I asked in my last post if the statement, “This is acoustic music in your face”, was a warning or a prediction. Still not sure which one it was but CD 2 was in my face and Tommy got a little bit of help from Bob Littell on Harmonica.
Highlights:
The mix: I know I said this in the last post but it’s so good and really makes the CD’s an experience to listen to.
Working Man’s Blues: Good old fashioned blues with Littell on the harmonica. They played off each other well and had a nice little jam going at one point. I’m not a huge fan of the harmonica but this was truly impressive.
Morning Aire: Beautiful song. I don’t know if there is more I can say.
Initiation: Tommy Does a long version of this where he’s really working the delay but in the end there’s a point where you could tell he just releases and lets the music take over. “Primal Guitar” as Michael Hedges used to say.
Questions: Last track on the CD and all I would write down in my notes was, “Wow!”
Any “lowlights?” For me, I would say too much harmonica. The first four tracks felt like they were Tommy featuring Littell. There was great guitar in those tracks but the harmonica seemed to butt in like a third wheel at times. My thoughts were, “I bought this CD for Tommy Emmanuel, not the harmonica.” As I said before, I’m not the biggest fan of the instrument. Great playing and I have a great respect for Littell’s playing but it was too much for me.
Final Thought:
Once again, if you don’t have it get it! If you are still wondering and waiting, get it anyway. You won’t be disappointed. Can’t wait for the DVD!
“This is acoustic music, in your face…” is the introduction on the first track on Tommy Emmanuel’s “Live, Center Stage” CD1. Was that a prediction or a warning? Either way, Tommy didn’t disappoint with his 2nd live double CD set in three years.
Highlights:
The Mix: Every song on CD1 was engineered to perfection. From Tommy’s playing to the just the right mix of crow noise makes you feel like your there at times.
Nine Pound Hammer: Great improv solo much like Guitar Boogie. At one point, Tommy is playing guitar with one hand a moving baseline on the other. Oh yeah, he’s singing on top of all that.
And So it Goes: Beautiful arrangement of a timeless Billy Joel song. This performance just might bring a tear to ones eye.
I Go to Rio: Just love that he plays this. It’s partially because I performed this in Jr. High choir and he does an awesome job with it.
Beatles Medley: Not the best one that I’ve heard but it’s still worth mentioning. He does like to mix it up so this version had “Here Comes the Sun”, “When I’m Sixty Four”, “Day Tripper” and “Lady Madonna.”
No “lowlights” that I could find. Some of the Tommy detractors might not enjoy some of the rhythmic montages that Tommy has been known to get into. I believe he goes into a three or so minute rhythmic trance during Mombasa. If you don’t already have it, get it. If you’re still wondering and waiting, my thoughts on CD2 will posted soon.
I’m a huge fan of podcasts and video podcasts and I love the the wealth of information that you can obtain from them. I have probably 20 or so on my iTouch as I write this and it keep on growing. One podcast that I am having a hard time finding is a good instructional podcasts for music. Most music podcasts that I find are usually radio shows presenting recommended listening in a certain genre. Great tools to expose yourself to new music but not what I’m looking for.
I did find is the Musicology Show from Pandora. which is a true instructional show that digs inside the nuances of music it’s styles. One show will teach you about metric modulation (aka time signature changes) and the next week you will learn about aspects of composition or what a madrigal is. For some it will be a refresher course and for others, it will expose you to different aspects of music that would otherwise stay unknown to you.
Give the Musicology Show a listen and tell me what you think. Are there any good guitar/music instructional podcasts you would recommend?
Have you seen the YouTube Guitar Hero clips where some kid is playing Dragon Force on expert mode, with no errors and wonder how good they would be if they actually practiced a real guitar instead of playing some wannabe video game. According to Gizmodo.com, we might have an answer to that question. The program is called Guitar Rising and apparently you can plug in any electric guitar and play. I looks as if it works similar to guitar hero except your actually playing the guitar. It starts out with learning the basics of the guitar and progresses to much harder levels. Does this mean, there will be a guitarist in the future that says his/her influences were Vai, Satriani, Emmanuel, and Guitar Rising?
I just purchased “The Acoustic Guitar: Adjustment, Care, Maintenance, and Repair,” (thoughts on book in upcoming posts). Mainly because I want to be able to make the necessary adjustments to my instrument without having to take it into a shop all the time. Some might want to work on their own guitar as well but others would rather give it to a professional but how can you find a good repair shop in your area?
I have a new friend through Twitter who provides great help in finding such guitar repair shops. It is repairmyguitar.com, which is a searchable database of repair shops throughout the United States. All you need to do is visit the site, choose your city, state and you will be given a list of local repair shops. I would say the list is pretty decent for the areas that I looked up and I’m sure that it is growing everyday. In the future, I hope to see an option to search for luthiers.
If you are looking to repair, setup or just do some standard maintenance on your guitar, check out repairmyguitar.com and find a local shop. They currently have a promotion where if you can win $50 if you submit a review of a shop that you used. Reviews will give us even more confidence in using this search tool. If you own a shop or repair guitars, visit the site and get listed, it’s free and a invaluable tool to promote your business.
clips where some kid is playing Dragon Force on expert mode, with no errors and wonder how good they would be if they actually practiced a real guitar instead of playing some wannabe video game. According to Gizmodo.com, we might have an answer to that question. The program is called Guitar Rising and apparently you can plug in any electric guitar and play. I looks as if it works similar to guitar hero except your actually playing the guitar. It starts out with learning the basics of the guitar and progresses to much harder levels. Does this mean, there will be a guitarist in the future that says his/her influences were Vai, Satriani, Emmanuel, and Guitar Rising?
