Robben Ford Discussion

fingerlakes

My son and I went to see Chick and his reunited Elektric band last night at the State Theater in Ithaca ,NY. It's been 25 years or so that I last saw Chick and I left this show with the same sense of awe that I did then.

The first set was all from the new CD "To The Stars " and based on a science fiction novel. The songs are quite intricate and and complex with lots of fast moving unison passages with Chick, guitarist Frank Gambale and reed man Eric Marienthal. It's amazing to me that these guys can play in perfect unison at such high speeds. Although Chick scores most of the songs, there we're still lots of extended, hard driving sections for improvisational solos. Frank's playing was really quite incredible. " Johnny's Landing " stood out as my favorite song of the first set.

The 2nd set were all songs that this ensemble recorded back in the
late 80's. These were more straight ahead fusion songs not related to science fiction or outer space. All the soloing was fantastic and right in sync with the wonderful drumming of Dave Weckl. They ended with a fast paced beebop number called CTA ( Chicago Transit Authority ) that was special.

After reading about Frank Gambale's playing here at this forum, I must admit i found him to be a wondeful player. As my son commented " That guy really gets up and down the fretboard "

In closing, I'd like to comment on Chick's keyboard work. If possible it's even better than I remembered. The same haunting acoustic piano interludes between songs ( on one he even reached back and plucked the strings with his right hand while playing chords with his left ), the same hard charging Rhodes piano work, lots of it with max distortion, and the same spacey,ethereal synthesizer work. Even better and more seasoned with age.

This was a great show and I would highly recommend it to the folks here, should they come to your area. I know they are in Boston at Berklee ( Chick's hometown and school ) this weekend.

telefunk1 · Posted: Thu Nov 18, 2004 6:56 am Post subject:

Hi Finger:

If you enjoyed Weckl, he some great solo CDs you should check out. I have 2 of them "Synergy" and "Rhythm to the Soul," and both have Gambale on them and Bob Malach. But what I really enjoy about them is Buzz Feiten's playing. He is a master comper and really locks in on the groove. And after Gamble has blazed away Feiten sneaks in some tasty funky solos. Great tone, too. The CD is fun to play along with - good mix of songs and changes.

I just checked Weckl's web site and he has a series of play along books/CDs for the Rhythm CD - one minus guitar, one minus bass, etc. These are out of stock on Amazon - does anyone have the guitar one or know if they are still available? Weckl's site did not have these for sale.

telefunk1 · Posted: Fri Nov 19, 2004 6:58 am Post subject:

Guess I will answer my own reply...

Just ordered the Weckl book/CD set for guitar. Basically it is the CD without the guitar tracks (a la Aebersold's stuff but for a real CD, not just a collection of standards), plus charts, etc for the tunes.

So I got to thinking, it would be a great if Robben did this for Tiger Walk. Wonder if we could convince him to do this as an extension of his clinic work?

jconstant · Posted: Fri Nov 19, 2004 10:21 am Post subject:

I'll second that. I have the issue of Guitar Techniques that has the transcription of Talk to Your Daughter with Robben and the Blue Line playing the backing track. Its priceless and I would love to have more stuff with just the backing tracks!

fingerlakes · Posted: Fri Nov 19, 2004 12:56 pm Post subject:

Telefunk,

Thanks for the info on the Dave Weckl CD's. I will be sure to check them out. I'm not familiar with Buzz but look forward to finding out more about him.

Just one more week til Aggies/Longhorns. Go Aggies !

Aeolian · Posted: Fri Nov 19, 2004 6:17 pm Post subject:

JohnnyZ · Posted: Sat Nov 20, 2004 1:06 pm Post subject:

And, another thanks for the Weckl cd recommendations. Never heard of the guy, but I usually put a lot of faith in the good taste of the participants of this forum. So, I was doing my weekly browsing in Newberry Comics, and I happened to see a used Rhythm to the Soul, and for 8 bucks, why not?! It's great! Reminds me of Jing Chi with horns and keys. I'll most likely buy Synergy on my next cd excursion.

Now that I'm getting into Rhythm to the Soul, how do I tell the difference between the guitars of Frank Gambale(sp?) and Buzz Feiten, both whom I don't think I've ever heard before this?

Thanks,
~JZ~
_________________
Soul on Eleven

telefunk1 · Posted: Mon Nov 22, 2004 6:33 am Post subject:

Buzz plays about a tenth of the notes that Gambale plays! More pentatonic oriented and funky, too.