I'm sure if Eric wanted to learn to be a traditional bebop guitarist, he could do that, but he spent an entire career establishing an easily recognizable voice on the instrument. Maybe it's not the voice we're used to on a jazz tune, but I wouldn't want him to give up being Eric Johnson so he could be a clone of many other jazz guitarists.
To me it was enough if he switched off the fuzz or whatever he's using and selected the front pickup, like he has done in the past and he would still be EJ.
Johnson has an audience that he has cultivated over years and expects him to perform what they are used to. I don’t doubt he could play virtually any style and be great, but he has to make a living and he is not going far away from what made him famous.
@@jtsax95 “Let it be known throughout the realm that Justin Hill has henceforth determined that which will, from this point forward, be acknowledged as a ‘wonderful jazz style’, and furthermore, Mr Hill has deemed Eric Johnson to have fallen short of of said parameters…one can’t help but be surprised that the esteemed Mr Hill has allowed the heretical ‘fretted electric bass’ to be considered acceptable in his narrow, albeit authoritative paradigm…
@@jtsax95 In music of all kinds and especially jazz. musicians have always challenged the music. What Eric is doing is no different than what Avant Gard guitarist like Sonny Sharrock and. Tziji Munoz( Are you hip to these musical giants?). Of course you have the John McLaughlin and Larry Coryell who have been doing this for decades! Justin likes his music safe!😜😄
So interesting to see a "guitar god" place himself into a vulnerable and brave place. It's hard for ANY musician specialist to break out of their thing and use a different kind of vocabulary in a novel setting. The thing is that Eric Johnson is a master, and if he pursued this direction, he would come out ahead of the pack for sure. If anybody likes this sort of thing, and wants to hear it played like a person steeped in jazz their entire life, check out Julian Lage. I especially recommend one of his "Persian Rug" performances, especially the one with the audience in-the-round.
Fantastic musicians, all. I've been a huge fan of Eric's since I first heard him on Austin City Limits in the late 80's and he just keeps getting better. I am really glad they were able to donate their time and talent to such a needed cause.
Such a great song. Great for jamming in any context plus the Minor pentatonic scale work here because you have the Eb and the B.B. - all part of the Cminor7 chord. Perfect for EJ’s wheelhouse. The intro was awesome; the tone is amazing, the dexterity is incredible. Love EJ!
Different approach, but pentatonics still jazz/ fusion approach acceptable. Eric is fantastic. Wh wants to here repetitive interpretations. I liked the application of his style to this genre of music.
Most serious musicians want to grow no matter how good they are. Eric is one of them. He's going to keep getting better even though he is one of the best!
Coltran. You go Eric. Love ya man. I met Eric at an outdoor concert (Night Fall) here in Chattanooga. I got there before the sound check...yea, big fan. It was a free concert...no shit. I met Eric Johnson for a short moment at his bus. Soft spoken man. I told him I had worn out two copies of Avia Musicom trying to steal riffs from him. He just smiled and thanked me. He played for four hours. Hendrix, Beatles. About every one of his song. Three piece band. What an evening. He puts the entire audience in the zone. Thanks Eric.
I love these guys! Fantastic players, and it is way cool to see Eric go after a style I don't normally hear him play. I grew up in Central Texas going to hear Eric all the time, and have always admired his artistry and dedication to his craft. He definitely always sounds like Eric no matter what situation he is in. To the naysayers/critics: No matter how disparaging you are of Eric's playing it really won't make you play better. Nothing wrong with taking notes and observations, but taking shots? Really sad, especially if you are a player yourself. If you're just a critic well ..........hell is full of those. The only way to get better at anything is to go do it yourself (a lot and sometimes without thousands of hours of preparation). Maybe that is what Eric is doing along with the rest of the band. We should all go try and do that. :-)
Haters will hate, but this is Eric Johnson showcasing how great of a musician he is. I don't know if anyone else noticed but Eric actually went down and fixed his tone during the drummers solo. His spacial awareness is off the charts, recognizing his sound was a little "overpowering" for a Coltrane tune so he fixes it. The man can literally play any genre and is one of the best players in the world for sure. I thought this whole piece was great!
Wow, lot of backseat drivers here taking a shot at Eric Johnson! His own legend apparently skews the view of the listening audience that is expecting miracles from the skies because of who he is. I've been playing guitar 30 years and I thought his playing was extraordinary! But then, what do I know haha:-)
Wow. Ok Eric's phrasing is not all that jazz but I liked it anyways. Like when McLaughlin plays through a laptop that sounds like a kazoo, I still liked it.
People need to back off from all the hate & this is not jazz nonsense...first of all, "Mr. Bebop" Mike Stern himself has nothing but respect for his good friend and collaborator, the brilliant yet humble Eric Johnson, who can play the fastest cleanest pentatonic runs, inversions and chord tone arpeggios all over the fretboard like no other! Mr PC is an uptempo modal minor blues that Mr.Johnson nails effortlessly. In fact, Mike Stern's rendition of this Trane standard isn't that far off from this one! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Lt-YWps2Dfc.html
My opinion re: Eric's foray into jazz standards: 1) Critics are correct in saying that EJ's playing isn't jazz: the lack of swing, language, etc. 2) I feel that, intentionally, he is likely NOT going to add traditional jazz vocabulary into his playing, since he it would detract from his well-established musical identity. He sounds like Eric Johnson, and it's tough to establish ones own identity. 3) He does play interesting rhythmic configurations that are jazzy,; also he dabbles with side-slipping and sequences, which you don't hear in EJ's playing except here. 4) Nothing wrong with critiquing EJ (don't get offended, y'all); yet same time you gotta respect him as a musician. If Bernstein or Rachmaninoff dabbled in jazz (or if Coltrane with classical), why mock someone willing to venture into new terrain while retaining his/her identity?
it's very good, it's what it is. But a jazz listener can tire of his not straying out of the basic pentatonic -- we keep listening for something more...
Stretching out of your comfort zone is never comfortable, easy nor pretty but that is how breakthroughs occur. If you can’t deal with it don’t watch. Eric is an excellent musician. I am curious to see what happens if he continues to push in this direction, it could be very interesting. FYI to the keyboard ninjas knocking down his performance. If you can’t do better don’t say anything.
I think that its rediculous that all jazz players have to sound the same, eric sounds like eric, and thats good enough for his fans.he has his own unique style thats all his own and a sound that most want to copy.eric has been playing fusion all the way back to his electromagnetic days.also I might add that he's got a million different incarnations and styles . It's no wonder that he has played with so many great artists (playing their style /not his)touring with paco, demeola playing an acoustic tour, chet , nashville styles piano etc . I I'm just tired of musical snobs critisizing musicians at any caliber who work their butts off only to express themselves.Get a life!!!eric sure has one.
Es interesante y agradable ver como un guitarrista se explaya a mas de un estilo o genero musical. Eric Johnson es magnifico, su intención por hacer justicia al jazz desde la guitarra es digna y obviamente no dudo en pensar que el escucha buen jazz y conoce a las leyendas del guitar jazz. Europe Live me dejo impactado con este cover, obviamente hay bastante improvisación, pareciera que pocos pueden saborear el buen trabajo del grupo. Piensen que no todos los solos se sentiran igual de intensos y perfectos, son muchas giras. La musica es tan hermosa e imperfecta como el ser humano.
Very enjoyable! I love the always pristine sound characteristic of Eric, definitely adding a lot of color here. Most definitely not your father's jazz standard.
There's scores of comments on David Gilmour (or 'Gilmore' as his many rabid fans prefer) declaring him the best guitarist in the world. I'm not going to argue that Eric Johnson is the 'best guitarist in the world'--ain't no such animal--just asking if anyone has ever heard Gilmour do anything like this. Could Mr. PF play this?
Why is everyone not on top of the beat.. John might have had a problem with that. Not that I could play any better. Not even close. But still tempo is very important in jazz. Johnson is awesomeness incarnate no matter what he's playing.
The only jazz musicians that would honestly hate this are beginners. For whatever reason when we start out we create this false illusion that swing and bebop are the only “real music” and if you’re not quoting someone else’s licks you have “no vocabulary”. Then we all grow up and start appreciating other styles and adding it to our own repertoire. The only rule in jazz is to play the changes. Anything else is up to your own discretion. Anyone saying otherwise is just lying to themselves because they’ve stunted their own creativity putting themselves in a box.
Not a hint of criticism here but I'm surprised Eric does not quote at all any Coltrane jazz bebop lines here other than the head ... I know It is in his vocabulary... The couple jazz songs he has recorded he is using old school jazz language....
TO: All these smack talkers ---- Where are your album sales? Videos? Credentials ? Tour Dates ? Resume ? He's just a dude having a great time living YOUR dream.
Cos most of them did not get the financial backing of multi millionaire bastard mafia corporations like the music "industry"? DUDE WAKE THE FUCK UP!!!!! ALL YOUR HEROES ARE ASSHOLES!!!!!!
What do you want to blame EJ that He not play standard Bebop Licks that every Jazzer plays. He had a creativ Phrasing and a good ear and know enough about theory. He play a great solo in my opinion. He is one of a few Rock Guitarsist that have enough Balls to play a Bebop Tunes. I never hear guitarist like Steve Vai play Jazz and i hear Satriani play one time Jazz and that was terrible espescially compared to this and they went to Berkley EJ had never studied Jazz in a College or something.
Eric is a fantastic player who I respect a lot for his virtuosity on rock guitar both clean and dirty. However this video is proof that playing legit jazz is much more difficult than playing most other styles. I play and enjoy both styles myself, rock and jazz, and I can testify that the jazz is much more technically difficult to master than rock and roll. There are a lot of techniques, and chords, and arpeggios, and even scales that are common in jazz that are not used that much in rock. Then on top of that you have to play it with a jazz "feel" which Eric is NOT doing at all in this clip LOL. Even if you're already a fantastic rocker, like Eric is, it will take you YEARS of study and practice to master jazz, that's just a fact.
There's some issues with the sound here - on headphones the bass is barely audible, piano is a little hot in the mix (I hear a bit of clipping in loud sections), drums could be a a hair louder and Eric sounds like they added extra reverb to his already effects heavy tone or the camera was way back in the venue. Still they are monster players expecially Eddy on piano - that solo - wow. I won't bag on Eric but if he'd gone for a more straight ahead tone he might have found more favor from some of the armchair jazz police. But then it wouldn't be Eric I guess.
am i the only one who like this because there are alot of comments said that eric's playing is off which i can assume so because i don't know a lot about jazz but i still like it
While the performance was being played it sounds like you were enjoying it... That's all you need to know about jazz. If others were listening and forming their critiques, then it sounds like possibly they are critics. I don't think even Rex Reed took a stab at jazz.
This is bad jazz. I don’t care who’s playing it. There are amateur nights all over the world with knuckle heads playing endless minor pentatonic runs while the rest of the band plays a jazz standard. Eric should know that this is nowhere near the mark.
He plays the head well, but after that.......He is just completely ignoring the changes and just ploughing on with his much rehearsed long pentatonic runs! His comping is laughable too - poor show!¬ - there is an arrogance and insensitivity in that that a jazz/fusion guitarist like Mike Stern, John Scofield, Larry Carlton, etc would never show!
Sounds great to me as well as the audience. If the majority of the audience genuinely digs it, which the applause shows CLEARLY that they do, then that's all that matters!
Again, hear that reaction and applause at the end there? Do you hear that? That was a GENUINE applause and approval from the audience. That was nowhere near a false sympathetic applause to make the band feel better about themselves. The audience GENUINELY enjoyed the performance. It doesn't matter what some guitar critic thinks if the live performances are generating genuine enjoyment from the audience.
agreed these dorks would be butt hurt of someone came in and fucked up a metal song they are giving him a pass because its in the hard rock style they like!
Neil Dawson But saying “pentatonic’ on a RU-vid video is the equivalent to yelling Freebird in a club. You have to be kind of a dullard to do either. It’s actually trolling yourself.
Pentatonic licks are not only pentatonic it depends on which Tone which function had in the which Chord and EJ has a pretty good ear to play right Tones.
Remember when Neil Peart did the Buddy Rich shows and people crucified him? Same shit over again. This is why people can't stand Jazz enthusiasts... So pretentious
