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I was lucky enough to be asked to accompany 11 great local singers in a 3 hour concert a few weeks ago with my regular trio. The show turns out to have been video'ed, and with decent quality to boot! With so many posts and threads here discussing every aspect of comping, I thought I'd post a tune with my typical approach to backing a vocalist. I often favor the traditional 1 or 2 note style, but I don't stick to it exclusively and I try to drop in enough fills and stabs to make it interesting for both the singer and the audience. Because of the length of the concert and the need to get 2 tunes in for each singer, several of the tunes have no solos from the band and this was one of them.
I'm playing my trusty Ibanez AF207 through my DV Jazz 12. This was before I swapped the stock DiMarzio pickup for a Benedetto B7, but I was pleased enough with the way this guitar sounds to use it stock for 25 years before changing the P/U to a top quality replacement. The strings are TI JS112s on top of an 0.076" nickel RW 7th that I didn't touch for most of the night because our bass player is so solid.
The vocalist in this one is Denise King, a Philly legend and as fine a person as she is a performer!
Last edited by nevershouldhavesoldit; 04-13-2022 at 11:21 PM.
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04-13-2022 02:59 PM
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Great job, N! Very tasty comping and some nice licks at the end. 10 stars!
Marinero
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Originally Posted by Marinero
For me, accompanying a vocalist is a high art and a challenge that deserves a lifetime of study and practice. I love it!
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"For me, accompanying a vocalist is a high art and a challenge that deserves a lifetime of study and practice. I love it!" Nevershouldhavesoldit
This type of accompaniment gives the artist a great challenge since your goal is to understand that the vocalist is the star and your job is to embellish his/her performance. Again, very nice playing, N!
Marinero.
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Yea, that was some very nice guitar comping as well as singing and the entire band. I really like how the comping wasn't static (ok, something I tend to do!), but also never stepped on what the singer was doing. Like Marinero said the comping embellish her singing but could still be heard. It was still a solid part of the song. Very nice indeed.
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I don't know if Pearl Williams is still performing but Denise is the best singer in town imo, a pro's pro
She was "discovered" by my former bandleader the late great saxophonist Sam Reed, probably longer ago than she wishes to remember
Nice backing Dave, George and drummer!
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Originally Posted by wintermoon
That’s Mike O’Rourke on drums. Our regular drummer is Bill Marconi, but he was out of town on a long planned family trip. Mike’s an old friend and very musical drummer with whom I’ve been playing for years. Fortunately he was already scheduled to play with us that night - the concert program was a surprise to us all.
Dates like this one are one good reason to keep both our reading chops and our rhythm chops up. Comping over alien tunes and new charts with altered changes has to be second nature to read ahead and still keep chugging. For me, listening to great horn sections behind vocals helps to plant a bigger band framework in my head. I hear a bigger band in my head and try to add the fills that fit. This approach to comping may help those who haven’t found one that works for them.
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I know most of those gals but shame on me for forgetting Jeannie, I've known her forever, yes she's right there w DK, the woman can sing beautifully and in any key. Same for Mike, couldn't make him out from the video but known him forever too, he dropped by when I subbed for you, we had a little reunion that night
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Originally Posted by wintermoon
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Just right! That's the way it's done, when it's done right! Well done!
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Originally Posted by citizenk74
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That was nice indeed!
Is it me being too tired to notice or is the public a bit slow here?
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Originally Posted by RJVB
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Yeah, I thought of that of course, but Denise stuck her mic "into" the audience, and wouldn't the stage mics pick up what *you* could hear on stage (assuming you weren't cut off from that because of headphones or hearing protection)? Not much behind you for sound to reflect off of?
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Originally Posted by srs
First class! I especially liked the footage of the people in the parking lot wearing masks and listening to her music. How often we forget the reason we play and why people come to hear us.
Marinero
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Yea... very cool. Looks like good time for all. (you can't hide it, LOL your an old Blues man). Personally that's a good thing.
Love it, Thanks for posting
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That put a smile on my face.
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Originally Posted by RJVB
Here's the FOH board (located at the back of the house...) -
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Originally Posted by nevershouldhavesoldit
From Bar Chords to Bebop
Today, 02:33 PM in Improvisation