Re: Imitation vs influence

[phaslem@wightman.ca]

I saw wonderful example of this on the weekend... I went to a blues  
festival and saw Jeff Healey do an amazing version of All along the  
watchtower. He started off with that very familiar wah wah solo from  
Hendrix and gave just enough of it to take you back to Hendrix but  
then went off in his own style and improvisations... Wow what a player!
In a totaly different style I saw Robin Bullock (a great traditional  
guitar etc. player) doing a flatpicking solo and in the midst of it  
put in just enough of that familiar Smoke on the Water chord into that  
you knew what was and made you laugh because it was such a huge jump  
from the trad. fiddle tune that he was improvising on.
I love hearing those little quotes in the midst of something else when  
it's done musically.

Paul Haslem
www.dulcify.ca




Quoting samba - <sambacomet@hotmail.com>:

>
>  Since I used Hendrix as an examle ,if you liksten to blues guitatr
> ,it's quite plain Hendrix was influenced by everyone who went
> before,esp Muddy Waters,all the Kings ,well maybe not Don KIng or the
> King family or king George ,butBB Freddy Albert and Earl.Buddy Guy
> Magic Sam John Lee Hooker etc. But he never tried to make you think
> he's them,or plays one of their solos note for note,ona recording or on
> stage. In jazz blues folk styles  having some roots is a very good
> thing,adding something to the vocabulary of the tradition is a very
> good thing. In nontrad styles originality is very important,but is one
> of severla aesthetic criteria to be balanced creatively. This doesn't
> mean that someone who just plays for the joy of it has to do any
> particular thing,but if someone wants the attention of an audience
> putting more attention ,emotion and care into it makes them worthy ,in
> my aesthietics of attention.Merely mimicing someone else who does make
> the commitment to crafting something fresh is just not interesting.
> coltrane and hendrix each had technique that went so far beyond what
> preceeded them that  many oftheir followers got hung up in those
> techniques to the detriment of other musical qulaities,like genuine
> voice. soulfullness etc. Everyone has an individual voice ,but if they
> never express it cause they're mimicking someone else's ,it's
> boring.But being influenced by someone who plays soulfully,is wonderful
> if it's inspirational.
>
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