SloGrass Blog

One extraordinary song; one extraordinary performance

… heard round the world

Thirty-six minutes of the incomparable John Cleese brilliantly enlightening his audience with humor and wisdom on the subject of creativity. Filled with how-many-XXXs-does-it-take-to-change-a-lightbulb jokes!

From CNN Entertainment:

“Playing “Foggy Mountain” on banjo became a staple of Steve Martin’s comedy routine, and blossomed into a reverential tribute. In November 2001, Martin and Scruggs were joined by Vince Gill, Marty Stuart, Jerry Douglas and others on “Late Show With David Letterman” to play a fiery version of the song — soloing alternately on banjo, guitar, mandolin, fiddle, steel guitar and harmonica. Even Paul Schafer took the chorus for a spin on piano.
In an article in the New Yorker in January, Martin wrote, “A grand part of American music owes a debt to Earl Scruggs. Few players have changed the way we hear an instrument the way Earl has, putting him in a category with Miles Davis, Louis Armstrong, Chet Atkins, and Jimi Hendrix.” “

Earl Scruggs, one of the founding fathers of Bluegrass, died last night in Nashville.

Music is magic

The Violin Maker from Dustin Cohen on Vimeo.

David thinks he gots ukulele fever …

Cliff Edwards, aka Ukulele Ike: He sold 74 million records and was in scores of movies in the 20’s-30’s; he was the voice of Jiminy Cricket. He died, penniless, in 1971.

When You Wish Upon a Star: Written and Performed by Cliff Edwards

Paper Moon: Written and Performed by Cliff Edwards

Roy Smeck: killer uke (and several other instruments) player

Never heard of this guy until today. The picture doesn’t’ tell the story. Watch him play.

This is an intriguing post about Stradivari violins … http://blogs.loc.gov/loc/2011/12/a-stradivari-good-copy/