How fast is that? I'll tell you how fast that is. The tempo is 140 beats per minute. Jason is playing a musical sustained sequence of 16th notes. That's a cleanly articulated 9.33 notes per second.
I honestly don't think there's another player on earth who can pull that off. ---------- *************************************************** /Greg
and it is not just the solo.. his backing harp during the vocals has excellent timing and sounds fantastic, somewhere between horns and guitar approaches.. it has pop and sizzle, as good of an argument i have heard for harp backing vocals..
Whether you like it or not, it ~is~ plumb astonishing. I've always liked Sam the Sham and the Pharoahs myself but this sheds totally new light on this old song. That's saying something right there when a single backing player in a pretty much otherwise average band can change the face of a song that's been around for a half century and that's been played a gazillion times.
Michelle
---------- SilverWing Leather - Custom leather creations for musicians and other eccentrics.
Last Edited by mlefree on Oct 16, 2015 6:34 AM
That's definitely a great solo. It's funny, though: the part I loved was the crazy long double-stop-veering-towards-an-octave at the beginning, and a second version of that trick at the end. I've only listened once, but I'm getting that he's playing the 25 draw split in a way that flats the 2 draw down almost a whole step, using the left corner of his mouth. THAT is a cool bit of playing.
But yes: great stuff, and fast! 140 is pretty damned fast.
If you're looking to figure out the tempo of a song, BTW, use this online metronome:
I was curious, so I checked the tempo of my "Crossroads Blues" video. It's about 129. That's about as fast as I can play sustained quarter notes.
Last Edited by kudzurunner on Oct 16, 2015 7:18 AM
I agree with Greg, there isn't another harp player i can think of who could pull off the speed, variety , precision and passion in what Jason throws down here. This video pops up just at the time when I feel I've upped my game because of the down time I've had of late. Jason, of course, makes me rethink my game constantly and sends me back to the woodshed. ---------- Ted Burke tburke4@san.rr.com
Its not fast for the sake of fast. Its very easy on the ear and only fast because the music requires (or justifies) it. That, my friends is the mark of genius.
He is using his voice along with the harp to do the phase shift thing at the end. Also uses it before solo. I ask about doing this a while ago. Pretty cool. The solo is unreal!..BN
Last Edited by Barley Nectar on Oct 16, 2015 9:00 PM
Am not a fan of the accompaniment played on harmonica, as over the V chord, harmonica bends past the note needed (the second time played), exposing weakness in technique.
Split inhale 2 - 5, bending down on 2 is not that difficult if you learn tb to the right and standard bending technique.
Most of the real fast stuff is patterns that JR uses a lot over the years - he even taught them in some of his earlier videos. He's had many years to keep practicing them and upping the metronome as time goes on.
Speed in the second octave including OB was interesting to me.
Having mentioned before, speed doesn't impress me as much as original melodic line.
I perceive speed as wood shedding same thing over and over for hours - kinda technical expertise that most can do if they dedicate the time to it.
Original melodic line and concepts are more of an artistic accomplishment and where my heart is moved.
Not trying to start war with JR's Fan Club on this list, just my opinion. ---------- The Iceman
More than fast pattern stuff, I think, as what we are hearing on this track is an expression of an original style unique to the space this song provides. Any soloist , fast or slow, develops "patterns", which is to say signature moves in phrases, draws, blow bends, emphasis, that they become very adept at over the course of years of practice , performance, all the needed discipline. It is exactly the point that a musician wants to be able to execute these at will. As the song is frantically paced, is a loose variation on the classic "tex mex" style, the velocity and precision of Jason's solos make perfect musical sense and provide an exhilarating tension and release; his fluid switch to the high notes, the very highest, toward the end of his solo is masterful. It's not just the wish of mine to be able to play that fast, it is a marveling at how JR sustained the interest with a nearly exclusive use of the speedy devices at his disposal. The solo made sense, it stayed in the groove, it was suitable for the arrangement, it kicked the song up a notch or two, as solo spots are supposed to do. My heart is moved. It beats faster.
m not a fan of the accompaniment played on harmonica, as over the V chord, harmonica bends past the note needed (the second time played), exposing weakness in technique.
when you are recording, you can compulsively obsess over every minute detail, or you can take a step back and say to yourself, this sounds pretty good. and let it go.
I enjoy the professionalism of artists that do obsess over their recordings. Having been in the studio many times, it is really easy to go back and redo a bad note or two. It's all up to the individual's (and primary artist's of the session) concept of music when recording. ---------- The Iceman
Last Edited by The Iceman on Oct 19, 2015 5:01 AM
Spot on Greg and Ted, I think not only is there not another player on earth who could pull this off, I think there never has been and maybe never will be!
That solo is not just ridiculous, its insane.
Maybe if I listen to it enough some of the mojo will wear off on me.
All hail the master! ---------- Lucky Lester
Last Edited by didjcripey on Oct 19, 2015 3:09 PM
P.S. what makes you think he 'bent the note past needed.. exposing weakness in technique'? Perhaps thats the note he intended tp play. Sounds bluesy to me. ---------- Lucky Lester
Last Edited by didjcripey on Oct 20, 2015 1:47 AM
Be sure to spend hours on his patterns and slowly increase your speed. Initial patterns are not hard, just hard to hear into at high velocity.
My opinion on bending past the note needed is based on 40 years as musician with a lot of formal music schooling. Also, he plays same notes at other times without bending past that one.
John Popper could no doubt do it, too, as he comes from the pattern playing school of thought. However, he's developed his own unique patterns.
I believe JR learned his basic ones from his old teacher.
---------- The Iceman
Last Edited by The Iceman on Oct 21, 2015 4:20 PM
Artifice. There's no music in that solo, it's just artifice. Kick me out of here, but I just don't hear any musicality in what that guy's playing. What I hear is a lot of flashy licks he's woodshedded for a long time and he's bound to play those licks even if the song doesn't call for them, which this one doesn't.
so, some friend's and i got the ouija board out, and attempted to contact little walter, just to see what he thought of that solo..... we were unable to contact mr jacobs, however ....we did conjure up his 2 nd cousin. he said little walter approved.
I will give it a shot but I doubt that I would have the patience or compulsive drive to practice patterns that hard for so long. I do a few scales if I've got a gig coming up, but for hours and decades... its a bit too much like work for me, and for me music is mostly pleasure.
Fair call about patterns though, I guess anybody can learn a few patterns and play them fast, but aren't patterns an essential part of musicality? I suspect that 'pattern players' are expressing themselves every bit as much as melodic and concept players, though of course this approach won't appeal to every listener.
I also think there is more than just fast patterns going on here. He gets some awesome sounds and tone out of his gear and the patterns are punctuated with some very tasty lines and catchy rhythmic devices IMO.
Its great that you've got 40 years of formal music training under your belt, but you may presume too much to identify wrong notes. For what its worth, I've got more than fifty years as a music lover, and to me that note sounds great, even if it is a 'wrong' note according to your training. Perhaps its because it's 'wrong' it stands out to me and I like it. Creating tension perhaps? That fat tone or whatever it is at the start of his solos is 'wrong' on several levels but I love it. This is blues after all and primarily about personal expression rather than being musically correct or adhering to a school of thought.
You have done a great favour if you taught him his basic patterns. He has made them his own. The best students of the best teachers surpass their mentors! Ha! ---------- Lucky Lester
didj..."I will give it a shot but I doubt that I would have the patience or compulsive drive to practice patterns that hard for so long. I do a few scales if I've got a gig coming up, but for hours and decades... its a bit too much like work for me"
Understood. Hard work? That's for "Only Fools and Horses". (You can call me Dell Boy - British slang).
Some have compulsive drive, some don't.
Patterns can be used as a learning tool in understanding musicality. Those that treat them like the end all have made their choice and are able to express themselves as such.
Some enjoy this style of playing while others do not.
If that "wrong" note sounds great to you, that's wonderful. Everyone is free to enjoy whatever they want to.
I did not teach JR. I was referring to Pat Ramsey.
Excuse me while I put on my Archie Roach CD.... ---------- The Iceman
I think that reading through many of these comments, I personally find it insulting and embarrassing that the so-called and alleged "musical artists" and "session" players that are quick to find fault or criticism about JR playing are really quite pathetic and out of touch with reality.
Get your heads out of your arses and either give credit where credit is due, or just shut your pie-hole and let those who enjoy and celebrate JR playing just relish the fantastic music that he has, and is continuing to produce.
Remember the timeless adage that your momma taught you. "If you've got nothing good to say, than just shut your trap-hole up" :) Good day
Last Edited by CarlA on Oct 23, 2015 5:27 AM
I actually hated the Woolly Bully solo. And I am a fan of JR, most definitely, but this one is not anywhere near his best or most interesting stuff.
I just think -- and I say "I just think" to be clear that i respect everyone else's opinion, and that this is just my take -- that the vast majority of notes in the solo are lacking in personality relative to most other songs/solos JR plays on.
I always thought that the speed, patterns, etc., were not the best elements of his playing. Jason's playing is just as interesting and gripping in slower songs, and you get to hear him work the reeds more. Even other JR fast songs connect more than Woolly Bully... the fast notes are so fast here that they are missing the "magic". And he is a player that normally has quite a bit of "magic". Though I will say that the tongue-blocked thing he does where he bends the one note and not the other -- the one that Iceman said is not that hard to do -- is pretty darn cool. I actually like the playing over the intro much more than the solo; the solo is just so fast that the phrasing doesn't grab me.
The slower clip, "You Hurt Me" that TMF714 posted is soooooooo much better. The tension on the overblown notes works for the piece. The phrasing is creative, weaves in an out around the song's chords, and you get to hear each note have its own particular say.
I view the Woolly Bully clip to be more like a novelty song compared with JR's body of work, and the You Hurt Me clip to sound more like Jason in general.
@CarlA: Are you aware that this is a sort of debating/exchange of ideas forum? Presumably frequented by adults, mainly?
It´s not a fan club, and I refuse to accept that there are artists we are somehow *obliged* to like, be it Jason R, Paul B or Little W -- all excellent guys as it happens. (Soon as I hear anything even remotely resembling such a credo I´m out of here immedieatly.)
Maybe it´s your head that would profit from an extraction from the rectal area?
Nice discussion. I like it when the arguments give some education and build on shared knowledge and not is just build on feelings.
BTW: I'm concerned about why companies don't let me looking at their video clips. They bit themselves in the ass when they do this VPN shit. It ain't good commercial if they don't let foreign customers see what their artists do.
"Have noticed that JR seems to have a rabid fan base that doesn't like reading anything but love for their hero." Sure. Plenty fall in the middle too. I've whacked his lack of musicality plenty, and so has he. And, evidently, ridiculous seems to have been a decent description.
"I personally find it insulting and embarrassing that the so-called and alleged "musical artists" and "session" players that are quick to find fault or criticism about JR playing are really quite pathetic and out of touch with reality."
I seems that you're saying two separate things here. Why should you be personally embarrassed and insulted that someone is pathetic and out of touch?
