Library

Call me crazy but I think you might want to look at buying this here record.  RECORD?  Why yes, there actually IS a piece of vinyl for your platter.  Get it at Thrill Jockey

Want to give the whole thing a preview?  Don't trust me, eh?  Go on, you can stream it at Thrill Jockey.

September 11th...1945

Leo Kottke was born.  Just thought I would celebrate something good happening on this day in history.

First cut from the 6 & 12 String Guitar.

John Fahey - The Transcendental Waterfall (180 Gram Vinyl)

4 Men With Beards plans release of a 6-LP set. The Transcendental Waterfall - Guitar Excursions 1959-1967 is a 6-LP box set drawing from John Fahey's best, and most influential, period.

Thanks to Andreas from the Fahey forum for the heads up!

 

Glenn Jones & Yair Yona on WFMU

Click the link to listen to the show:  Playlist for Irene Trudel - September 5, 2011


Live performance and conversation with Glenn Jones and Yair Yona

For his latest album, "The Wanting," guitarist Glenn Jones recorded in a fourth floor apartment on Commonwealth Avenue, Allston, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston, overlooking the commuter train line. If you listen carefully to the record, you can occasionally hear trains going by in the background. In addition to playing with the band Cul de Sac, this solo disc is Jones' first album for Thrill Jockey, overflowing with nods to the "American Primitive" guitar style popularized by John Fahey. Glenn is joined by Israeli-born fingerstyle guitarist Yair Yona. Starting out as a bassist, Yona played stints in several London bands including Human Beings, then discovered the music of Bert Jansch and followed that musical path. Yair has one album out, "Remember," recently reissued on Strange Attractors and puts out a fine musical blog called "Small Town Romance." Yair Yona was in the NYC area for a rare visit over the Labor Day weekend, and Irene recorded a live set and a lively conversation with the two of them.