Tuesday, December 10, 2013

What Did You Miss This Week? (Week 338 #382)

Boogie!!!

The groove we call a boogie these days clearly comes from the boogie woogie piano players of the 1920s. Thank Clarence PineTop Smith for his tune Pine Top's Boogie Woogie the next time you call out a boogie groove for the band.

What defines a boogie exactly? Joe outlined it like this:
  • Upbeat
  • Shuffle based
  • Built on a melodic riff and the most typical notes in that riff are the root, third, fifth and the sixth scale degrees
You can play that riff based on Joe's transcription, but you also know it well from Walter Horton's many versions of Walter's Boogie or Little Walter's Boogie.

What classic boogies should you be listening to? Try these:
  • Hillbilly Boogie tunes from the Delmore Brothers 40s and 50s recordings
  • Little Walter - Boogie, Fast Boogie, Last Boogie
  • Louis Myers - Just Whalin', Bluesy
Joe also demonstrated that it can work to think about the boogie notes (root, 3rd, 5th and 6th) as a scale. This works IF you alter it correctly over the chord changes.

Now get to boogie'n!

Grammy Nominees!!!

Our man Shoji pointed out that four of the five Grammy nominees for Best Blues Album are harmonica-centric:

Remembering Little Walter - with Billy Boy Arnold, Charlie Musselwhite, Mark Hummel, Sugar Ray Norcia & James Harman

Cotton Mouth Man -  James Cotton

Get Up!
- Ben Harper With Charlie Musselwhite

Seesaw
- Bobby Rush

Class Notes

  • The CD contest ends next week, December 16 (or, if you're running late, Joe will accept entries the next night at his Harlem Avenue Lounge gig)!
  • December 16 is the last class this session. Be sure to register now for the next session, starting January 6.
  • The editorial staff will take a holiday break - no newsletter between Dec 18 and Jan 6. Focus on your playing and practicing but keep an eye on the gig calendar and support the local musicians during our time off!
- Grant Kessler, B1 Blues Crew