I thought he was good, not utterly fantastic, but then, my standards are a little high. To me, Sylvain Luc is the pinacle of acoustic guitar players, even more than Tommy emanuel. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXXe2ukYQlY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5bz8qhh0qU

I am a guitar player and not that good and I thought that he is very good but he is not jaw-dropping good. And the very first player that popped into my mind is Tommy Emmanuel. But we are talking... TE is in the top three guitarists in the entire world to me. He is that good.

So, this guy, is plenty good, but not THAT good. He is just VERY good. I applaud him.

And, to me, this Sylvain Luc cannot even touch Tommy Emanuel. He has ZERO soul. He is just playing a **** load of notes. That is it. Technical superiority, maybe. Soul, with technical superiority, NO. He doesn't have it. No offense intended.

I think the difference between Tommy and Silvain is that Silvain plays interpretive jazz, and Tommy Emmanuel plays spectacular versions of very recognizable songs, with a healthy, fun entertainment flair.

Sylvain is a monster, but I'd put him in the Tuck Andress class. Can't really compare the two, given the different styles they play.

I like Sylvain's technique and interpretations better, but ya gotta give it to Emmanuel on the entertainment front.

Sylvain and Bireli (another player I wasn't familiar with) are messing with the tune (Isn't She Lovely), and that's GREAT. Sylvain plays one of my favorite guitars in my collection, a Godin Multiac nylon string, and Bireli plays an L-5 size Gibson with a single pick-up (various ones). Again, one of my favorite guitar brands and design. I mostly have two-pick-up L-5's.

Bireli plays a fretless bass on another YouTube piece that would make Jaco proud.

There's a kid from Lexington...Ben Lacey, who now works lots of booths at NAMM and demos for lots of folks making a name for himself, too.

Just goes to show that there is an up and coming crop of superior players (my friend Rory included) to keep outstanding music alive!

And that's GREAT!


Russ

Although all these people are surly great guitar players for a reason in the own right and should be appreciated as such....But, being a professional arranger Kb artist myself...I'd really prefer watching GREAT Arranger KB players so I can absorb and learn from them.....anyone want to post some?

Unfortunately, I don't know any. I know some good arranger players, maybe even 1 or 2 very good arranger players. But Great, no; and world class, certainly no. But thanks for askin'.

Donny, who would those "great arranger keyboard artists" be? I'm not trying to be a smart-ass, but these "pickers" pretty much used no "assistance", in the form of loopers, sequences, effects, etc. They almost played "naked" I would think that the situation is different with an arranger, where the primary skill, or at least 1/2 the talent lies in manipulation of the auto features of the instrument and being able to adjust playing techniques to match the auto functions.

I'm not knocking that talent, but I think it's a different skill set than the guys we're talking about here.

On guitar, and on keyboards, too, I think as you get better, you tend to get back to basics. Most of the superior keyboard players I know don't use arrangers. Most of the superior entertainers I know use every possible trick. The "slippery" slope is the tendency to take the easy way out and allow the equipment, rather than the player to do more work than necessary.

Just an opinion. Take it for what it's worth...just my opinion.

Russ

P.S. I REALLY am interested in the names of those superior arranger PLAYERS. I'd like to watch them, too!

Although playing an arranger IMO....is far more difficult in so many ways ....when you have to be multi-talented to control in real time so many different things at once & making them sound good vs just worrying about one solo instrument. Nothing against solo or as you would say "Naked Players"....an Arranger KB always gets the bad rep, usually by people who could never play one in a world class manner. Its just another instrument although very complex in its entirety shouldn't be frowned upon...you are controlling the parts of 3-8+ people playing by yourself at once and credit should be given where it's due....it's just another musical talent, as is DJ's looping, Rapping or whatever..just another way to make music & there's nothing wrong with it as long as the player enjoys it and the people listening, purchasing, dancing, etc, etc,...
"What it sounds like" will always be my way of thinking...how its done is secondary. Any person making a full time living playing an arranger keyboard should get the props deserved as should anyone who puts their heart and soul into their playing. Can we just please embrace fellow musicians and learn from each other instead of being discordant all the time ?.......

PS....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1Mk2Rst4Y8&feature=related

PSS....Triden apologize how this thread went south as usual

[This message has been edited by Dnj (edited 08-26-2010).]

I beg to differ. An arranger player does the job of ONE. It doesn't matter how many voices you're playing, it only takes ONE player to do that.

Taike

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Bo pen nyang.

Having played both a guitar for many, many years, and an arranger for many, many years, from my perspective, the guitar was much easier.

In both instances, I play the instrument and sing--that was the only similarity. It took a fair amount of talent and expertise to play the guitar, but the most difficult aspect of learning to play the guitar was learning to strum in various styles while singing.

The keyboard, which is a wonderful instrument in it's own right, takes care of the strumming part automatically, but, the on the fly technical aspects are far more complex than anything I ever encountered on a guitar. Not only do you have to remember the left hand chording, but additionally, you have to provide some right hand instrumentation for a host of instrument sounds, be able to rapidly select the proper sound (voice), sing the song, remember the lyrics, hit the correct fills, keep in time with the keyboard's regimented tempo, get set up for the next song, and dozens of other things I never think about because I just do them automatically.

It was a lot easier when I was a solo guitar player, sitting on a bar-stool with my 12-string guitar, a 100-watt amp next to the stool, a mic stand and a beat-up SM58. I had a lyrics book that consisted of a 3-inch-thick looseleaf binder that was perched on another bar-stool until I made enough money to buy a music stand with a weighted base. I played everything from old-time country to Malaguena, to House Of The Rising Sun, to 50 R&R. I was never a fantastic player, or even a great player. However, I was a good entertainer and that's what the bar and restaurant owners were paying me to do.

I listened to the posted song a couple times. To me it was played quite well--not fantastic. And, to me, it was boring as Hell. I sincerely believe Rory and Bill are much better guitar players. I'll stick with the arranger keyboard--for me, it's far more entertaining and much more challenging.

Cheers,

Gary