Video clips of pair of Snowy Egrets in the clearwater ditch with flamenco guitar accompaniment. I am playing the Tientos for this video.
Tag: music
Sweet Painted Ladies
I made a short video (with flamenco guitar) of the swarm of painted ladies on our purple Salvia.
Angry Beavers
The Conservancy tore the beavers’ dams out of the clear water ditch again. As you might imagine, the beavers are upset. The Angry Beavers asked the AWB to post “Bite ‘Em On The Old Shin Bone” again to remind everyone about how unjust the Conservancy is destroying the beavers’ hard work. Let alone messing up the ecosystem the beavers create with their dams.
If you would like to read about the video and the lyrics, you can visit the original post at https://photos.tandlphotos.com/blog/2017/11/bite-em-on-the-old-shin-bone. If you are curious about the leg with the “Do Not Throw” tag on the toe, you can read about it at https://photos.tandlphotos.com/blog/2015/7/tales-from-my-youth-do-not-throw.
Dead of Night
After posting Lovelorn Wasp performed by Coughing Cooties last Sunday, there were requests to hear something by Violent Phlegm, another virtual group that collaborated with AWB to form Coughing Cooties. Dead of Night is Violent Phlegm’s first single.
Dead of Night
Words and Music by Timothy Price
Performed by Violent Phlegm
Still standing I’m bleeding in the dead of night
Battling daemons ’til dawn’s early morning light
Reaching for the future, tried shaking off the past
Following ambitions holding dreams were fading fast
Wading against the current, I stood against the wave
Control-alt-delete, I refuse to be a slave
Tumbling through the ether in the cold and dark
Social media’s shadow leaves its ugly mark
Cyberspace warriors fight by fiber’s light
Daemons call me out in the dead of night
Control-alt-delete, I refuse to be a slave
Wading against the current, I stood against the wave
Following ambitions holding dreams were fading fast
Reaching for the future, tried shaking off the past
Battling daemons ’til dawn’s early morning light
Still standing I’m bleeding in the dead of night
Tumbling through the ether in the cold and dark
Social media’s shadow leaves its ugly mark
Cyberspace warriors fight by fiber’s light
Daemons call me out in the dead of night
Freaking On The Food Chain
Resa, who has Graffiti Lux Art & More and Art Gowns, commented on my post Now For The Rest Of The Story earlier this afternoon with “Well, that’s something I’ve never seen. The food chain ……. is freaky.” I replied “Freaking On The Food Chain. I might have to make a song out of that phrase.” Resa, not missing a step, said “You go for it! Waiting to hear it.” After I got all my outdoors work done in the late afternoon, I came in and created Freaking On The Food Chain. It’s pretty much an improv on all tracks. Below is a photo of a couple of beavers on the opposite bank of the Rio Grande after sunset you can ponder while listening to Freaking On The Food Chain.
The Capsaicin Club (Red or Green?)
What is that paparazzo doing to that “poor innocent guitar”, as Laurie likes to say? Listen to the The Capsaicin Club for clues.
Stay tuned for the video.
The Capsaicin Club
Music and lyrics by Timothy Price
Timothy Price: vocals, rhythm and lead guitars, digital percussion, recording, final mix.
Ron Blood: bass guitar, recording, post processing, final mix.
Raw From Off Center
This week’s improvisation is called Saturday’s Improv (not a very creative title I know). I find playing lead guitar solo improvisations are very difficult. Coming up with fresh melodies is most frustrating. So I’ve started laying down base tracks: percussion, rhythm guitar and bass, and them playing improv solos all the way through the song, and taking them however they come out. I laid down all the tracks and the solo work today between watering, doing chores around the house, and taking a couple of walks in the bosque. There are two different guitar solo improvs that are very raw as the song goes back and forth between modes. I’m having lots of fun, and thought I might as well share the fun. I’ve include photos of Loki, Spunk and Marble, a photo of pear blossoms, and a photo of my darkroom/music studio showing the 10 tracks that make up Saturday’s Improve on the computer screen.
In a Vacuum Improv
What to do on a cloudy, wet, windy, cold spring day? Work on music in my cosy darkroom/music studio, go for a walk out to the river in the rain, capture the above photo, and finish an improv for this post. I created “In a Vacuum Improv” by playing the rhythm guitar and a bass line over a recording I made of a vacuum pump the Iceman used to suck moisture out of the refrigeration system when he repaired our floral refrigerator. The pump made such interesting sounds and rhythms, I simply had to record it. I added a couple of percussion tracks, and played the lead guitar to finish it out. I say it’s an Improve, because I only played the lead guitar once through.
Still Small Voice
Today’s video is original music I wrote using a prayer by fellow blogger Michelle Marie for the lyrics. On December 7, 2018, Michelle Marie posted Still… Small… Voice on Tell Me About It at https://tellmeaboutit.co/2018/12/07/still-small-voice/, and I had a feeling there was an issue with her daughter, Alex, who has serious health problems. I commented that her prayer was beautiful, but sad, and asked how Alex was. Michelle Marie responded that she had been very sick and in ICU the week before. Michelle Marie mentioned that Alex just wants to lead a normal life. I could certainly relate to that having had a lot of health issues myself over the years. I didn’t realize the gravity of the situation until Michelle Marie emailed me with details. Alex almost died.
After getting the full story, I was inspired to write a song using Michelle Marie’s prayer for the lyrics. I was trying to imagine what is was like for Alex to be in ICU clinging to life, and started working on creating an etherial lullaby. I finished recording the song on December 15, 2018, and sent it to Michelle Marie. When I learned that she plays piano, I transcribed a short version of the flamenco guitar into piano and sent her the sheet music. She sent me images to use in a video, but I had to think for a long time how to do a video to go with the music. I finally came up with what I believe is a suitable video. Here’s my version of Michelle Marie’s Still… Small… Voice.
Letters from Madrid – 1st & 2nd Flamenco Shows
After discovering the large and vibrant music scene in Madrid, and after seeing LaBanda live at Cafe Jazz Populart, we started finding flamenco shows, and went to five flamenco shows in the first 3 months we were in Madrid. Flamenco shows usually had several different performers that included singers, guitarist, dancers and various supporting musicians playing palmas (hand clapping), cajon (a box drummed on by hand) and sometimes flute and/or strings. Sometimes a show was simply a singer and guitarist, solo guitar or a dancer or dance group with accompanying singer, guitarist/guitarists and palmeros, but shows with many artists seemed to be more common.
The first show we saw included Potito (singer) accompanied by guitarist Tomatito in the first part of the show and then Jose Fernandez (dancer) and his company the second part of the show. The second show was El Lebrijano (singer) accompanied by guitarist Enrique de Melchor with supporting palmeros.
18 April 1996
Flamenco
The first flamenco concert we saw featured Potito with Tomatito on guitar the first half and Jose Fernandez and company the second half. It was a good performance, but different from the shows we’ve seen at home. This was Potito’s debut performance promoting his new album. He sang and Tomatito accompanied. On some of the songs there was a second guitar, bass, cajon and palmero. Jose Fernandez is a dancer, and he was the only dancer. He had two guitarists, two singers, two palmeros, a cajon player and a cellist to support him. The theater is under the plaza at Colon circle, just down the street from where we live. The volume was not high and the sound was good.
The second show we went to featured El Lebrijano and Enrique de Melchor. El Lebrijano is an excellent singer, one of the best we have heard. Enrique is a fine guitarist. El Lebrijano’s voice is strong, his expression, delivery and sincerity are honest, and animated. He sings right to the audience and relates his stories through song with gestures and facial expressions that convey the convictions of his heart, soul and words. Enrique de Melchor is a flashier player than Tomatito, but was still very restrained as compared to many I have heard at home. His quick busts of speed, his clear tone, and clean changes assure the listener he is a fine guitarist, but again, he never does anything to upscale the singer. He is attentive, supportive, and does what is required to accompany and enhance the singer’s tonality. There were three palmeros that assisted at times and towards the end, one palmero, who was the same person with Potito, and I was thinking maybe he is a house palmero, got up and danced during a bularias, mocking the style of women dancers. He was very good actually, with strong, fancy displantes, hip movement, and great facial expression and greetos. On another bularias, El Lebrijano did his share of dancing while, the house palmero sang. The audience brought the group back 3 times for encores. This was good cause for them to call one of the other, younger, palmeros to dance. His dance was short and simple but fun, he is not a ham like the house palmero and the singer. The house palmero danced some more and then he and El Lebrijano danced together a little bit and danced off the stage together to end what was a very good show.
Next the third flamenco show…
Videos:
Tomatito & Potito | Caminillo Viejo (tangos) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34yscu_bAsQ
El Lebrijano & Enrique de Melchor – Seguiriyas https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qr3gmRppEsc
Off Center & Not Even 