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12-18-2023 11:59 AM
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A significant part of Pasquale Grasso's set at Freight & Salvage in Berkley, CA, on 19th January has been uploaded to YouTube.
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This is the only player where I didn't like him at all at first, now I love his playing. WTF happened? Maybe I had no taste of wasn't ready for it? Lately I listen to Pasquale almost every day and I even bought his lessons online. When I first heard him I was thinking "too many notes, not enough melody." It was years ago. Did he improve in this area or was I just totally missing the boat?
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Acquired taste, I felt the same way about Joe Pass. I couldn’t tell what was happening and couldn’t hear the changes. It was all chords and noodling.
Originally Posted by JazzIsGood
I feel like you have to be a musician to appreciate some of this music.
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I’m still missing the boat. He’s unbelievably talented, that much is clear. But it doesn’t captivate me and I can only listen to him briefly. He inspires me on a different level: he has his own pianistic approach to the instrument, takes it to the n-th degree and doesn’t seem to care about anything else. I admire that. Originally Posted by JazzIsGood
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I'm truly amazed and in awe of Pasquale's skill and talent. But I have to admit I'm sad that I don't have enough years remaining on this earth to ascend to his level. I think I can be pretty good in a couple/few more years...but not outstanding like Pasquale. So I'll just have to get my kicks from the journey. Still, a lot of fun to be had.
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Have you listened to his more laid back accompaniment of Samara Joy? Originally Posted by Oscar67
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A couple of recent performances from YouTube that reward a full watch.
Pasquale Grasso, Luigi Grasso and Peter Bernstein guesting at Frank Vignola's Guitar Night at Birdland, 15 May 2024.
I was in NYC but at a wedding that night! I did however make it to Mezzrow the following Monday night for Pasquale's weekly 10.30pm and midnight sets, with Luigi guesting on his last night in NYC before returning to Hamburg. The quartet of Pasquale Luigi, Ari Roland and Keith Balla included a number of Luigi's originals across their two sets.
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I know we've a few Canadians on the forum. PG is on the road in Canada this weekend.
Friday 28 June. TD Summer Festival, Calgary, AB.
Saturday 29 June. Edmonton Jazz Festival, Edmonton, AB.
Sunday 30 June. Vancouver Jazz Festival, Vancouver, BC.
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PG is going to be at the 2024 University of Rhode Island Guitar and Mandolin Festival With Eliot Fisk. October 16. Should be amazing. Their entire schedule looks awesome!
2024 University of Rhode Island Guitar and Mandolin Festival, URI Guitar and Mandolin Festival
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He's playing Yesterdays here, a song I've been playing for as long as I can remember, I'm always astonished by his playing.
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I just finished up 2 of the video lessons from PG. I got a lot of stuff I can use from it.
I also found that it de-mystified the stuff I am hearing and seeing from PG. Here's what I learned about this kind of playing-
- a lot of what he does is straight out of the Barry Harris playbook. I knew he had some Barry influence but it was way more than I thought. I expected to see some references to Art Tatum, there was none. It's ALL Barry Harris stuff.
- PG has a classical background that is quite serious. I'm guessing he has way more classical chops than most jazz guitarists.
- The hybrid picking is a huge ingredient to what he does. Specifically I will say that his pinky usage is something not many people have, classical or jazz players. He has a long finger nail on the pinky of the picking hand and he's using it like a 3rd arm.
- A lot of this stuff is not rocket science. He plays the same arpeggios you play and I play. The difference is that he has mega speed and it's super clean. It's not that the content of his playing is very different. He has the same 12 notes the rest of us have. It's the manner he delivers things in is of a different level. This is something I have noticed in other walks of life too. The tippy top high achievers and experts in sports, business, etc....they are not doing something different than average/decent people. They are just 10% more proficient.
- I got these lessons because I was trying to reduce clams. I had watched a bunch of the Frank V guitar night videos. Lots of great players there, and they all have a few clams. But Pasquale has zero clams that I can detect in those videos. In the lessons he has a few clams and he doesn't really care. Another player I studied a bit on this same topic was Chris Flory. His guitar sound and setup is unusual with bronze strings coming through a pickup, and there's lots of squeaks and unintended sounds, but for some reason it all just works.
One thing I wonder is why PG plays lead lines only in the high register. The only low notes I see in his solos are when he is starting an arpeggio run. My guess is he is leaving room to comp himself or add bass accompaniment in the low register. But even when a piano is comping him he lives in the high register only. Never figured that one out.
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Yep, PG is actually a pianist in the lineage of Art Tatum, Bud Powell, and Barry Harris who happens to play the guitar.
Melody-wise, his lines lie very solidly in the bebop vernacular. To get this sound, I think one will need to have Barry Harris' concepts at the tip of his/her fingers. Chris Parks from TILF Barry Harris on YouTube covers a lot of these ideas in great detail.
Technique-wise, his lines have sort this 'un-guitaristic' quality - his fingerings definitely don't look like that of swing guitarists like Chris Flory or Jonathan Stout. I think one might have to re-learn lots of basic things on the guitar, chiefly picking and fingering.
PG follows the Chuck Wayne school of picking (circular in motion, economy, gently pushing/brushing the string instead of 'biting' into it like swing or gypsy or rock players) and fingering (his arpeggios almost always has 2 notes on the beginning string, 1 note on the next, 2 notes on the one after, quite stretchy movements).
I tried the CW technique for myself, and I could see its incredible potential in helping players execute fast, long, intricate, legato lines without tiring out the right hand. The technique really helped me copy and play sax lines more easily, cleanly, and quickly.
I struggle with picking and arpeggios at high speeds/tempi, so this technique was a god-send. I abandoned standard grip alternate picking a la Guthrie Govan almost overnight.
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I agree.I also think his classical / Chuck Wayne left-hand technique (which requires quite stretchy movements) actually becomes easier to execute at higher registers. Not that it matters to him because of those freakishly long fingers. Originally Posted by JazzIsGood
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Pasquale's second teacher Agostino di Giorgio (I got his name from the German wiki, he is not mentioned in the English one), is a Chuck Wayne student. Originally Posted by brent.h
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PG in Vancouver on Sunday:
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Pasquale and Luigi Grasso with Stefano Doglioni, Ari Roland and Alberto Chiozzi. Filmed live at Tartina in NYC on 19 May 2024. This is Pasquale's weekly Sunday afternoon gig.
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Pasquale Grasso, Ari Roland and Clifford Barbaro at Mezzrow, 22 July 2024.
And at the same gig, someone sat up front has filmed a couple of tunes.
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Pasquale Grasso, Neal Caine and Alberto Chiozzi at Mezzrow, 29 July 2024.
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These close-up videos might be my favorite sounds from PG I've seen in any video Originally Posted by David B
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What a delightful man.
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PG took his newest Trenier out for a spin last night at Mezzrow.
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Blues clip from Saturday
Yesterday, 11:54 PM in From The Bandstand