Friday 24 January 2020

A Slow Drag

There's not much going on here at the moment, which is the main reason for there being so few posts recently. It's been very grey and drizzly, not too bad for walking but less than ideal for photography. But Robin and Roger, over on their New Dharma Bums blog, posted some wonderful music by the great Jeff Beck (and somebody called Clapton, whoever he is.... 😀), so I thought I ought to reciprocate.

Now when I first used to frequent folk clubs they were full of excellent, but rather exhibitionist, acoustic guitarists. Weird tunings, odd time-signatures, bizarre chords, and versions of obscure blues and ragtime pieces;  all played at finger-busting speed to defeat all but the most dedicated guitar nerd. How pleasant it was one evening then to be entertained by a modest, slim, smiling Welshman who played with relaxed grace, style and gentle humour. He's got just a little older since then but still remains relatively unknown. I give you Mr John James......


Strangely enough this is the way that Scott Joplin, the writer of tunes like The Entertainer and Maple Leaf Rag, intended the music to be played, slowly and elegantly. For Joplin really wanted to be taken seriously as a composer on a par with Chopin or Liszt. But for a black man writing music around 1900 that was never going to be.


Take care.


17 comments:

  1. Luckily times changed. Wonderful!

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  2. Wow! That was truly beautiful. Loved listening to it. And, thank you for the laugh...Clapton, whoever he is!

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  3. Enjoyed "meeting" John Jones and listening to his playing. He really is quite a good musician, which is an understatement of course.

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  4. Great music, thanks for sharing. I never knew that Scott Joplin's music had been written to be played slowly.

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  5. I agree with relaxed grace, but not sure I would call it slow and elegant. As an amateur guitar player, I would have a hard time (impossible perhaps?) playing this! He's moving deceptively fast. Very beautiful and I really enjoyed it. Now I'm going over to another blog to check out some guy named Jeff Beck (and some other guy named Eric Clapton).

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  6. Hi John - thank you for sharing John James - what delightful renditions ... and also pointing out about how Joplin composed these pieces originally ... slow and peacefully ... loving listening to him now - cheers Hilary

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  7. Fantastic! I was always a lazy guitar player, and so to watch his fingers move so gracefully and fast leaves me in awe. I was drawn to the guitar as a child because of my love of classical guitar music. Intricate, moderately paced, exquisite.

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  8. I'll come back and listen to JJ, but I got caught by Mr Beck's name and went right over. What an utter treat. The video made my day! And I've added the blog to my list. Thank you SO much.

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  9. I enjoyed listening to that in the background while writing a blog post. Thank you.

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  10. That was delightful! Thanks for sharing.

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  11. I love guitar music. This is beautiful! Thank you.

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