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Post by JTull 007 on Jan 6, 2017 11:20:46 GMT
I've said for a long time that Martin needed a "Giddings" type keyboard player in his band, if not the real thing. However I now wonder that if he did then the Tull songs that his band played might sound just a bit too much like the originals which is why he's held off hiring a keyboard player ? I suppose it's open to speculation, like a lot of things, but it's an interesting thought. Band chemistry is never easy and Martin's line-up since 2012 has changed quite a bit. I was wond'ring aloud why it took so long for him to realize that Pat O'May was a distraction to his own progress. Maybe Martin felt he just wanted to have fun and that Ian would eventually call him back after a couple of years?
Andy Giddings has pursued his own direction... LINK He currently provides his keyboard and orchestration services via e-sessions and writes and records music for film, television and fun at his digital studio in the Oxfordshire countryside.
Now that things have become more 'Blues Rock', I look forward to something really different.
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Post by atomicsynth on Jan 6, 2017 14:32:25 GMT
I've said for a long time that Martin needed a "Giddings" type keyboard player in his band, if not the real thing. However I now wonder that if he did then the Tull songs that his band played might sound just a bit too much like the originals which is why he's held off hiring a keyboard player ? I suppose it's open to speculation, like a lot of things, but it's an interesting thought. Band chemistry is never easy and Martin's line-up since 2012 has changed quite a bit. I was wond'ring aloud why it took so long for him to realize that Pat O'May was a distraction to his own progress. Maybe Martin felt he just wanted to have fun and that Ian would eventually call him back after a couple of years?
Andy Giddings has pursued his own direction... LINK He currently provides his keyboard and orchestration services via e-sessions and writes and records music for film, television and fun at his digital studio in the Oxfordshire countryside.
Now that things have become more 'Blues Rock', I look forward to something really different. I appreciate opinion as I certainly throw up mine freely. I've listened to youtube's of Martin's band and most definitely they don't sound anything like the original Tull, per his apparent wish. Hearing Locomotive Breath, for example where he's got Allman Bros dual leads going with Dan Crisp in a new intro and verse accompaniment to the song was, for me, underwhelming, at best. So Martin definitely doesn't have to worry about being critiqued for cloning Tull in any way and if you gentlemen and ladies like what he's out there doing then by all means; however I have no interest in seeing live what he's now doing as it's often a weird sort of tribute band that doesn't sound much at all like Tull. I loved his playing back then and what I'm hearing now is suddenly ordinary and certainly not, for me, extraordinary, so I'll remember and listen to his great past and all the best to him. You know, small places like Ram's Head live tavern are really the great equalizer. I saw Asia there and yes, John Wetton sounded like himself but the band sounded, for want of a better term, "local", like a cover band, and sloppy. (The original show with Steve Howe got cancelled due to Hurricane Sandy and by the time it was rescheduled, Howe had quit the band unfortunately). Big PA's are why arena rock sounds larger than life. Club sized PA's....very different. Lastly, regarding Martin Barre. A second guitarist creates a blur often as to who's doing what. I saw Youtube's where Crisp was the one soloing and Barre is playing backup to him. One can say egoless, or the other extreme, boring. For most, somewhere in between, I suspect. His guitar tone doesn't sound like classic Barre anymore either. I liked Hammer better than anything else I heard. So many guitarists have this anti-keyboard posture where the "almighty" guitar so often doesn't want to play nice with a keyboardist and it honestly bores me. The whole blues thing so prevalent here in the Washington DC area does too. Tull's whole sound opened up commencing on Benefit after John Evan joined. It didn't hurt Martin Barre's presence in the least either. Now regarding Martin's upcoming Annapolis show, I'd probably have gone if I'd found out the day the tickets went on sale, as Ram's Head puts them on sale sometimes more than 6 months in advance. They still had a few scattered singles in the back but those are mediocre seats. We usually buy the minute they go on sale and end up sitting front and center at the stage as you pick your table when you buy.
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Post by geostrehl on Jan 7, 2017 17:56:14 GMT
In particular I wish he'd taken Andrew Giddings out as Giddings is an amazing keyboardist who (my opinion, sorry) absolutely smokes O'Hara. As a musician who has spent years learning Tull's keyboard parts, I agree 100%! Giddings absolutely smokes O'Hara. Giddings' work on Divinities is masterful. The way he faithfully recreated the 70s Tull keyboard parts live was nothing short of phenomenal. His contributions to Roots to Branches and Dot-Com are breathtaking. Very musical. Very masterful. Very complex! Very melodic. I often question why Ian would hire O'Hara. His orchestration skills are lacking, and his piano, accordion, and organ prowess are... let's just say, nonexistent. I'm a guitarist and bassist... not a keyboardist. That being said, I'd smoke O'Hara when I was like 12 years old and not trying very hard. I'm sure I'll get flack for this, but oh well. O'Hara is my single biggest disappointment with Ian's musical choices (yes, this includes him firing Martin) since Hot Mango Flush. Or Sleeping with the Dog. Or Mango Surprise. Or White Innocence. Ian, in your infinite wisdom, why did you get rid of Andrew Giddings? Just imagine what TAAB 2 would've been with an actual master behind the keys! I have actually had a dream where I was listening to Wootton Bassett Town with Giddings on it... it was unimaginably magnificent!
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Post by futureshock on Jan 7, 2017 20:04:34 GMT
In particular I wish he'd taken Andrew Giddings out as Giddings is an amazing keyboardist who (my opinion, sorry) absolutely smokes O'Hara. As a musician who has spent years learning Tull's keyboard parts, I agree 100%! Giddings absolutely smokes O'Hara. Giddings' work on Divinities is masterful. The way he faithfully recreated the 70s Tull keyboard parts live was nothing short of phenomenal. His contributions to Roots to Branches and Dot-Com are breathtaking. Very musical. Very masterful. Very complex! Very melodic. I often question why Ian would hire O'Hara. His orchestration skills are lacking, and his piano, accordion, and organ prowess are... let's just say, nonexistent. I'm a guitarist and bassist... not a keyboardist. That being said, I'd smoke O'Hara when I was like 12 years old and not trying very hard. I'm sure I'll get flack for this, but oh well. O'Hara is my single biggest disappointment with Ian's musical choices (yes, this includes him firing Martin) since Hot Mango Flush. Or Sleeping with the Dog. Or Mango Surprise. Or White Innocence. Ian, in your infinite wisdom, why did you get rid of Andrew Giddings? Just imagine what TAAB 2 would've been with an actual master behind the keys! I have actually had a dream where I was listening to Wootton Bassett Town with Giddings on it... it was unimaginably magnificent! Of the various musicians in the band, I'd say the keyboardist changes have generated the most controversy. People have their favorite drummers, but don't go on about it as much. Bass players too, but more difficult to find the differences? Martin vs anyone else? But keyboards. I think John Evans was hard to match for profound soul in his work. Giddings maybe for overall scope and the creative and performance talent to match of course. PJ Vittese for speed, adventuring into tone colours, layers and a feeling of fun. I'm still not sure where these newer guys fit into the "Tull" aspect of all this, because there's been no new "Jethro Tull" creations, just Ian Anderson solo projects with them, and a "best of" tour system in tow. The creative chemistry is very different now than between 1970-1980's. Could be that the first demo of O'Hara's creativity here is in the Quartets album? His work with The Who's music doesn't translate directly to this Anderson/Tull gig. And on that kind of thing, I think ANY other guitarist for Anderson/Tull instantly becomes a different effect and storyline, because Martin Barre was an unbeatable talent at being three guitarists at once, in every song (lead, rhythm and effects), and just as good on acoustics, electrics, mandolins, classicals, and probably not too bad on bazouki, ukulele and maybe even zithers? With a tonal palette and list of tricks just as long as those used by Jeff Beck, and always used most tastefully.
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Post by Equus on Jan 8, 2017 10:36:19 GMT
In particular I wish he'd taken Andrew Giddings out as Giddings is an amazing keyboardist who (my opinion, sorry) absolutely smokes O'Hara. As a musician who has spent years learning Tull's keyboard parts, I agree 100%! Giddings absolutely smokes O'Hara. Giddings' work on Divinities is masterful. The way he faithfully recreated the 70s Tull keyboard parts live was nothing short of phenomenal. His contributions to Roots to Branches and Dot-Com are breathtaking. Very musical. Very masterful. Very complex! Very melodic. I often question why Ian would hire O'Hara. His orchestration skills are lacking, and his piano, accordion, and organ prowess are... let's just say, nonexistent. I'm a guitarist and bassist... not a keyboardist. That being said, I'd smoke O'Hara when I was like 12 years old and not trying very hard. I'm sure I'll get flack for this, but oh well. O'Hara is my single biggest disappointment with Ian's musical choices (yes, this includes him firing Martin) since Hot Mango Flush. Or Sleeping with the Dog. Or Mango Surprise. Or White Innocence. Ian, in your infinite wisdom, why did you get rid of Andrew Giddings? Just imagine what TAAB 2 would've been with an actual master behind the keys! I have actually had a dream where I was listening to Wootton Bassett Town with Giddings on it... it was unimaginably magnificent! Interesting how different we think... Most of the time I just hate the sounds that Andrew Giddings picks, especially on the Divinities: Twelve Dances with God, album... Sounds too artificial to me... The only number that I really like is, in the pay of Spain... I have tried... God knows I've tried to get into that album, but it just doesn't work for me... John O’Hara's I always like... There could be many good reasons for Giddings departure, I can't remember if I read anything about the split... Maybe he just wanted to do something else? The most important thing for me is by the way not if one musician is better than the other, but if it works for me on an emotional level... I'd go for John O' Hara all of the time, and Andrew Giddings most of the time... The "new" band that Ian is working with gives Ian's songs a new twist, and what I like to call another shade of Tull... Love that...
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Post by geostrehl on Jan 8, 2017 22:25:26 GMT
As a musician who has spent years learning Tull's keyboard parts, I agree 100%! Giddings absolutely smokes O'Hara. Giddings' work on Divinities is masterful. The way he faithfully recreated the 70s Tull keyboard parts live was nothing short of phenomenal. His contributions to Roots to Branches and Dot-Com are breathtaking. Very musical. Very masterful. Very complex! Very melodic. I often question why Ian would hire O'Hara. His orchestration skills are lacking, and his piano, accordion, and organ prowess are... let's just say, nonexistent. I'm a guitarist and bassist... not a keyboardist. That being said, I'd smoke O'Hara when I was like 12 years old and not trying very hard. I'm sure I'll get flack for this, but oh well. O'Hara is my single biggest disappointment with Ian's musical choices (yes, this includes him firing Martin) since Hot Mango Flush. Or Sleeping with the Dog. Or Mango Surprise. Or White Innocence. Ian, in your infinite wisdom, why did you get rid of Andrew Giddings? Just imagine what TAAB 2 would've been with an actual master behind the keys! I have actually had a dream where I was listening to Wootton Bassett Town with Giddings on it... it was unimaginably magnificent! Interesting how different we think... Most of the time I just hate the sounds that Andrew Giddings picks, especially on the Divinities: Twelve Dances with God, album... Sounds too artificial to me... The only number that I really like is, in the pay of Spain... I have tried... God knows I've tried to get into that album, but it just doesn't work for me... John O’Hara's I always like... There could be many good reasons for Giddings departure, I can't remember if I read anything about the split... Maybe he just wanted to do something else? The most important thing for me is by the way not if one musician is better than the other, but if it works for me on an emotional level... I'd go for John O' Hara all of the time, and Andrew Giddings most of the time... The "new" band that Ian is working with gives Ian's songs a new twist, and what I like to call another shade of Tull... Love that... Yeah, I have to agree about Giddings' use of samples. Many of them sound cheesy and over-synthesized. Sampling has come a long way since then. With today's technology, I'm willing to bet that many of his contributions would sound more like the instruments that he was attempting to emulate. I was speaking more about his technical ability. Giddings can play everything John Evans can play. O'Hara couldn't. Giddings could play everything O'Hara writes. I doubt that O'Hara could even begin to pull off the majority of what Giddings contributed. I can forgive Giddings for the cheesy synthetic sound banks that he had to use in the 90s. We'll have to agree to disagree. Still, it's refreshing to chat with someone who has put that much thought into Tull keyboards. I'll never bash David Goodier. He's fantastic! I have loved all of Ian's bassists. Dave Pegg was magnificent. "Level Pegging" and the bass solo/duet on the A Little Light Music version of Bouree are super! Noyce had the technical skill of a master, with the soul of a Motown legend. Glasscock was very melodic. Cornick was even more melodic! Jeffrey was, well, Jeffrey. Truth be told, the one member I'm missing most of all is Doane. Does anyone have an update on him? Last I heard, his shoulder surgery was successful and he was recovering. Can anyone confirm??
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Post by jackinthegreen on Jan 8, 2017 23:37:21 GMT
It will all boil down to money................... Who gets what....... .....for how long...... ......and when your contract is up.... .....the wage goes up or bye bye....... Nothing wrong with that, at Ian's age it's not about pulling chicks is it........
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Post by nonrabbit on Jan 10, 2017 21:40:58 GMT
Quite an interesting glimpse, not necessary in context with the thread however Ian talks at around 2.00 about making Aqualung and the interaction in the studio with the other musicians.
He also mentions Stand Up and Benefit at 1.80.
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