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"Just Improv a Bit, Then We'll Hit Them With the Real Song"


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I loved the very beginning, what a great example to teach students about the use of pedal point in harmony. And he grew out of it in such a graceful and fluid fashion. Truly being "in the moment".

 

Yes, those pedals really intrigue me. It's such a beautiful bracketing of time through that first section, and I have the strong sense that the whole idea grew from hearing that glide, at that exact rate, in real time. And then the instinct to bring it to the "iv"* when he does....so stunning.

 

* It's not really a iv, though, right? The G has been sorta mixo throughout and then it turns out the C is actually the I...but more than that, when it gets there, it's actually a i. Then the G fully reveals itself to be a V on that walkdown. Funny how even with the pedaling the tonic is not always what we think...

Now out! "Mind the Gap," a 24-song album of new material.
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To me, this is the musical equivalent of casting the wrong actor/actress for a part in a movie. You don't hire Arnold Schwarzenegger to play the lead in a teen romance. He's too old and that's not his skill set. He can do action and a wry sort of humor. That's his thing and he's good at it. Don't try to get him out of that range.

 

Hiring Cory Henry to play Jon Lord was a wrong move on the part of those in charge of "casting" the part and it shows. Or, conversely, if the objective was to hire Cory Henry come hell or high water, then they should have chosen material compatible with his strengths. Either way I see it as a fail, at least for that one song. I'm sure the rest of the gig was magical, but that one transition was just wrong.

 

Grey

I'm not interested in someone's ability to program. I'm interested in their ability to compose and play.

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Cory Henry was hired to play Cory Henry. He probably didn't give half a shit what song he was supposed to lead into. Like I said, those guys are paid well and they do what they're told. Mandoky puts these groups together and maybe he enjoys stirring things up or likes to present contrasting styles. Everybody's a producer I guess.
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Cory Henry was hired to play Cory Henry. He probably didn't give half a shit what song he was supposed to lead into. Like I said, those guys are paid well and they do what they're told. Mandoky puts these groups together and maybe he enjoys stirring things up or likes to present contrasting styles. Everybody's a producer I guess.

I set this up with my OP. I really just meant to glorify Henry, who can't play badly if he tries. If the inspired gear he found ends up feeling out of sync with the song he is "intro-ing," it's solely because of how deep his well runs, which was really what I was trying to get at. I don't think any diminishing of the band is necessary to appreciate how bright Henry's artistry shines, no matter what he's doing.

Now out! "Mind the Gap," a 24-song album of new material.
www.joshweinstein.com

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Hiring Cory Henry to play Jon Lord was a wrong move on the part of those in charge of "casting" the part and it shows.
We didn't hear the rest, I suspect he played the Jon Lord stuff just fine, too! Without knowing anything more about the entire show, I can't comment on what "fit" or "didn't fit" beyond saying that mixing in a few minutes of an unexpected style (in either direction) is not something I inherently see as a bad thing.

 

But your comment reminds me of some Jethro Tull decisions in the 80s. They did an album and tour with Eddie Jobson. In concert, the stuff from their new album sounded as you'd expect it to, but they took a perhaps unexpected direction of similarly playing their older songs essentially with keyboards as Eddie Jobson would have played them. I see the logic... you don't hire Eddie Jobson to be anyone but Eddie Jobson, right? But it was a decidedly different flavor, and I felt that much of the stuff just didn't sound "right." It's like getting an album of covers... sometimes you may find an interesting new take on an old favorite that you like as much as or even more than the original, but more often you end up saying, "that's interesting, but the original was better."

 

Following that album, they got Peter-John Vettese on keyboards, who brought his own style. But what I found also notable in the subsequent concerts is that, on the new material, he sounded like Vettesse, but when they played material from Jobson's album, it sounded like Jobson, and when they did material from the earlier albums, he sounded like John Evan/D. Palmer, the keyboardists on those albums. He may or may not have played the parts note for note, and maybe he took some liberties, but regardless, what he played on the older material generally sounded like things those keyboardists might well have played. All the songs basically maintained their original character, instead of being radical departures. I can see arguments for going either way, but as much as I admire Eddie Jobson, I preferred Vettesse's approach.

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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Hiring Cory Henry to play Jon Lord was a wrong move on the part of those in charge of "casting" the part and it shows. Or, conversely, if the objective was to hire Cory Henry come hell or high water, then they should have chosen material compatible with his strengths. Either way I see it as a fail, at least for that one song. I'm sure the rest of the gig was magical, but that one transition was just wrong.

Cory Henry wasn't even a thought when "Smoke on the Water" was a hit. I'm sure he's heard the song at some point but not enough to revere and/or hold the tune or Deep Purple or Jon Lord in high esteem. To Henry, I woudn't be surprised if "Smoke on the Water" is just another stream of notes. It's just music. Cory was brought in to "do his thing". :cool:

PD

 

"The greatest thing you'll ever learn, is just to love and be loved in return."--E. Ahbez "Nature Boy"

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This one snippet of the performance is just that, a snippet.

 

Later on, Tony Carey, who played with Ritchie in Rainbow, does a little organ playing, then Cory outros the song with some of his trademark synth jamming.

 

Here's the the final 3 minutes.

 

[video:youtube]

 

 

The entire, kick ass, uninterrupted performance is out there.

David

Gig Rig:Casio Privia PX-5S | Yamaha MODX+ 6 | MacBook Pro 14" M1| Mainstage

 

 

 

 

 

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what he played on the older material generally sounded like things those keyboardists might well have played.

I mean... that makes sense to me. Taking it down to my bush-league level, if the band is covering something off Exile on Main St, there's lots of things you *could* do, but in my mind the only correct answer is to try to at least cop the vibe of what Nicky Hopkins was doing. What he played was so perfect for those tunes it seems almost blasphemous to stray too far from that.

 

I'll offer a counter-example: a few years ago I went to go see the Last Waltz at New Orleans Jazz Fest. Don Was was the music director and had assembled an absolutely monstrous rotating cast of musicians. This particular night they had Michael McDonald and John Medeski on keyboards. Not gonna lie, I never would have considered myself Michael McDonald fan before but I just know him from his more poppy stuff. He absolutely crushed it. Played beautifully, sang beautifully, he was great. Came away with a much greater appreciation for his talent. John Medeski, on the other hand, reverted to that godawful weeee! errrrrr! gaaaaaaa! screechy bullshit he always does. I will never understand what his deal is. Guy has enormous chops and, in my opinion, just horrific taste. And so it happened - everyone else was there to honor that great body of music, but no, Medeski has to go pee higher on the tree than everyone else and defile the music with his ridiculous atonal bullshit. Save that crap for your own show, buddy. I found it incredibly disrespectful.

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Later on, Tony Carey, who played with Ritchie in Rainbow, does a little organ playing, then Cory outros the song with some of his trademark synth jamming.

I'd hesitate to call anyone on that stage tone deaf, but I have to say I cringed when Tony passed the spotlight to Cory with the phrase, "burn it down, boy!" No matter the context, a white American calling a grown African American man "boy" is... problematic. (As if it wasn't enough that Tony played a Hammond C-something, while Cory played the Nord...)

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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Not exactly the same thing... I was at a Dixie Dregs show way back, around 1979? So the Dregs were in the middle of this insane complex awesome jam, when they abruptly and perfectly launched into My Sharona (which had blown up huge right around the time of this gig). The place went crazy, and then they effortlessly and perfectly segued back into their jam.

Some music I've recorded and played over the years with a few different bands

Tommy Rude Soundcloud

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So, my thoughts...

 

That transition is, err, interesting musically. :D But you know what else it is? Entertaining. And you have to admit that at least 50% of what an audience wants in a live show is entertainment! I think it's a great humorous twist for the gig. I think that's part of the point. And everything right before that organ comes in was awesome as I would expect from CH.

 

 

I like it. It's a good live show and a great way to get the audience enjoying the show.

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The element of surprise is one of those things I never fully appreciated as a keyboard player, but is a really important part of being a good DJ. Skillfully mixing into something the room isn't expecting (and then picking stuff that will get a positive response!)... well anyway that's what I see going on here - but at a much higher level of course.

 

There's a brief shot in the video of the crowd with hands going up when Cory Henry stops the tease and breaks into the classic riff. That's all I needed to see. It worked - spectacularly. :thu:

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Really enjoyed that. My $0.02. I think if Cory had jammed longer on the organ (further establishing the rock vibe) before launching into SOTW it would have been less jarring.

 

Short diversion. My first NAMM show was in 2016. Tonysounds, Redkey, Eric and myself were hanging out in one of the hotel lobbies where Cory"s show was taking place. It was admirable to see him schlep his own gear onto the stage, take the Kronos out of the case and place onto the stand, wire everything up, etc...just like us mere mortals. Much respect. Of course, he and his band tore it up. Then around the middle of the set, I"m standing there watching the show and casually look to my left with no real purpose, only to find Jordan Rudess right next to me! I kind of froze for a while, and not wanting to be overly intrusive, simply thanked him for the inspiration. He was very nice, polite, and appreciative and shook my hand.

"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing."

- George Bernard Shaw

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Regarding my earlier comment of not really believing everything Mandoki likes to brag about. There are a few real credits I could dig up:

He wrote and produced a TV series theme song featuring Bobby Kimball

https://www.discogs.com/Mandoki-Kimball-Life-Should-Be-So-Easy/release/12256438

He wrote and produced one Lionel Richie song, a duet with a German singer

https://www.discogs.com/Lionel-Richie-Juliette-The-One/master/695544

He produced a Jennifer Rush album https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classics_(Jennifer_Rush_album)

He was musical director for the German version of the Tarzan soundtrack, so his Phil Collins credit is a little exaggerated.

Life is subtractive.
Genres: Jazz, funk, pop, Christian worship, BebHop
Wishlist: 80s-ish (synth)pop, symph pop, prog rock, fusion, musical theatre
Gear: NS2 + JUNO-G. KingKORG. SP6 at church.

 

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Pretty boring, another chops display. It"s not very interesting to me, IMO. It sounds almost as if it was a tribute to Chick Corea with all that Spanish classical tinge.

 Find 660 of my jazz piano arrangements of standards for educational purposes and tutorials at www.Patreon.com/HarryLikas Harry was the Technical Editor of Mark Levine's "The Jazz Theory Book" and helped develop "The Jazz Piano Book."

 

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Pretty boring, another chops display. It"s not very interesting to me, IMO. It sounds almost as if it was a tribute to Chick Corea with all that Spanish classical tinge.

Interesting point of view especially coming from a certified Hiromi fan.:rolleyes::cool:

PD

 

"The greatest thing you'll ever learn, is just to love and be loved in return."--E. Ahbez "Nature Boy"

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It's funny, I love music and I love Cory Henry and I love rock. But there is so much barbed wire in all we say or do these days. I do it too. So much turf to protect.

 

I wonder what people would think today if Ravi Shankar jammed with the Beatles? Or if Andre Previn and Oscar Peterson started hanging out? Or if the great Igor Stravinsky made a pilgrimage to the Birdland Club to make a connection with the great Charlie Parker?

 

Would it be about the music? Or the politics of it?

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While I agree that there's a lot of rancor in the air, I'm not clear how the improv opening to Smoke On The Water qualifies as a turf war or political litmus test...?

 

Did I miss a post or two?

 

Grey

I'm not interested in someone's ability to program. I'm interested in their ability to compose and play.

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Brother Grey, when I see the rancor you mention, I think of positions and assumptions about music that are being defended.

 

Perhaps my post was a bit of self indulgent nostalgia. A vague plea for a simpler more innocent time? I guess I am hopeful we can all enjoy the music more. I mean no offense.

 

Warmly, Jerry

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