El Becko

I saw Jeff Beck last night in NYC @ the Roseland Ballroom. It's tough
standing for three hours straight when I have a plate
in my leg telling me to sit down. The show was f*@#$%& amazing.
It was great to hear my teenage guitar hero kick booty.

One of his stylistic qualities that I always liked - besides
his unpredictability as an improvisor - was his senitivity to
pitch. A few notes and I know it's him. He obviously
a microtonalist, although I don't think a he's a modern day
hot rod flash guitar Pythagoras.

Here's a quote from a CNN interview:

> Q: How has your playing style changed over the years?
>
> Beck: I think my playing has changed more in the last eight to
> 10 years than the rest of my whole life. Still, I cannot escape
> some Beckisms. I think Beckisms are influences from eastern
> Europe, speedy vibratos, slightly weird intonations. Influences
> from Bulgarian folk music have definitely crept in the last five to
> 10 years. I've been in love with Bulgarian village choirs a long
> time. They're so spot on. The music sounds like 12-part
> harmonies. That has crept into my playing style.

Full interview here:

http://www.cnn.com/SHOWBIZ/Music/9903/19/jeff.beck.ap/

--
* D a v i d B e a r d s l e y
* xouoxno@virtulink.com
*
* J u x t a p o s i t i o n E z i n e
* M E L A v i r t u a l d r e a m house monitor
*
* http://www.virtulink.com/immp/lookhere.htm

Beck is my first real guitar mentor...when I heard the Yardbirds as
a kid, my whole life changed, thanks to Beck and co. His new CD is out,
and very good...a couple of tracks are the best work he's ever done...I
wish him much success. As far as his microtonal influences, the
Bulgarian Choral music he mentions is surely in there...in fact, there's
some singing by Angelite on the album "Fly, Fly my Sadness" that is
eerily like the Yardbird's tune "Hot House of Omagarashid," on "Over
Under Sideways Down." But, on Beck's new CD, I also hear influences of
the Vietnamese instrument the Dan Bau, which is a one string zither,that
can do some flabbergasting things. Beck did a CD called "Frankie's
House" a while back, which was about the Vietnamese war; the music on
this project was heavily influenced by the Dan Bau, and on "Who Else"
(the new one). you can really hear this influence as well..there's some
truly amazing guitar work on this disc, and it is way outside of the 12
eq system. He does it strictly by feel and intuition, and it's some of
the best rock guitar playing in many years...Hstick