Topic: Guitar Artistry of Geoff Muldaur

[uncle bud]

I stumbled across this at the library, much to my surprise, and borrowed it. One of the DVDs in Stefan Grossman's Guitar Artistry series, it features Geoff Muldaur singing, playing and chatting, in what seems to be a single session, and boy it's enjoyable. The music ranges from pretty traditional to pretty modern takes on country blues, jazz and a little gospel, great guitar playing throughout and wonderful singing. The interview segments are worth the price of admission alone, with reminiscences of hanging out with Lonnie Johnson, Sleep John Estes and John Hurt (hilarious story about everyone in Avalon smoking weed but really wanting to save their money to buy gin), as well as thoughts about his approach to performing blues and arranging for guitar. And the opening performance of Wild Ox Moan is just terrific.

[Stuart]

Thanks for the post, Andrew. I agree--it's a great video--and it's only a few bucks more than a CD. Fretboard Journal 13 (Spring 2009) has an excellent article on Geoff. I haven't seen the Homespun instructional DVD, but it appears that he covers covers several songs that plays on the Guitar Artistry DVD:

http://www.homespuntapes.com/Instructors/geoff-muldaur/innovative-arrangements-for-american-blues-roots-guitar

Obviously, he's a very interesting and talented guy.

Support your local library!

[Johnm]

I haven't seen the video, but I heard an appearance by Geoff on Terry Gross' "Fresh Air" show on PBS about the time the video was released, and he was terrific, much as you say, uncle bud and Stuart--engaging, smart and funny and when it came time to play and sing he really delivered the goods.  He's always been such a strong and distinctive singer and in the past number of years has become a really nifty guitarist.  He has a lot going on and it's always interesting to hear what he's doing.
all best,
Johnm

[Stuart]

The "Fresh Air with Terry Gross" program is available on-line:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=121152944

as is the "Texas Sheiks" live broadcast on the Bonnie Simmons show on KFPA:

http://www.kpfa.org/archive/id/56882

As I mentioned in the original thread, their set begins at about 1:10 in.

[Cleoma]

Geoff has been working on his high-brow string quartets but he will dust off the guitar pretty soon.  He and Jim Kweskin will be playing at the Freight & Salvage in Berkeley on Sat. Nov. 12 with yours truly accompanying on fiddle.  And, the Texas Sheiks, all but Stephen Bruton (RIP), will be in Portland OR on Sat. Jan. 7! 

Maybe see some of you Weenies one place or another,
Suzy

[Mr.OMuck]

The Kweskin Band should never have disbanded. Truth be told all those folks did their best work in that conglomeration. I mean what would happen if the New York Philharmonic just decided to call it quits because of silly camel songs and a reed player having delusions of divinity?

[modgar]

I've been working on "Downtown Blues" from this DVD, is he playing an E bass on the D (V) chord?

It's a nice DVD.

Gary

[uncle bud]

I've been working on "Downtown Blues" from this DVD, is he playing an E bass on the D (V) chord?

It's a nice DVD.

Gary

Had to return the DVD to the library but Downtown Blues is a free sample on YouTube:



Looks like he alternates between the low E and the 4th string on the V chord for the intro, damping the 6th string to the point of being a just a thud. Then for the rest of the tune he alternates between the 5th and the 4th strings.

[modgar]

Thanks for your help Uncle Bud.  Stuart the Homespun Tape is worthwhile, also.

Gary

[Rivers]

Awright, enjoyed that vid a lot, very Stokes and Saneian. Hmmm... I feel a Beale Street Sheiks revival coming on. Very crisp delivery, great groove. Geoff would be a good addition to the PT faculty perhaps. I'm very partial to Kweskin's playing also, having recently been influenced by his arrangement of Brother Can You Spare A Dime with Samoa Wilson.

[Jimmy J]

This is a great performance DVD. I really enjoyed Geoff's monologues between songs, too.

Thanks to Mr. Muldaur, I finally gained some technical understanding as to why I prefer playing twelve-fretters with slotted headstocks. As Geoff says, they are more 'squishable' than the longer scales, so it's easier to bend notes and add vibrato. I never knew what those little 'pings' I'd hear when tuning were until Geoff explained that it's because of the increased angle the strings travel over the nut before they descend into the slots. This creates a friction point at the nut. That's why it's important to use lead as a lubricant on the nut. (You can use a lead pencil, or there is a commercial product called, oddly enough, Nut Sauce.) The other reason I like twelve fretters is because of the wider neck width at the nut. My fingers are rather large and my fingertips are rather blunt, and not pointed like most people. I can't keep the fingers of my LH from inadvertently touching adjacent strings on a so-called normal neck width. (Unfortunately, this means I have to pay ten times as much for an axe than the econmoical Yamaha-ha-s with the built in bells and whistles of EQ and tuners, damn it. Instead, I had to shell out for two Nationals (NRPs), and a Larrivvee SD50.)

I liked this Vestapol DVD so much that I downloaded Geoff's Homespun Lesson.

I worked up Just A Little While To Stay Here, but am still in the shed with it because it's got a few stretches and tricky chromatic ascensions. I'm confident that I'll get them smoothed out, and add this to my repertoire. I emailed Mr. Muldaur a question about this song, and he responded. So, on top of everything, he's approachable and gracious, too!

Like a few others here mentioned, I also want to find the time to sit down and study Geoff's LH and learn Downtown Blues. And, I really like his rendition of Drop Down, Mama, and plan to work it up, too. I might even give Wild Ox Moan a try, someday...and I really dig Gee Baby, Ain't I Good To You? This is a great disc. I can't say enough about it. Other than, you should get it. These days, you can also download it directly Stefan Grossman's Guitar Workshop.

[lindy]

I'm reviving this ancient thread because I just discovered Geoff Muldaur's rendition of Wild Ox Moan and figure I'd share the performance in case others haven't yet had the pleasure.

[Rivers]

Thanks lindy. Too many things to comment on this early hour Friday morning but all are positive. Except to say I wish I could ratchet my voice up an octave like that at will. Need to work on it.

[Stuart]

Thanks, Lindy. A thread certainly worth re-visiting. Geoff's version is also  on the "Jug Band Extravaganza" album which has other noteworthy performances by names you may recognize.

https://www.amazon.com/Jug-Band-Extravaganza-Jim-Kweskin/dp/B003UN2IEU/