http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRXCI_Kxmiw

- your choice
from any of our tracks - when you sign up for our monthly
newsletter here (you can always unsubscribe at any time)

http://rosinatorsradio.blogspot.com/

Check out this brilliant drawing by 8 year old fiddle player Georgia Rae Mussared from Illinois USA of herself with Fliss, Paul and Will of The Rosinators. Thanks GR - we LOVE it!!!!!!!!!

http://net.freeuk.com/pdcmusic/georgia-rae.html

Found this great video of Gospel legend Sister Rosetta Tharpe playing on a rainswept railway platform back in 1964. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P28_iPSReRw The footage is uncredited but I noticed that the station name plate said Chorltonville. Doing a Google search on that name turned up this review by Graeme Hobbs of the DVD “The American Folk Blues Festivals 1962-69 - The British Tours 1963-66“ see http://snipurl.com/british_tours






[excerpt]

“Picture the scene. The year is 1964, the place is
Manchester [England]. We are at a disused suburban
railway station renamed 'Chorltonville', that has been
got up to look like a railroad station in the American
deep south, complete with baskets, barrels, trunks
and sacks strewn around the platform, a rocking chair
and even 'Reward' posters on the walls. Across the
tracks – quite literally – the audience is sitting on
raised seating on the opposite platform. Only the
weather refuses to join in the make-believe,
remaining resolutely Manchester and bucketing
down with rain.

At the piano, Cousin Joe Pleasant announces,
'Ladies and gennelmens, at this time, I take great
pleasure in bringing to you, one of the greatest,
one of the world's greatest gospel singers, and
guitar virtuoso, the inimitable Sister Rosetta Tharpe.'

Then, through the rain, a horse and trap arrives and
draws up next to the platform, whereupon Sister Rosetta
Tharpe alights, resplendent in white fur coat with glittering
collars and silver strapped heels. She walks centre
platform, picks up her white Gibson electric guitar and
launches into a storming version of the song 'Didn't It Rain?'.“.......


best to all
Paul Castle

PS If this has given you a taste for more Sister Rosetta
try this for some full on Gospelling -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeaBNAXfHfQ

Found a short video on the making of Herbie's wonderful new album which he describes as "a tribute to his long time friend and associate Joni Mitchell" see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4y8kZeJRvjM , which would definitely get my vote (if I had one) for the 'Album of the Year' Grammy. Made by Fast Focus TV, the promo features Larry Klein interviewing Herbie and shots of the musicians - Dave Holland, Wayne Shorter, Lionel Loueke & Vinnie Colaiuta - playing in the studio on the only track Joni herself sings (The Tea Leaf Prophecy), along with extracts from other tracks featuring wonderful vocal performances by Norah Jones (Court and Spark), Tina Turner (Edith and The Kingpin), Corinne Bailey-Rae (River) and Luciana Souza (Amelia), plus Leonard Cohen growling The Jungle Line. Brilliant stuff!!

Reading a recent thread about the connections between Joni Mitchell and Steely Dan reminded me how much I like Larry Carlton's guitar playing.

A while back I came across a great little site called Guitar Player TV @ http://guitarplayertv.com which features a large selection of free guitar tuition videos in a multitude of different styles. In addition to doing the website's introduction, Larry Carlton also has his own channel called 335 Blues - http://snipurl.com/335blues where he demonstrates how to build up a blues guitar arrangement. Even if you don't have time to watch all the videos on his channel don't miss "Stormy, 3: Soloing" where, as he says on the following video clip, he goes "to the zone" - oh so good!!

Found an interesting little article from Performing Songwriter in the jmdl library where he's talking about the importance of thinking and playing like an arranger when doing sessions. "You have to be able to improvise arrangements on the spot to be a great accompanist. It's what you do with the phrases around the vocal that can make the whole thing sound more connected."

As an example, he points to a song from one of his most memorable sessions, Joni Mitchell's Court and Spark. Carlton says, "I think there's a very good example of how to think like an arranger. When Joni sings, 'Help me, I think I'm falling,' I do a rake across the strings, and it makes her next phrase - 'in love again' - really cool because she has a chord to sit down on."

Aslo found this great video of him playing with another of Joni's guitar sidemen, Robben Ford (who I saw with the LA Express and Joni at London's New Victoria Theatre on the Miles of Aisles tour back in 1974), here playing a concert together in Tokyo - takes the soundman a while to sort out Larry's guitar sound but when he does it's ab fab!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBS7BEPb1Jk

Happy New Year to all
Paul Castle