Re: [Harp-L] Coltrane and Ballads- creative inspirations

[icemanle@xxxxxxx]

This is great stuff and of much interest to me as a musician/harmonica player.
 
Here are 5 suggestions for listening, each dealing with another musical aspect
 
Portishead - "Live in NYC" - you wanna know about minimalism, simplicity and SLOW? Check'em out.
 
Eva Cassidy - anything she sings will give you a glimpse into the workings of a musical angel
 
Brian Ferry - "Taxi" - how one can play other's music and make it original again
 
Roger Waters - "Amused to Death" - creative genius in subject and sonic wonderland
 
Peggy Lee/Tony Bennet - how to lyrically tell a story through song
 
The Iceman
 
 
 
 
 
-----Original Message-----
From: aeskow@xxxxxxx
To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Thu, 20 Apr 2006 08:47:34 -0400
Subject: [Harp-L] Coltrane and Ballads


Lost in the to-and-fro--and perhaps even the hither-and-thither--about A Love 
Supreme (before whose altar I, personally, worship) is a whole other aspect of 
Coltrane's playing that I find too often neglected--and in the long run perhaps 
of equal or greater use to most harp players, and that is his insanely delicate 
and heartfelt way with a ballad.  On my own desert island compilation of discs 
I'd be sure to include the Ballads album he did with Johnny Hartman, whose voice 
may be an acquired taste (I think it's what the adjective "plummy" was invented 
for) but which I dig a lot.  Just hearing the way Coltrane cuts to the heart of 
each melody with a samurai grace is a master class in soul.  It's as if, having 
plumbed the depths of the cosmos via his sax and his dope, he returned to some 
timeless simplicities and was able to evoke them with brushstrokes of perfect 
grace.
 
Peace and Respect,
Johnny T
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