Credit Bluesmeister:
Once again I'm starting a thread that Bluesmeister has suggested and deserves to be the grandaddy of.
The thread has been carried over from one that started on the AR-300. When I started making comparisons between the craftsmanship of the 300 and my Robben Ford Ultra,
JohnS asked me if I'd seen Robben Ford. As the dicussion splintered, Bluesmeister then suggested starting a thread in the Artist Appreciation Section on 'Sir' Robben Ford: so here we are.
Robben Ford, like John Scofield is one of the most protean and revolutionary blues players I've ever heard. Somewhere on this site I quoted Scofield as saying that
"Blues is the greatest musical invention of the 20th century"Howcome? (Maximum-Feasible-Raw-Intensity is assumed here). I think because Blues so malleable and it's inherently
chromatic. It also defies the traditional definition of a key. Also, the dominant 7th chords move differently than in the Western Classical Tradition (not to mention that it's the ending chord and not a chord that demands resolution). Blues can swing or be straight 8ths, It demands that we truly learn to hear micro-tonally (1/4 and 1/8 tones)-- also outside the Western Classical Tradiion. Blues has many varied forms -- 8, 12, 16, 24, 13, 18, 20 bars(!)-- Ford even does a
17 bar country swing -- see below). Blues lends itself to Rock, Jazz, Bluegrass, Dixieland, Acoustic, Slide, Fingerstyle. Distortion, etc... Blues is so malleable it's incredible.
BUT not everybody hears that. Many think Blues is simply a 3 chord idiom with a 5 note scale (I certainly sure did at one time) -- and it's that also...but there's still more for everybody on the block...all sorts of levels as your ears will allow for...
And Robben Ford
continually reminds us of how elastic Blues really is time and time again on
every CD. Whether he's playing a rock shuffle like Talk to Your Daughter, a contemporary chromatic harmonized composition like Mose Allison's "Aint Got Nothin' But the Blues", or a hot smoking piece like "The Brother"; Robben Ford'll take you places in the Blues that you never thought of.
You never know what his next CD is going to sound like. I've been studing him for
30 years and he's still
always a surprise.
In the previous thread Bluesmeister was saying to JimmmyS that he liked the Blue Line better than Talk Your Daughter.
Carrying on: TTYD v. The Blue Line. Jimmys, please get both of them!. Which is better? Depends what your listening for: They’re both excellent in many different ways.
TTYD is much more hip and a great study from the standpoint of contemporary harmonization, chromaticism lines and counterpoint (Got Nothin' But the Blues, Getaway, Help the Poor, and Revelation). For example, the 1st chord in 'Getaway' is an Eb/E that most players don’t even hear; Mose Allison’s GNBTB has the super-hip contemporary D/Bb/C voicing as a II7 or IV7 chord depending on how you hear it – rare and is Ford at his best from the contemporary chord standpoint, etc. TTYD also has the incredible grooves and drumming of Vinnie Colaiuta to whom I could listen without listening to anything or anyone else on TTYD.
On The Blue Line Ford's going down a completely different path. Here he's much more traditional in composition, hamonization, form and feel. Bluesmeister is right also. 'The Brother'
smokes and Tom Brechtlein is a top notch drummer as well and provides a 'powerhouse' and smoking funky groove. The Blue Line also has the lovely 'One For Annie (Life Song)'* with some real nice voicings a la Mayfield/Hendrix (Little Wing). A truly gorgeouis composition worth study in itself. Either song is worth the price of the CD. Ford also plays some cool chromatic Lydian Dominant lines on the bVI7 chord (I think it’s an Eb7#11) on Prisoner of Love in G minor. (I’m really stretching my memory here and am waiting to be corrected.)
Ford is masterful in both contemporary and traditional approaches to Blues harmonization, composition and soloing. On another album (Mystic Mile?) he even does a 17 bar county swing (‘Misdirected Blues’) with some of the hippest superimposed Be Bop lines you could imagine; and his rhythms are so fluid they’re amazing.
Jing Chi, Tiger Walk, Mystic Mile, Talk to Your Daughter, The Blue Line...There's something there for everybody.
Credit here goes to
Bluesmeister once again.
*that song is transcribed in the book 'The Robben Ford Blues Guitar Collection' Published by Hal Leonard HL00690042
http://www.amazon.com/Robben-Ford-BluesGuitarColle ction/dp/0793544548/ref=sr_1_1/104-9902905-9635969 ?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1184633282&sr=1-1Best,
Allears
