From: owner-joni-digest@smoe.org (JMDL Digest) To: joni-digest@smoe.org Subject: JMDL Digest V2009 #197 Reply-To: joni@smoe.org Sender: owner-joni-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-joni-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk Unsubscribe: mailto:joni-digest-request@smoe.org?body=unsubscribe Website: http://jonimitchell.com JMDL Digest Tuesday, June 30 2009 Volume 2009 : Number 197 ========== TOPICS and authors in this Digest: -------- The things Joni inspires us to do [Catherine McKay ] long - Trips Down Memory Lane ["Jim L'Hommedieu" ] Re: The things Joni inspires us to do ["hell" ] Re: The things Joni inspires us to do [Catherine McKay ] NJC - For Guitar Players & Music Lovers ["Cassy" ] Stevie Nicks on Court & Spark [Jamie Zubairi Home ] Re: JMDL Digest V2009 #194 [Bruce Eggleston ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 29 Jun 2009 13:02:32 -0700 (PDT) From: Catherine McKay Subject: The things Joni inspires us to do Here's an article about luthier Linda Manzer, inspired to make guitars because she saw Joni play a dulcimer at Mariposa. - --------------------------------------------- Guitar maker brings music to life Toronto's Linda Manzer counts Pat Metheny among her loyal fans June 29, 2009 ASHANTE INFANTRY POP & JAZZ CRITIC The smell of wood greets you as soon as Linda Manzer opens the door of her Cabbagetown home. That's as it should be for a world-renowned luthier, whose main floor is comprised of a three-room studio and office filled with the trappings of her craft: stacks of aging spruce and cedar, guitars in various stages of development, tools, photographs of her famous clients. She's relaxed and generous with laughter, but weathered hands hint at the intensity required to make $18,000 guitars that are so popular her waiting list has been closed. Manzer's instruments have been purchased by Bruce Cockburn, Carlos Santana and Gordon Lightfoot, but her biggest client is elite jazz guitarist Pat Metheny, with a collection of about 20. If he pulls out an acoustic at tonight's Four Seasons Centre show with the Gary Burton Quartet at the TD Canada Trust Toronto Jazz Festival, it's bound to be a Manzer. "Her guitars are beautiful and artistic, but also durable," said Metheny in a phone interview. "You can bang on it 120 nights in a row for two, three hours a night and it can really withstand that." Toronto native Manzer, 56, started down this path as a teenager after seeing Joni Mitchell play a dulcimer at the Mariposa Folk Festival. "I wanted one, because Joni was my idol; wasn't she everyone's?" After assembling a dulcimer from a kit b it was cheaper b Manzer had a "this is incredible to create something" epiphany. A songwriter, self-taught guitarist and "bad folk singer," she dabbled in painting and photography before persuading master luthier Jean-Claude LarrivC)e to take her on as apprentice. "As bizarre as it sounds now, he didn't want to hire a woman in 1974, because he was concerned it would distract the other guys." Manzer struck out on her own in 1978. She kept the first guitar she made. She thinks the second was the one that went to master musician Santana. It's hard to tell from the sketchy handwritten records she kept. "I didn't want to number (the guitars)," she explains. "I felt I was trapping them or something. Now I'm irritated with myself for not keeping better notes." She met Metheny in 1982 after sending a letter backstage at his Convocation Hall concert. "It got my attention immediately; it was kind of not like any other guitar I had played," recalled Metheny of the first time he tested a Manzer. "All the notes from bottom to top related to each other, like a piano. Most guitars are clumsy at that kind of thing, but all her instruments have that. She has a very special magic touch." To celebrate their collaboration and friendship, the pair launched the Metheny-Manzer Signature 6 Limited Edition last fall. The $32,000 six-string guitars, which feature pearl inlays of Metheny's doodles, are made of Indian rosewood and signed by the guitarist. "We worked to design and capture the essence of the very first guitar I made for him in 1982, which he has played pretty much every night for the past 27 years," said Manzer. A third of the 30 collectibles have sold; Paul Simon bought the first one. Manzer, whose work is in the Canadian Museum of Civilization's collection, attributes her success to "confidence and good intuition. I listen to what a player wants and try to nail it. A guitar to start with is usually quiet; they come alive when they're played." Linda Manzer will discuss her work at the JAZZ.FM91 Broadcast Centre at Nathan Phillips Square at 6 p.m. today. Source for the article - Toronto Star: http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/music/article/658076 Linda Manzer's website: http://www.manzer.com/guitars/ __________________________________________________________________ Yahoo! Canada Toolbar: Search from anywhere on the web, and bookmark your favourite sites. Download it now http://ca.toolbar.yahoo.com. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 29 Jun 2009 16:22:21 -0400 From: "Jim L'Hommedieu" Subject: Re: Joni box set Good idea. I went back through my essays and pulled out a few things. > As for contributing to the liner notes, I wish someone would search > 12 years > of digests and find my best line to add LOL I feel like I've > already > essentially said it all about her, ad infinitum, heehee. > > Kakki ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 29 Jun 2009 16:20:05 -0400 From: "Jim L'Hommedieu" Subject: long - Trips Down Memory Lane Thanks for sharing the great story. I always love the "brushes with greatness" stories. Jim L. Cassy said, >I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned to see a security person who asked to see my lanyard -> >obviously I wasn't authorized to be standing on stage.> ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Jun 2009 08:44:35 +1200 From: "hell" Subject: Re: The things Joni inspires us to do Catherine wrote: > Here's an article about luthier Linda Manzer, inspired to > make guitars because she saw Joni play a dulcimer at > Mariposa. This one is unbelievable: http://www.manzer.com/guitars/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=25&Itemid=24 There's a video of Pat Metheny playing it - amazing sound. The woman is a true artist. Hell ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 29 Jun 2009 16:15:50 -0700 (PDT) From: Catherine McKay Subject: Re: The things Joni inspires us to do - --- On Mon, 6/29/09, hell wrote: > > This one is unbelievable: > > http://www.manzer.com/guitars/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=25&Itemid=24 > > There's a video of Pat Metheny playing it - amazing sound. > > The woman is a true artist. > > Isn't it insane? And doesn't it sound beautiful? And I love the singer's voice too. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 29 Jun 2009 19:22:38 -0400 From: Gerald Notaro Subject: How timely From the new Rolling Stone, an article called: Labels Target Hardcore Fans With High-Priced Super-Deluxe Box Sets - -- Jerry ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 29 Jun 2009 18:19:15 -0700 From: "Cassy" Subject: NJC - For Guitar Players & Music Lovers This looks like it's going to be an awesome film: http://www.sonyclassics.com/itmightgetloud/ Synopsis: Who hasn't wanted to be a rock star, join a band or play electric guitar? Music resonates, moves and inspires us. Strummed through the fingers of The Edge, Jimmy Page and Jack White, somehow it does more. Such is the premise of It Might Get Loud, a new documentary conceived by producer Thomas Tull. It Might Get Loud isn't like any other rock'n roll documentary. Filmed through the eyes of three virtuosos from three different generations, audiences get up close and personal, discovering how a furniture upholsterer from Detroit, a studio musician and painter from London and a seventeen-year-old Dublin schoolboy, each used the electric guitar to develop their unique sound and rise to the pantheon of superstar. Rare discussions are provoked as we travel with Jimmy Page, The Edge and Jack White to influential locations of their pasts. Born from the experience is intimate access to the creative genesis of each legend, such as Link Wray's "Rumble's" searing impression upon Jimmy Page, who surprises audiences with an impromptu air guitar performance. But that's only the beginning. While each guitarist describes his own musical rebellion, a rock'n roll summit is being arranged. Set on an empty soundstage, the musicians come together, crank up the amps and play. They also share their influences, swap stories, and teach each other songs. During the summit Page's double-neck guitar, The Edge's array of effects pedals and White's new mic, custom built into his guitar, go live. The musical journey is joined by visual grandeur too. We see the stone halls of Headley Grange where "Stairway to Heaven" was composed, visit a haunting Tennessee farmhouse where Jack White writes a song on-camera, and eavesdrop inside the dimly lit Dublin studio where The Edge lays down initial guitar tracks for U2's forthcoming single. The images, like the stories, will linger in the mind long after the reverb fades. It Might Get Loud might not affect how you play guitar, but it will change how you listen. The film is directed and produced by An Inconvenient Truth's Davis Guggenheim, and produced by Thomas Tull, Lesley Chilcott and Peter Afterman. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Jun 2009 02:24:04 +0100 From: Jamie Zubairi Home Subject: Stevie Nicks on Court & Spark http://nickslive.blogspot.com/2009/06/mitchells-court-and-spark-by-stevie.html - -- Jamie Zubairi Actor, Painter, Photographer. Feel like supporting a World Record Attempt while giving to charity? go to: http://www.justgiving.com/zooby Jamie Zubairi can be found for voice-overs at http://uk.voicespro.com/jamie.zubairi1 acting CV and showreel at http://uk.castingcallpro.com/u/81749 http://www.spotlight.com/interactive/cv/965489410181 agent: http://www.pelhamassociates.co.uk 01273 323 010 Website: http://www.jamiezubairi.co.uk Randomly Related Blog: http://jamiezubairi.blogspot.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 29 Jun 2009 22:29:06 -0400 From: Deb Messling Subject: obscure Joni reference at Salon.com It's always fun to find Joni in unexpected places, and here's a little snippet from someone who's obviously a fan. The article is about some politicians from Arkansas who happen to be idiots, and the relevant snippet is the intro: Johnny Cash once asked Joni Mitchell, who was raised in Saskatoon, "What do they call someone from Saskatchewan?" "Saskatchewanian," she replied. "And you're from Arkansas. What do they call you?" "Well," said Cash. "I'd better not repeat it to a nice lady like you." Here's the link: http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2009/06/29/arkansas_racists/index.html - ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Deb Messling -^..^- dlmessling@rcn.com http://www.sensibleshoes.vox.com - ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Jun 2009 00:11:24 -0600 From: Bruce Eggleston Subject: Re: JMDL Digest V2009 #194 Dear Em, I have been collecting stereo gear since 1969 and have a fairly decent setup in the Mansion de Bonneville. I believe that the basic speaker technology was very well worked out in the higher-end speakers 40 years ago. The physics of sound reproduction haven't changed, so they had a pretty good grasp on the ideas of how to make that happen. What has improved are the materials and testing, and in some cases manufacturing techniques. For example I sold a pair of Klipsch Hereseys in 1983 for $400 and they would still be better at $300 to 400 than anything else in that price range if you could find a good clean pair. That is to say that I would not hesitate to buy some older speakers if they were in perfect working order and fit your budget. Also they should have replacement parts available, which might be the deal-killer, as speaker cones die. But that would go only for the big names and models, e.g. Klipsch, Bose 901s, Advents, Quad, Mackintosh, Tannoy, Polk, upper-end JBLs, etc. I talking about speakers that would have sold for more than $1,000 + in 1979. The highly rated book-shelf speaker will not reach the bass of these older models, and I don't care what the dealers or the manufacturers say, they just don't get that low across the spectrum. Many of the older speakers will deliver a fairly flat frequency response. Don't forget the amplifiers, a separate pre and power amp seem to deliver better sound for the most part. You can also get some good deals on the good stuff from yesteryear. Again make sure that the stuff can be repaired before you buy. __________________________________ From: Em Subject: NJC speaker question Was wondering if anyone has a strong opinion one way or the other as to whether new (late model) speakers are better or if big name vintage speakers (like Advent, KLH, etc) could actually make nicer sound. My priorities are clarity and separation. I tend to be attracted to old things, but maybe I could use a reality check. Talking about bookshelf sized stereo speakers. Like if I take $400 and buy a highly rated bookshelf speaker for that price range, from NOW, would it blow away a (then) highly rated vintage speaker in great shape? Or is it just too hard to say? thanks, no prob if no one has an opinion...I just thought I'd throw it out there. :) Em ps I currently have no stereo speakers at all. Am in speaker limbo...trying to just use headphones. ------------------------------ End of JMDL Digest V2009 #197 ***************************** ------- Post messages to the list by clicking here: mailto:joni@smoe.org Unsubscribe by clicking here: mailto:joni-digest-request@smoe.org?body=unsubscribe -------