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Only the latter brother. Now join us on the dark side.
Originally Posted by Flat
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07-19-2015 07:09 PM
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I have a 2-CD compilation of some of Herb's Concord recordings, and the notes say which tracks featured his then-new Aria guitar. The guitar tone on those particular tracks really does sing and stands out from the rest of the CD. Originally Posted by Flat
This is the CD, I think the tracks in question are at the beginning of CD 2.
In a Mellow Tone: Amazon.co.uk: Music
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All this Ellis talk is keeping me onto him. Just finished Pogo and am looking for the next songs... still in the air right now.
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And I just heard "Naptown Blues" from OPT's Hello Herbie album. Looks like Im downloading that!
Last edited by TheGrandWazoo; 07-20-2015 at 11:10 AM. Reason: spelling
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'Roll Call' is another good one, with Mel Rhyne (organ) and Johnny Frigo (violin).
Roll Call: Amazon.co.uk: Music
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Thanks, grahambop! I just ordered a copy. That should be fun to check out. Originally Posted by grahambop
Back when, I think my first Herb album (apart from the Great Guitars stuff) was called "Herb Mix."
It's not available on CD through Amazon apparently, at least on this side of the pond. But the tracks were all very "friendly" accessible tunes like I was mentioning upthread. Maybe a little tired and overplayed for some of the more advanced cats on this board, but a great introduction to jazz guitar for some friend who doesn't much listen to jazz, imho. (No idea what guitar he was playing at that time.)
It's a Small World After All
Tenderly
The Girl From Ipanema
It Could happen to You.
Deep
Moonlight in Vermont
Give My Regards to Broadway
The Way We Were
The Preacher.
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Hey, folks:
I went back and looked at several signed Herb Ellis albums that I got from Herb. The dates suggest that my recollection of the dates above are off by a few years. The dinner I had with Ellis was in 1985 or 86. I know that it was on my birthday (a present from my wife).
Albums that I have by Herb from '78-'82 show him playing his Aria. When I met him in '85 he was playing the Gibson, again. So, the refit of the '53 ES-175 happened earlier than I reported above.
Herb was playing with great vigor and enthusiasm, at that point. He was still doing work with the Great Guitars--although Tal Farlow was subbing for Barney Kessel by then, and Emily Remler was even doing work with them. Herb Ellis was, in part, responsible for bringing Remler to the public's attention on the jazz scene.
One of the things that Ellis and I discussed that evening was that although in the 70s my generation of musicians discovered and took to jazz--and my generation of guitarists _really_ embraced jazz guitar almost as Ellis' generation did--the public never rediscovered the idiom. Beyond "smooth" jazz or "light" jazz, the public more or less abandoned jazz in any significant numbers. This meant that serious jazz musicians--people of great talent--were forced to eke out existences on the margins of the music business. Ellis seemed to be a realist about this; he had no sense of bitterness, that I could discern. He was, however, determined to play the music that drove him as long as he was able to hit the bandstand.
With his bluesy playing, Herb Ellis was my access point to jazz. I followed him from the time I was about 10 years old on. The ES-175 I played for 35 years was due to him. Same with the Aria, although I acquired the PE-180, not the 175 HE model.
Please enjoy the following clip--"Detour Ahead," by Herb Ellis, John Frigo, and Lou Carter (The Soft Winds). This version is Ella Fitzgerald accompanied just by Herb Ellis...it is all you need.
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Thanks for the stories, Greentone. That kinda stuff is gold to me.
Just picking up on the Emily Remler connection, I found this on another site. One more great thing Herb did!
When Herb Ellis came to New Orleans to play at Le Club, Miss Remler asked him to repair her Herb Ellis model guitar. He told her to bring it to his hotel. They played together for four hours and Mr. Ellis was amazed at what he heard. ''I'm going to make you a star,'' he told her. And he meant it.
Three weeks later she was invited to play at the Concord Jazz Festival with Messrs Ellis, Byrd, Farlow and Kessel and the other members of ''The Great Guitars.''
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I got to see the Great Guitars a few times over the years.
the first couple times they were excellent, the last time w/Tal subbing for Barney, not so much.
Tal was a shell of himself, it was towards the end, and Herb's playing was showing his age as well.
Charlie Byrd was by far the best that night, even though he was always my least favorite member.
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The last time I saw the Great Guitars it was clear that Charlie Byrd was still in what turned out to be a very long prime. Tal and Herb were living legends, but were clearly not up to their former selves...less adventurous, and a few "clams" (as Les Paul referred to them) along the way.
Me...I'd have paid just to be in the room with them, even if they didn't play. We were talking jazz royalty, there.
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Lot of good lines in that one. Great comping too. Originally Posted by TheGrandWazoo
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[QUOTE=Greentone;551241]
Herb was playing with great vigor and enthusiasm, at that point. He was still doing work with the Great Guitars--although Tal Farlow was subbing for Barney Kessel by then, and Emily Remler was even doing work with them. Herb Ellis was, in part, responsible for bringing Remler to the public's attention on the jazz scene.
[ /QUOTE]
Speaking of Herb and Emily Remler, here she is playing her tribute to him, "Blues for Herb."
Last edited by MarkRhodes; 07-20-2015 at 04:33 PM. Reason: corrected link
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I've never heard that one. The track "Deep" is transcribed in the recent book of transcriptions of Herb's work. I hope to hear this record someday. Originally Posted by Flat
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Very happy I saw Tal, Herb, and Charlie at the cotton club in Chicago in 93. Nice show.
Greentone,
what gauge did Herb use?
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When I played his guitar in the 80s the strings seemed like .12-.50...just a little bit lighter than I would have suspected. I'd have guessed him to be a .13-.52 guy. My memory is kind of dim, after all these years, but I believe the strings were flats. I'd have guessed rounds, given the tone he got--on average--through the years. Seems to me that I may have asked him. D'Addadarios, I think.
The action was a little bit higher than many folks like--but right where I like it. I would describe it as perfect for acoustic playing, even though the 175 is an electric guitar. Finally, I would guess that the guitar was right at 6 pounds--pretty light--and very responsive, both acoustically and electrically for a laminated guitar.Last edited by Greentone; 07-20-2015 at 08:21 PM.
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I appreciate learning this. I had wondered the same thing. All of your posts on this thread about Herb are deeply appreciated by me. The older I get, the more I find myself coming back to Herb. I love his music. (And I love the way he taught it in his books---I'm sure he knew a lot more than he put in those books but what he offered makes sense to me and the more of it I get under my fingers, the more I enjoy playing guitar.) Originally Posted by Greentone
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I honestly feel like Herb is the most natural extension of what Charlie Christian started. Hd read the book and scored higher on the test than anybody, to be more metaphoric.
Sure, there were faster players...more adventerous players...but for in the pocket, know your roots, jazz with a capital "J," Herb is the man.
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I saw Herb Ellis at the Tenor Clef in Hoxton, London sometime in the 1980s. I think Peter Ind was on bass (he owned the club). Originally Posted by mr. beaumont
Herb was on great form and I was sitting about 3 feet in front of him! As I recall a lot of the music was quite bluesy in nature, very enjoyable, swinging jazz.
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one last story from me.
Ellis and Kessel came through town once as a duo, no drums or bass, and I bought a pair of tix in advance.
I literally couldn't give the second ticket away until a friend finally reluctantly agreed to go.
we sat right in front of the stage and my friend was so blown away that after an encore he stood up and slapped Herb so hard on the back I thought he broke it!
one tiny tidbit I remember was Kessel quoting the melody to the Beatles "Eleanor Rigby" in one of his solos.
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A few years after this I saw Barney Kessel playing with a trio, in the bar of a local squash club! It was very strange as they did not usually have live music there. I had no idea why he was booked there, must have been someone there who knew him or something. Originally Posted by grahambop
Once again I was sitting about 3 feet in front of him and he was on great form, so I was lucky to see both players close up like this.
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Jeff,
I completely agree. His use of patterns/forms seems like a direct extension of what CC was using to form his solos. Two different players but there's an undeniable link in style there.
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I'm happy to hear you say that. For some, Barney Kessel gets that vote. (And Barney was a great player and when he made that record with Julie London, backing her only on guitar, he took accompaniment to a new level. And he was hugely influential on the Latin stuff.) Don't get me wrong, I'm a Herb guy too, though, all the way. Originally Posted by mr. beaumont
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For those who didn't see Herb live, there is a concert DVD from the '80s, about 35 minutes of Herb live (Wine and Roses, Rainy Day, Might As Well Be Spring, Wave, Things Ain't What They Used To Be, Sweet Georgia Brown, maybe one more short one) and about 10 minutes of him reminiscing.
http://www.amazon.com/Live-Herb-Elli...ellis+live+dvd
Of course, YouTube has a lot of Herb (as Joni Mitchell put it) "playin' real good for free".
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For example:
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Barney's so great, probably way more influential...i know he has the actual CC Connection...but i hear Barney more as a decided modernization of the style, wheras Herb sounds like all of his developments were made on the bandstand...
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