elf@utcsrgv.UUCP (Eugene Fiume) (01/28/85)
[] John Fahey comes into Toronto every year or so, and last week he made it to a smokey little local restaurant which holds a hundred people or so. To call Fahey a 'legendary' guitarist does him a disservice, for it allows people to feign knowledge of his music. If I had to call it anything, I would call his music classical american traditional music, and is remarkable not for its virtuosity (much of his stuff is actually very easy to play moderately well), but for its purity. All gimmicks (compare to Leo Kottke) are eschewed. What remains is a flawless sense of rhythm, absolutely minimal structure, and a thorough understanding of traditional american musical forms (together with a touch of latin music). His performance on Saturday night was wonderful. While he plays, he is entirely oblivious to the audience, so much so that I kept wondering where his mind really was. Between songs, he made thoroughly off-hand, spontaneous remarks about his nothing in particular. The man is a bit strange. Most of the pieces played were his own, of course, and he tends to run them together or extend them by what can only be called meditative improvisation. So your attention span should be in the 15-minute range to appreciate him. He also played some pieces by a Brasilian guitarist called Bola Sete (another guitarist whom I highly recommend--he has an album out on Windham Hill--but be prepared for a challenge). The highlights of the show were his version of Sete's "Guitar Lamento", as well as Fahey's slide guitar work, which was mesmerising. In typical Fahey style, he did a few Christmas carols too. If only for educational purposes, try to catch Fahey live when he stops by your town. Legends deserve a listen too. Eugene Fiume U of Toronto allegra!utcsrgv!elf
mfs@mhuxr.UUCP (SIMON) (01/30/85)
Fully agree with original article (see reference). Fahey is a genius,
Kottke merely a good disciple. But that's not the point of this posting.
The point of this posting is:
CAN ANYBODY HELP ME OBTAIN A COPY OF FAHEY'S "BLIND JOE DEATH"????????
Please, please, please!!!!! Thanks already (please reply)
Marcel Simon {ihnp4, allegra, vax-135,...}!mhuxr!mfs