All posts tagged: John Jorgenson

For the Love of the Music

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The last time I heard John Jorgenson play, it was this past summer under a beautiful Shenandoah Valley sky, where his quintet awed us all with a dazzling set of gypsy jazz. Tonight, Jorgenson was back – this time at the Institute of Musical Traditions – playing a dazzling set of bluegrass. And all this from one of the great Telecaster masters of his generation, who once spent six years on the road with Elton John.  It boggles the mind to think one man can switch so effortlessly between technically difficult genres and still make great music. Thank God Sir Elton paid him the big bucks so he can now play all the music he loves. Jorgenson was clearly having a good time tonight, singing and playing bluegrass with singer-songwriter-guitarist Jon Randall and bassist Mark Fain – both from Nashville – and his old California buddy – and west coast bluegrass/roots music legend –  Herb Pedersen.  The band definitely had the “west coast bluegrass” sound going – with smooth harmony singing (minus the twang) and …

Red Wing Swings

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The sun broke through on Day 2 of the inaugural Red Wing Roots Music Festival just as John Jorgenson hit the stage. Somewhere, Django Reinhardt was smiling. Jorgenson’s quintet – channeling the Hot Club of France – displayed an amazing level of musicianship while having a great time in the process as one of the headliners at the Shenandoah Valley’s first Red Wing Roots Music Festival.  Now some may ask how jazz fits into the Americana roots music pantheon, but the European string jazz of Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli from the 1930s had a direct and transformative impact on roots musicians from David Grisman, to Saturday evening’s headliner Sam Bush, to fiddler extraordinaire Mark O’Connor, to mandolin phenom Chris Thile. Jorgenson’s quintet got to show their chops on Mediterranean Blues, a song written by a Vietnamese-born composer who grew up in England and now lives in Amsterdam.  Every solo was inventive and exhilarating – which is just as true about the songs in Jorgenson’s entire set. Saturday’s music began for us with Staunton native Nathan …

IMT Concerts Begin Fall Season

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I have found one of the best acoustic music/folk concert series in the Washington area is hosted on Monday evenings during the school year by the Institute of Musical Traditions.  IMT is headquartered at Takoma Park’s House of Musical Traditions, but the concerts are held at St. Mark’s Presbyterian Church on Old Georgetown Road in Rockville.  Click on the link to find this fall’s schedule.  This is a very friendly venue, where IMT sells homemade cookies and other treats in addition to CDs of the featured artist.  Over the course of several years, I’ve heard some tremendous musicians (including the great guitarist John Jorgenson and west coast bluegrass fiddler Laurie Lewis among many others) and have run into good friends and music lovers like Max and Mary van Balgooy and Tom Dews (a well-respected regional singer-songerwriter in his own right).  For this fall, several acts caught my eye, including the great Irish fiddler Kevin Burke on September 29th and the band Nightingale on October 6th.   I was introduced to the latter by my Staunton friends Jim and Constance Harrington & …