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Nile Rodgers


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[quote name='wambamalubop' timestamp='1498557667' post='3325456']
Proud to be stout!
[/quote]
I have a friend who thinks he might be stout...

[quote name='JellyKnees' timestamp='1498559523' post='3325473']
Quite, it's the usual muso whining
...
Get over yourselves.
[/quote]
Yes, how dare you have an opinion. You should all be ashamed of yourselves.

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Loved the set. I can see why some were not so keen on the bass sound and style, but personally, I just got caught up in the exuberance of the performance. Fun, brash, in your face, over the top excellence. (Just came over all Len Goodman there) :huh:

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Jerry played/plays great - he is very authentic to a 70s R and B genre which, if you had seen bands like the Crusaders and a host of others live you would instantly recognise. It happens to be my favourite era of bass playing and players so love it.

I do have an issue with the sounds - for those who are interested I heard it on my Bose in car system - not wonderful but capable of good reproduction and good bass sound - indeed the previous day radio 2 had played a studio Chic track in which the bass occupied a large portion of the low mid range - it was a fundamental part of the sound. With Chic live at Glastonbury, I particularly noticed My Feet Keep Dancing and the bass was anything but prominent in the low mid range - for me this took a big chunk of sound - rather similar to removing something like the Fender Rhodes or the strings, say from one of their tracks. Of removing Wilkos guitar from say a Dr Feelgood track and replacing it with a lush Les Paul.

I'm sure this is a reasonably outspoken view - but I really don't care what guitar or equipment is used but without a fat, poppy bass sound occupying a large sound scape it ain't Chic for me. And that is not what I heard on Sunday.

The band are great, however generally, as is Jerry Barnes. The 1996 live Chic work with BE has the same arrangements of many of those songs so they've been playing them even longer.

The comparison with Nate Watts is interesting as he does get that fat sound live when required. Indeed I've heard Jerry Barnes do so before - so maybe it was Glasto/BBC to blame.

Edited by drTStingray
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Ever since it was on TV, I've had non-bass playing friends asking me if I saw Chic at Glastonbury (or 'Glastonberry' as every American artist called it). All of them were blown away by 'that bloke playing the bass '. He must be doing something right!
I did see it, and despite being no disco fan, I was hugely impressed by the whole performance. Same also applies to Barry Gibb. I thought it was a particularly good Glastonbury this year.

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[quote name='Agwin' timestamp='1498419007' post='3324473']
Disco couldn’t be further removed from my usual cup of tea if it tried but, my God, this is sheer class!
[/quote]

Oh my god, try it - its a revelation - Chic/Rogers numbers are fundamentally guitar grooves - we've ended up having about 5 in our set!!

BTW - Jerry Barnes - has carved his place in Chic - Bernard Edwards was THE man, but JB is seriously capable of keeping Nile in the groove.

Edited by dontregartha
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[quote name='Deep Thought' timestamp='1498597292' post='3325824']
Same also applies to Barry Gibb. I thought it was a particularly good Glastonbury this year.
[/quote]

I didn't get the same from Barry Gibb, couldn't get through that one, it seemed very faded and lacking, more like a memorial service and I couldn't watch it.

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[quote name='dontregartha' timestamp='1498601347' post='3325870']
'nuff said
[/quote]

I don't think anyone is saying that he's not a good player. He just seemed to be OTT on the Glasto gig to the point where it was detrimental to the music. An example that stuck out in my head was this bit.

[url="https://youtu.be/rEzr3O8pPDM?t=248"]https://youtu.be/rEzr3O8pPDM?t=248[/url] The little slide thing that starts at 4.10. He was just continually doing things like this which didn't sound particularly great at all and took away from the groove.
He's obviously a great player though.

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[quote name='funkyjimbob' timestamp='1498635722' post='3325953']

I don't think anyone is saying that he's not a good player. He just seemed to be OTT on the Glasto gig to the point where it was detrimental to the music. An example that stuck out in my head was this bit.

[url="https://youtu.be/rEzr3O8pPDM?t=248"]https://youtu.be/rEzr3O8pPDM?t=248[/url] The little slide thing that starts at 4.10. He was just continually doing things like this which didn't sound particularly great at all and took away from the groove.
He's obviously a great player though.
[/quote]

He didn't quite pull that one off, but I'd rather see a bunch of musicians going for it and hear the odd fluff rather than hear something safe and staid. I think it's petty nitpicking and misses the bigger picture.

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So I've just looked at the Youtube and I don't understand all the negativity. Sure it's not 1981 Chic. That might be a preference for some but it can't be a criticism of this band.

It seems that US audiences are more open to the energy of a live performance and IMO too many Brits would prefer everything to stay "as it was".

Jerry Barnes and his bass playing is being pushed forward as a feature of this band. That's a big difference between then and now. I love where bass is going in the hands of these players.

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[quote name='wombatboter' timestamp='1498473229' post='3324775']
Paul Turner would be the ideal man for this sort of gig...and I'm not being chauvinistic, I'm Belgian :-)
[/quote]

Paul's 'everyday' warmup riffs are often Chic songs. He can play them perfectly whilst nattering about the weather, lol.

Of course he is, to a degree, filling Bernard's shoes with Sister Sledge on tour these days :)

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Watching on iPlayer right now and I must admit that some of Jerry Barnes' playing is getting on my nerves.

I don't necessarily believe that he needs to play Bernard E's parts note for note but the continued slides up and down the board seem a bit pointless and, at times, it's almost like he feels he has to fill in all those nice gaps that Bernard left to let the music breathe a bit.

Without the gaps the songs seem to lose their core groove in places. Of course, Bernard was a total rhythm 'machine' so very difficult to fill in.

Jerry's tone when he's just playing with fingers sounds good to me but some of the slappier stuff sounds a bit clanky to my ears.

One thing I was surprised at was My Feet Keep Dancing - the middle section of this has what is almost a bass solo section in it where Bernard just pumps a robotic groove straight through and a flourish at the end. The current live version loses that groove and is all clicky/poppy sounding.

I think this relentless groove stuff was core to the classic Chic sound but maybe not the most entertaining thing to stand and watch. Many songs barely deviate from a single groove all the way through with repetitive vocal lines and just the odd little flourish from bass or guitar. To listen, or of course dance, to this is great and the scarcity of those flourishes are sometimes pure joy (like when Niles comes back in after the breakdown in the full version of Good Times).

The other thing missing with the live band is the string section. The horns sounded great on some numbers but another key aspect of many Chic songs is the way they breakdown and then build back up again with sparse key stabs, strings & horns over that perfect groove. The live keys sounded like it was trying to cover too much of this and, again, wasn't giving that space for the songs to breathe a little.

I'm sure they would be great to see live if you're actually there but as a TV spectacle I kept finding myself reaching for the fast forward button :(

Mind you - that's true of lots of music on TV. Too easy to start over analysing and picking holes - just as I've been doing here, lol

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[quote name='molan' timestamp='1498653959' post='3326135']
Watching on iPlayer right now and I must admit that some of Jerry Barnes' playing is getting on my nerves.

Mind you - that's true of lots of music on TV. Too easy to start over analysing and picking holes - just as I've been doing here, lol
[/quote]

A very detailed analysis - and I agree with just about every word! B)

On the other hand, it is great to see the bass guitar being given "centre stage" as it were, and loud enough in the mix to actually hear all that over-playing ;)

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[quote name='molan' timestamp='1498653959' post='3326135']
Watching on iPlayer right now and I must admit that some of Jerry Barnes' playing is getting on my nerves.

I don't necessarily believe that he needs to play Bernard E's parts note for note but the continued slides up and down the board seem a bit pointless and, at times, it's almost like he feels he has to fill in all those nice gaps that Bernard left to let the music breathe a bit.

Without the gaps the songs seem to lose their core groove in places. Of course, Bernard was a total rhythm 'machine' so very difficult to fill in.

Jerry's tone when he's just playing with fingers sounds good to me but some of the slappier stuff sounds a bit clanky to my ears.

One thing I was surprised at was My Feet Keep Dancing - the middle section of this has what is almost a bass solo section in it where Bernard just pumps a robotic groove straight through and a flourish at the end. The current live version loses that groove and is all clicky/poppy sounding.

I think this relentless groove stuff was core to the classic Chic sound but maybe not the most entertaining thing to stand and watch. Many songs barely deviate from a single groove all the way through with repetitive vocal lines and just the odd little flourish from bass or guitar. To listen, or of course dance, to this is great and the scarcity of those flourishes are sometimes pure joy (like when Niles comes back in after the breakdown in the full version of Good Times).

The other thing missing with the live band is the string section. The horns sounded great on some numbers but another key aspect of many Chic songs is the way they breakdown and then build back up again with sparse key stabs, strings & horns over that perfect groove. The live keys sounded like it was trying to cover too much of this and, again, wasn't giving that space for the songs to breathe a little.

I'm sure they would be great to see live if you're actually there but as a TV spectacle I kept finding myself reaching for the fast forward button :(

Mind you - that's true of lots of music on TV. Too easy to start over analysing and picking holes - just as I've been doing here, lol
[/quote]

This to a 'T'

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So it's a bass player's forum and people are complaining about too much bass playing! Come on guys, that's the egotistical lead guitarists job! And I didn't see Nile complaining ;¬).

Personally I enjoyed the whole set including the bass playing. Hearing a good bass player let rip and slap a bit these days is like having a stiff whisky during prohibition.

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To all the posters saying, "Jerry Barnes overplayed" - IT'S A LIVE SHOW!

Of course, as bass players we focus on the bass, but, take a listen the rest of the band - with the possible exception of the horns, they are all "overplaying" Drummer putting in fills that I don't remember on the record. As for the Singers... wailing all over the place! But, as I say, "It's a live show", and as ALL live music broadcasts - it doesn't withstand close "armchair" scrutiny. it's intended for those stood in front of the stage.
If you don't take it up at least a notch or two when on stage, then you ain't doing it right!

My foot was a tapping, 'n' my body a movin' n a groovin'! :)

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[quote name='funkyjimbob' timestamp='1498587175' post='3325729']
To whoever was asking about Rag n Bone man's bass. His name is Bill Banwell from down my way and he has got some serious chops. Used to post on here a few years back. Google him if you want to see his stuff, there's plenty out there.
[/quote]

Cool - yeah that was me asking about him Funkyjimbob!

I'll check him out.

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