Dave Thompson at the Jazz room tonight in Waterloo. Great guitarist and insightful answers to our questions. Here is the KW Guitar Society interview: See more at kwguitarsociety 1. What guitars and amps do you own? I own an archtop, a few acoustics (Taylor 812C etc), a 12-string, a Strat and a few other things. I used to always use my Seymour Duncan amp, then I used an AER Compact 60 a lot, but recently it’s been the ZT Lunchbox. 2. What will be your set up this weekend? The guitar for this show will be my George Benson GB-20, a Line6 M9 & two ZT Lunchbox amps. 3. How do you believe you achieve your tone?(strings, pick, hands, effects, etc) Apparently it’s not the pick as much as I thought, as I’ve been through a few changes these past couple of years and I still sound the same I like D’Addario EXL115W rather than flatwounds for stylistic versatility, but the wound third is for more fat and less twang. For better or worse, I suppose it still sounds like me on any guitar when I hear the playback, acoustic or electric, so I must be coaxing the sound I hear out of my hands. 4. Tell us about your original music? I’ve always written. I studied Jazz Composition with Herb Pomeroy so some of his concepts have slowly seeped into my writing voice. But I’ve been told no matter the style (rock, jazz, singer-songwriter) it still sounds like “me,” whatever that means. LOL For this gig we’ll play some jazz tunes I wrote a log time ago but that haven’t been played much over the years. Still, they stand the test of time for me and have the particular “voice” I’m looking for. 5. Tell us about your approach to playing standards? Most standards have a melody that is reflected deeply in the chord changes. There is much gold to mine there. So I depart from that intrinsic architecture at my own peril; meaning, I like to reflect as much of the richness inherent in the composition and be true to its intention. At least, that’s what it approaches when each attempt feels somewhat successful. 6. What are your favourite songs to play? It changes so often… Maybe “All The Things..” “Beatrice” “Poinciana” Monk, Duke … So many…! 7. Do you have a favourite scale or lick that you play? Or what was the jazz scale that really changed your playing? Unfortunately I probably do have a favourite lick and I intend to try not to play it if I can help it There’s no one scale or lick except for the logic and melodic heritage of bebop (not the style per-se, but the way the lines reflect the chord, it’s extensions, jazz phrasing, rhythm and blues) and the internal lines of a good set of chord changes that reveal new things each time ’round. I suppose my own teachers like Jim Howard, Ken Pullig and Herb Pomeroy encouraged a fascination for melodic/scale/interval relationships and their use to create tension and release. 8. What guitarist, song or album inspires you? Joe Pass, Wes, Sco, Metheny, Stern as well as many other rock, folk and jazz players…. favourite albums?… maybe “Full House” by Wes, and “As Falls Wichita…” by Metheny… “Hejira” by Joni Mitchell… But so, so many… 9. What do you do to practice technique? (one or two things) Play slowly through chord changes, experimenting with arpeggios, chord scales, movement etc. A good warm up is multi-string 4 Factorial fingerings up & down the neck. 10. What can the audience expect to hear next Friday? Tension, release, inside, outside: A quartet playing jazz, rock, latin and funk inspired originals and standards. Small ensemble conversations played before a live audience!
Posted on: Fri, 25 Oct 2013 13:35:20 +0000
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