went to see was billed as an ''An Evening of Folk and Drone Studies for Guitar"...two masters and an unknown (at least to me). i got there for 3 songs of Geoff Mullen, which was pretty interesting. much more experimental than Glenn Jones or Jack Rose, he was equal parts Rowe to Fahey, attaching various bits to his guitar and utilizing a violin bow and some sort of electronic device for one song. for the more conventional song, he had some sort of lead (sorry, i'm not too technically adept enough at describing what he was actually doing) taped to the guitar body, which made for some very beautiful overtones while he played. sounded like two guitarists, one playing an ebo and one playing acoustic. check him out if that's yr bowl of coffee.
next up was glenn...i'd not seen him in ages, and then only w/ his band Cul de Sac. i love his solo guitar record though, and this performance did not disappoint. he played a variety of things, all acoustic - 6 string, 12 string, and dobro. a fan of open tuning, he also did some stuff i'd not seen before, like playing w/ a partial capo on a track he called a work in progress (commenting that this would entail his contribution to the 'drone' night theme). after the set, he told me he'd incorporated that technique while playing w/ Cul de Sac, because the band was impatient for guitar tuning changes; i guess he didn't have enough bodies a la Sonic Youth to make wholesale changes. all in all, a tremendous set..."sphinx unto curious men" and "friday night with" were played, so i can rest easy when my time for expiry is nigh.
jack approached the metal folding chair w/ no pretense, started tuning and gradually started the set while people were still milling around mid-intermission. his sort of playing was much more evocative of Fahey than glenn's, i'd say, and was immaculate (not to take anything away from glenn either). he was a bit more a fan of the thumb pick string strum, creating a very rich and full sound. he'd play w/ amazing precision while his head hung low to the side, knowing exactly which of the six strings to coax, tug, pluck and caress to get the sound from his head into the air surrounding us. i wasn't very familiar w/ _Kensington Blues_ prior to the show, but i think he played a few songs from it, including the elegiac and stunningly beautiful "Cathedral et Chartres".
great evening, thanks to Frank for the two Leffes, and no thanks to the somerville meter cops for the $40 ticket. oh, jack had a solo 7" he'd just got copies of, and was selling at the show. i did get the new Pelt 2lp and a neat silk-screened poster too.
a couple of photos for yr viewing pleasure:
Glenn:
Jack:
both:
next up was glenn...i'd not seen him in ages, and then only w/ his band Cul de Sac. i love his solo guitar record though, and this performance did not disappoint. he played a variety of things, all acoustic - 6 string, 12 string, and dobro. a fan of open tuning, he also did some stuff i'd not seen before, like playing w/ a partial capo on a track he called a work in progress (commenting that this would entail his contribution to the 'drone' night theme). after the set, he told me he'd incorporated that technique while playing w/ Cul de Sac, because the band was impatient for guitar tuning changes; i guess he didn't have enough bodies a la Sonic Youth to make wholesale changes. all in all, a tremendous set..."sphinx unto curious men" and "friday night with" were played, so i can rest easy when my time for expiry is nigh.
jack approached the metal folding chair w/ no pretense, started tuning and gradually started the set while people were still milling around mid-intermission. his sort of playing was much more evocative of Fahey than glenn's, i'd say, and was immaculate (not to take anything away from glenn either). he was a bit more a fan of the thumb pick string strum, creating a very rich and full sound. he'd play w/ amazing precision while his head hung low to the side, knowing exactly which of the six strings to coax, tug, pluck and caress to get the sound from his head into the air surrounding us. i wasn't very familiar w/ _Kensington Blues_ prior to the show, but i think he played a few songs from it, including the elegiac and stunningly beautiful "Cathedral et Chartres".
great evening, thanks to Frank for the two Leffes, and no thanks to the somerville meter cops for the $40 ticket. oh, jack had a solo 7" he'd just got copies of, and was selling at the show. i did get the new Pelt 2lp and a neat silk-screened poster too.
a couple of photos for yr viewing pleasure:
Glenn:
Jack:
both:
