yo Seth

Thanks for the clarification of your blues comments..makes a lot of
sense. At this time, I have a student (about 24) with a lot of talent,
but he doesn't like blues, based on the noodly jam sessions he's gone
to, and the blandness of Kenny Wayne Shepherd. There's a bit of humor
here, as he's never even heard any of the greats, Howlin Wolf, etc, so
I'm going to see if he can be swayed in his rather limited opinion of
this marvelous art form. Maybe not, of course...in which case, I cannot
imagine him ever being a meaningful jazz player (which is his
direction), since jazz is firmly based on the bedrock of the blues. When
Stevie Ray died, I knew we were in for a bad time, because our culture
makes icons out of dead artists...now, there's a big push for folks to
sound (and at times, even look) like SRV. Which is the death of blues,
or any sort of creative statement.
BTW, guitar fans should check out Metheny's new Live Trio album...I
heard one disc, and was mighty impressed at the creativity, the chops,
and the wide stylistic range. There's a blues (Soul Cowboy) that really
takes the form way out, harmonically and rhymthically, and a free piece
that reminded me more of Fripp than Metheny...real whacked and
psychedelic. Very micro sounding, as well..if the rest of the CD is that
good, yow. Pat has reached a profound level in his development; he's
integrated all his influences into a very personal style, with great
skills as a composer and improvisor...something for everyone to strive
for...Hstick

Neil wrote:
> blues. When
> Stevie Ray died, I knew we were in for a bad time, because our culture
> makes icons out of dead artists...now, there's a big push for folks to
> sound (and at times, even look) like SRV. Which is the death of blues,
> or any sort of creative statement.

At first I thought this was an attack on SRV, but then I realized what you
really meant was if everyone tries to sound like one dead person, then all
blues will sound mostly the same and therefore terrible.
I'd agree that there've been a rash of SRV sound-alikes. I would have
thought that people into SRV would be more interested in sounding like Jimi
Hendrix, who is my favorite electric blues player, but maybe people realize
they could NEVER sound like Jimi, without realizing they could never sound
like Stevie, either.

There are some great bluesmen out there with their own sounds (John Hammond
comes to mind) but I do find myself listening to the radio and thinking
"sounds like SRV, but clearly is not," many times.
Good luck with that student!

Todd