Cat was talking about changing the stage last night as she likes to make a different one for each performer but Joaquin Gustav arrived while we talked about it and the first thing he said after hello was, "I love this stage!"
That settled it right away. The stage stays!
Joaquin Gustav comes to us from Buenos Aires and we probably could not find a more romantic performance of Latin music anywhere else in the world. It's an amazement every time he plays to hear his brilliant speed of play as it's always incredibly delicate and delivered with such a gentle manner. This is not at all an act as he really is a charming and thoughtful human being.
Joaquin loves taking requests for songs and one person called out for Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire!" Sometimes you just wonder what the hell but don't say anything (laughs). During this same time there were multiple requests for Joaquin to sing. He responded multiple times that he's a terrible singer. Are you really sure you want me to do it. They were quite determined and, oh yes, we want to hear you sing. That's when Cat suggested "Girl from Ipanema."
While Joaquin doesn't think much of his voice, he delivered "Girl from Ipanema" in the same gentle style as his guitar play and it was perfect for it. Far from being terrible, it sounded perfect for his performance, in Spanish, of the song. Bravo, Joaquin!
Oh, yes, Cat and I danced!
I will wear just about anything on-stage but not when I'm dancing with Cat because you can see her gown is magnificent and competing with that would not only be ungentlemanly, it would also be plain stupid!
My Internet access was cursed for the last two week-ends so I missed the Healing Friday performances both times. Cat would tell me after the fact of things Voodoo Shilton had tried and then it would be my turn to curse the Internet for preventing me from hearing them.
But not last night!
Voodoo Shilton started right into his set by using a looper, I don't know which variety, and he also talked to people to give them an idea how it works. After all, if you don't play why would you know anything about what a looper does or how you would use it. Since Voodoo is not hear to tell you, a looper records a few bars of your music while you play it and then plays it back (i.e. loops it). Once that is recorded, you can keep adding more to it with additional instruments.
Voodoo was using a guitar, a bass, an udu, and a peanut butter jar although we don't know if it was Jif or Skippy. Neither is available in Greece.
(Ed: A peanut butter jar?)
Certainly! Music is in all things, my brother!
At the same time as Voodoo started experimenting, Joni TzuAizu became quite insistent that we must have a Conga line and so that began to grow along with Voodoo's set.
From left to right, Joni TzuAizu, Cat Boucher, Silas Scarborough, Jolee Zilz, TrickY Oh
Voodoo's play was brilliant and I finally got to hear his udu, not to mention his peanut butter jar. While an udu isn't percussion, it can give something of the feel of it but with a quite haunting sound from very deep in the history of man. A peanut butter jar certainly is percussion and the clink sound adds yet another unexpected twist to an exotic sound. Combine all this with the most modern style of guitar play and the result is incredible.
The first half of Voodoo's set was filled with experimentation and this is what I admire most in performance. Lotho and I went to see Jethro Tull during one of his tours and the show was so incredible that we went to see him again in another city the next night only to find the set was identical. Neither of us had considered this possibility and were extremely disappointed by it. What happened last night was nothing like that. I missed two weeks of Voodoo's act and the whole set changed!
After using the looper, Voodoo went into some new original work and that was brilliant as well. Again I hadn't heard it before and, again, it's what I admire the most when musicians keep pushing their work forward. Cat remarked during one of his songs that she loved the rhythm changes and I said that's one thing you will never ever be able to do with a looper. They're great for keeping a rhythm but don't ever think of changing it during the song.
(Technical note: It is possible to change rhythm with a Boss RC50 or Boss RC300 if you turn off Tempo Sync and switch phrases. That goes beyond the scope of a review into technical gibberish so that will keep for another day as most loopers can't do that.)
Another standout feature of Voodoo Shilton's performance last night was that he did quite a lot of singing and it adds tremendously to his performance. One of the things that often makes jazz unapproachable for people is there's very little singing but Voodoo brings it all and it's fascinating to hear the changes.
Something I would never have expected from Voodoo was a cover of the "Ghostbusters" theme but lose the jangly beat of the original as that isn't what he did at all. He made the song his own and that's another thing I admire the most in musicians. If you're going to cover something, take it somewhere it never went before. Voodoo did that ... and so did TrickY Oh!
Maybe you have danced in a conga line with a ghost but I never have!
That settled it right away. The stage stays!
Joaquin Gustav comes to us from Buenos Aires and we probably could not find a more romantic performance of Latin music anywhere else in the world. It's an amazement every time he plays to hear his brilliant speed of play as it's always incredibly delicate and delivered with such a gentle manner. This is not at all an act as he really is a charming and thoughtful human being.
Joaquin loves taking requests for songs and one person called out for Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire!" Sometimes you just wonder what the hell but don't say anything (laughs). During this same time there were multiple requests for Joaquin to sing. He responded multiple times that he's a terrible singer. Are you really sure you want me to do it. They were quite determined and, oh yes, we want to hear you sing. That's when Cat suggested "Girl from Ipanema."
While Joaquin doesn't think much of his voice, he delivered "Girl from Ipanema" in the same gentle style as his guitar play and it was perfect for it. Far from being terrible, it sounded perfect for his performance, in Spanish, of the song. Bravo, Joaquin!
Oh, yes, Cat and I danced!
I will wear just about anything on-stage but not when I'm dancing with Cat because you can see her gown is magnificent and competing with that would not only be ungentlemanly, it would also be plain stupid!
My Internet access was cursed for the last two week-ends so I missed the Healing Friday performances both times. Cat would tell me after the fact of things Voodoo Shilton had tried and then it would be my turn to curse the Internet for preventing me from hearing them.
But not last night!
Voodoo Shilton started right into his set by using a looper, I don't know which variety, and he also talked to people to give them an idea how it works. After all, if you don't play why would you know anything about what a looper does or how you would use it. Since Voodoo is not hear to tell you, a looper records a few bars of your music while you play it and then plays it back (i.e. loops it). Once that is recorded, you can keep adding more to it with additional instruments.
Voodoo was using a guitar, a bass, an udu, and a peanut butter jar although we don't know if it was Jif or Skippy. Neither is available in Greece.
(Ed: A peanut butter jar?)
Certainly! Music is in all things, my brother!
At the same time as Voodoo started experimenting, Joni TzuAizu became quite insistent that we must have a Conga line and so that began to grow along with Voodoo's set.
From left to right, Joni TzuAizu, Cat Boucher, Silas Scarborough, Jolee Zilz, TrickY Oh
Voodoo's play was brilliant and I finally got to hear his udu, not to mention his peanut butter jar. While an udu isn't percussion, it can give something of the feel of it but with a quite haunting sound from very deep in the history of man. A peanut butter jar certainly is percussion and the clink sound adds yet another unexpected twist to an exotic sound. Combine all this with the most modern style of guitar play and the result is incredible.
The first half of Voodoo's set was filled with experimentation and this is what I admire most in performance. Lotho and I went to see Jethro Tull during one of his tours and the show was so incredible that we went to see him again in another city the next night only to find the set was identical. Neither of us had considered this possibility and were extremely disappointed by it. What happened last night was nothing like that. I missed two weeks of Voodoo's act and the whole set changed!
After using the looper, Voodoo went into some new original work and that was brilliant as well. Again I hadn't heard it before and, again, it's what I admire the most when musicians keep pushing their work forward. Cat remarked during one of his songs that she loved the rhythm changes and I said that's one thing you will never ever be able to do with a looper. They're great for keeping a rhythm but don't ever think of changing it during the song.
(Technical note: It is possible to change rhythm with a Boss RC50 or Boss RC300 if you turn off Tempo Sync and switch phrases. That goes beyond the scope of a review into technical gibberish so that will keep for another day as most loopers can't do that.)
Another standout feature of Voodoo Shilton's performance last night was that he did quite a lot of singing and it adds tremendously to his performance. One of the things that often makes jazz unapproachable for people is there's very little singing but Voodoo brings it all and it's fascinating to hear the changes.
Something I would never have expected from Voodoo was a cover of the "Ghostbusters" theme but lose the jangly beat of the original as that isn't what he did at all. He made the song his own and that's another thing I admire the most in musicians. If you're going to cover something, take it somewhere it never went before. Voodoo did that ... and so did TrickY Oh!
Maybe you have danced in a conga line with a ghost but I never have!
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