During his time in jail, Berry joined a Gospel group and practiced his songwriting abilities. (Gulla 32) . After his release Berry began to get serious about his guitar playing, however he still often worked as a carpenter, took a few manufacturing jobs and trained as a hairdresser. He married Themetta Suggs, purchased their first home in St. Louis, he continued to play popular nightclubs in the area looking for his break. Berry’s friend Ira Harris taught him new guitar techniques that became the basis for the Chuck Berry sound.
Sara Quandt Bill Frisell “Hallelujah” Leonard Cohen Remake by: Sam Shrieve, Jeff Buckley, and Bill Frisell Bill Frisell, born 1951, is guitarist, composer and arranger. He has been a leading guitarist in jazz since the 1980’s. He has a very unique style of music that can be expressed as folk, country, classical, and of course jazz. He is well known for the effects and sounds that he is able to produce from his guitar. Bill was born in Baltimore, Maryland but soon moved to Denver, Colorado where he was raised.
[citation needed] A few black rhythm and blues musicians, notably Louis Jordan, the Mills Brothers, and The Ink Spots, achieved crossover success;[citation needed] in some cases (such as Jordan's "Choo Choo Ch'Boogie") this success was achieved with songs written by white songwriters. [citation needed] The Western swing genre in the 1930s, generally played by white musicians, also drew heavily on the blues and in turn directly influenced rockabilly and rock and roll, as can be heard, for example, on Elvis Presley's "Jailhouse Rock" (1957). [citation needed] Going back even further, rock and roll can trace one lineage to the old Five Points, Manhattan district of mid-19th century New York City, the scene of the first fusion of heavily
James Jamerson: Bass Player Rob Cantrell BLKST 153 History of Black Popular Music Professor Earl Stewart November 15, 2013 “The dirt keeps the funk.” – James Jamerson Dr. Ann Lucas, music historian and Professor of Music at Allan Hancock College, believes that the roots of rock, pop and jazz had an inescapable connection with Soul music. She stated in a 2011 lecture “There was a time in pop history when you could hear a song for the very first time and make a pretty good gamble of deducing where it was tracked and mastered.” She went on to elaborate: Record companies like Stax, Chess, Atlantic and Philadelphia International made the characteristic sounds of Memphis, Chicago, Muscle Shoals and Philadelphia identifiable worldwide in the 1960s and early 1970s. But there are probably more who can pick the ones made in Detroit, home of Motown Records, a lot easier. When the average person thinks of Motown in the 1960s, they mostly think of the Temptations, Marvin Gaye, or songsmiths like Smokey Robinson or Holland/Dozier/Holland, to name a few of the artists associated with the label as the big names. But bassist James Jamerson, along with drummer Benny Benjamin, pianist Earl Van Dyke, guitarist Richard White and percussionist Jack Ashford, and several other studio musicians who were recruited from the elite players of Detroit's jazz scene by Motown’s Founder, Barry Gordy Jr., laid the foundation of the Motown sound.
These recording sessions saw Dylan return to the acoustic guitar after his controversial ‘plugged-in’ performance at the Newport Folk festival two years previously. As put by Alex Abramovich, “the charm of The Basement Tapes might have less to do with the quality of the songs themselves than with the informal, experiential qualities of the recording.” It was this re-hashing of the qualities of their music which gave The Basement Tapes such influence over popular music in the late 1960s. In the 1960s, folk rock was taking off, beginning with the release of The Byrds’ cover of Dylan’s Mr Tambourine Man. The addition of electric guitars into the folk genre paved the way for other artists, including Dylan himself, to shift to a more electric rock sound. But it is the emphasis on the acoustic guitar which gives the traditional folk style of music its authentic charm.
John Coltrane, born 23 September 1926 in a small town in North Carolina, was a dedicated and talented jazz musician. Apart from playing musical instruments and composing new tunes, John served his country by performing in the U. S. Navy Band during WWII. After the war, he became a popular tenor saxophonist. It was his involvement with Jimmy Heath when his passion for experimentation grew, which then lead to performances with Miles Davis, which, in his opinion, was the time when he evolved the most. In 1967, at the age of 41, he was diagnosed with a liver disease and died thereof soon after.
Vai has been a regular touring member of the G3 Concert Tour which began in 1996. In 1999 Vai started his own record label, Favored Nations, intending to showcase, as he describes, "...artists that have attained the highest performance level on their chosen instruments. Steve Vai has been called a virtuoso in the world of guitar music. [5] His 1990 album Passion and Warfare and the ballad For the Love of God in particular received a significant amount of press and are often cited by critics and fans alike as among his best work, often noted since the entire piece, at just over six minutes, was reportedly recorded in one take. [6] Vai's playing style has been characterized as quirky and angular, due in large measure to his technical ability with the guitar instrument and deep knowledge of music theory.
One artist I admire most, not only in their creativity, but also in technical ability is Django Reinhardt. In the 25 years he was active, he essentially invented a whole new sub genre of jazz and playing styles. When Django was 18, he was badly burnt in a caravan fire and as a result, lost most use of his third and forth fingers on his left hand. This however seemed to be a blessing in disguise as he had to relearn how to play the guitar in a whole new way, creating his unique style. Being a jazz musician in the early to mid 90's, he used acoustic guitars with steel and nylon strings with oddly shaped sound holes taking away more bass than traditional guitars, and giving them an almost staccato sound.
Bob Marley From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search For the American comedian, see Bob Marley (comedian). Page semi-protected Bob Marley Black and white picture of a man with long dreadlocks playing the guitar on stage. Bob Marley performing in concert, circa 1980. Background information Birth name Robert Nesta Marley Also known as Tuff Gong Born 6 February 1945 Nine Mile, Saint Ann, Jamaica Died 11 May 1981 (aged 36) Miami, Florida, U.S. Genres Reggae, ska, rocksteady Occupations Singer-songwriter, musician Instruments Vocals, guitar, piano, saxophone, harmonica, percussion Years active 1962–1981 Labels Studio One, Upsetter, Tuff Gong Associated acts Bob Marley & The Wailers, Wailers Band, The Upsetters, I Threes Website bobmarley.com Robert Nesta "Bob" Marley, OM (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981) was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and musician.
Syd Barret, once a creative guitarist, with an artistic vision to collaborate light shows with the psycheldelic sound of the sixties. Shine On You Crazy Diamond was dedicated to him and the legacy he left behind. The beginning of the piece creates a calming sensation that is abrubtly followed by an energetic burst of instruments, suggesting perhaps that Syd could never just be laid back. I believe he was filled with a sense of wild creativity, when I listen to Pink Floyd’s debut album “The Piper At The Gates of Dawn” (EMI Colunbia, 1967) I hear the work of a wild and creative mind for example, listen to the song Intersteller Overdrive, featuring disjointed, distorted guitar sounds randomly played, this characterises Syd Barret’s “style ' The Music Part I The introduction begins with the fading in orchestra like passage of a string synth pad in the key of G-minor created with an EMS VCS 3, ARP Solina and a Hammond organ. The intro is not unlike that of a feature film that promises some unknown adventure, like a building storm.