Re: [Harp-L] Re: Blues Grooves

[Steve Shriver <steveshriver@xxxxxxx>]

Here¹s a killer groove from late season Butterfield with Rick Danko and
Blondie Chaplin:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7e0TswzKGq4
This whole concert is recorded on various youtube videos. NICE!

on 8/28/10 11:34 PM, Ken Deifik at kenneth.d@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:

> Rob Paparozzi wrote:
>> >Excellent post on the "Groove" and their creator's!!,-)
>> >
>> >I agree Memphis Drummer Al Jackson was just "amazing"!!!....How about his
>> >beat on Otis Redding's version of 'Try a little Tenderness' OMG it is pure
>> >genius! Steve Cropper told me many stories about how the MG's and Al would
>> >watch the kids dancing at local dances in Memphis and the next day at Stax
>> >they would try and come up with a GROOVE to fit the dances they saw. He
>> >said THAT is how 'Green Onions' was concieved !!
>> >
>> >Yes, I've been blessed to able to make Music with legendary Groovemaster
>> >Bernard "Pretty" Purdie over the years and we are also best friends.
> 
> Thanks Rob.  Your own playing has some of the best groove work I've ever
> heard by a harp player.
> 
> Some more things younger players should think about vis-a-vis grooves:
> 
> When you hear a really good example of a specific groove on a recording,
> it's good to try to play it with your band, then go back and see how close
> you really came to making that groove.  Lots of these grooves sound simpler
> than they really are, and all of them require serious practice before you
> can really give them the power that makes them standards in the first place.
> 
> But once you can really - really really - get an audience going with some
> of these grooves it is time to get brave and invent your own grooves.
> 
> I'm a huge fan of the group Chic.  They invented groove after groove, and
> made a zillion hits, for themselves and for other artists.  How did they
> invent all these amazing grooves?  The two producer/composers, Nile Rodgers
> and Bernard Edwards played guitar and bass respectively.  They were highly
> skilled young guys.  Their drummer, Tony Thompson was also a great
> musician.  The three musicians would sit together in the studio and
> INVENT.  If one guy had an idea the other two were right there trying to
> find the best ways to lock with the idea.  (Locking means playing parts
> that fit into the holes of the groove in such a way as to make the groove
> even stronger and more engaging.)
> 
> Then the guy with the original idea would perfect what he was doing in
> relation to what the other guys were doing.  I suspect that sometimes they
> found something amazing in under two minutes.  Sometimes they might have
> worked for two days until they hit on something that had The Thing.  Once
> they hit on an incredible groove they'd start writing changes and they'd
> pull in the keyboard guy and other players and boom - another amazing track.
> 
> But they started each track by perfecting a three-man groove.  They sweated
> it.
> 
> Get your band together for groove-making sessions.  If you're fairly new to
> the game, you will learn SO much from this, and even if you're not so new,
> you and your band will get stronger and stronger by using lots of your
> get-togethers JUST learning how to develop grooves together.  (That's part
> of the secret: you won't be that good at this at first, but if the band
> members are willing to work hard at groove-building you'll develop a
> working style that will be incredibly productive.)
> 
> Here's the thing.  Very, very few harp players really learn how to find a
> part in a groove.  The job is to listen for the "holes", the places where
> nobody else is participating in the rhythm.  Once you can fill a few holes
> you can start finding better and better WAYS to fill them.  The idea is to
> lock in with the other parts.  Importantly, you'll start building your own
> solos around those holes.
> 
> You can practice this by playing along to records that have highly defined
> grooves.  Chic, in fact, would be a great place to start.  Don't play the
> same rhythm that the band is playing, FIND THE HOLES.  At first it'll be
> awkward and not very hip at all, but then suddenly you'll find a few holes
> that make up a part that is totally amazing.
> 
> By the way, Nile Rodgers produced David Bowie's "Let's Dance" album, which
> introduced Steve Ray Vaughan to the musical world outside Texas.  Stevie
> Ray could play some dangerous grooves and locks.
> 

-- Steve