Hello, Hello -- Hope you all had a fun 4th and a great July. I did, and I have some wonderful music discoveries to share with you. (Note: highlighted text below links to web pages, videos, etc.)
I was at a retreat in the redwoods last week, and heard some of the best. Raul Reynoso is a superior guitarist so below the radar that it is hard to find him on the web. Here and here are a couple of videos from long ago that give you a sense of his skills which are even better now. (He's the guy on the right.) Here is a more recent video of Raul with bassist David P. Jackson (read his resume !!). Not a great recording, but pay attention to the words because the song is hilarious. That's Paul Shelasky on fiddle, Raul next to him on lead guitar, and Mike Fleming on rhythm guitar. And one more with David and some long-time pals having fun. That cool bass David plays is an Ernie Ball Earthwood, and it sounds amazing.
Many of you know that I wrote words to Midnight On The Water years ago and had the pleasure of playing fiddle on Kate Wolf's recording of it. I recently had the honor of singing it with this guy. His version is in E, a full step up from where I usually sing it. Yikes !!! Neat tuning he uses on the fiddle: EEBE -- very bagpipe-ish.
At the end of the month, I had the pleasure of playing fiddle to the poetry of Marvin Hiemstra. Marv's poetry is witty and off beat, and I had so much fun being his music soundtrack. Unfortunately, no video to share of this event, but here is video of Marv with another poet, Steve Kopel.
I was at a retreat in the redwoods last week, and heard some of the best. Raul Reynoso is a superior guitarist so below the radar that it is hard to find him on the web. Here and here are a couple of videos from long ago that give you a sense of his skills which are even better now. (He's the guy on the right.) Here is a more recent video of Raul with bassist David P. Jackson (read his resume !!). Not a great recording, but pay attention to the words because the song is hilarious. That's Paul Shelasky on fiddle, Raul next to him on lead guitar, and Mike Fleming on rhythm guitar. And one more with David and some long-time pals having fun. That cool bass David plays is an Ernie Ball Earthwood, and it sounds amazing.
Many of you know that I wrote words to Midnight On The Water years ago and had the pleasure of playing fiddle on Kate Wolf's recording of it. I recently had the honor of singing it with this guy. His version is in E, a full step up from where I usually sing it. Yikes !!! Neat tuning he uses on the fiddle: EEBE -- very bagpipe-ish.
At the end of the month, I had the pleasure of playing fiddle to the poetry of Marvin Hiemstra. Marv's poetry is witty and off beat, and I had so much fun being his music soundtrack. Unfortunately, no video to share of this event, but here is video of Marv with another poet, Steve Kopel.
August is a busy month for me. In addition to playing my favorite farmers' market, I am playing two private events, a fund raiser in Healdsburg and two Sundays at the Milk Bar in San Francisco. Oh boy !! All details are on my website, www.royzat.com and if you are in the neighborhood, I hope you can come by.
One last thing. I love playing house concerts and I would like to do more of them. IMHO it is the very best way to hear live music. If you have a cause you would like to support, let's talk about putting on a house concert together in your or a friend's home. It will be fun, and all proceeds will go to your cause (as long as it is not the NRA :-)
That's a bit of news I hope you can use. Always love to hear yours.
John
Roy Zat
Croizat
Whatever
