Robben Ford...Any Good?

[TRandy16]

So whatcha' think?? Huh??

[trisonic]

So whatcha' think?? Huh??

Who he?

Best, Pete

[TRandy16]

Who he?

Best, Pete
I heard he's just some wanker who thinks he God's gift to the guitar. ;)

Didn't he used to be in Bon Jovi?

[Serious_Poo]

Who he?

Best, PeteLita Ford's little brother?

;)

[Big Mike]

Lita Ford's little brother?

;)


[tommy chong voice]

I know that dude man, he's on Motown'

[/tommy chong voice]

[LeonC]

Saw Robben and friends last Monday and I'm going again next Monday. Tremendous improvisor, great musical ideas, outstanding execution, great tone and taste. While I hardly worship him, seems like any moderately advanced musician should recognize his talent and respect his musical contributions.

[bleujazz3]

I haven't listened to Robben in quite a while, never seen him play. I've heard he connects with his audiences extremely well. IMO, that's good.

[Cheebatone]

If you were him, you'd be tempted to put a blue oval logo on at least one bit of kit, wouldn't you?!

[Chops]

Man, the top on that Baker is just ill!!!

[JMintzer]

[tommy chong voice]

I know that dude man, he's on Motown'

[/tommy chong voice]
[cheech marin voice]

No Man! That's Santa Claus!

[/cheech marin voice]


Jamie

P.S. Dave's not here! :D

[Big Mike]

[cheech marin voice]

No Man! That's Santa Claus!

[/cheech marin voice]


Jamie

P.S. Dave's not here! :D

Oh yeah like, I knew that man!

[µ¿ z3®ø™]

U folks here have a far more sophisticated sense of humour than a lot of peeps at TGP.
it's a GOOD thing, as martha stewart says.
i guess that it's OK to share w/ U guys here that i have never heard most of the guitar players that they talk about at TGP.
for example, i've never heard the following guitar players:
robben ford
steve kimmock (sp?)
um, i forget the rest of them.
now the question that i have to ask is whether i should actually seek out these 'unknown' gee-tar pickers so i can be 'cool' or should i just continue along the path that i always have, unable to copy my fave pickers so i make it up as i go along and try and play parts that 'fit' both in tone and contributing to the arrangement?
should i come out at TGP and admit i have NO idea who they talk about half the time?
BTW, i DO know and love the playing of david torn. is he as good as robben ford?

[anode]

I have the Robben Ford "Blue Moon" CD.... I was a bit dissapointed with it. I admire his obvious talent, but I don't share his choice of material. I also thought that CD was way over-produced, giving everything a kind of fake, L.A. sound; kinda like the soundtrack to a cheezy 80's movie.

But I can hear brief flashes of great guitar playing buried in the mix from time to time. I wouldn't be surprised if his live performances were be much better.

[saxophonist56]

must really suck to have such an inexpensive amp to play thru.....the dumble
is so humble.

when i got my auction crucible back from gene baker it was "oh my god!" different. the frets were just nutty.


anyway....i heard RF at guitar center in concord, ca do a clinic playing his bakers thru a bonestock production fender twin. the epiphony came when he sounded just as good as thru his dumble! no lie.... damn, no amp is gonna get me over ...guess i really have to learn to play.

anyway my $.02

long live the gear page. i miss it and go into withdrawal every time it goes down.

[clorenzo]

One of my favourite musicians (not just guitarists). He brings the bluesy thing to jazz-funk and the jazzy thing to blues with amazing taste and has a sense of melody, phrasing and space up there with David Gilmour's, but with a more advanced technique. IMHO Yellowjackets' eponymous debut album and RF's "Talk to your daughter" are fundamental guitar albums. Granted some of the arrangements are a bit cheesy, he doesn't have a great voice (Eric Johnson type thing) and sometimes the tone of his guitar is questionable, but listen to his playing and learn because each solo is a masterclass.

[trisonic]

Well, it takes all sorts, I guess. He's an educated player but I find his records to be unlistenable after a while. It may be the production values but I find his sense of dynamics to be awry - everything seems to be on the same level.

To tell the truth I never listened to him until I joined TGP and I purchased one of his CDs - I ejected it after half way through. Maybe I don't want jazz with my blues? Can't be just me surely? Why doesn't he sell bucketloads of records to the "General Public"?

Just my opinion.

Best, Pete.

[µ¿ z3®ø™]

(Eric Johnson type thing)

i can add eric johnson to the list of gee-ter pickers i have never heard.
w/o sounding like i'm trolling here, what am i missing by not checking out robben ford, steve kimmock, eric johnson and any other players of that ilk? now, i admit that i don't even know what that 'ilk' is other than they all seem to be guitar players that really only seem to have an audience w/ other pickers.
the last guy that i was into that fell into that category was alan holdsworth and that was DECADES ago.
i do like some guitar players. james ulmer, kevin breit, torn, buddy miller and john5 are contemporary pickers that i dig and i still think that jeff beck casts a HUGE shadow over virtually all of his peers.
too bad we lost roy and danny.

[LeonC]

i can add eric johnson to the list of gee-ter pickers i have never heard.
w/o sounding like i'm trolling here, what am i missing by not checking out robben ford, steve kimmock, eric johnson and any other players of that ilk? now, i admit that i don't even know what that 'ilk' is other than they all seem to be guitar players that really only seem to have an audience w/ other pickers.
the last guy that i was into that fell into that category was alan holdsworth and that was DECADES ago.
i do like some guitar players. james ulmer, kevin breit, torn, buddy miller and john5 are contemporary pickers that i dig and i still think that jeff beck casts a HUGE shadow over virtually all of his peers.
too bad we lost roy and danny.In the case of RF, IMO, you're missing a guy with great musical ideas in the areas of blues, jazz, funk, r&b. Great technique, outstanding harmonic understanding of the fretboard and great taste. Definitely has his own style and is easy to pick out.

In the case of EJ, you've got a guy, IMO, with tremendous technique, great tone, more of a blues-based rock/fusion player. Not as harmonically interesting as RF to me.

However...the guy you probably don't want to miss, even if you haven't heard of him, is Scott Henderson. Now if you like Holdsworth, and you like JB...you're gonna dig SH. He is perhaps the most harmonically advanced player I've heard who can still play the living **** out of one note when that's what the music calls for. Check out his Live CD, Well To the Bone, Dog Party, Tore Down House.

[tag]

I have the Robben Ford "Blue Moon" CD.... I was a bit dissapointed with it. I admire his obvious talent, but I don't share his choice of material. I also thought that CD was way over-produced, giving everything a kind of fake, L.A. sound; kinda like the soundtrack to a cheezy 80's movie.

But I can hear brief flashes of great guitar playing buried in the mix from time to time. I wouldn't be surprised if his live performances were be much better.

I LOVE Robben Ford, but I can not stand Blue moon or Supernatural. Give me the Blue line era any day.

[µ¿ z3®ø™]

However...the guy you probably don't want to miss, even if you haven't heard of him, is Scott Henderson. Now if you like Holdsworth, and you like JB...you're gonna dig SH. He is perhaps the most harmonically advanced player I've heard who can still play the living **** out of one note when that's what the music calls for. Check out his Live CD, Well To the Bone, Dog Party, Tore Down House.

i'm peripherally aware of scott henderson thru his work w/ jean luc ponty and jeff berlin. i could have SWORN that he also played w/ miles davis during the pangea era, but i'm probably thinking of someone else as there is no mention on his bio. my records are currently packed, so i can't check.
i'm gonna check him out tho'. i went to his website and was confronted w/ a virtual twin in appearance and he's only one year older than me. what's not to love about middle aged, dreadlocked iconoclasts?

[carlygtr56]

In the case of RF, IMO, you're missing a guy with great musical ideas in the areas of blues, jazz, funk, r&b. Great technique, outstanding harmonic understanding of the fretboard and great taste. Definitely has his own style and is easy to pick out.

In the case of EJ, you've got a guy, IMO, with tremendous technique, great tone, more of a blues-based rock/fusion player. Not as harmonically interesting as RF to me.

However...the guy you probably don't want to miss, even if you haven't heard of him, is Scott Henderson. Now if you like Holdsworth, and you like JB...you're gonna dig SH. He is perhaps the most harmonically advanced player I've heard who can still play the living **** out of one note when that's what the music calls for. Check out his Live CD, Well To the Bone, Dog Party, Tore Down House.
(http://www.soundclick.com/bands/songInfo.cfm?bandID=343910&songID=3872200)

hmmm, now what if somebody had a tape of RF and EJ jamming/
Hey Leon and my TGP buds.....Born Under a Bad Sign, 1990 RJ/EJ jam at GIT


http://www.soundclick.com/bands/songInfo.cfm?bandID=343910&songID=3872200

[Lanceaman]

hmmm, now what if somebody had a tape of RF and EJ jamming/
Hey Leon and my TGP buds.....Born Under a Bad Sign, 1990 RJ/EJ jam at GIT


http://www.soundclick.com/bands/songInfo.cfm?bandID=343910&songID=3872200
Cool - how's it going Carly?

[carlygtr56]

Cool - how's it going Carly?
Doing good.
Lots of new toys.... http://forums.birdsandmoons.com/forum/images/icons/icon10.gif

[Lanceaman]

Doing good.
Lots of new toys.... http://forums.birdsandmoons.com/forum/images/icons/icon10.gif
Me too. http://forums.birdsandmoons.com/forum/images/icons/icon10.gif

Still haven't forgotten that I was going to send you an mp3, just never recorded one. Now having computer problems.

Interesting on your recording where EJ emulates Clapton in the beginning then Hendrix at the end.

BTW - dunno if you were around buy Mike Landau finally fixed his system and got us our cd's. Good stuff.

[carlygtr56]

Me too. http://forums.birdsandmoons.com/forum/images/icons/icon10.gif

Still haven't forgotten that I was going to send you an mp3, just never recorded one. Now having computer problems.

Interesting on your recording where EJ emulates Clapton in the beginning then Hendrix at the end.

BTW - dunno if you were around buy Mike Landau finally fixed his system and got us our cd's. Good stuff.

Bout time on the Landau stuff.
I'm converting my entire video collection to DVD. Hopefully I'll get some rare stuff up on the You Tube site.

[drbob1]

There's a long list of guys that do "instrumental guitar music":

Robben Ford
Joe Satriani
Steve Vai
Eric Johnson
Jeff Beck
Buchanan
......

I feel the same way about most of their stuff, one or two songs are cool then it starts to get stale. Same thing with blues guys that just go for extended soloing. I enjoy it a lot more when someone has a killer song, that tells a great story, with or without words, and the guitar solo is just part of telling that story. I guess to that end I enjoy the work of a Steve Cropper or even an Eddy Van Halen more than the above. Probably heresy...

[LeonC]

hmmm, now what if somebody had a tape of RF and EJ jamming/
Hey Leon and my TGP buds.....Born Under a Bad Sign, 1990 RJ/EJ jam at GIT

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/songInfo.cfm?bandID=343910&songID=3872200Hey Carl -- RF's comping on this is way cool and EJ's solo is on freakin fire! Cool clip! You are de clipmiester, man!

[carlygtr56]

Hey Carl -- RF's comping on this is way cool and EJ's solo is on freakin fire! Cool clip! You are de clipmiester, man!

You should have heard RF comping behind Larry Carlton. Saw them in March......awesome guitar show.

LC had Dumble tone of the Gods. RF had raw Santana/Twin/old Fillmore tones that night with a Les Paul Twin,SR and a Zendrive.

[µ¿ z3®ø™]

I enjoy it a lot more when someone has a killer song, that tells a great story, with or without words, and the guitar solo is just part of telling that story. I guess to that end I enjoy the work of a Steve Cropper or even an Eddy Van Halen more than the above. Probably heresy...

no heresy from my perspective. for me it's all about finding the perfect tone and chops to serve what the song needs. there's always a few exceptions to that and i kinda lump jeff beck into that because of where he's gone in the past few years. i really like his collaborations w/ apollo 440 and his exploration of electronica. guys his age shouldn't be nearly as adventurous in seeking out new idioms, should they?
i have now checked out RF, EJ, and SH in the iTunes store. good technicians to be sure.
i'm beginning to think that one of my fave pickers is one of the best kept secrets amongst other players. here's a couple of tracks of kevin breit as performing in his regular mon. nite gig at the orbit room, here in t-dot.

http://www.kevinbreit.com/mp3/sisters/Guvsteppin'.mp3
http://www.kevinbreit.com/mp3/sisters/Tumbleweed%20Tea.mp3

in which he does the guitar wanker instrumental thing.
his dicography is hugely diverse ranging from norah jones to celine dion to k.d. lang and his collaboration w/ harry manx falls under the 'song' oriented facet of his playing. does it all w/ a tele and a vibrolux.

[rwe333]

no heresy from my perspective. for me it's all about finding the perfect tone and chops to serve what the song needs. there's always a few exceptions to that and i kinda lump jeff beck into that because of where he's gone in the past few years. i really like his collaborations w/ apollo 440 and his exploration of electronica. guys his age shouldn't be nearly as adventurous in seeking out new idioms, should they?
i have now checked out RF, EJ, and SH in the iTunes store. good technicians to be sure.
i'm beginning to think that one of my fave pickers is one of the best kept secrets amongst other players. here's a couple of tracks of kevin breit as performing in his regular mon. nite gig at the orbit room, here in t-dot.

http://www.kevinbreit.com/mp3/sisters/Guvsteppin'.mp3
http://www.kevinbreit.com/mp3/sisters/Tumbleweed%20Tea.mp3

in which he does the guitar wanker instrumental thing.
his dicography is hugely diverse ranging from norah jones to celine dion to k.d. lang and his collaboration w/ harry manx falls under the 'song' oriented facet of his playing. does it all w/ a tele and a vibrolux.Kevin Breit a freakin' incredible guitarist/arranger/composer/person... What a talent... Totally unique.

[µ¿ z3®ø™]

Kevin Breit a freakin' incredible guitarist/arranger/composer/person... What a talent... Totally unique.

SUPER nice guy too.

[rwe333]

SUPER nice guy too....and tall! ;)

[µ¿ z3®ø™]

...and tall! ;)

i'm 6'4" and don't look up to many peeps, but between kevin and lindy i feel like the midget viking.

[mavrick10_2000]

U folks here have a far more sophisticated sense of humour than a lot of peeps at TGP.
it's a GOOD thing, as martha stewart says.
i guess that it's OK to share w/ U guys here that i have never heard most of the guitar players that they talk about at TGP.
for example, i've never heard the following guitar players:
robben ford
steve kimmock (sp?)
um, i forget the rest of them.
now the question that i have to ask is whether i should actually seek out these 'unknown' gee-tar pickers so i can be 'cool' or should i just continue along the path that i always have, unable to copy my fave pickers so i make it up as i go along and try and play parts that 'fit' both in tone and contributing to the arrangement?
should i come out at TGP and admit i have NO idea who they talk about half the time?
BTW, i DO know and love the playing of david torn. is he as good as robben ford?
Zero,

I hear you. I didn't know a lot of the players metioned when I first joined TGP either. Search the net for stuff by them, iTunes etc. Whether you like each player or not, doesn't matter. Not all styles are for everyone.

Re: David Torn vs. Robben...... apples and oranges comparison. Their both monster musicians, polar opposite approaches and styles.

[µ¿ z3®ø™]

Re: David Torn vs. Robben...... apples and oranges comparison. Their both monster musicians, polar opposite approaches and styles.

yes, my comment about torn being better than RF was entirely rhetorical. i LOVE what torn does in terms of creating soundscapes. i'm only now finding out about RF first hand, but i never expected him to be THAT sort of player. who is?