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| From | Jaimie Vernon <bullseyecanada@hotmail.com> |
| Subject | Re: The Good, the Bad, and the Wankers |
| Date | Thu, 29 Nov 2007 19:53:43 -0500 |
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> Date: Thu, 29 Nov 2007 14:44:51 Kerryw rote:
> Jaimie wrote:
>
>>>And anyone suggesting Steve Vai or Satriani or any
> other wank artist is missing my point. It isn't about
> how many notes....it's about the right, tasteful
> ones.<<
>
> Wow. I find Vai (and Satraini, to a somewhat lesser
> extent) to be incredibly tasteful soloists, offering
> unique melodies (granted, sometimes played at blinding
> speed, but certainly not all the damned time) combined
> with delightfully baffling feats of technical prowess.
> They are likely not too concerned with “how many
> notes” they’re playing – being technically proficient
> means being able to express one’s self at a higher
> level, which, obviously, can mean MORE NOTES. Did J.S.
> Bach write “too many notes”? If you actually listen to
> a Vai album – hell, a single song – you’ll find lots
> of slower, emotional, intensely tasteful playing mixed
> in with the volcanic blasts of sheer musicality.
I've always liked Vai's stuff and found (as probably he did) that he was being stifled in the confines of a rock band like David Lee Roth's pathetic excuse for a solo career.
> Rock fusion isn’t everyone's cup of tea -- especially
> for one whose tastes reject everything that isn't
> immediately "hooky" -– but to dismiss it as “wankery”
> reveals a lack of understanding of the genre.
I use it as a term of endearment :-)
> Question: who is the best Canadian guitarist ever, in
> your opinion? I’m talking wankers here, not “tasteful”
> folks like that cat who used to play on Bryan Adams'
> albums (he was pretty killer, not too flowery, very
> tasteful and composed solos that fit the songs).
Hmmm....we don't have a lot of shredders up here that I can identify by name (as you said I'm listening for "hooks" not hammer-on's). But probably the greatest Canadian guitarist of all time was Domenic Troiano (late of The Mandala, Bush, and one-time member of the Guess Who). Because he started in R & B bands in the '60s he had an entirely different understanding of the instrument than, say, Randy Bachman (who claims jazz legend Lenny Breau as his biggest inspiration....yeah...."Takin' Care Of Business" is soooooo jazzy). Troiano could roll from smouldering smooth to biting fire in a 16 bar transition, pepper the verses and choruses and STILL not step on the vocalist. [Robbie Robertson of The Band is nearly as adept].
As for the living, there's no denying the unbelievable talent of Pat Travers or Frank Marino or Jerry Doucette. Probably the three best living Canadian guitar icons in Canada.
And in modern circles I'll go with Derry Grehan of Honeymoon Suite (who can pack more melody into his hammer-down technique than Eddie Van Halen ever did) or Pete Lesperance from Harem Scarem who actually writes great POP guitar lines amidst the big-hair metal sounds of the band's bombastic corporate rock sound.
Jaimie Vernon,
President, Bullseye Records
http://www.bullseyecanada.com
SWAG:
http://www.cafepress.com/bullseyecanada
BULLSEYE LIVE 365 RADIO:
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Author, Canadian Pop Music Encyclopedia
http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/Pop_Encyclopedia/
http://www.myspace.com/jaimievernonsmovingtargetz
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