Charles Berthoud's tapping

[lowdown]

2 hours ago, SpondonBassed said:

If he could tap dance at the same time he'd make a great music hall act.

 

But he does tap dance well, and at the same time, he can tap semi-quaver triplets on his Blakey's Tap Shoes protectors.

As Sir Thomas Beecham probably said after hearing him..."The English may not like his music, but they absolutely love the noise he makes..."

 

 

[Hellzero]

By the way, he is half British, half Finnish. 😉

[Paolo85]

On 04/05/2024 at 10:08, Hellzero said:

He has released 4 albums and, strangely, as amazing and musical he is in his videos, these are a real pain in the derrière to listen to, just simply boring.

 

To be fair, he released three of those albums in three years in 2015-18, he would have been in his twenties and straight after Berklee (one BTW was meant to be an instructional product). Then he did youtube full time and subsequent releases are just a collage of what he recorder for youtube videos. It seems he is right now planning to relax on his youtube work and do something different. So hopefully in the coming years we'll see what he can do as a mature musician. He is working with metal guitarist Bernth and has announced a tour. He has recorded two songs with Bernth already (gathered together as a release named Delusional on youtube) so chances are the first thing we'll hear from him will be a metal album. I think Bloodstream is very good and the instrumental version of Delusional is alright. I imagine and hope a full (and mostly instrumental) album may come out of it. I also hope he'll move back to more jazzy stuff soon

[Newfoundfreedom]

15 minutes ago, Paolo85 said:

To be fair, he released three of those albums in three years in 2015-18, he would have been in his twenties and straight after Berklee (one BTW was meant to be an instructional product). Then he did youtube full time and subsequent releases are just a collage of what he recorder for youtube videos. It seems he is right now planning to relax on his youtube work and do something different. So hopefully in the coming years we'll see what he can do as a mature musician. He is working with metal guitarist Bernth and has announced a tour. He has recorded two songs with Bernth already (gathered together as a release named Delusional on youtube) so chances are the first thing we'll hear from him will be a metal album. I think Bloodstream is very good and the instrumental version of Delusional is alright. I imagine and hope a full (and mostly instrumental) album may come out of it. I also hope he'll move back to more jazzy stuff soon

 

You had me right until the very last half of the last sentence, then went and ruined it. 😆

[Chris2112]

I do enjoy some of Charles' playing, clearly the practice he has put in has paid off. I don't really dig most of the covers he does but I can see why he does them, he wouldn't get a million clicks posting a solo bass piece of his own and he wouldn't have a presence at all if he hadn't found a niche to exploit.

 

I do rather wish he could get into a decent band; like so many of these YouTube virtuosos he has so much to offer but none of them seem to play together. Music is best when it's a team effort IMO, when different players interact and make more than the sum of their parts. 

[Guest]

25 minutes ago, Chris2112 said:

many of these YouTube virtuosos ..... none of them seem to play together

 

We've absolutely no idea if any of them would be capable of listening to the other musicians they are performing with. 

[lowdown]

4 hours ago, Paolo85 said:

He is working with metal guitarist Bernth and has announced a tour. I think Bloodstream is very good

 

 

  Seeing as this is a thread about Charles' tapping skills and you mentioned, Bernth, it's probably worth posting this.

 

 

[Stub Mandrel]

I find it impossible to dislike CB. First, he's genuinely musical,  even if it's not really my taste. Secondly, unlike most YouTube slapmeisters, he gigs and is in two real bands.

[asingardenof]

5 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

I find it impossible to dislike CB. First, he's genuinely musical,  even if it's not really my taste. Secondly, unlike most YouTube slapmeisters, he gigs and is in two real bands.

He's touring with Ola Englund later this year, with two gigs in the UK.

[squire5]

Who was the guy years ago who played a Zon bass and had at least 47 different D-Tuners on his headstock?Curly headed dudeDid a lot of melodic solos.Well like him,it was pleasant to listen to - for a while.CB is talented no doubt and a nice guy to boot but I could only listen to him for a short while.

[lowdown]

10 minutes ago, squire5 said:

Who was the guy years ago who played a Zon bass and had at least 47 different D-Tuners on his headstock?Curly headed dudeDid a lot of melodic solos.Well like him,it was pleasant to listen to - for a while.CB is talented no doubt and a nice guy to boot but I could only listen to him for a short while.

 

 

[Chris2112]

4 hours ago, squire5 said:

Who was the guy years ago who played a Zon bass and had at least 47 different D-Tuners on his headstock?Curly headed dudeDid a lot of melodic solos.Well like him,it was pleasant to listen to - for a while.CB is talented no doubt and a nice guy to boot but I could only listen to him for a short while.

 

The funny thing about Michael Manring is he wasn't and isn't primarily a solo bassist. He was the house bassist for the Windham Hill record label for many years and has cut far more records with bands and ensembles than he has on his own. 

 

I love his solo work but his playing with other musicians is just on another level. His arrangement of 'Bright Size Life' from his instructional DVD is IMO the best performance of that piece that I've ever heard and the 'Equilibre' record he cut with David Cullen is one of the finest jazz records I've ever heard. 

 

Michael did things backwards compared to how it works these days, he cut his teeth in the traditional setting with other players and then moved to solo work. 

[tauzero]

11 hours ago, lowdown said:

 

 

  Seeing as this is a thread about Charles' tapping skills and you mentioned, Bernth, it's probably worth posting this.

 

 

 

I like that. Some extraordinary technical work, and some beautiful sensitive parts.

[Barking Spiders]

On 11/05/2024 at 15:19, lowdown said:

 

 

  Seeing as this is a thread about Charles' tapping skills and you mentioned, Bernth, it's probably worth posting this.

 

 

Impressive techniques but can't say I'm a fan of this metal-come-hey nonny-no post-medieval widdling

[franzbassist]

On 11/05/2024 at 20:34, Chris2112 said:

He was the house bassist for the Windham Hill record label for many years

 

Windham Hill churned out some beautiful stuff in the late 80s early 90s: Michael Manring, George Winston, Michael Hedges.

[StickyDBRmf]

On 11/05/2024 at 10:19, lowdown said:

 

 

  Seeing as this is a thread about Charles' tapping skills and you mentioned, Bernth, it's probably worth posting this.

 

 

Reminds me of the guitar duel in "Crossroads".

[lowdown]

2 hours ago, StickyDBRmf said:

Reminds me of the guitar duel in "Crossroads".

 

Benny and Miss Diane? I remember that, although not many do. I think it was in the directors cut. **

 

 

 

[SimonK]

Well this proves that when people say "yes but can he play in a band?"... well yes he can and better than the rest of us! Quite an interesting video just to hear his thought process: "when there's fewer chords there's more riding on your bassline ability... it's just Am to D and a bridge..."