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Topic: Ed Bickert |
Andrew Frost
From:
Toronto, Ontario
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Posted 16 Aug 2021 7:39 pm |
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Someone has uploaded this live recording on Youtube, and it is killer. It is with the great Paul Desmond, Toronto, 1975.
You could hear Ed Bickert playing in Toronto regularly up into the late 90s, perhaps even early 2000s. He is like no other. Smooth as it gets. I heard him a number of times up here, and have always dug his intense but subtle style. I would have loved to hear him with Desmond...
https://youtu.be/YRTA7x9aRZM |
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David Gertschen
From:
Phoenix, Arizona
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Posted 17 Aug 2021 12:24 pm
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| Thanks for posting this. Ed's comping is a thing of beauty! |
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Andrew Frost
From:
Toronto, Ontario
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Posted 17 Aug 2021 1:10 pm
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| Completely. Desmond used guitar in his quartets alot. He worked with Jim Hall and Ed Bickert the most I think. Two great players with distinct styles. |
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Jack Hanson
From:
San Luis Valley, USA
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Posted 17 Aug 2021 1:14 pm
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| Nice! |
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G Strout
From:
Carabelle, Florida
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Posted 17 Aug 2021 3:52 pm
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Ed has been in my top 5 guitarists for many years. First saw him in Montreal in the 70's. I wanted to go home and throw my guitar off the roof!! Obviously I had the wrong kind of guitar. Those notes weren't on my guitar!! As I grew and learned and realized that they were there but one had to learn the when where and how to actually use them in melodic phrasing and creating tension and release.
Saw Ed many, many times after that and got to have several conversations with him. He always seemed to enjoy keeping under the radar. Always amazed me that he did all that with a Tele!!!
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Melbert 8, Remington S8, Silk 6 string, Rick B6, Tremblay 6 lap steel, Marlen S-10 4&4, Prestige Guild M75 and Artist Award, Benedetto Bravo, Epiphone Century Electar (the real one) and a bunch of old lap steels.... mostly Ricks and Magnatones' |
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Andy Volk
From:
Boston, MA
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Posted 18 Aug 2021 11:53 am
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I have this box set. Just superb. Bickert was at his most simpatico with Desmond. Bickert's voice leading is astounding.
_________________
Steel Guitar Books! Website: www.volkmediabooks.com |
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Andrew Frost
From:
Toronto, Ontario
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Posted 18 Aug 2021 3:31 pm
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| Ya,I realized yesterday that there's a whole collection, like 4 CDs worth of this stuff. Its a goldmine. The studio records are great that Ive heard, but I agree these sessions with Don Thompson on bass have a significant charge to them. Could be the live factor. |
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Andrew Frost
From:
Toronto, Ontario
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Posted 18 Aug 2021 6:25 pm
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| Quote: |
| First saw him in Montreal in the 70's. |
Beauty. Montreal is still a cool town in many ways. Feel like I should spend more time there. |
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Andy Volk
From:
Boston, MA
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Posted 19 Aug 2021 3:32 am
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A lot of what Ed playing is complex and mysterious to me without seeing it in front of me on paper or screen, but here's one of the few things I cribbed from Ed that I translated to C6 lap steel. He played these chords with a Bossa Nova feel.
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Steel Guitar Books! Website: www.volkmediabooks.com |
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Jeff Evans
From:
Cowtown and The Bill Cox Outfit
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Posted 19 Aug 2021 3:59 am
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Thank you for calling our attention to it. |
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Andy Volk
From:
Boston, MA
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Andrew Frost
From:
Toronto, Ontario
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Posted 19 Aug 2021 4:55 pm
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| Those are some nice voicings Andy. What is the root movement in the first bar? |
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Andy Volk
From:
Boston, MA
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Posted 20 Aug 2021 4:25 am
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I think of it in terms of chromatic voice leading of the top voice going from B to D. Without trying to name everything, essentially, it's a fancy V to I (I think)ending on a Dmaj7th chord.
_________________
Steel Guitar Books! Website: www.volkmediabooks.com |
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Andrew Frost
From:
Toronto, Ontario
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Posted 24 Aug 2021 4:58 pm
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very nice. ya it sounds like some fancy 5 chord action, perhaps even 5 of 5 before landing on the Dmaj7.
A fiend of mine's Dad recorded Ed many times in the CBC studios here in Toronto. He said beyond having impeccable comping style and voicing choices, Bickert was always an absolutely 'in-tune' guitarist and knew exactly how to tweak each chord tone with micro bends and nuances of left hand pressure, to compliment the overall sound as needed, much like a steel guitarist intonates, in ways.
He also related a funny story about Ed's tone. I'll paraphrase, but apparently in one session, he wanted to make sure Ed was hearing the 'darkness' of his tone objectively, so recorded him for a moment with mics at ear level and played it back in the control room, away from the live floor. 'Are you sure this the tone you want, Ed?'
"Yes, that is my sound".  |
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Andy Volk
From:
Boston, MA
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Posted 25 Aug 2021 9:54 am
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Here'a variation on Ed's ending - in F this time. Bar #2 is just a II, V, I
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Steel Guitar Books! Website: www.volkmediabooks.com |
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Bill Hatcher
From:
Atlanta Ga. USA
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Posted 27 Aug 2021 10:43 am
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jim hall recommended bickert to desmond to perform with in toronto. now you know why its perfect.
here he is live. bet you didnt guess he was playing a tele... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96qHH0YsKyE |
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Andy Volk
From:
Boston, MA
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Posted 27 Aug 2021 11:54 am
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Hard to believe that anyone who knows about Ed doesn't know he is the prime example (before Bill Frisell) of use of the Tele in jazz. There are 50 post threads on the jazz guitar forum about it. He played a single coil pickup at first then went to a hum bucker but always sounded like he was playing an archtop on either.
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Steel Guitar Books! Website: www.volkmediabooks.com |
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Andrew Frost
From:
Toronto, Ontario
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Posted 27 Aug 2021 2:24 pm
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I hear what you're saying Andy. I saw this picture in an old Gibson catalog, years ago, and have wondered about his days playing a hollow body in the early days. He was always playing that old tele on gigs around town, up here. I think the transition originally happened while his main guitar was in repair and he was given a solid body fender as a loaner and he just took to it. Don't quote me on that, but I think that's how it went, more or less. |
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Cappone dAngelo
From:
Vancouver, BC, Canada
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Posted 14 Sep 2021 7:01 pm
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| Ed was great! I was fortunate to share the stage with him in the early 90s when I was playing sax in the university big band in Victoria and he was our guest featured artist. He was definitely my favourite of the several Boss Brass members who performed with us. |
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Andrew Frost
From:
Toronto, Ontario
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Posted 21 Oct 2021 8:33 pm
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| I was fortunate to share the stage with him in the early 90s when I was playing sax in the university big band in Victoria |
That's cool, Cappone. I think Bickert grew up in BC actually, before coming to Toronto, but I don't know the details. I believe he was one of those old school jazz players that had a strong footing in country music in early life, playing with his family. That seems to have been pretty common. Same with Lenny Breau, Charlie Haden and probably a ton of others. |
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