Discover Top Posts Tagged with #jim malcolm

Virtual Reality Photography & The Vuze Camera on this LATEST EPISODE of the B&H Photography Podcast

#bhphotopodcast #vr #360 #virtual reality #vr imaging #3d imaging #3d virtual reality #photograhy #vr photography #virtual reality photography #vuze #vuze camera #jim malcolm #humaneyes

Jim Malcolm at Focal Point, 10 September 2011

September 11, 2011 at 10:20am Jim Malcolm returned to Focal Point to give us a benefit. I am very very happy about the evening and not primarily because I am the FP Board's Treasurer (though the financial shot in the arm was significant and welcome). I first saw Malcolm in Old Blind Dogs where he was an important cog in that operation. The Dogs though stood out to me as much for the interplay of fiddle, pipes, and driving percussion as for Malcolm's guitar and singing. Still, with those two OBD shows and now three solo concerts, Malcolm stands tall in his own right. I don't gravitate to songs as much as the other members of my household, current and historical. Yet Malcolm's work does grab me. Like other Scottish singers, the line between traditional song and current compositions is permeable. His though are interestingly voiced with, for lack of a better term, jazz chords as he inflects the tunes with much more than first position chords. That is, rather than a regular D chord, he will add the 9th or 11th or some such to the basic triad. I'm not sure but I would guess he uses DADGAD tuning which adds other tonalities to the playing. Friend Katie points out that he is able to establish overtones between his voice and guitar which had to the sophisticated harmonic effect. He gave us two lively sets with winning introductions and stories. Some were familiar and still fun set pieces (we didn't warn friends about the one o'clock gun exploding in "Flowers of Edinburgh," sorry), others were oddly touching (rakish songs seem different to the father of a teen age daughter than they once did), and many were helpful to explain the material from the new CD, "Sparkling Flash." I warmed more to the new material from the live performances but was glad for some of the Burns material and, especially, his epic "Battle of Waterloo."

Set 1: Lochanside, Broom of the Cowdendownes, Birkin Tree, Battle of New Orleans snippet to introduce American Accent, Tramps and Hawkers, Westlin Winds, Sparkling Flash, Wild Geese.

Set 2: Scottish Route 66 snippet, Fly We Tae Some Desert Isle, BATTLE OF WATERLOO, A Parcel of Rogues, Come All Ye Killcardine Lads, Blindness of My Youth, From the Clyde to the Susquehana, Flowers of Edinburgh

Encore: Rantin' Rovin' Robin

#2011 #Focal Point #concert review #Jim Malcolm #scottish music

Jim Malcolm at the Focal Point, 21 March 2014

March 23, 2014 at 2:58pm Friday was one of those good old nights at the Focal Point as old favorite Jim Malcolm opened his North American tour jet lagged and all with wonderful songs and stories of Scotland. This must be at least his fourth solo show for us to go with two as a member of the Old Blind Dogs. He has a new album of mostly traditional songs inflected with his tasty chordal voicings in DADGAD, so we got "Erin Go Bragh," (associated with Dick Gaughan; also on the album is "Both Sides the Tweed"), "Jock o Hazeldean," "Bonnie Woodhall" (oh so familiar but I can't place it), and Burns' "MacPherson's Rant."

Malcolm is also a fine songwriter and his monumental "Battle of Waterloo" and his version of "Sir Patrick Spens" made the second set. They were sandwiched between the set opening "A Man's a Man" from Burns and his witty lyrics to "Flowers of Edinburgh."

He's a funny guy and has stories/set pieces on Scottish nationalism, Burns, his days with the Dogs, and whisky. And he did a rave up of "Girl from Ipanema" about some Glaswegian sad sack from his parody album "Disaster for Scotland." The jet lag was noticeable only because he twice offered the Firth of Forth as like other ratios. I suppose he might have song another song per set if he didn't talk as much, but it's all part of a grand show.

What I've always admired about his playing is the way his voice and guitar (harmonica too) weave sophisticated harmonies. Like Beppe Gembetta and the vocal trio Coope Boyes and Simpson, he uses traditional forms (and is utterly true to them) while hitting, for lack of a better word, jazz chords. So I am delighted that he has a song book with a DVD that shows his DADGAD technique. This may be the way to finally learn how to play in that tuning. Just like I learned standard tuning because I just had to play that Dylan song or this Beatle song and over time trained my fingers to play open chords and barre ones too to the point they were natural. Now I'll build up DADGAD chords en route to some favorite songs. In time, perhaps I'll find ways to apply that knowledge outside of those helpful safe ruts. As one can at Focal Point, I had a two or three minute chat about his approach to guitar (yes, he has a jazz background) that was encouraging about how forgiving of experiment the tuning is. So I'm on it. Previous DADGAD/Drop D books and DVDs have started from generalities and moved too quickly (for me) to specifics. Building it up from these songs just might work.

Thanks, Jim.

#Focal Point #concert review #2014 #Jim Malcolm #Celtic music

Neptune - The Poozies (originally by Jim Malcolm) This is a beautiful folk song, sung mainly by Kate Rusby, effectively about marine conservation. Do have a wee listen.

#neptune the poozies #kate rusby #kate rusby neptune #jim malcolm #conservation #whales #whale conservation #marine conservation