Christopher Schlegel Update 12-17-2010

“Moonglow”, Irving Mills’ deceptively simple, little tune is the tenth and final on my Solo Jazz Guitar Standards, Vol. 1 disc.

http://cdbaby.com/cd/schlegel8

This piece is typically done in a little more laid back tempo and style. I give that fact a little tip of the that in the intro. But that doesn’t last long! I enjoy playing this tune every opportunity I get. I especially like playing it a bit more uptempo than usual. The most important reason I included this little gem is that it is the first tune on Art Tatum’s Solo Masterpieces Vol. 1. You can pick up where I leave off with where Mr. Tatum begins over 50 years ago. Nice sort of symmetry there I think. If you take the time to listen to his version and compare it to mine you will find more than one place my admiration for and influence by Tatum shines through.

In a lot of ways listening to Tatum solo renditions of standards has been a strong inspiration in not only the recording of this disc, but also my entire solo jazz repertoire building. I have been endlessly fascinated and inspired by this amazing giant of American music.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_Tatum

Here is a clip of me playing it at the Arts Fest:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohC1InBbZwg

Enjoy!

Christopher Schlegel Update 11-19-2010

“Isn’t This A Lovely Day?”

Irving Berlin’s lesser known gem is the ninth tune on my Solo Jazz Guitar Standards, Vol. 1 disc.

http://cdbaby.com/cd/schlegel8

Here’s a live performance from the Paris Arts Fest.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9Hr93Nf6Ls

I remember watching Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers dance to this in an old movie. More recently, Diana Krall covered it one of her albums. But the thing that convinced me to put it in my repertoire and play it at just about every solo guitar gig I’ve done in the last few years was hearing it on Art Tatum’s Solo Masterpiece Volume 4 CD.

Wow. Stunning. But, of course. I must play this.

There are other Berlin tunes that are probably more well known; “Blue Skies” and “Cheek To Cheek” come to mind. I can and do play those quite often. They are also wonderful tunes. But, I really, really, really love “…Lovely Day”. Here is an older clip of me playing it at the Dixie Carter PAC a couple of years ago:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ARX0uJXU2A

Enjoy!

Christopher Schlegel Update 10-15-2010

These demos are the result of a discussion I had with Anthony Bonadio at Reason Amps.

He mentioned the lack of demos that explicitly focused on the clean, cleanish tones that are possible with a classic humbucker style guitar & the Reason amp line.

So, I plugged a Gibson Les Paul into my Bambino & hit record!

First, I explore the Normal channel:

Next, I switch over to the Bright channel:

Finally, I even pull some nice clean(ish!) tones out of Stack mode:

Enjoy!

Christopher Schlegel Update 09-19-2010

Recently, a gentleman named Scott Yanow emailed me.  This was a nice surprise, because I know of him, but had no idea he’d ever heard of me.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Yanow

Mr. Yanow is the author of many jazz books as well as a noted jazz critic.  I’ve read lots of his work in jazz reference books and websites.  In fact, if you go to a site like AllMusic.com and search for biographies of jazz artists or reviews of classic albums chances are the entry you will find was written by him.  For example:

http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:wiftxqy5ldse

http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:kxfwxqrgldje 

So, Mr. Yanow is always on the lookout for new jazz artists and albums.  As a result my disc got a hit on his radar.

http://cdbaby.com/cd/schlegel8

He contacted me to tell me about his business reviewing jazz albums.  I sent him a CD and he graciously wrote a review for me.  He gave me permission to post it on my website.  So, I put it here:

http://www.truthagainsttheworld.com/music/jazz-guitar

I thank Mr. Yanow for the wonderful review!

Christopher Schlegel Update 08-17-2010

The second annual Nashville Amp Expo is this weekend!

http://www.nashvilleampexpo.com/

Last year I was honored to meet with the guys from Reason Amps.  They made me an officially endorsed artist for Reason Amplification.  Thanks to my old friend, Obeid the best tube amp designer in the world, and to my new friend Anthony, the best amp cabinet man in the world!  Scroll down the list to read my blurb.

http://www.reasonamps.com/artists.php

The show is open to the public.  So, come on down if you are in the area.  I’ll be visiting as many rooms as possible.  But, I’ll spend the most time in the Reason room, of course.  Fair warning, though, it’s going to be loud.

If you combine that with my Epiphone endorsement, you get this nice little video with both machines (Epi Joe Pass Emperor and Reason Bambino) that is still in rotation at the Gibson lesson site:

http://www.gibson.com/en-us/Lifestyle/Lessons/InstrumentLessons/Combining-Lead-Rhythm-111/

Enjoy!

Christopher Schlegel Update 07-19-2010

Hoagy Carmichael’s “Georgia On My Mind” is the eighth tune on my Solo Jazz Guitar Standards, Vol. 1 disc.

http://cdbaby.com/cd/schlegel8

This is typically a big crowd pleaser.  Even for an obtuse live performer such as myself.  Everyone has heard Ray Charles do this tune.  But even without the lyrics (that most people don’t know past the first two lines anyway; which is even more than I know) people will listen the whole way through.  I’ve got a couple live performances of this one on vid.

From the Paris Arts Fest.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POeD8a-j9Og

From my DixiePAC performance.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4zB6N90weI

Interested musicians or jazz-lovers can compare the two performances and see how I use the same basic arrangement but change the details on the fly each time I perform it.  Or they can complain about how badly I mangle it.  That seems to be popular sport also.  Either way I have a lot of fun playing this tune.  Lots of opportunities for grandstanding.

Enjoy!

Another Ellington ballad, “In A Sentimental Mood” is the seventh tune on my Solo Jazz Guitar Standards, Vol. 1 disc.

http://cdbaby.com/cd/schlegel8

This song was the earliest recorded on the disc.  I did it back in 2000 on a borrowed Epiphone Emperor, before I actually owned one!  This was from back when I was just starting to get my bearings in this type of work.  I think it stands up admirably to the newer recordings.  In performances I usually do this dark, dreamy, laid back ballad as a contrast to my uptempo zillion-note arrangments of other standards.

People often say they recognize it or seems familiar to them.  But few remember the name or where they heard it.  It is a beautiful composition and a lot of fun to play.  I don’t have any video of me playing this tune.  So, how about another?!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PYxhiHiJGM

Another Ellington oldie & goodie, a fave of mine to play.  Enjoy!

Christopher Schlegel Update 05-20-2010

Another George Gershwin gem, “The Man I Love” is the sixth tune on my Solo Jazz Guitar Standards, Vol. 1 disc.

http://cdbaby.com/cd/schlegel8

The legend behind this tune is that Gershwin attempted to craft an entire song starting with the typically throw away ending of many show pieces, “That’s all folks!”.  Or if you’ve ever sang the campy ending to “Happy Birthday To You”, it’s the part tacked on the end, “And many moooooo-re!”.  It’s also the well-known, bluesy ending to Gershwin’s own “Rhapsody In Blue”.

The tune Gershwin built is a masterpiece of beautiful melodic themes perfectly integrated with a brilliant harmonic structure.  Learning this song and making my own arrangement of it was a milestone in my development as a solo artist.

Here’s an old studio practice version.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-NTieZAXnQ

Here’s a more recent live version.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-VrI6xYvUY

Enjoy!

Christopher Schlegel Update 04-16-2010

I was born and raised in St. Louis.  So, this tune had to make the cut on my first album of standards.  William Christopher Handy’s classic blues is the fifth tune on my Solo Jazz Guitar Standards, Vol. 1 disc.

http://cdbaby.com/cd/schlegel8

W. C. Handy was an amazing man whose life deserves a little study if you aren’t familiar with him:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Christopher_Handy

I did a whole tutorial series on GuitarTricks.com on how to build a chord melody solo guitar arrangement.  I used “St. Louis Blues” to do it.  It really is a great tune for that kind of thing.  Much of the lesson material grew out of my own arrangement.  This vid on my YouTube channel is a highlights overview of those lessons:

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

Later on, the Gibson Guitar company website picked up my “St. Louis Blues” video lesson and embedded it on their lesson pages.  It has been in rotation as a featured Lesson Of The Day.  If you play guitar and want to try my arrangment, I suggest the Gibson lesson page because they included my musical score along with the vid.

http://www.gibson.com/en-us/Lifestyle/Lessons/InstrumentLessons/Learn-St-Louis-Blues-320/

For those of you with Guitar Tricks subscriptions, you can see the whole tutorial series of lessons here:

http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=759

Enjoy!

Christopher Schlegel Update 03-24-2010

Among my 1000 plus lessons at Guitar Tricks I currently have 161 in the classical genre. Only 9 of them have been redone in High- Defintion. I’ve spent most of the last year working on improving my video & audio quality in other areas. For example, I’ve reshot all my beginner lessons, close to 300 videos that form the two Guitar Fundamentals courses. And then there are over 500 other lessons on other topics (theory, scale, chords, technique, improvisation, etc.), in multiple skill levels (beginner, intermediate, advanced) and in multiple genres (Blues, Jazz & Rock).

http://www.guitartricks.com/instructor.php?input=155014

In short, I’ve been holding off on reshooting classical until other things were taken care of. Mostly, it was due to the user data. Non- classical lessons are simply more popular in use by Guitar Tricks subscribers. Therefore, it was in my best interest to reshoot those things first. Another reason was that the classical lessons (teaching & playing them) required much more planning & recording time & effort.

So, I’ve put it off until now. But now is here! I’ve been practicing my classical repertoire lately. I’ve performed a couple of times recently using my classical guitar. I’ve been reviewing scores & re-writing lesson materials. And I’ve even shot some test footage.

Some that footage included a pass at Tarrega’s “Adelita”. Francisco Tarrega was a brilliant guitarist & classical composer. He is somewhat unique in that he is a composer that wrote primarily for guitar; being a guitarist himself! This particular piece is one that will be reshot for the lesson site. It is also one I frequently play live.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngaq6tW05ec

Happy viewing & listening!