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I love me some John McGlaughlin and Mahavishnu Orchestra, I wore out my vinyl of 'Birds of Fire' and I was playing bass in a Jazz Rock band back in the day.
Anyhoo, Jazz Rock has sort of morphed over the years, I haven't really bothered with each successive new shredder that's come along, preferring to delve into the rich back catalogue of many Jazz guitarist of the 20th century.
But lately Mr Govan keeps on popping up, he's obviously talented but is he Jazz?
See what you think
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05-26-2013 03:18 PM
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He sounds like a really good rock guitarist to me. What about this would make it more jazzy than Steve Vai or any of the other shredder guys in your eyes?
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I agree with that
That's good music, like make Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, John Petrucci (Frank Zappa, if I may !) and so on ... made by very talented people.
But I wouldn't call that jazz (perhaps some Zappa pieces, but ...)
As far as we need to categorize music ????
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I wouldn't call that Jazz it's not even Fusion to me. What was the term back in my day "progressive rock".
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Now think about what Mahavishnu did.
They invented a new form of music.
No blues or rock or even jazz licks or motifs. Not much of a hint from the past. Perhaps a nod to a groove.
A whole new style.
Uncompromising.
Guthrie is uncompromising in his dedication to the instrument but not so uncompromising in his direction. He is a crowd pleaser and there's nothing negative about that.
Unless you want to change the world with your music.
Sounds like prog rock to me and just a little dated.....although he wrote that riff 20 years ago.....so that accounts for that.
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Well, unless the drummer is telepathic, a lot of that was NOT improvised.
But Guthrie's awesome...one of the few shredders I find interesting...but I still think the jazz world needs to recognize Gambale more...now that cat can hang with any jazz group.
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Man I used to eat this stuff up when I was 15. It's still cool, I wouldn't tell any of my friends I thought so...
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There's a clip of him floating around on Youtube with him playing Donna Lee. Can't access it from here right now.
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He plays it with very much a rock tone and rock feel, for whatever that's worth.
Originally Posted by WesMan
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Originally Posted by mr. beaumont
I used enjoy going to see Gambale back in his Mr Sweep Picking days play at little coffee places in the Valley. He would show up with a Ibanez GB10 and play straight-ahead jazz and sounded great.
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I saw Guthrie just two weeks ago. He's joined Steven Wilson's band, which plays some first-rate progressive rock in the vein of Pink Floyd or Genesis or Camel. I wouldn't call it jazz, but the guy can certainly play, and very, very well! Interesting lines. Never over-bearing. (Well, except when the music called for it. Which was a bit too often to my taste. But hey, it's prog!)
He was formerly a literature student at Oxford. I find it impressive when a guy can excel in two such different art forms.
I don't listen to much prog-rock, but Guthrie's at the top of that game, imho. His album "Erotic Cakes" is a lot of fun to listen to. I've heard him cop some very authentic-sounding mainstream jazz bits here and there on the Internet as well.Last edited by Flat; 05-26-2013 at 11:30 PM.
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heh
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That was awesome...only his Jimi didn't sound like Jimi. Originally Posted by JakeAcci
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Yeah, but that part in particular was so nice. Originally Posted by mr. beaumont
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It was?
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You obviously need another drink.
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Here's his Donna Lee. What say ye?
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It can't be denied he can do it if he wants to.
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I like the fact he has fun and you can hear it in his playing, whether he's going for it or goofing around. That is what interests me.
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Pretty cool stuff...even when he "goes country" at the end...the first lick caught me the wrong way, but before I could say "what the hell is he doing?" he was making it work. Originally Posted by Flat
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Yeah, I saw Guthrie (and, from the initial video, Marco, the drummer) play with Steven Wilson at the Park West recently. Fantastic show, it's like my one one rock concert I go to a year, and this was the one that was not to be missed.
It was definitely progressive rock, very structured, long heads, some episodic moments for solos. And the type of rock Wilson is writing these days is a nod to all the prior greats (King Crimson, Yes, Genesis, et al).
What I really liked about Guthrie's playing was how CLEAN and uncluttered it was. It wasn't all effects, whammies, and pedals. The pristine, clean, well articulated sound of the notes themselves mattered. Which is, sometimes, disregarded, either at a rock concert or people showing off at Guitar Center.
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+1 Originally Posted by NSJ
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Guthrie Govan's views on scales in this video makes a lot of sense. (He sounds very posh.)
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Govan is a very impressive guitar player no matter what style of music you might prefer. What amazes me most is the breadth of his knowledge. He's the kind of player that you just know could play just about any style that he wants to.
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Not my cup of tea for sure. I was into shred way before I got into jazz. I just had too much of it, it lost its effect.
I still like Joe Satriani though. He writes catchy songs and his tone at least has some warmth and life to it which is more than you can say about most of those EMG-pickup sporting chaps.
I don't know, Guthries playing just seems sterile to me. There is something missing and I can't quite put my finger on what it is. Wish I had his chops though.
I wouldn't call it jazz, nor fusion. I agree with those who classified it as prog rock. But really, labels don't matter. I can objectively recognize Guthrie as an amazing player. Every player has a certain set of attributes, and every listener has a set of attributes he looks for in a player. In the case of Guthrie, his attributes are not what catches my attention and keeps me listening. So yeah, he's a mean player but his music is not for me.
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