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You can see Johnathan's mic more clearly in some of the later performances that night. The mic mount is attached to the tailpiece. The mic sits over the lower bout.
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09-19-2024 07:37 AM
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Ha, finally a (partly) acoustic evening with!
(And no feedback!
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It's true that you have to know where to look, the thing is in the shadows all the time (or behind an audience head).
Originally Posted by sgosnell
Originally Posted by Bobby Timmons
Jonathan has that Italian renaissance sprezzatura thing of making everything seem easy (and playing a lot more notes than he seems to be).
Of course, if you've seen him in his band's lindy performances it's kind of evident why he isn't breaking a hint of a sweat here
Yup. He has a blog where he describes in detail what he uses and how. A DPA XXXX lavalier mic on a gooseneck, pointed somewhere behind the treble side of the bridge. Originally Posted by DanielleOM
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Also looks like Frank brought (or is using) a Princeton to which is lower wattage then what he usually seems to have there…a Deluxe? Maybe as a courtesy to the L5.
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Hah! Getting out of the subway yesterday afternoon I saw I guy in the station with glasses and two jumbo gig bags and thought to myself "hey, is that Jonathan Stout? Nah, he wouldn't be hanging out around here". I live in an a somewhat off-the-beaten-track neighborhood, so not an obvious place for cats in town for a gig to crop up. Fired up the old youtube machine this morning, and there he is. Sounded great. Originally Posted by Cunamara
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He sings too!!
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I have been watching the Birdland live streams regularly and Frank always seems to be using that blackface Princeton Reverb. Although there is often a Deluxe and sometimes a Twin on stage, it's a guest that I see using those. Originally Posted by alltunes
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I thought Frank was quite good in this one.
Stout is always good too. Frank is kinda winning me over with this one.
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From how I remember the NY subway (sauna and/or sardine cans) he was pretty courageous to take 2 valuable instruments on it. One of which was not his own, btw. Originally Posted by John A.
He does, but he seems to think that's not as appreciated as his playing, and I may not disagree with him on that Originally Posted by AllanAllen
This was definitely one of the more enjoyable concerts for me too but it also underlined that I definitely prefer an acoustic sound over esp. the nasal sound Frank gets from the instrument he was hiding behind. Originally Posted by JazzIsGood
Anyone catch exactly what went wrong in that one piece that got a take 2?
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Looks like Frank was still putting the microphone away when they started and he tried to jump in, but it was sloppy so he called a restart. He's a good bandleader, realizing he biffed it and having them start over. Making a joke and restarting the song right minded. Originally Posted by RJVB
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It just look a bit like Jonathan wasn't of the same opinion, and I doubt anyone would have realised if Frank had just recovered from that sloppy jump-in. I didn't notice anything off and even if I had I wouldn't have remembered it like this surprise and somewhat heavy-handed restart.
EDIT: maybe I'm wrong that it must be easier to recover from this kind of glitch in mostly improvised performance?
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If anything we should all be realizing if Frank Vignola can call a do-over at The Birdland, we can call a do-over at our shared tips coffee shop gigs. Originally Posted by RJVB
I think Jonathan was goofing around by not stopping. It all seemed in good spirits to me.
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Of course it's not all that important. I was just surprised, it didn't seem like the thing we'd call a restart for in a classical performance. But maybe that's the thing: Frank may have heard things beginning to fall apart where I (or we) didn't. Originally Posted by AllanAllen
Clearly, and I noticed that. But I also think that may have been in part a way to cover up the fact that it took him a second to realise what was happening as well. Or maybe the whole thing was an actI think Jonathan was goofing around by not stopping. It all seemed in good spirits to me.
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Man, Jonathan was the loudest guy on stage for a while there. And I wish I knew anything as thoroughly as he knows swing guitar.
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The Birdland sound can be very uneven at the start of livestreams. One instrument can be too loud, some can't be heard, it's often all over the place. It works out eventually, but it's as if there was no sound check at all. Maybe there is none. That's my only complaint about their livestreams. It comes together eventually, and the video is always excellent. There are livestreams on the internet that are far less professional (cough Smalls cough) with both video and audio that is amateurish. Birdland is always first-rate eventually, even if it can start out with some of the band not being heard for a couple of minutes. This one started out with Frank barely audible, but it got fixed, as always. At least they use actual mics, not just the built-in mics in cheap video cams.
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Hey all, thanks for kind appreciation. It was a real big deal for me to be featured like this outside of the Swing Dance world I’ve been playing in for the last 22 years, and for it to be Birdland and Frank… wow.
To respond to a couple questions/observations…
The acoustic was mic’d my usual fashion with a DPA4099, with a pedal to mute it, and then it went straight to FOH. I had a little bit in the monitor, but everybody onstage was basically only hearing it somewhat softly in the house. It’s much louder on the stream than what it was like in the room. I think Frank’s volume was perfect the room, and so it might too loud or soft on the stream because my discrepancy in volume.
For the electric, I borrowed a friend’s 1938 ES-150, and ran it into my usual JJ-150 pedal, into the house Henriksen, which sounded great in the room, and on the stream.
I’m almost always the bandleader so I’m so used to talking on stage, so that was sort of funny to not be talking on mic. And I was honestly so taken aback to have Frank ask me to keep singing, that I’m giving a completely honest reaction of disbelief - it would’ve been better stage craft to play it cool, but it was such a surprise.
I’m not sure what happened on the last tune exactly, but the intro is the first four bars of the form, and not 4 bar tacked on at the beginning of the form, and that might have been the confusion. Anyway, it took me a beat to realize what was happening and I thought it better to play it for laughs, but you know… that’s jazz sometimes.
Almost everything I do normally has arrangements and charts, or at least a somewhat specific plan, so I’m always a little self-conscious about whether or not I’m getting the signals right, or whether I’m giving them right. Half the time Frank was nodding to the piano, I thought he was throwing it back to me.
But those little asides notwithstanding, I was really delighted by the performance and honored to be there.
I’ve been trying to diversify outside of just doing music in Swing Dance spaces, and leading my own trios and quartets has been a much better way to give guitar fans a thing they can appreciate and enjoy more directly, than a swing dance band that might not even have a guitar solo on half of the tunes. It was an honor to get to just be there as a guitar player in such a hallowed space with such formidable company.
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Nice one, Jonathan! Spread the gospel...
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It was great to see you featured in this series Jonathan!
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25 September 2024
Karrin Allyson guested with Frank Vignola, Ted Rosenthal, Gary Mazzaroppi and Alex Raderman.
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You do mean the room, i.e. for the audience? (if so, how do you know? Originally Posted by campusfive
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Out of curiosity, how much rehearsal did you get?Half the time Frank was nodding to the piano, I thought he was throwing it back to me.
But those little asides notwithstanding, I was really delighted by the performance and honored to be there.
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RIP Nick Gravenites
Today, 05:48 PM in The Players