It was a rare treat last night to see James Corachea and Lefty Unplugged playing in the same evening and, even better, they were doing it in the same place, Cat's Art MusikCircus.
James Corachea played the first show:
There was a pretty good-going campfire but the last thing you will ever hear from James Corachea is campfire songs. He opened up with a song in which he must have used every off-the-wall chord he knows but he has a genius for getting away with that.
The marvel in James' style is that he manages poly-melodic threads without using any devices (i.e. no looper, no echo, no nothin'). He has played "Leap Before You Look" before but he has the rare ability to keep a song sounding fresh. One of the dangers in playing a song a lot, no matter how intricate it may be, is that after a time it will just sound like a recital but a rare few can keep the life in it and that's how it was that Les Paul still had an audience when he was ninety years old.
It's a fascinating thing to me how James manages a multi-dimensional style in his picking as I've not heard anyone like him and it was great to see more people coming to appreciate his work. More importantly, those who came didn't leave as that's always the biggest disappointment to a performer when there are fewer people in the audience at the end of the show than the start of it.
The Amazing Leela watched the show from a perch high above the circus floor:
Lefty Unplugged played the second show and he also has a distinctly unique style. Something I learned yesterday is that he is doing better and better in finding real life gigs but hopefully they won't pull him away from performance at the MusikCircus as he is such a special part of the magic.
Sure, the campfire was still burning but Lefty Unplugged doesn't do campfire songs either. He didn't use an electric guitar last night but that's part of his magic in that you never know what he's going to do. Well, you do know he's going to bear his bunny slippers!
Ranulph and Lady Emerald Fox chose a new way to enjoy the performance last night:
Ranulph had some lovely thoughts about Lefty's performance and that's one of the most wonderful things about the crowd at Cat's Art MusikCircus. They don't just hang about shouting YOU RAWK but rather they listen quite intently and sharing those thoughts in open chat is part of the magic.
Lefty played several songs toward the end of the show that were deeply sad but were possessed of enormous beauty and one of them filled my eyes with tears. It was on a theme known to all of us in lost loves but it wasn't delivered in a self-pitying way and neither did it elicit a self-pitying sensation as it was tremendously beautiful and always we live in spite of loss. Previous loss is what gives part of the depth to anything anyone has now and that's what got me misty, not what's gone but what has come.
Lefty is easily one of the best lyricists I know and he's truly a poet more than a songwriter. It's one thing to write couplets that rhyme but it's quite another to write to the depth that Lefty manages.
One of the big surprises last night was that Lefty really had to go but he wanted to play one more thing ... and he pulled out a bass. At first he was playing quite close to lead guitar lines on it and that was very cool but then Count Riffula took over and he used it for the bottom while he sang. It was excellent. I do so like musical surprises!
(I played with a couple of fusion jazz guys in the early days in The Freezebirds and they would talk about Count Riffula a lot. It's all very well to be ultra-creative in what you're playing but sooner or later Count Riffula has to play the riff to hold it all together.)
And Cat and I danced!
You can't see much of my splendidness (laughs) but I really loved Cat's hat and also that Lefty was playing the background. Last night was very special.
(Ed: Special because of the hat?)
Um, bro, you did read the article, right?? (laughs)
There were griefers at the show last night but, as we've learned all too well in this last week, the only way to deal with them is to ignore them. If you need their names IM Silas Scarborough or Cat Boucher. Beyond that these bad-tempered varmints don't warrant any attention.
James Corachea played the first show:
There was a pretty good-going campfire but the last thing you will ever hear from James Corachea is campfire songs. He opened up with a song in which he must have used every off-the-wall chord he knows but he has a genius for getting away with that.
The marvel in James' style is that he manages poly-melodic threads without using any devices (i.e. no looper, no echo, no nothin'). He has played "Leap Before You Look" before but he has the rare ability to keep a song sounding fresh. One of the dangers in playing a song a lot, no matter how intricate it may be, is that after a time it will just sound like a recital but a rare few can keep the life in it and that's how it was that Les Paul still had an audience when he was ninety years old.
It's a fascinating thing to me how James manages a multi-dimensional style in his picking as I've not heard anyone like him and it was great to see more people coming to appreciate his work. More importantly, those who came didn't leave as that's always the biggest disappointment to a performer when there are fewer people in the audience at the end of the show than the start of it.
The Amazing Leela watched the show from a perch high above the circus floor:
Lefty Unplugged played the second show and he also has a distinctly unique style. Something I learned yesterday is that he is doing better and better in finding real life gigs but hopefully they won't pull him away from performance at the MusikCircus as he is such a special part of the magic.
Sure, the campfire was still burning but Lefty Unplugged doesn't do campfire songs either. He didn't use an electric guitar last night but that's part of his magic in that you never know what he's going to do. Well, you do know he's going to bear his bunny slippers!
Ranulph and Lady Emerald Fox chose a new way to enjoy the performance last night:
Ranulph had some lovely thoughts about Lefty's performance and that's one of the most wonderful things about the crowd at Cat's Art MusikCircus. They don't just hang about shouting YOU RAWK but rather they listen quite intently and sharing those thoughts in open chat is part of the magic.
Lefty played several songs toward the end of the show that were deeply sad but were possessed of enormous beauty and one of them filled my eyes with tears. It was on a theme known to all of us in lost loves but it wasn't delivered in a self-pitying way and neither did it elicit a self-pitying sensation as it was tremendously beautiful and always we live in spite of loss. Previous loss is what gives part of the depth to anything anyone has now and that's what got me misty, not what's gone but what has come.
Lefty is easily one of the best lyricists I know and he's truly a poet more than a songwriter. It's one thing to write couplets that rhyme but it's quite another to write to the depth that Lefty manages.
One of the big surprises last night was that Lefty really had to go but he wanted to play one more thing ... and he pulled out a bass. At first he was playing quite close to lead guitar lines on it and that was very cool but then Count Riffula took over and he used it for the bottom while he sang. It was excellent. I do so like musical surprises!
(I played with a couple of fusion jazz guys in the early days in The Freezebirds and they would talk about Count Riffula a lot. It's all very well to be ultra-creative in what you're playing but sooner or later Count Riffula has to play the riff to hold it all together.)
And Cat and I danced!
You can't see much of my splendidness (laughs) but I really loved Cat's hat and also that Lefty was playing the background. Last night was very special.
(Ed: Special because of the hat?)
Um, bro, you did read the article, right?? (laughs)
There were griefers at the show last night but, as we've learned all too well in this last week, the only way to deal with them is to ignore them. If you need their names IM Silas Scarborough or Cat Boucher. Beyond that these bad-tempered varmints don't warrant any attention.
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