http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcvnRhT2NZQ

I offer this as an opportunity to talk about ways in which this performance could be better. I have my own ideas, but I'm curious to see what you folks can come up with.

Looking forward to feedback from you.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcvnRhT2NZQ[/youtube]

It's not often we get to criticise you, Greg, so thanks for the opportunity!

I didn't watch the entire thing, but I had these thoughts from the first half or so :

1. There are quite a few fluffs/mistakes, especially for you, maybe you weren't feeling comfortable or inspired on the night? Looks like you admitted to this on the other thread.

2. After the intro, I found the bassline to be a bit awkward in places and a bit too busy overall. The effect is that it doesn't always support your melody work that well. Maybe break up the arpeggiated line with more ghosted notes and repeated notes to make it slightly less busy and occasionally add a bit of latin feel with some slide-ins and held vibrato to give it more fluidity. Or go half-time feel in the bass occasionally, that might work well too.

Sorry if you did some of these things later in the vid, my viewing was interrupted by a crying newborn.

Cheers,

EG

Frankly I love your performances Greg. I know you're looking for critique so I would say that it could be smoother ... but all in all I enjoy when you go for it a take chances.

Hi, Greg.

I remember reading an article by Yo-Yo Ma after he had given a perfect performance. He talked about how comfortable he was with the pieces and how the audience responded to his perfection and vision. Then he said that he felt that the concert was, essentially, a failure on his part. There was no risk, no experimentation, no pushing the limits of his abilities. He yearns to be able to stretch and challenge himself.

Here are his words:


That was you, Greg. You push and challenge and are at the limit sometimes. To me that is what good music is all about. I'm sure you watch that video and are a much harsher critic than I could ever be. So I'll just applaud and offer that while I was watching I was wondering what it would sound like if the bass groove was simpler. Would that allow you to soar higher in your solos? It's not that I don't like those grooves, I would love to play that some day. I'm just imagining how it would sound if the bass line was in my range of abilities. How would I approach the tune? How would my solos sound?

You will always push me forward in my musical journey. Many thanks.

-Eric

I always LOVE your playin'. And as some have already stated I think any grove/harmonic rhythm flubs are due to putting yourself on the edge and not being afraid to fall.

Any time a stickist plays a 4 chord vamp for any duration I think variation is the key. This is something I personally need to keep working on. You do a great job of varying things and not letting it get stagnant.

But you wanted a critique, so I would say that the overall structure could have been better from a traditional soloing point of view. In other words the climax came to early. I think it is best to end with a crescendo unless the introspective softer ending is especially sublime.

You just inspired me to work on taptwister 4 my 2 hand bass tech is in serious need of development.

Great stuff Greg I'm amazed at your comfort at putting yourself out there. At my last gig a videographer came (unannounced to me) and I'm really not looking forward to watching my performances although I will. And, of course I will learn from them. I will almost certainly not share the links with any of you though

Time to shed Great stuff Greg.

Brett

Ooo yes! I think if Greg wanted something from his somewhat unusual but courageous
request then the crux of the biscuit is up inside that quote somewhere. Before I make any risky
comets though I want to say that Stick improvisation is inherently a bit shaggy around the edges Watching Emmett play is a good example and has helped me a lot to lighten up.

Improvisation is messy and allowing ourselves to be a bit messy IMHO is the best way
to play something "perfect" which occasionally happens especially when it is a "piece"
of music i.e. when it is piece of music that is recognizable but simultaneously an improvisation.

It would be difficult to say that in this version of the Hendrix/ Dylan classic there was "no risk, no experimentation, no pushing the limits..." except when it comes to the part
where it says "...the limits of his abilities".
I read once an article about Aaron Copland's Symphony #3 and the author of the article
talked about a passage "that virtually signed his name" Aaron's name, and I think
with "Watchtower" you could say the same thing ; it's oozing with Greg...But;

I see the critique not in the playing but the body language. To get up there
and play something like that is a feat. People will always like it. They will be entertained.
But I think that this is Shamanism . True shamanism is a healing act for the shaman as well and what I
see in the body language is that Greg is on the threshold of pray not the Cello
but completely new music. It's as if there is an invisible shell and he is ready to
break through.
^j^
. ~

Hi Greg,

As a player, I can appreciate the skill it takes to pull this sort of thing off.
Most of my regular performance pieces are simple 4-5 chord grooves with only occasional changes in time or key. What makes it interesting for me is constantly allowing them to evolve and grow as I play them. To tackle something like "Watchtower" as a +7-minute solo piece isn't something most of us would take lightly!

From a more "objective" listening standpoint, the opening groove is superb for the first minute, but gets lost under the soloing and to my ears it suffers for the remainder of the performance.

Cheers,
Andy

Hi Everyone,

This is exactly the kind of feedback I'm looking for. Thanks very much for taking the time.

Cheers and Happy Holidays,

Hi Greg,

Thanks for all of your help and inspiration throughout the year.
Have a happy holiday season!

Cheers,
Andy

I first want to applaud the exemplary responses. It really is a testiment to the higher caliber of players and our close family who are Stickists. There are no "Monday morning armchair quarterbacks" watching their flatscreen TV's at the Jamacian cliff diver saying' I can do that better".

Postscript: you have to know the Gestalt about this video- Greg just taught for 4 hours prior, plus there was a real jerk in the crowd who was loudly talking about his recent divorce over Greg's entire performance( that is blasphemy right there) - we knew all the details and it didn't come as a surprise (this jerk's divorce) after the crudeness and lack of respect to the performer was self-evident. we all cornered him in an alley later and hit him with our Stick Flight cases- saying "I don't know if I just played 10 or 12 strings, are you lucky punk?" just kidding, we didn't

that being said- here's some junkfood for thought. the groove gets out of sync at 1:18 and 1:55 specifically. in defense, this is a difficult groove and Greg does not use loops. the laws of probability are against all of us at that high level and for that long of a time, that the groove will slip especially if you are soloing like Greg and using stylistic devices and placing tempo/time changes and polyrhythmic notions against and over one another. at 2:08 there is one "clam" note- but at 3:56 onward Greg's brillance shines and gives us all inspiration to strive to be better players and pursue the true goal which is communication and extending boundaries. round 4:48 there is a tempo speed up into the death spiral - I am not sure how you segway into the next part after one of these except maybe silence. and finally at 5:17 Greg risks life and limb(singular) by braving the behind the nut "pling" for his audience. {remember that thread about Rob Martino and all the blood, plus Greg at 1st annual Stickfest} Having the pleasure and disctinct advantage of seeing this "as it went down" it was a great performance without all these scalpels dissecting. The performance did exactly what my late great guitar teacher Joe Colosimo said to do-" start strong, and end strong and it dosen't matter what you do inbetween!"
hope this helps,
dave brosky- Pittsburgh