Tagged with: Guitar
Cranston Clements
Phil DeGruy
… a rambling conversation with two killer guitar players and subversive musical comedians from New Orleans, Phil DeGruy, and Cranston Clements. They often perform together as The Self-Righteous Brothers. In this episode we eventually meander through their musical origin stories. Light listening on heavy topics…or is it the other way around?
I recently interviewed David Immergluck, the multi-instrumentalist dripping with personality who is quite notorious for his long membership in the Counting Crows, as well as Camper Van Beethoven, John Hiatt, and Monks of Doom. He also has an intriguing new project with Dave Alvin that you can find out about in the interview. It is really worth hearing.
Banjo Studio says:
David Immergluck is an American multi-instrumentalist who is best known as a guitarist in the alternative rock bands Counting Crows, Camper Van Beethoven and the Monks of Doom, as well as for his tenure with American singer-songwriter John Hiatt. A versatile musician, Immerglück plays mandolin, pedal steel guitar, bass, slide guitar, electric sitar, keyboards, and sings.
David Immergluck
Have you checked out the cool series of interviews I have conducted for Banjostudio.com. A place for epically great guitars and banjos.
The interviews are with some very amazing musicians: players of banjo and guitar and incredible songwriters, grammy winners, people with ideas. They are now collected on this page.
So far the list of posted interviews includes Joe Henry, Mary Gauthier, Valerie June, Adam Levy, Steve Khan, Jens Kruger, Riley Baugus, Alison Brown, Rob McCoury, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Ryan Cavanaugh, Danny Barnes, Adam Levy and Jens Kruger.
If you don’t know who they are and you are interested in a wide variety of music, you will be boosted in to some very fascinating new musical and cultural (are they the same?) areas.
I recently had the opportunity to interview the great guitarist/songwriter, Adam Levy. Folks have described this one as inspiring. You may too. Adam’s record output is filled with greats and worth checking over at his band camp page.
Banjo Studio says:
Guitarist Adam Levy (Norah Jones, Tracey Chapman) is known for his tone and taste. Adam talks with host Jonathan Freilich about his concept on the guitar, how he looks at the guitar from a more compositional/pianistic approach as oppose to a cliche guitar licks approach, his studies with Ted Greene, his current online guitar lessons course, and more.
Adam is an in demand sideman, songwriter, bandleader, guitar journalist, and guitar educator. Take a listen, you'll be sure to learn something that will improve your own playing.
I’m really happy to see this conversation I had with Steve Khan just posted. Really worth checking out if you are interested in music for the last 40 or so years. Without hesitation, if you have ever sat around trying to get around a guitar. And look at that ES-335- a favorite machine for some folks around here too.
The Banjo Studio says:
In this episode, we talk with the legendary jazz guitarist Steve Khan. Steve has had an extensive recording career as a solo artist, one that encompasses some 30 albums as a leader - from 1977's "TIGHTROPE" to 2019's "PATCHWORK." Perhaps beginning with his groundbreaking group, Eyewitness , he has devoted himself to creating a place for the guitar as a principal melodic voice in Latin jazz. In a recent cover story, Steve was referred to as "The Voice of the Guitar In Latin Jazz."
The conversation was fascinating and enjoyable for me. You might also check out Steve’s website where he wrote about this any many other things too. Here is the link to STEVE KHAN’S SITE…
Steve Khan
-is the full title. This will be performed for the Bloomsday celebration in New Orleans. Bloomsday is the annual celebration of James Joyce’s groundbreaking masterpiece, Ulysses. The festival is now being handled by the collaborator in two of my previous operas (‘Bang the Law’, ee me and pollock thee’) , Chris Lane.
I have had the idea for a long time and finally the opportunity came up to stage the piece. Libretto and music by yours truly. All the text however is by Mr. James Joyce. The lyric is totally unexpurgated. Immoral restoration theater type directness for our tightening times…except of course- of and for the common people.
The opera is also to remember the great victory over victorian censorship of the book.
The piece will be at the church at the Hotel Peter and Paul in the Marigny neighborhood of New Orleans. There will be two performance on the 14th and two on the 16th of June.
Great artists have been assembled to work on it.
Zara Zemmels- Mezzo-Soprano
Nelson Gonzalez- Joyce
Tim Robertson- Guitar
Janna Saslaw- Flutes
David Gamble- projections and design
Joan Long- Lighting/ stage design/ performance consultant
Jonathan Freilich- composer/librettist
Chris Lane- producer and set builder.
Extremely important here is our gofundme campaign to raise the money for the production. We hope that if you support arts in New Orleans, or are a theater fan, or a literature fan, or an independent/ experimental/contemporary opera buff, or prefer that your ribald times aren’t impinged upon, or support diversity in music, or the livelihood and development of the arts in general, that you will contribute. Any amount helps greatly.
The link is here…
Zara Zemmels
Tim Robertson
David Gamble
janna saslaw
I've posted the 2nd and 3rd part of a great interview with New Orleans guitarist, Tim Robertson.
Get involved here...
Tim is an interesting figure in the New Orleans music vista. He plays Bourbon St. He is a survivor of that commercial zone and knows how to do it (or has the personality for it) in a way that doesn't limit him and has driven him plain crazy. Many have been driven in such a direction.
Many people ask questions about validities and viabilities involved in music on Bourbon St. Tim, from first hand experience over lot of years, engages these questions:-
What is Bourbon St.? How does that music zone operate differently and similarly to other parts of town? What are it's musical features and modes of development? Is there anything really good out there?
There is much more, however, to Tim and to this interview. Tim is an avid experimental/modern/"classical" composer and has moved himself through in-depth, mentored, study in that direction too. For those who may wonder what the relevance of Bourbon St. and "classical" music is to New Orleans music and whether he can really talk about it, there is more. He also plays guitar with Neslort (if you don't know then be sure to go), Amanda Shaw, and two very interesting comico-satirical-serious groups that started quite a while ago and feature a very biting and immediate viewpoint voiced by Robertson: Dirty Mouth and Hot Karl.
Enjoy the interview- there is a lot here...
Also available as a free podcast through the itunes store.
The interview was conducted, 5/1/12, at the orange couch in New Orleans.
Dan Oestreicher passed this on. It's really beautiful...relax and enjoy!
My old guitar teacher, friend, and brilliant New Orleans musician, Carl Leblanc has just released his brand new recording- Those Who Have Ears. It's available at CD Baby amongst other services and... help out an artist and pick up a copy.
I wrote a string quartet arrangement for one of the pieces on the record and am honored to find out that he wanted to use it on its own for the finale of the record. It's called Hesed if you pick up a copy.
Carl is a great guitarist and all around musician who always comes out with a landscape of musical statements on record that really shows all he can breathe life into for a listener. He has played on some key New Orleans recordings and has played in many of the greatest groups associated with the city including the Dirty Dozen Brass Band and Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Allen Toussaint- (actually the list is so extensive- I'll let you music fans seek out the rest of the bio information). He was also guitarist for the Sun Ra Arkestra for about 9 years and luckily my generous guitar teacher for a long time.
This one is worth checking out and many great musicians were involved...
A complete interview with Jeff Treffinger is now up on the interviews page. You may have seen him with the singular Geraniums, or any number of other projects. You may also know him as one of the key hands in the, legendary to some, Mermaid Lounge.
Here he talks about his foregound and background activities that at different times have shaped the New Orleans music scene. Treffinger describes how he came to be putting a bands together in New Orleans at all and, what his purposes were in doing so...or at least his thinking at the time. He tells stories about the accidental discoveries that led him to architecture and how that led him into certain other nooks in New Orleans music. He is frank about what he learned and how, and the interesting folks that he collaborates with or has dealt with over the years that have enabled his dealings to be loaded with a delightful, risky creativity.
Also available as a podcast from the itunes store.
Performing at The Boom Boom Room in San Francisco on Aug 13. I will be appearing with Robert Walter on a double bill with Gypsophonik Disko (Ben Ellman+)
Robert Walter was in New Orleans for a long time playing across the scene with a driving organ style. He was already well established at that point from his work with the Greyboy All-Stars and the Headhunters. On this particular show, Robert will be leading band a composed of notable instrumental stylists, as well as having Jonathan Freilich in the guitar seat.
Ben Ellman's Gypsophonik is an interesting DJ melange. He calls the style, Sissy Gypsy and it really keeps folks on the dance floor achieving some other state of mind with his mixture of New Orleans Sissy Bounce and Eastern European music. If you equate his name with Galactic or the New Orleans Klezmer All-Stars this will shatter the frame you've got him in.
By the way...
Those of you in the area can also catch a rare West Coast appearance of my other band, The New Orleans Klezmer All Stars at the Outside Lands Festival on the day before, Aug. 12.