Lounge Musicians - What do you Play and What are you Learning?

[Shangas]

I don't recall there being a thread like this anywhere on the lounge, and searching didn't produce anything.

How many musicians do we have on the lounge? What is your instrument/s, and what songs/type of music do you like to play? Any current tunes you're trying to work out?

I've been a hobbyist piano-player since I was seven, and generally play vintage jazz, classic op and show-tunes. Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, and other such greats. Currently re-learning "Chinatown, My Chinatown". Haven't played it for years and I forgot how!

 

[Peacoat]

Amplified Blues Harp. I played blues and rock n roll using an Astatic JT-30 mike, mostly through a 1956 Fender Bassman amp--the old tweed type Fender. I no longer do the clubs or parties, or any other playing. My body feels much better for it.

And here is Little Walter playing Juke with his Blues Harp. The master. This is how it ought to sound.

[video=youtube;soXfp6Xx2VE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=soXfp6Xx2VE[/video]

 

[Late to the Party]

I play trombone in a local community concert band. We frequently play early to mid 20th century music. Our director loves Gershwin and jazz standards and showtunes. Many of our concerts are at local retirement homes. We often have a vocalist.

 

[DesertDan]

Bass guitar for over 30 years. During that time I have played just about every type of music but mostly different flavors of rock, blues, R&B and funk. Right now I play original rock music.

Some of the non-original music I am working on as a means of personal improvement are exercises in walking basslines in jazz/swing/blues styles. Also working on chord and modal forms. So when I feel like "getting up off the page" as I call it, I play along with various CD's of Jazz, Fusion, Swing and Neo-swing. I've even been listening to some western swing and waltz music for a different angle on it.

The journey never ends.

 

[Shangas]

Busy picking out a couple of new tunes on the piano. I don't have the sheet-music for these two, so I'm forced to do them by ear.

"Don't Fence Me In", as sung by Bing Crosby.

Doing pretty well, but the last verse is still tripping me up. It's different from the rest of the song so I need to pick out a whole heap of different notes. Not quite there yet.

I'm having much more success with my other current play-by-ear project. Another song which folks might recognise: "Doin' the Uptown Lowdown".

[video=youtube;CoGHuB1HGyQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CoGHuB1HGyQ[/video]

It's surprisingly easy, although I'm struggling a bit with the right tempo so that it runs smoothly.

I credit my modest ability at playing-by-ear to my old piano-teacher. A sweet creature of many decades' experience, and with more professional qualifications than a nuclear physicist.

She had a whole wall of diplomas and certificates, and literally a house full of instruments. I had the wonderful privilege of learning how to play the piano on her delightful antique Richard Lipp & Sohn upright (1910 vintage, so she told me), complete with the original ivory keys.

It looked very much like this one, except without candle-sconces:

To say I had piano-envy was putting it mildly. I remember asking her once how she got a hold of it. According to her, it was a housewarming present from some friends...MANY years ago!!

 

[highway66blues]

I dunno that I'd call myself a "musician".
A few years back I got tripped up by Son House & Mississippi Fred McDowell.
I'm 'posed ta be a 3rd generation guitar picker. I suppose I am, nowhere NEAR as good as my father or Grandfather though.
But I can play. I like Country Blues, the early stuff. Not the Chicago/Detriot/Big City kinda Blues.
Even got a notion to "convert" one of my old no-name parlor-type guitars into a 4 string banjo.

 

[highway66blues]

I dunno that I'd call myself a "musician".
A few years back I got tripped up by Son House & Mississippi Fred McDowell.
I'm 'posed ta be a 3rd generation guitar picker. I suppose I am, nowhere NEAR as good as my father or Grandfather though.
But I can play. I like Country Blues, the early stuff. Not the Chicago/Detriot/Big City kinda Blues.
Even got a notion to "convert" one of my old no-name parlor-type guitars into a 4 string banjo.

 

[scottyrocks]

West African percussion, djembe and dunun, in particular.

 

[Nobert]

Currently trying to learn Scott Joplin's Bethena, which is uphill going as I'm still getting the hang of playing the piano at all, and read music about as well as a dyslexic six-year-old would handle The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.

 

[cchgn]

Guitar and harmonica.....I like all versions of blues from Muddy Waters to SRV. I lean towards SRV and EC.

 

[Atticus Finch]

I play guitar and sing a little. I like songs that I can pull off by myself, so I generally lean toward the American folk rock genera, but sometimes I’ll stray into other areas. Jackie tells me I only play songs about bummer subjects like homicide (Down by the River), incarceration (Sittin' at a Bar), drug smuggling (Willin'), drug addiction (Cocaine Cowgirls) and social/sexual dysfunction (The Ballad of Donald and Lydia). I donno, maybe she's right. I was watching The Long Riders not long ago and Ry Cooder’s version of I’m a Good Old Rebel caught my ear. When I played it for her a few days later, she said, “Great. Now you can add treason to the list.”

AF

 

[CubanPete]

I play the guitar and I sing in my band. Outside of that setting, I'm a sucker for folk instruments...especially those that reflect my heritage. As such I play the Cuban lute (Laud) and the Cuban Tres. I also play the five-string banjo and the ukulele. I also dabble in Latin percussion (again, to reflect my heritage). The bongos are my favorite, but I also dabble in the guira (and guiro, but not as much), maracas, clave, shekere, and any other cool instruments that I come across. Finally, I enjoy piddling around on the piano, bass, drum kit, and the violin.

 

[Shangas]

I'm currently learning "The Boulevard of Broken Dreams" (1933).

It's surprisingly easy.

 

[Yeps]

Baritone here: operatic. Currently getting ready to audition for a production of I Pagliacci next week. I'm going to be making some recordings soon, if all goes well, so maybe I'll post something for y'all to here.

 

[Matt Crunk]

Here's a couple of pix of me performing at the 10th Annual Cigar Box Guitar Festival in Huntsville, Alabama on Saturday. I'm playing a couple of my many homemade instruments: a cigar box mandola and a cookie tin banjo.
I founded the festival a decade ago as a celebration of primitive homemade instruments of all kinds, and it has attracted attendees and performers from as far away as Boston and Washington State. In 2007 it was the subject of a PBS documentary called Songs Inside The Box.

 

[Mayor La Trivia]

I made my living for twenty years as a drummer. Played with The Fendermen, The Crystals and several other groups.

 

[Matt Crunk]

While banjo isn't my main instrument, I do enjoy playing it now and then.

[video]https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10150554928920077&l=4136445469609431840[/video]