Singer and solo guitar

[garybaldy]

I've only once ever accompanied a singer on solo guitar. That would have been in about 1971 during a school production of Jesus Christ Superstar.
I'm doing a 2 day jazz 'workshop' this weekend with my old time jazz band. It is very much a family event trying to involve children in improvision!, a concert by us and a gospel sing along.
At very short notice I have been asked to accompany a bass singer doing the tune Deep River which was covered by Paul Robeson. The version is very different to his but I have the piano/vocal sheet. I've analysed the harmony and hope to follow it as best I can. It's likely to be off tempo.
I do not know the singer and it seems it's going to be a quick run through on the day!
I shall be using my Loar 700 with floater through my Teeny Brute.
Any tips on this kind of performance would be much appreciated. TIA

[rpjazzguitar]

One issue worth thinking about is what makes the chord changes move.

One way is that you do it in strict time and you change chords as indicated in the chart.

But, if it's done as slowly as Robeson's version it can get a little ambiguous. Or, it might be done rubato.

Who will be waiting for whom?

That is, do you wait for the vocal to reach the point of a chord change and you follow the singer, or does he expect you to feed him the next change and then he follows you?

What you want to avoid is the situation where you're both waiting for the other guy to do something.

Other than that, the Robeson version suggests that the harmonic movement is well-voice-led and you might try to figure out grips that will do that.

Whether you can get a bass line integrated is a skills issue. Easier if it's something you practice regularly.

[garybaldy]

One issue worth thinking about is what makes the chord changes move.

One way is that you do it in strict time and you change chords as indicated in the chart.

But, if it's done as slowly as Robeson's version it can get a little ambiguous. Or, it might be done rubato.

Who will be waiting for whom?

That is, do you wait for the vocal to reach the point of a chord change and you follow the singer, or does he expect you to feed him the next change and then he follows you?

What you want to avoid is the situation where you're both waiting for the other guy to do something.

Other than that, the Robeson version suggests that the harmonic movement is well-voice-led and you might try to figure out grips that will do that.

Whether you can get a bass line integrated is a skills issue. Easier if it's something you practice regularly.

Thanks.
Regular time may me the best option but I'm guessing the singer has his own way of singing it. (I've never touched on it before). I'm assuming he does it to the arrangement (with a pianist) I've been given as it's come to me via a middle man!!
Needless to say the guitar chords don't always match the written notes so I am playing the harmony of the written music and, to a point, choosing the appropriate bass note for the written chord inversions.
Thanks again for your thoughts.
ps. I meant to add Rich Severson says follow the singer!

[Ukena]

I'm pretty familiar with this tune – sung it and heard it sung by different singers (usually opera or legit singers).

If he's singing the introduction as well ("There's an old man called the Mississippi" etc.), it's usually done a little more briskly, then more deliberate on the chorus and bridge (although the bridge tempo can be picked up some). This song shouldn't have a lot of rubato – just deliberate. Rubato at the end of the bridge is normal. The important part is to build to the end – it's a very dramatic song throughout, full of anguish, but there's a definite build in the last chorus. If the two of you get that build right, no one will care how the rest of the song went.

The piano accompaniment (and orchestra) usually don't add a lot of incidental notes – I would imagine a guitar accompaniment would be mostly chordal, with maybe arpeggio-like stuff now and then. If the your colleague is an accomplished singer, and familiar with the song, you'll want to follow his lead, which an accompanist should always do. Of course, if he's as new to the song as you, and you're the better musician, then you'd want to lay down a musical bed for him to rely on.