As you were...

The club has received a plausible assurance from Eskom that there will be no more load shedding this week. With that in mind we are going ahead with the original date - Thursday 6th.

TJ's apologises for the confusion and hopes to see y'all there!

AANDAG!
Because of the very real possibility of load shedding in Emmarentia this Thursday this show has been rescheduled for Wednesday 12th - same place, same time, same price, same performers.

GFSA members Costafonix and PeteM are on the bill for TJ's Acoustic Music Club on Thursday November 6th.

Full line up

• Costa and Claude
• PeteM
• Geoff Dix
• Bryan and the Retreads
• Paddy Rowlings

The host for the evening is Paddy Rowlings.

Venue: Marks Park club, Judith Rd, Emmarentia
Time: Music starts at 20:00, doors open at 19:30
Admission: R25

Plenty of off-street parking. Light meals can be ordered from the Marks Park kitchen. Bar service.

I don't have a single "idol" and the SA music scene is bigger than that. I had a soft spot for James Phillips because the music he made was so South African. He sang like a suburban South African white boy and his songs often dealt with the lot of a suburban South African white boy. Another very South African sounding act that I enjoyed was The Genuines. They couldn't have come from any other country, but they also didn't sound like they came from Soweto or Alex. Bright Blue were significantly influenced by and paid musical homage to the Soul Brothers, an organ driven township jive band. So there's three acts who weren't just from South Africa but made music that couldn't have come from any other country.

I've got his album Agadez. Ten tracks, and only four in straight ahead 4/4.

Like Tinariwen he eschews the common or garden drum kit, and that gives the music a different feel.

I can't tell the difference between 3/4 and 6/8. A slip jig is in 9/8 and I do recognise that when I hear it, but that's because of the way the emphasised beats fall.

But what seems to be happening here, to my uncouth and uneducated ear, is that the percussion starts playing something else as the piece goes on, and there's a sort of ambiguity that arises.

But it may be illusory. I spent some time trying to plot out what the Beatles were doing in "Good Day Sunshine". The intro sounds like they're tossing a salad of 3s, 2s and 5s, but it's actually all in 4.

Ok... here's a clip of Bombino, who has been rocking my commute time the last couple of days. He's pretty interesting rhythmically, and this track is a very good example.

Question: what is going on here? As I hear it the track starts in 3/4 but the percussion starts doing something else as the track builds, getting interesting round about 3 minutes and even more so by 6 minutes. Or is it a clever illusion?

=

I also really like the solo. Indeed I generally enjoy his soloing and I don't mind when he goes on a bit.

Timing is non-negotiable when playing solo. If you play a simple arrangement with good timing you'll get a better response than if you play something complex and more complete with poor timing. If your timing is good the listener can tap their foot and get in the groove. If your timing is off their foot will come down but the music doesn't happen at the same time and they'll switch off.

All the good solo performers I've seen (from really hot players like Martin Simpson to guys who do little more than strum) have solid timing. All manner of mistakes and crimes will be overlooked if your timing is steady and constant.

Try tapping your foot when playing, and when you practice slow down to a tempo at which you can manage the difficult bits - and keep that tempo. With time you will improve and the tempo will go up by itself, but you will have practiced playing at a steady tempo.

Get on YouTube and find clips of Martin Taylor or Tommy Emmanuel. And forget the fireworks - listen to the groove. They are rock solid.

I can't see the video But I've heard that song a time or two. I hope it's the original with the striking bass part by Danny Thompson.

lindsmuse wrote: Great! I'm also new to it Stoffel - quite a treat. Well this means that I'll be giving the musos you've mentioned a listen - have heard of them but never got to them. I can also hear how John Martyn may have picked up a thing or two - and there's one song that sounds as if Cream (Badge maybe)may have been heavily influenced by it - can't remember where ...

One of John Martyn's best songs (and one of his best known) "Solid Air" was written for and about Drake. Martyn was about as pally with the reclusive Drake as anybody could be. And listening to the song "Pink Moon" it sounds like Drake is giving Martyn a little nod in the vocals with the way he pronounces the sibilants
"Zaw it written and I zaw it zay..."

Elsewhere Drake's diction is very English public school.

I like this one

I recently got retrenched and then picked up a new job - but as a temp on a fixed-term contract that still allows the employer to show me the door early if they want to (though TBF they knew my situation, could have taken advantage of that and low-balled me but didn't ) . So I have some sympathy for temps right now - though I also recognise that half a loaf is better than none (especially at my age).

Exploitation of this situation is an old problem all over the world and has been for some time. You hire "temps" for (say) 3 months, wave them good bye at the end of that term and then hire them as temps again as soon as possible. (I'm not saying the guys I'm currently working for are playing that game - I'm sure they're not - but that doesn't mean that this game doesn't get played).

It's worse in Europe actually where labour law is more in the employer's favour.

Hopefully I'll pick up a full time position next year, but right now I'm well inclined towards those who pick up the cudgels on behalf of temporary workers.

Before using an "alternative" check it out carefully - some are just frontends for SAPO. They take your parcel over the counter and then hand it over to SAPO (and charge you a markup)

The current strike has been on for at least a week. It's not the entirety of SAPO but a specific union. My loçal PO has remained open and there's been no trouble - though post may have been delayed. The bone of contention seems to be the lot of the temporary workers.

Alan Ratcliffe wrote:

Stoffeltoo wrote: Thanks for the introduction to Nick Drake.
While listening I could not help picking up cross influences to other artists that I like.
Similar to Shawn Phillips, bit of Donovan Leich and even some Dan Patlansky

Bob introduced me to him a couple of years ago and I noted the Donovan "influence". Turns out that it's more a case of him influencing Donovan and (many) others than vice-versa. ?

Drake came too late to influence Donovan. He sold very few albums, hardly ever gigged and got lots of bad press. I doubt he was much of an influence in the 60s or 70s. More likely he and Donovan had common influences. He had some admirers amongst his peers - notably John Cale and John Martyn - but he came and went with hardly anybody noticing.

His music didn't pay much heed to the fashions of the day, so it's possible that some people pick up on him without realizing he's been dead for 40 odd years. His records don't sound particularly 60s-ish.

lindsmuse wrote: Then I listened to two albums on Youtube, really nice. Just felt like the Pink Moon one really would have sounded amazing with bass - pity he and Danny Thompson didn't work together more. I think if he had been around today people would have known what instruments to mix in with his sound better ... Anyway. Lovely discovery.

Pink Moon is the album that Drake wanted - stark and solo and with him in control. He'd told Boyd that he didn't want any session players and even held some material back until he could do it just as he wanted.

Boyd was very happy with the second album - Bryter Later. He thought it all worked well, the sound was good, the guest players all delivered and etc. But in the long run Pink Moon has outsold the other two albums and Drake had the last laugh from beyond the grave.

PS: I know that Squonk gives Nick Drake a spin every now and then, and I have most of his stuff. So, yes, people do still listen.

There were a handful of tribute concerts a couple of years back, with Boyd involved and Danny Thompson (who played on the first Drake album) in the band. A lot of young musicians such as Lisa Hannigan and Teddy Thompson (son of) performed Drake's songs.

lindsmuse wrote: Watched a documentary about him. Seems like - and this is my very first exposure to his music - that he may have done better in a later era when people's tastes had become more eclectic. I'm so reminded of late 19th century poets and writers listening to his music - it's so romantic and wistful. We had a local folk musician back in the seventies - John Oakley Smith - who Nick Drake's music also made me think of. In both cases the guitaring was really amazing ...

There's a school of thought that says that Nick Drake has actually been influential in the long run. Joe Boyd (who managed Drake and produced his first two albums) said that he'd had piles of demos from young artists who cited Drake as an influence. The interesting thing is that he (or his music, since he died so young) seem to have jumped a generation. It's almost like it's OK to like Drake because your parents didn't even know who he was.

Despite his almost non-existent sales in his own time, there were people who believed very strongly in his music. When Boyd sold his Witchseason label to Island he included a clause stipulating that Drake's music could never be deleted from the catalog. Island boss Chris Blackwell was quite happy with that condition, and over the years it's had the effect of making Drake's music constantly available to anybody who got interested in it.

The key moment seems to have been a TV ad for the VW Beetle (the new one). They had their campaign planned and then there was a dispute over the music they intended to use. Casting around for a late replacement somebody decided to use Drake's "Pink Moon". Soon radio stations were getting requests for "that song from the Beetle advert".

I think it helped that the recordings made little concession to the fashions of the day so the music isn't tied to an era or fashion and can stand on it's own.

The romantic aspect.... Drake came from a well off family and studied at Marlborough. So his schooling was full of the great poets and the classics.

His mother was an even later bloomer. She was a pianist and songwriter but with no aspirations to a career. Recently her songs (recorded at home on the family tape recorder) were "discovered" and covers are starting to appear.

Martin Taylor and David Grisman - I'm Beginning To See The Light

Taylor is a marvellous guitarist and I've been wanting to get something of his for a while now. This album also allows me to indulge my recent appetite for hot mandolin players.

The musicianship here is top notch - not just the chops (and there are many) but the sympathy with which everybody plays. Taylor's in quite a bluesy mode here, and whilst the first impression is that this is a pretty laid back affair some of the solos really smoke. And when one is soloing the other is usually playing an inventive yet supportive rhythm role.

There's a really good rhythm section as well. Not particularly well known, but very good. The world is full of fab players. And this is a fine album.

Eish! Must keep an eye on that auto-correct. Should be "open mic"

Hi. If you're in Jo'burg on the last Thursday of the month then maybe you'd like to grace the TJ's open Michael night with your presence. And your axe. TJ's provide the PA.