Right now I am listening to ...

[afj]

Allow me to nitpick but Satriani can't be classed as a blues musician. He is first, and foremost, a rock guitarist (one of the finest in my humble reckoning). If he does trample on blues territory sometimes, that would be understandable as many a rock artist is inspired by the blues.

from a narrow definition of blues, then definitely yes, i would agree with you. but if you read broadly about blues and its influences (and as you stated), then satriani would fall into the blues rock category. recently was reading up on blues and was astonished to see that most rock bands come under or have roots with blues music. wouldnt necessarily agree with it and i would lean more to the narrower definition of blues music

with satriani its the blues influences that i like, and perhaps thats why i've pegged him as a blues guitarist in my mind. but again, i stand corrected like you said, he;s not a blues guitarist in the purist sense

 

[goget]

listening right now to Minstrel in the gallery by jethro tull.....saw him live in Bombay many years ago....
cheers

 

[regeHA]

The Boss rocks. Amazing riffs, drums, and the music never lets up. Throw in Bruce's baritone vocal range and you've got an excellent album.

 

[jls001]

I've been out of touch with the blues, mainly because I can't stand the repetitive tunes that are stuck in the rut of (mostly) A, A7, A sharp, with the occasional adventure into E major and D major And their lyrical content also tends on the sadder side of life. A female colleague once asked me to give her some happy songs. At that time, it left me scratching my head as to what she meant. Now I know the blues would not make it to her playlist

Just to be clear, I still do have lots of blues CDs and listen to them occasionally. They have their time and place.

The above is not to belittle or degrade other's choice of music. I totally respect other's choices. I'm just chronicling part of my own personal musical journey.

 

[jls001]

Well if I had my 2 cents... there'd be 3 types of guitar players - the nones/average (like me), the exceptionally good, and creative that goes beyond exceptionally good.

IMHO, the likes of Vai and Satriani are exceptionally good, good in terms of form and function, but I'd never peg them in the creative genius category. SRV, Clapton, Hendrix, BB King, Chuck Berry, Eddie Van Halen, Ritchie Blackmore, Jeff Beck, Frank Zappa, and a few more I'm missing would constitute the creative genius category. They never played the same thing, its always about creating new ground accompanied with brilliance. A couple that were in this league but never got the fame and recognition are Rory Gallagher and Roy Buchanan. You must listen to them, especially Roy. He could make the guitar sing in ways others could not even (or have not even) thought of.

And yes, Vai and Satriani wouldn't be blues, strictly rock and/or the sub-genre of instrumental rock.

I agree with your assessment of Satriani and Vai. Both are technical virtuosi in my eyes, though they've hardly paved new ground in terms of inventing fresh techniques, though, to be fair, both have very fine playing styles. What had set them apart from the barrage of technical monkeys, IMHO, is that both of them know how to compose a melodious tune, and how! Satriani's Surfing With The Alien album is all about soulful tunes that touches your very soul. Steve Vai's Alive In An Ultra World world tour live album is masterpiece of melodious tunes. Listen to his "Being with you" performed in Paris. Or try his Tender Surrender - very playful, coquettish, teasing, effortless, the work of a guitar genius.

Of the other names you mentioned, my biggest hero is Van Halen for his ever inventive style (he invented the right handed finger tapping technique that is now de riguer in every axe wielding hero's arsenal). He made "fast" fashionable. And he is also a world class synthesizer player, having won both Guitar Player of the Year and Keyboard Player of the Year in the same year. The only other musician who aped and came anywhere near him was probably Nuno Bettencourt.

 

[regeHA]

I've been out of touch with the blues, mainly because I can't stand the repetitive tunes that are stuck in the rut of (mostly) A, A7, A sharp, with the occasional adventure into E major and D major And their lyrical content also tends on the sadder side of life. A female colleague once asked me to give her some happy songs. At that time, it left me scratching my head as to what she meant. Now I know the blues would not make it to her playlist

Just to be clear, I still do have lots of blues CDs and listen to them occasionally. They have their time and place.

The above is not to belittle or degrade other's choice of music. I totally respect other's choices. I'm just chronicling part of my own personal musical journey.

Cannot argue with that. The origin of blues music is sadness.

However, (I think) most of us modern folks listen to white man blues, made popular by the likes of John Mayall, early Fleetwood Mac, and especially Eric Clapton, SRV, etc. - with an obvious slant towards rock... hence the genre blues rock. Most of the blues rock genre is slanted towards the guitar axemen who growl or moan rather than sing and in particular the guitar takes the lead. At least that's my staple diet of blues music. I listen to a lot of SRV, Clapton, Gary Moore, etc. and while I cannot say its happy music, I'd also not categorize them as sad music. If anything its more guitar or specifically blues guitar music. Even the big 3 Kings of blues - BB, Freddie, and Albert are actually more famous for their guitar prowess and not singing or songwriting.

I myself cannot listen to the original blues... you are right its way too sad and will surely bring your mood down.

 

[jls001]

I might still have some scars to show from the black men's versus white men's blues trench wars

Hard fought religious battles, I'd say

 

[regeHA]

I might still have some scars to show from the black men's versus white men's blues trench wars

Hard fought religious battles, I'd say

FWIW, my wife does not like the blues much either. She'll reach for the playlist and throw in some pop and peppy music whenever she's in the vicinity.

 

[afj]

I've been out of touch with the blues, mainly because I can't stand the repetitive tunes that are stuck in the rut of (mostly) A, A7, A sharp, with the occasional adventure into E major and D major And their lyrical content also tends on the sadder side of life. A female colleague once asked me to give her some happy songs. At that time, it left me scratching my head as to what she meant. Now I know the blues would not make it to her playlist

Just to be clear, I still do have lots of blues CDs and listen to them occasionally. They have their time and place.

The above is not to belittle or degrade other's choice of music. I totally respect other's choices. I'm just chronicling part of my own personal musical journey.

i dont listen to a lot of blues - for me once in a while its something that i like listening to.

on the note of happy / sad music, i came across this youtuber who changes chords of songs from major to minor, and the happiest of music immediately becomes melancholic and sad. one of my favorites is a cover of girls just wanna have fun - cindi lauper. link below

https://youtu.be/MCJh4a5iAqw

 

[regeHA]

 

[regeHA]

Good, really good. Mostly instrumental rock on the guitar.

 

[mpw]

regeHA,

you seem to have quite a big audio collection or do you use a streaming service ?

regards

 

[regeHA]

regeHA,

you seem to have quite a big audio collection or do you use a streaming service ?

regards

Not very large... a little under 2500 CDs.

I use Tidal and Spotify for streaming. I've had Spotify for a long time, and it also has most of the music I listen to. Tidal is good (the streaming quality is CD) but expensive.

 

[mpw]

Not very large... a little under 2500 CDs.

:lol::beer::licklips::cheers:

 

[afj]

Not very large... a little under 2500 CDs.

I use Tidal and Spotify for streaming. I've had Spotify for a long time, and it also has most of the music I listen to. Tidal is good (the streaming quality is CD) but expensive.

i wonder what large would constitute

 

[afj]

 

[afj]

https://youtu.be/dxpeQTUBTeQ - more than words cover by steven tyler

 

[regeHA]

i wonder what large would constitute

That's relative I guess.

Mine is modest, compared to folks I know who have in excess of 5K to 10K. One with 14K and one in particular with more than 35,000.

 

[mpw]

explosions in the sky... the wilderness !!

 

[regeHA]