Flippin' eck! Dude playing along to LaFaro's solo on Gloria's Step

[Clarky]

Scott LaFaro is my all-time fave DB player and the Village Vanguard albums would be on my Desert Island discs. Here is a guy who is playing exactly along to the solo on Gloria's Step, and using the rebuilt Prescott bass played by LaFaro (it was badly damaged in the crash that took his life at just 25 and rebuilt by Kolstein in NYC). Wow! What amazing facility, given that the solo would have been almost entirely improvised by LaFaro


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYY0o4qZ0o8

[philparker]

Well I've only just started to play DB, but I was kind of hoping to get to that standard of sight reading by Christmas !

[Clarky]

You are in luck then as the guy has transcribed all of Scott LaFaro's solos from the Village Vanguard sessions and the book is available on import from the US

Me, I'll stick to root- 5th - root - 5th thank you

[EssentialTension]

Well, that's a lot of fun ....

[philparker]

I must admit, as a newbie to DB, I hadn't really heard of Scott LaFarro, so I've checked him out on iTunes and have just bought the Essential Jazz Album - 39 tracks for £3.49: bargain! I will tune my ears accordingly and 'listen & learn'!

[Clarky]

The two Bill Evans trio albums that LaFaro recorded a few days before his untimely death are incredible - Waltz for Debby and Live at the Village Vanguard. Search on YouTube and you can hear them for free. Try Gloria's Step, the title track of Waltz, Milestones or My Romance. Fabulous stuff

Edited October 4, 2012 by Clarky

[gcordez]

That's my friend Phil. He's an incredible player and top bloke. I've had a few lessons from him in the past and can't recommend him enough as a teacher. He gives Skype lessons if anyone is interested.

I was lucky enough to play on the Lafaro Prescott and its a special instrument.

[thisnameistaken]

I've got Live At The Village Vanguard and had it on in the car for week recently but I don't like the sound of that bass at all it gives me a headache. Don't like it here either. The player is clearly amazing though.

[Clarky]

I think the sound is down to gut strings (Golden Spirals) and a very low action. I like it, especially in the slower passages on Village Vanguard when the lower register notes ring out but its a very different sound to steels.

[thisnameistaken]

I thought it was the recording at first, the way the bass seems to have so much mechanical sound to it and not enough note, it sounded like the setup was too low and/or the thing was miked too close to the board or something. It sounds good when he isn't soloing but I can't listen to the solos, which is a bit of a shame really!

[BetaFunk]

[quote name='gcordez' timestamp='1349425520' post='1826061']
I was lucky enough to play on the Lafaro Prescott and its a special instrument.
[/quote]
Where did you play the Prescott? If this bass had ever been over this side of the pond i'd have travelled the length of the UK just to hear that bass!

[Clarky]

LaFaro's Prescott is still at Kolstein's in NYC I believe. I am sure Greg (gcordez) can answer with the full details but Phil P borrowed the LaFaro Prescott for the release of his tribute album and I recall seeing an interview that Greg did with Phil P and Sam Kolstein, so I am guessing Greg played it in NYC. Edit: here's the link http://www.philpalombi.com/2012/04/your-luthier-and-you-hows-the-happy-couple/

I would love to have a play on it, although I am a numpty when it comes to DB, just to see what Scott LaFaro was contending with when he made that wonderful music. Indeed, one of the things that drew me to my Kolstein Busetto travel bass is that it is based on a downscaled version of the LaFaro Prescott - so its my own little tribute as well as being quite lovely to play.

Edited October 8, 2012 by Clarky

[BetaFunk]

[quote name='Clarky' timestamp='1349728882' post='1829848']
LaFaro's Prescott is still at Kolstein's in NYC I believe. I am sure Greg (gcordez) can answer with the full details but Phil P borrowed the LaFaro Prescott for the release of his tribute album and I recall seeing an interview that Greg did with Phil P and Sam Kolstein, so I am guessing Greg played it in NYC. Edit: here's the link [url="http://www.philpalombi.com/2012/04/your-luthier-and-you-hows-the-happy-couple/"]http://www.philpalom...e-happy-couple/[/url]

I would love to have a play on it, although I am a numpty when it comes to DB, just to see what Scott LaFaro was contending with when he made that wonderful music. Indeed, one of the things that drew me to my Kolstein Busetto travel bass is that it is based on a downscaled version of the LaFaro Prescott - so its my own little tribute as well as being quite lovely to play.
[/quote]
Thanks Clarky. That's interesting. I'm not a musician (despite having a few electric basses that i play for my own amusement) but i've always been interested in the bass and first heard Scott Lafaro on an Ornette Coleman LP in the 1970s. Since then i have most of his available recordings.

P.S. I've sent away for Phil's LaFaro CD so look forward to hearing it.

Thanks again for the info.

[Mr Bassman]

Here's the book of [url="http://www.philpalombi.com/lafaro/"]solo transcriptions[/url] (which I have)

[Gareth Hughes]

[quote name='Clarky' timestamp='1349388576' post='1825831']


Me, I'll stick to root- 5th - root - 5th thank you
[/quote]

What's a 5th ?

[Clarky]

[quote name='Gareth Hughes' timestamp='1349765789' post='1830094']
What's a 5th ?
[/quote]
I am told its a bit more than a 4th and not as much as a 6th. But I could be wrong

[Gareth Hughes]

A third,would be wrong then, and a seventh completely,out of the question?

[Clarky]

[quote name='Gareth Hughes' timestamp='1349771815' post='1830179']
A third,would be wrong then, and a seventh completely,out of the question?
[/quote]
Indubitably. You could always try taking a 4th from a 9th to get a 5th but that sounds dangerous territory to me?

[gcordez]

Yup, the Lafaro bass is still with Barrie in Long Island. It's got quite a story that bass and it sounds and plays great. Barrie also has Milt Hintons and Percy Heaths basses in the vault too. Percy Heaths beautiful old Italian bass is technically the better instrument, but that Lafaro bass sounds so evocative when you play it. The Sunday at Village Vangaurd album set the standard for that type of approach to the bass for me. I played the first couple of notes of 'my mans gone' on it and it sounds like the bass on the recordings. I was a very lucky chap.

[BetaFunk]

[quote name='gcordez' timestamp='1349778380' post='1830287']
Yup, the Lafaro bass is still with Barrie in Long Island. It's got quite a story that bass and it sounds and plays great. Barrie also has Milt Hintons and Percy Heaths basses in the vault too. Percy Heaths beautiful old Italian bass is technically the better instrument, but that Lafaro bass sounds so evocative when you play it. The Sunday at Village Vangaurd album set the standard for that type of approach to the bass for me. I played the first couple of notes of 'my mans gone' on it and it sounds like the bass on the recordings. I was a very lucky chap.
[/quote]
It must have been a great experience playing that instrument. I first heard Scott LaFaro through Ornette Coleman records in the 1970s and although i am not a musician i still find the difference between Scott LaFaro's recordings with Ornette and Charlie Haden's fascinating.