I think one of the advantages of say trios or duets is that it demands that the instruments are shifted from their normal sound space and have to find new voices to support each other.
The genius of Bluegrass, for instance, is that each instrument has its own sound space and as a result they all support each other, but, the danger with that is that the space can become so defined that it can also serve to limit the possibilities for each instrument. Approaching even bluegrass material as a trio or duo straight away offers you the difficulty of freedom... just how do you fill for the missing instruments on the selection that you have left? I think it was earlier in that same interview that Mr. Tater mentioned encountering the same trouble when working on the album with David Grier, that the bluegrass chop just wouldnt cut the mustard in that situation, so new backup solutions on the mandolin had to be found. For me that right there is the interest, that someone is kinda kicked from their comfort zone and they have to engage their imagination and ear again (thats not to imply that Mr. Tater was not being imaginative before the Grier album ;-) Also i think that the more stripped back nature of a two or three players does not leave much for a musician to hide behind, in my opinion, it demands that you listen to and interact more with the other players, and thats where the natural familiarity of family groups like the Haleys, Stanleys, Louvins, Monroes etc plays an advantage lending a second-nature to the interaction... and we all can marvel in the wonder that sort of initmacy can produce in music. The real wonder for me though is when you have a group of musicians who are unused to each other, or, as i said above, are shunted from their traditional roles and are flying by the seat of their pants, sometimes yes sir, the results can be ragged other times it can produce moments of pure unexpected adrenalin fueled magic . On Jun 21, 2:44 pm, Dasspunk <[email protected]> wrote: > Sign me up for trios too. Myself, my fiddler Paul and Bob Black sat > down one night and played as a trio for about 4 hours straight. With > no guitar player to hold us back, them were some lively tunes! Bob has > great rhythm sensibilities himself and it was a joy to play off each > other. > > I also find it interesting that--for whatever reason--my love of the > duet seems to be shared with a number of folks on this list... it's > nice to know I'm not alone! > > Brian > > On Jun 18, 8:28 am, Mark Halpin <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > Some of my favorite Tater ventures have to be on 'The Speed of the Old > > Long Bow' and t'other John Hartford old-time-fiddler-tribute albums... > > i dont dance much but i knows they do make for fine jogging musics. > > > From one of the old Co-mando interviews Mr. Tate tells that John > > Hartford was looking for something along the lines of what Ela Haley > > was doing on mandolin. Hers how its put in the interview > > > 'Haley's wife Ela played taterbug (or roundback for you yanks) > > mandolin on the recordings. She played simple chords with a heavy- > > handed rhythm and that's what John said he really wanted me to do. I > > thought it was a very primitive way to play mandolin until I started > > to notice Ela seemed to be playing the melody line, but with chords. > > In other words, her right hand played the melody, her left played > > chords. It's sort of the same thing tap dancers do I guess.' > > > Now, given that those Ed Haley recordings seem to be both rare and > > pricey i have'nt much of chance to hear what exactly is going on with > > the original recordings, i'm actually just going through the some mp3 > > samples at the moment and i'm beginning to hear the sound i associate > > from the Hartford albums. > > > Now i'm wondering if anyone here, not just Mr Taterbug though it'd be > > interesting to hear his views, have paid much attention to Ela Haley's > > playing or have tried to adapt it into their own playing? > > > If so, what attracts you to that style of playing, any observations > > about it, in particular i'd wonder how do you think it sits with the > > Monroe style?- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Taterbugmando" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/taterbugmando?hl=en.
