Monday, July 19, 2010

Neanderthals

Neanderthals don't like Kaki King. This is guitar legend Kaki King in 2004, playing one of her songs named "Neanderthal" in Tower Records. It reminds me of some modern jazz...

-- Badtux the Music Penguin

5 comments:

  1. I gave up on guitar and went to back to trombone, 'cuz I couldn't do all that left-hand spider-walk stuff.

    Kinda reminds me of Michael Hedges - which is a good thing, because I had totally for gotten about him.

    Well, duh!

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JE7eVfIAkkE

    Cheers!
    JzB

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  2. I love to watch her play. When I first heard the late great August Wenzinger, perhaps the greatest virtuoso on viola da gamba in modern times until his death in 1996, I was most astonished at the economy of motion of his playing: there was a whole lot of music coming out, but his hands and bow seemed to be barely moving. And he was over 80 at the time. Ms. King gives me the same impression: coolly at ease with her instrument and music.

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  3. Jazz, Kaki can most certainly tap and do pull-offs like Mike Hedges is doing in that video, but her style tends to be more fluid and less, hmm, "masculine". When she pulls out all the stops, like with Playing With Pink Noise, though, she goes places Michael Hedges never went.

    This is one of her quieter less technical numbers, but I like it anyhow for some reason. I can't tap or otherwise play like either of these people, but I can certainly appreciate their style.

    Steve: Yes, Ms. King is definitely at ease with her instrument. She is playing so far under her technical capability here that the technique practically disappears into the music, leading one to misleadingly think that what she's playing is "easy". But it's "easy" only if you are Kaki King or one of a handful of other similarly talented performers. All I will say is that I've been playing for twenty years and I can't do what she's doing here. 'Nuff said on that.

    - Badtux the Music Penguin

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  4. Dang! Watched this and Pink Noise. There is way more than practice, practice, practice at work here. I'll let you figure it out and report back, I'm gonna sit back and listen to some more.

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  5. Her facial expression looks as if she's thinking about doing the laundry, or making a grocery list, or maybe throwing together a grilled cheese for lunch.

    It's all so effortless.

    I'm just going to go eat some worms.

    Yikes!
    JzB

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