George is the master of the Rhodes. There is no-one else like him. Over the years I have seen him play live on 2 occasions, once with the Mothers Of Invention with Frank Zappa and Jean Ponty and then later on with Stanley Clarke. Always a musical treat.

Here he is promoting the Rhodes at NAMM.

Love it, love it, love it. The groove in the first video is exactly what we try to get late into the gig. The difference is that we don't have a Eric Marienthal (Sax) and I'm definitely no George Duke (I am in my head but the fingers don't always cooperate ). Hard to believe that players of that caliber can barely make a decent living while the Taylor Swifts of this world become billionaires. Harder still to believe that (unless you're stuck in C&W hell) anyone would prefer playing solo on an arranger to playing within a group like that. I'm not talking about the economics of it, just the musical side of it. If you're in it as sole-source income (and not an a-lister), I can understand the economics of going the arranger/OMB route.....but man, talk about living in two different worlds......

chas

Whats wrong with Country Western Music? I enjoy it alot.....
Take a listen to a Top artist like Carrie Underwood & Vince Gill perform How Great Thou Art or Jesus take the Wheel,..
simply amazing!!......there is good and bad in all music...
not everyone likes jazz.....for me I take a little from all types of music and try to incorporate what I absorb into my own performances in some way...to have blinders on in music is just wrong IMO..

THIS APPLIES TO ALL MUSIC WHICH INCLUDES COUNTRY

When playing a “G” chord notes like G,B,D, E, A and F# do not create tension; they enhance what happening in a gentle manner. But when playing a rock song and the last thing I want to play is a B, E, or F #, I need to create tension so I play notes like Bb and F and a C; of course there will be bending and sliding.

I PLAY: G - Bb - C - D - F against a G Major chord and there is the tension I want. This applies to Rock, Jazz and Blues; depending on how they are used.

My thought: Creating tension is great as long as you release it by playing G – B – D – E – A and then add the tension again. The amount of tension that is applied decides what type of music is being played. When tension is used tastefully in good balance you create good music. (opinion)

When my audience got to a point when they were wound up (tension) we let up only to bring them up again. Keeping the audience wound up does not give the same effect as bring them down and then up again – they will feel the difference. If one leaves the audience (dancers) up, filled with tension it creates wild – crazy – fatigue – and more; some want that feeling. Wow I said that good. (smile)

John C.

Oh really, Donny. So how do you feel about Rap? Incorporate much of that in your performances?

I don't 'hate' C&W or C&W afficianados, but just used it as probably the group that was least likely to appreciate or even like a performance such as was shown in the first video.

As for Carrie and Vince; I'm sure they are very talented artists and performers, just not my cup of tea. That fact in no way diminishes THEM. And being an avowed Atheist, the songs don't float my boat either. To each his own, RIGHT? Live and let live, RIGHT? Different strokes for different folks, RIGHT? I'm much more tolerant of folks that PRACTICE their religion (by their good deeds) rather than just PREACH it but do the opposite.

chas

Even with intricate tunes like "Darn That Dream" which is as intricate as they come, there's a feature on BIAB that amazes me every time I use it, that suggest chord substitutions on any chord in the song no matter what genius wrote the chords in a fake book or whatever.

If you don't have BIAB and or don't use this feature you are losing out on a valuable tool for improving you musical knowledge. Again if 3 chords rock your boat don't get BIAB.

All you need is the simple version. I'm still amazed with version 2010 or something like that. I haven't upgraded in years. Of course the 20,000 sounds on the newer versions bore me to death. I'm only interested in the musical knowledge it provides.

I don't consider adding a 7th or a 9th to a chord a true substitution. An example of a substitution is more like playing a Fm6 before a G7 or G9 chord and someone says try a Dm7b5 instead of the Fm6 is a real substitution. It has the same notes but the voicing makes for a different sound that resolves to the G7 or G9th chord more harmonically and allows for a smoother transition to a Cm7 where there are many tunes that use this progression when playing in Eb usually in a bridge like in the tune, "Give Me A Kiss To Build A Dream On" and another tune that comes to mind is, "Give Me The Simple Live," also played originally in Eb.

R&R, FUNK does not need chord substitutions. You just need to slam the 7th's b5th's and minor 3rd's as often as possible. They work anywhere in the tune if you know which note to make it resolve to. Especially after a dozen drinks the crowd will flip out, have a good time, and you should make a lot of money and have a good time too. I did this for many years in New Orleans, but decided it was time to graduate to something that would motivate the little brain I had left. Ha ha. Back to lurking. I let you guys hash this over.

Sorry to just to select this section Chas, but that is a GREAT point to make. FWIW, I am in total agreement. (No intent here to derail the thread, just wanted to make comment is all.)

Dennis

Chas so angry so early in the day?....and yes I like many rap songs also.....and yes I have taken things from listening to them also, beats, Melodie lines, etc, I love the accordion also,.....as for all the other stuff you mentioned,...so be it....and God Bless America !!

Back to the original subject:
G9 G7-9 G7+9 G13 (ECT) are all chord extensions; chord substations are chord with different names than the original chord and they do effect the bass note that is to be played.

I feel this should be kept simple so that it can be understood and enjoyed. I am always wide eyed when someone is adding knowledge to my pot; there is always something to learn. This type of thinking makes my performance different/improved then it was some years ago.

John C.

Also I think it should be pointed out that the timing of the tensions needs to be just so to get it grooving, jm2c

D