Tag Archives: guitar

What Do Martin Taylor, Joe Pass, Fred and Ginger, and Brian Wilson Have in Common?

Artists across generations and musical styles can always be united by great songs.  And no American songs have shown longer lasting and broader appeal than those of George and Ira Gershwin.

Last week’s post on Tommy Emmanuel also featured British jazz guitar virtuoso Martin Taylor. A quick search on YouTube uncovers Taylor’s version of the Gershwin brothers’ standard “They Can’t Take That Away From Me”. If you’d like to skip over the interview, the performance starts at 3:12.

One of Taylor’s influences is the late Joe Pass, icon of the chord/melody style of jazz guitar that Martin plays.  Enjoy Pass’ version of the same song from a 1992 performance.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SSfVhbDdzc

The song was introduced in the 1937 movie “Shall We Dance” starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rodgers. The clip below is a real treat.  It starts with Fred singing the song to Ginger in “Shall We Dance” and ends with them dancing to the song a dozen years later in their last movie together “The Barkleys of Broadway”.

A recent cover of this classic can be found on “Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin” released in 2010.

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Tommy Emmanuel – Guitar Legend from Down Under

Last week’s post Courtesy of Other Bloggers featured Scott McKeon, one of a half-dozen “Guitar Legends” featured on the blog  Proguitartricks.  Inspired by the guitar legend theme, for any of you not already familiar with him, meet Tommy Emmanuel.  The Australian acoustic guitar legend is known for his blistering speed but is capable of pretty much anything.

This somewhat grainy video has over 10 million YouTube views – see why.

Staples of his concert performances are Beatles medleys – no small task on solo acoustic guitar unless you’ve got Emmanuel’s chops.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOw6gCPDEQ8

Tommy can use his abilities in quiet and subtle ways too, as displayed in this performance of the jazz standard “The Nearness of You” with Martin Taylor. Emmanuel and Taylor have just released an album together featuring this tune.

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LIttle Brother Eli and Scott McKeon – Courtesy of Other Bloggers

“Read and Hear” is a music blog originating in Norway.  A recent post picks up on Little Brother Eli, a band built around the duo of compelling vocalist Alex Grew and bass player Josh Rigal.  They’ve just release a self-titled, three song EP along with a video for the first track, “Animal Fair”.

Take some time to visit Read and Hear, and definitely check out other performances on the Little Brother Eli website.

Proguitartricks is a French music blog dedicated to guitar lessons, loving photos of guitars, and a short list of “Guitar Legends”.  The most recent addition to the list is British blues player Scott McKeon.  A winner of Guitarist Magazine’s “Young Guitarist of the Year” in 1998, MeKeon has opened for superstar guitar slingers Derek Trucks and Gary Clarke, Jr. over the past year.

Visit his website Scott McKeon to learn about his surprisingly versatile career, and check out the acoustic blues track “So Much More” from the album “Trouble”  and the live electric jam “Coffee Cup” featuring a great group of musicians (things really get swinging about 2:00 minutes into the “Coffee Cup” video).

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