Tuesday, July 10, 2012

What Did You Miss This Week? (Week 275 #318)


Long Distance Call!!!

First off, a huge thanks from Joe to everyone who made the Adam Gussow visit such a success last week! B1 was packed and Adam had a great time!

Next up was a study of the Muddy Waters and Little Walter classic, Long Distance Call. You hear evidence of Sonny Boy I in Walter's playing here, especially bar 11 licks, but less and less. Check out that full step three draw bend on the first bar 4, for instance - definitely not Sonny Boy phrasing!

Other cool things to note - there is mostly inhale playing (hint: blues scale) which keeps things lowdown and also check out Walter's careful use of the flat seventh to outline the chord changes. Speaking of the seventh, blues scale playing would normally steer you away from playing the major seventh at all, but notice that Walter hits it on page two. Why does that work? Because it's a masterful chromatic line!

One last tip - look carefully at bar 9 on every verse. Don't reinvent the wheel!
Repetition = Good!
Long Distance Call = Killer Tune!

YouMissedMonday Podcast!!!

Announcing the YouMissedMonday podcast, recorded by Highway RickEy and curated by Shoji Naito. Now you can hear a few tunes from the B1 performances via podcast or "play now" options. Click the Podcast subscription button on the right hand column of the YouMissedMonday website and check it out. This will feature live B1 recordings and will be updated about once a month. Enjoy!

Class Notes

  • Reminder: Joe will be out of town next week, July 16th  - his private lessons will not occur, but all group classes happen as regularly scheduled. Shoji Naito will lead instruction and plans to cover improvisation in Level 4.
  • Blues Jam - Grant and Al Taylor will be hosting a casual, drop-in jam from 3:30-5:45pm next Monday in B1. Come by to work on a tune, ask questions and learn to play in a "circle jam". Easy, low-key and open to all levels.
- Grant Kessler, B1 Blues Crew