Lowell Folk Festival 2010

On Saturday, July 24, we met our friends Dave and Lisa at the Lowell Folk Festival, a free 2 day event in the old mill town of Lowell, MA. The setting is very nice, in the middle of the oldest part of the city surrounded by the long-gone manufacturing buildings of the industrial age and the workers' dormitories. They spun a lot of cotton in Lowell back in the day....it's surrounded by canals that were built to harness the Merrimack River.

From Lowell Folk Festival 2010

It was an extremely hot and humid day, about 92 F. Our first stop of the day, conveniently located right outside the Market St. garage, was the Quebecois band, De Temps Antan. Just 3 guys, but what a big sound. The picture below shows them cranking out a tune on fiddle, harmonica (chromatic style), and guitar. The harmonic player also played accordion. I think they could play the same tune for hours, getting to a fever pitch before stopping on a dime. You'll notice in the picture that the fiddle and guitar player are sitting down. That's so they could tap with their feet the rhythm of the tune as they played. It really added some depth and drive to the music, which I find to be a weird blend of Cajun, French, and Irish, but which they would probably just call Quebecois. The guys are native French (Canadian) speakers, but also spoke English to the crowd and were quite engaging. We caught them on the big stage later in the day, too.

(you can see more pics in my picasa web album)
The great thing about Lowell is that the crowds are pretty manageable. You can get right up close to the stage, the sound is great, and it is very relaxed. I never felt like I was overwhelmed with people, partially because the 5-6 stages are spread out and partially because I think a lot of people are on vacation....also, did I mention it was hot??!!
After this show, we met up with Dave and Lisa and headed over to JFK Plaza to see Steep Canyon Rangers (who backed up Steve Martin and did so at the Newport Fest just last weekend). The only problem with JFK is that there is absolutely no shade and it's all concrete/brick, which makes for extra baking. There are a lot of food stands here, so we grabbed some food (Greek, Laotian) while we were at it. The band was in suits and I really don't know who anyone could play in that weather, but they were awesome. It was too hot, so we moved on after a few tunes (they usually play 45 min sets anyway).(Guitar note: I do believe that was a Collings that guy was playing....:) )

Next up, we went to the amphitheater at Boarding House Park (so named because that's where the workers stayed, I guess). We listened to Bua, a young Irish group who were good, but didn't seem as dynamic as De Temps Antan. It's somewhat challenging to get a seat in this venue, so you have to wait for the changeover to go nab a seat, which we did. We listened to De Temps Antan again cuz our friends missed them the first time. I didn't mind. :)
Somewhere in there we checked out the Kings of Harmony shout band. The cool thing about Lowell is that the music is not just "folk", but also gospel, soul, reggae, bluegrass, armenian, egyptian, korean, and so on. We've always discovered new music here that is worth going home and buying for the collection (Kekele comes to mind...). This band was like gospel, New Orleans brass bands, and funk, all wrapped up in one! You had to get your feet moving (but I was tooooo hot to move much besides my hands). It was mostly trombones, with a couple of sousaphones and drums thrown in. They worked the crowd up big time. It was very joyous music.

The highlight of the festival was The Hot Club of Cowtown, an Austin, TX based trio doing a blend of Bob Wills and Django Reinhardt in their own style. I knew I wanted to see them after seeing their videos on Youtube. I couldn't believe what I was hearing!! Go check 'em out. They've made a bunch of records, too and I snagged their first and last ones from Amazon when I got back home. We saw them in the so-called Dance Pavilion, which is a tent with a dance floor. While some people were actually dancing, we just bulled our way to the front and sorta stood-danced (remember, it was hot and humid). It appeared to us that they didn't have a set list, but were just calling out tunes based on their mood and the crowd. I like that - it shows confidence in what you can do. Again, I don't see how they could play as well as they did with the heat/humidity. I got some good photos, too.
All three of the musicians were excellent and got ample solo time. The fiddle player, Elana, also sang...she always seemed to have a smile on her face. The bass player was slapping like crazy and driving it all forward. The guitar player was ripping off solos left and right!! It was spectacular, really. They even traded 4's at one point and seemed to really enjoy it. (Guitar note: looks like a Gibson 175 from the late 40s to me).

Hot Club of Cowtown

Slap that bass!

Play that fiddle!

Shred that guitar!
In between all this, there are food stands, crafts, and kids games throughout the venue. For example, there was a one-man-band dude, who made his own instruments.

Eric Royer, one man band dude.
And a guitar maker, William Cumpiano, showing off his Puerto Rican Cuatros. This is the same guy who wrote the guitar making bible!!

We finished off our day with dinner at a vegetarian restaurant, called Life Alive, which was quite good. I felt so healthy!!
All in all a fine day!
Chris

Wayne and Chris Have Some Late Nights

A couple of weeks ago my good friend, Wayne Goins, came back to Boston to visit the gang here. I first met Wayne at Camp Encore/Coda in Bridgton, ME in 1985(?) where we were both guitar instructors. Back then, he played a strat and his main guys were Hendrix and Prince and the blues. I was a pure jazzer with my Gibson ES-175 and Berklee degree. We got along instantly, talking guitars, playing 24x7, or on the basketball court.

Now...he's gone on to get his PhD (Dr. Goins!) and I'm at IBM. Wayne still has amazing chops and musicality, big ears, and a warm personality. Luckily, we got a chance to play while he was here. He borrowed my 175 and I never heard it sound so good...certainly not in my own hands! :) We got in some good times playing with Jamie Saltman, owner of the aforementioned Camp and a great pianist, too.

Wayne and I hung out a couple of late nights. The first night we stayed up until 3 am watching Wes Montgomery videos on youtube. We hadn't seen these before and there were even some where Wes was speaking ("this is not a perfect instrument") about how difficult it was to keep the guitar in tune. We decided he sounded like Quincy Jones. There's another one (End of a Love Affair) where he's teaching the piano player the tune in rehearsal - watch at the end where the pianist wants to take it up a notch, tempo-wise, and Wes is saying, "alright, let's go". Wes is so cool and effortless when he plays; the music just flows out of him like a spring, with endless ideas. He's often looking around, offstage or wherever, as he plays, just killin' it! He even stopped to light up a cigarette during the real take of that tune. :0 We kept trying to see how he was actually using his thumb so fast - it was like a butterfly on the strings.

On Memorial Day, we had a bbq at our house before heading over to Jamie's to play a little - this time, adding in renowned local musician, Bo Winniker, who also lives in the neighborhood and who's son just graduated in my son's class - small world dept. I thought we were just going to play through some standards for a few hours, but it turned into a real lesson! Bo had been talking at the bbq about a tune he's been "working on" for a few years (!) and called that one up first - The Dophin. I had seen this one in the Real Book, but never really stopped to play it. It's got some gnarly twists and turns in it. If I looked down off the page, then there was certainly danger of skipping a line and getting lost! We played that one for about 20 min, going around taking solos, feeling it out. There is a video of that one that I got, but it's too big to post.

The next one Bo called was "Airegin", by Sonny Rollins. Yet another one I hadn't played that much, but of course heard alot via Miles and Wes Montgomery. Well, we played that tune for an hour and 20 minutes straight! Deborah (Goins) got about an hour of it on video before it ran out. We just kept going around - Bo, Wayne, Jamie, me - one chorus at a time. I can tell you that I got pretty tired (on bass, no resting between solos) and was lucky that Wayne kicked in some rhythm when I was starting to drag - hehe. That tune is also pretty tricky in parts with the various II-Vs (which is why Wes loves that song, no doubt) cycling thru a few keys in rapid succession, but is fun to play. Bo (on trumpet and flugelhorn) sounds amazing - so tasty and smooth, soulful. It was a pleasure to hear him play this pure jazz.

Later on Wayne and I went back to my house to hang out and partake in some Hennessy(his new drink of choice). Funny that no one else wanted to go with us... Even though I was already tired from playing earlier, I wanted to play some more with Wayne, so we went to the basement and went through a couple or three tunes - a blues in G, Beautiful Love, and Someday My Prince Will Come. This time, I played the upright bass instead of electric, which is always more challenging for me since I hadn't played it that much in recent months and I'm out of shape on that physically demanding instrument - it's not something you can just pick up and play. I got my customary blister for the effort. I flipped on the Zoom H4n recorder and got some of it.

Blues in G - (click to load the mp3 in your browser) You'll hear how great Wayne is on this one!!

Beautiful Love - I've listened to Bill Evans play this tune about 4000 times, but haven't played it much, which is why I made Wayne play it with me.

Not sure if I want to post the last one yet..."Some day..." was interrupted by a phone call from one of his students.

Again, we stayed up til 3 am chatting and I spent the next day at work recovering. Allegedly there were a couple of empty Hennessey bottles found in the morning. (I blame Lucas.)

Chris

Pat Martino - Scullers 2nd Set

I almost forgot that we had tickets to Pat Martino, until Mr. Johnson rang me up to confirm a meeting time. 10 pm set on a Friday is risky due to the lack of sleep during the week, but we went anyway. I'm glad I did! It was the first time I'd seen him and I don't think I ever listened to him too much, but obviously knew about him. He was playing his Benedetto signature model guitar, a solid body model with 2 pickups although he only used the front one.

Seating was general admission so we got a decent table a few "rows" back. It's a small club anyway, so not a bad seat in the house. The classic trio consisted of Pat, Tony Monaco (B3 organ) and Jason Brown(drums).

When they started to play, it was kind of a shock because the guitar was really loud and muddy - I always wonder whether the sound person has lost their hearing because it is so obviously wrong. Would it hurt to add a little treble into the mix?

The music itself was great! They came out smokin' with a boppish tune which I didn't know, followed by a blues which he seemed to call on the fly to the organ player (ah, just found that blues on youtube here), and a latin-ish tune. I think Blue in Green was next, with many liberties taken with the melody, but the signature tune intact.

The odd part of the night came when Pat called up his wife, whom he is clearly smitten with, to play 2 Wes Montgomery inspired songs with him - Heartstrings and Bock to Bock (also on a Derek Trucks album, btw). She's been playing "for a few years - 3 or 4, i think" and it looked like a student/master recital where the student plays some medium difficult chord changes while the master does his thing and makes it sound good....only in the first song, she couldn't find the beat to save her life. I just tried to concentrate on what Pat was doing instead.

Thankfully, the band returned and they killed another Wes Montgomery tune: 4 on 6. Tony Monaco is a sight! His facial expressions are priceless and animated - you could read the emotions (mostly joy) in his face and clearly he was enjoying himself at the B3 - relishing in the cheesiest sounds possible, then laying out a monster dissonant chord for emphasis. This was a highlight of the night for me.

They finished the night with Oleo, but it didn't seem like they were playing the standard thythm changes - I think it was more open than that (a la So What or Impressions) which gave the soloists more room to maneuver.

After the show, J somehow ran into Pat and shook his hand and gave him a few bows of worship. When we asked what his hand felt like, all he said was, "Boney."

Boston Globe Scholastic Art Awards

Today we went to the ceremony down at John Hancock hall in Boston for Zach winning a silver key for a jewelry piece in the Boston Globe Scholastic Art Awards, a regional competition. Apparently, the awards were established in 1923 and involve over 6000 students and over 10,000 pieces of art. Each student had to go up on stage and say something like, "Hi, I'm Zach Reckling and I won a silver key for a jewelry piece. I go to Brookline High School." It was kind of like an affirmation of the work they do.

Teacher's could submit up to 15 pieces from each school, so he actually had to get by that criteria first. Zach got a silver key for this piece of jewelry he made at school. It's on display at the Transportation Building in downtown Boston. We went over there to check it out, which is where I got cooperation for the above picture.

He also got an honorable mention for a print, pictured below.

And here he is on stage, following "in the footsteps of the masters". Afterwards we walked over to see the exhibit at the transportation building, then back over to Cheesecake Factory to stuff ourselves.

Congrats to ZR! - Chris/Dad

VT Instruments at Joe Val Festival

I met up with Adam briefly (so much music going on!) where he was hanging out with 3 of the nice instruments they made. I got a chance to try the little parlor guitar on the left - so loud, even with all those banjos playing in the same room. You can catch pictures of this and other guitars being made here: http://vermontinstruments.tumblr.com/ including a picture of Marc Ribot with the parlor (I think) and Jorma with the tenor guitar on this page. More pics of the tenor guitars and parlor are here. Neko Case apparently has one of them in hand now.

Good to see Adam - I must make a road trip up to Vermont (maybe wait for summer, though).

Chris