Have you Heard?
By Doug Robinson

James Taylor gets back to basics

I was up in the States recently and grabbed James Taylor’s Covers CD. I’m a big fan. In fact, with Taylor’s last few albums, my respect for his talent has grown considerably.

While Taylor has always covered other artists’ songs—some of his biggest hits like “You’ve Got a Friend”, “Handyman”, “Up On The Roof” and “How Sweet It Is” were penned by someone other than him—he’s never released an album consisting entirely of cover versions until now. I definitely want to talk about the music (which is very good), but first I want to talk about the way it was recorded, because I think that the technique is about 90% responsible for what makes this album so enjoyable.

Up until the mid-1950s, recording sessions usually consisted of a band gathering around a microphone or two and simply doing their thing. What you heard was a real-time audio capture of what actually happened in the studio in front of those microphones. It wasn’t until guitarist/inventor Les Paul started experimenting with multi-track recording that the concept of “layering” audio became popular.

Early multi-track recording essentially split recording tape into several parallel sections, which could be recorded on individually. This single innovation changed everything about how music would be recorded from that moment on. Bands with only one guitarist could now lay down a basic track and then send the guitarist back into the studio to record second and third parts. Vocalists could double-track their parts, literally singing the same song twice, to create a pleasingly fat vocal sound.

From that moment on, multi-tracking became the standard way to work. The recording studio was no longer just a place to document a performance; it was now a laboratory where talented artists could create and manipulate the original performance into something bigger than it was in the first place. The results changed pop music forever.

Today, multi-tracking and layering is de rigueur in almost every kind of recorded music, save for those that rely completely on live-interaction such as jazz. As exciting as it is to layer up a masterpiece by oneself (I’m currently working on a project where I’ve recorded 23 tracks of myself playing different instruments), often something is lacking that can only be supplied by spontaneous interaction with other musicians.

Which brings me back to James Taylor’s decision to record his Covers album live-in-the-studio, for the most part, without the benefits of layering tracks. Instead of opting for the more reliable method of recording instruments and vocals one by one, he chose to bring his current touring band into a studio to rehearse the tunes and then record all at once. Even Taylor himself sang and played as the tracks were going down, as opposed to doing multiple takes and compiling his best bits.

The tight-but-loose, organic feel on these tracks is the unmistakable sound of killer players having fun for our enjoyment. It doesn’t hurt when your band is made up of the best players in the business, of course! With Steve Gadd on drums, Jimmy Johnson on bass, Larry Goldings on keyboards and the rest of band with equally impressive résumés, getting your track to sound good in one take is less risky. Still, the vibe that is missing on other records with the same players is found in abundance on Covers, making the album a pleasure to listen to repeatedly.

The music itself is a rather odd mix of songs dating from the 50s to the 80s, including poignant versions of Leonard Cohen’s “Suzanne” and Jimmy Webb’s “Wichita Lineman”. Other songs are more obscure. I had never heard, for example, the soul songs “It’s Growing” and “Sadie”, or the folk song “Seminole Wind”. Other than “Suzanne”, my favorites were the R&B songs “Roadrunner”, “On Broadway” and his rocking covers of “Hound Dog”, “Summertime Blues” and “Not Fade Away”, which add the only real rough edges to an otherwise smooth and spacious album.

Is this as good an album as one loaded with original James Taylor songs? Not really—for me, he’s simply a better writer than a few of the composers he has chosen to cover here. When he sings his own material, we get the illusion that he is describing something from his own life, which adds an emotional punch we don’t get from hearing even a great version of “Hound Dog”. Still, because of his easy-going talent, his outstanding band and the overall fun vibe of the recording, I have to admit that I usually play this album twice in a row when I pull it out. That’s enough of a recommendation to merit this review.



Doug Robinson is a local composer who performs improvisational duets with guitarist Ken Basman around town. He is currently scoring a promotional DVD for the painter Juan Ezcurdia.

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Concert
Folklore Harp & 
Flamenco Guitar
Sergio Basurto
Mon & Thu, Apr 20 & 23, 7:30pm
Sala Quetzal
Biblioteca Pública
Reloj 50A
150 pesos, limited seating

Dynamic playing style
By Gabriela Sevin

Sergio Basurto will use the folklore harp to play traditional rhythms from Latin America and Mexico. The rhythms interpreted on the folklore harp will then be combined on the guitar with the original rhythms of Spanish flamenco from which they derive. The harp is a stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicular to the soundboard. All harps have a neck, resonator and strings.

Some, known as frame harps, also have a fore pillar; those lacking the fore pillar are referred to as open harps. Depending on its size (which varies considerably), a harp may be played while held in the lap or while stood on the floor or the ground. Harp strings can be made of nylon (sometimes wound around cooper), gut (more commonly used than nylon), wire, or silk. A person who plays the harp is called a harpist or a harper. Typically, folk/Celtic musicians prefer the term “harper,” whereas classical/pedal musicians prefer “harpist.”

The later Spanish or Renaissance harp was taken to the New World by Jesuit missionaries and developed in a completely different way. The indigenous peoples were fascinated with the instrument, made some changes to it and adopted it as part of their own culture.

The many kinds of harps in Latin America include the Venezuelan harp, Mexican harp and arpa llanera (harp of the plain). Almost all South American countries have their own versions of harps.

In construction and playing techniques, these harps are quite different from the traditional European harps. They are made of thin wood (cedar and pine) and are lighter than the European harp. The playing style is vibrant and dynamic in contrast to the softer European tone. Modern Paraguayan harps usually have 36 nylon strings tuned to the diatonic scale and are played with the fingernails. The sound is bright with a shorter sustain period after the plucking of each note.