Robben Ford Discussion

[munichmaedchen]

John is another awsome guitarist that crossed my way lately - and of course he is a big fan of Robben Ford. Does anybody know him here? He is Bay Area homegrown and now in Las Vegas.
When I listened to him live playing with his band pals from the 80-ies,WHAT, at JJ-s in San Jose, I told him that I started dating his childhood friend when I listened to him the first time at JJ-s in January 2006, playing with AJ and the Shapes. He looked at me, smiled and said, " I am so sorry that I spoiled your life." I thought this was funny.
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[Red Suede]

John is a personal friend and is one of my favorites, highly skilled in most forms of guitar.

[munichmaedchen]

[quote="Red Suede"]John is a personal friend and is one of my favorites, highly skilled in most forms of guitar.[/quote]

I agree with what you said about his skills. I look forward to listening to him again whenever he is back in town.
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[JavaDiva]

Just found out A.J.W. aka Andy Just and John Wedemeyer, will be playing later this month in Portland at one of my favorite local clubs, Beale St NW (Saturday Aug 26 if anyone wants to visit the great northwest).

Have seen Andy Just with the Ford Brothers, and he is a fabulous harmonica player and singer. Heard lots about John Wedemeyer on these boards, and I am looking forward to the show.

[Red Suede]

If you really want to see John in his own element, his band W.H.A.T. is playing at JJ's in San Jose on Friday night. It is an eclectic mix of music played by some of the best musicians in this town (Randy Hayes on drums and Endre Tarczy on bass).

[Red Suede]

Went and saw John and the boys last night. It takes an event to get me into a club around here these days, and they put on a clinic last night. These three can play with anyone. Cool tunes delivered with a high degree of musicianship. This is a great weekend at JJs cause Chris Cain is there tonight! Another one of my friends who happens to be a world class musician. And of course I have a gig! Oh well........

[JavaDiva]

Have seen Chris Cain play many times, and his shows are always great fun. Saw him last with Tyler Eng on drums and Dewayne Pate on bass - excellent music with the three of them.

[JohnnyZ]

[Red Suede]

Thanks for the kind invitation Johnny, especially considering I could suck! Anyway, I'm in the middle of doing a solo album and when it's finished, I'll send you a copy. Be talking to ya.

[bluenote]

Thanks for clearing that up, I thought he was the guy who played in the first Tarzan movies.
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[JohnnyZ]

[munichmaedchen]

[quote="Red Suede"]Went and saw John and the boys last night. It takes an event to get me into a club around here these days, and they put on a clinic last night. These three can play with anyone. Cool tunes delivered with a high degree of musicianship. This is a great weekend at JJs cause Chris Cain is there tonight! Another one of my friends who happens to be a world class musician. And of course I have a gig! Oh well........[/quote]

Yup, I saw them, too. Was in there until 2AM :-) They are awsome!
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[Aeolian]

I also consider John a friend and have had some great times playing together with him at JJ's or getting "schooled" at his house. The amount of knowledge this guy has on guitar, and the musical vocabulary he has are amazing.

John has a couple of reputations that I think miss the point. One is playing loud, and the other is of amazing technique (to the point where some call him a shredder). Both are partly true, at times he does play amazingly loud. That cabinet you heard him playing at JJ's is mine, he uses it when he does Bay Area gigs for the convience of not having to haul his up from Vegas. Plus, he wore his out. He says that mine has a more solid sound. Probably the result of not having been played that loudly over many years.

But John can also play quieter than anyone I've heard. And leave spaces in that quiet that keep you on the edge of your seat. It's about dynamics. Folks remember how loud it got at times, but the overall average is less than most bands. John uses the whole dynamic range to keep the music moving forward.

As for the shredding technique. Yes, John has the most amazing hands I know of on a guitar player. He pulls off every lick with clarity and articulation as well as great feel. He can play just about anything he sets his sights on. You won't hear it often live, but he can do Steve Morse like rapid scalar picking or wicked country chicken picked double stops.

But the amazing thing is the authority with which he plays riffs that you and I can play. But he makes them sound special. That Zep medley is a case in point. Basic songs that everyone knows and lots can play. But when John plays those same riffs, you believe. And are taken along for the ride. Or he holds a note and starts shaking it slowly with a Claptonesque vibrato. Then he can gradually and evenly speed it up through a BB like vibrato to a southern rock quiver. This isn't just twitching of the hand, he has complete control over the vibrato. I have never heard anyone else do this.

But my favorite part about John's playing is the musical sensibility of it. The way he can tell a story, and keep your ear interested. Chorus after chorus of slow blues, or a one part vamp like Brush With The Blues, he keeps making new music when most folks would have repeated themselves three or four times already, and have long since gone as far as they could go.

To finish, a couple of Robben stories. I was on my way to an Ojai clinic when John called me on the road to chat. And he had some questions for Robben as well (even though they are friends and have played together). One was about playing on the Kiss record. Which I had no idea about and shows the breadth of John's musical knowledge. Robben was supprised at the question but enjoyed telling the story of the Kiss sessions. Afterwards I went up to him and told him that question was from John. Robben looked me dead in the eye with a suddenly serious expression and said "John is a VERY good guitar player" (emphasis his). No joke.

Another time, at a Yoshi's show, a bunch of folks were hanging out afterwards. Robben's TC2290 was down for the count and he had gotten hold of a brown Fender reverb unit. Robben was explaining the situation to John and asked him if it sounded all right. Then as the chatting continued (a group mostly of bay area musicians who all knew each other including some folks in the band that night) Robben kept leaning over to John and asking "are you sure it sounded all right?" This other woman who was there leans over to me and mentions how amazing it is that Robben, who John, myself, and every other guitar player in the room reveres, keeps asking John if the sound is okay. That is mutual respect in my book.
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[JohnnyZ]

Aeolian, as always, a very informative and thought-provocative post. Thank you!

And, now that the music juices are flowing, any John Wedemeyer cuts out there for the masses to enjoy? I did a quick Yahoo search and found none other than a great bio on JW...

Always looking for good music... JZ

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