Violeiros (1938)

In the article hailing a recently released set of field recordings of Brazilian folk music - "Long-Lost Trove of Music Connects Brazil to Its Roots" (L. Rohter; NYT, January 25, 2007) -- a photo caught my eye which I've photoshopped and posted above. The original photo, attributed to Luis Saia, identifies the musicians as "A repentista guitar duo in Cajazeiras, Paraíba, in 1938."

The instrument is more likely a viola caipira but, curiously, appears to have six courses verses the usual five (photo here).

For more information and audio samples on The Mission for Folklore Research and "Musica Tradicional do Norte e Nordeste 1938" go here

funky dog

One of my first attempts with GarageBand (around '04).

Just for fun, here's funky dog (3.6MB)

. . . more to come . . .

vamps

Here are 30-something chord patterns. The intent was to log interesting sounding Vamps I had been using for right hand exercises (alá Giuliani, Villa Lobos, Brower, Towner, etc.).

Big Al sez: "check it out"

Download PDF file here

enjoy

the thesaurus of scales and melodic patterns

Any musician who has spent time working through Slonimsky's famous work might soon realize that it really isn't all it claims to be. That is, a properly cross-indexed thesaurus. The advantages seem obvious and I've wondered for a long time why no one had attempted to arrange the material in a more usable form.

I rose to the task. But, several days and pots of coffee later, my idealism wore thin. Here's where I left off:

Download Excel file here (1.5MB)
or
Preview inline here

first in a series of entries queued for a guitarist's notebook (mother of) . . . upon completion.

Addendum (1/27/08):
The first part (extensive) of my attempt to cross index The Thesaurus may be found at my main blog here. If you have Finale 2004 or later - or Notepad - you should have no problem opening it (>40 pages).

Guitar Vids

a few favs -- mostly from YouTube

Sco w/Miles:
jam (northsea jazz fest)

Bill Frisell:
rambler

Wayne Krantz:
is something i don't understand yet

Joe Pass:
donna lee

Jim Hall:
twos blues

Tuck Andress:
europa

Wim den Herder:
just friends

Hancock, Metheny, DeJohnette, Holland:
cantaloupe island

Metheny:
I Don't Know Why

Bola Sete

McLaughlin/Labéque

Django

Ulf Wakenius:
Moose the Mooch

Joe Pass:
All the Things You Are

Jon Damian

known unknowns

A little ditty put together with the help of GarageBand featuring da X Secretary in a cameo rap:

What We Know

dude, crank it up!

violao video links

"There are more than a hundred and fifty million people in Brazil. One hundred million play guitar . . . great" (Egberto Gismonti; Ann Arbor, 2003)

Baden Powell
Samba Triste
Tristeza
Yemanja
Live in Paris (1999)
Prelude in E minor

Raphael Rabello
Lamentos do Morro
Francis Hime and Raphael Rabello
Luiza
Anos Dourados
Garota de Ipanema

Joao Gilberto
Pra que discutir com Madame?
Um Abraco no Bonfa
Aquarela do Brasil
Desafinado
Garota de Ipanema (junto a Tom Jobim)

Paulo Bellinati
Um Amor de Valsa
Surfboard

Paulinho Nogueira
Aria na quarta corda (J.S. Bach)

Laurindo Almeida
One Note Samba (with the MJQ)