New acoustic Americana, world and original music - it's neo-urban traditional music.

11 MP3 Songs
FOLK: Traditional Folk, JAZZ: World Fusion



Details:
Walking Down Whalley (Stacy Phillips - BMI) - If youâre wondering about the sobriquet neo-urban traditions, this piece is a prime sample.
I used to live on a main drag in New Haven, Connecticut. Anyone from a small city will recognize the neighborhood with one listen to the lyrics. New Haven is perhaps the last feudal society in the United States, with the big gorilla, Yale University, playing the liege lord, and the townies in the reluctant role of loyal serfs.
Which instrument is soloing? On this and other pieces on this CD, often both lead simultaneously.

Nao Toque (Zequinha Abreu) - From Brazil comes a style called chorro with an infectious kind of musical craziness. Towards the end we add a touch of a salsa rhythm break to Donât Touch .

A Smooth One (Benny Goodman & Charles Christian) - With a tip of the hat to a World War II vintage riff from Mission to Moscow, Paul and I travel a smooth musical path from urbane suavity to Dionysiac intoxication, and back. Just two guitars with very disparate voices.

Blues for Charlemagne (Stacy Phillips - BMI) - You think youâve got the blues? 1200 years ago they really had it rough. No chocolate chip cookies, no TV and Charles the Fat was no help.

27th of September (Djiddjung) / Tears (Django Reinhardt/Stephane Grappelli) - The first piece is from the playing of Antonio Lopes (better known as Travadinha), the greatest exponent of the old time violin style of the Cape Verde Islands. The genre is one of the seemingly endless fusions of European and African musicality.
The French Rom-based Tears flits between major and minor tonality, with substantial portions in neither.

Four From Hawaii - The first two, short pieces are from the repertoire of electric steel pioneer Dick McIntyre, though their titles have faded from my memory bank.
Third up is Haole Hula, played in the Hawaiian chordal style of the 1950âs. We perform it in a hapa (half) haole (Caucasian) mix of Western and Polynesian styles.
European-derived marches were one of the first genres played by native Hawaiians in the late nineteenth century on the newly invented steel guitar. Kohala March celebrates the home of many sugar plantations. Iâve tried to keep some of the really old sounds in this version. Most everything can fit into the neo-urban wok.

Cobblestones (Stacy Phillips - BMI) - Cobblestones can connote both gentility and rudeness. These rounded stones once paved the streets of upscale urban neighborhoods. But they can easily be dislodged and used as projectiles, which is why they have disappeared.

Noites Cariocas (Jacob Do Bandolim) - More madcap chorro mayhem with Nights in Rio, written by one of the masters of the style. The chord changes have a neat way of pushing the rhythm. We like to hot potato the lead around.

Gee Baby, Ainât I Good To You (Don Redman and Andy Razaf) - Paul updates this circa 1929 piece with a trip to the electronics mart. He wraps his velvet tonsils around this one with brio.

Shalom to Slivovitz - The first piece, Shalom Aleikhem (Israel Goldfarb) is a standard of the Jewish liturgy. But the melody is so exquisite, it just canât be overplayed.
I learned the 2nd tune, the generically titled, Khupah Tanz (Wedding Canopy Dance) from Andy Statman. Its 2nd part will hopefully inspire a bit of bridal boogie down the aisle Thanks to David Chevan for the idea of playing a round on the 3rd section.
Slivovitz (Andy Statman) is a rollicking piece referring to hard, often homemade, brandy.

If Six Was Nine (Jimi Hendrix) - Now Jimi definitely understood the concept of a neo-urban tradition. This defiant plaint lends itself to a country blues approach with the resonator guitar serving as an equal vocalist, not an accompanist.

All arrangements copyrighted by Stacy Phillips and the Archduke Recording Combine.

Stacy Phillips - Scheerhorn and National resonator lap guitars, violin & vocals Paul Howard: guitar & vocals