The Steel Guitar Forum

There are a couple of great albums featuring jazz on pedal steel - "Amazing Steel Guitar" by Buddy Emmons, which contains his 1963 "Steel Guitar Jazz" album, and Doug Jernigan's "Country Jazz Steel Guitar", together with the "No Peddlers" albums from Tom Morrell and his pals. Are there any other albums or players I should look out for playing jazz on non-pedal?

There is a guy around here (NYC) named Dave Tronzo that is an unbeleivable slide guitar player. He has bop and beyond down.

Bob

Maurice Anderson and Tom Morrell's "The Sextet Sessions". In fact, I'm gonna go dig this one out today and give it a listen.

Also, Maurice Anderson's "Steel with Brass", some great big band and pop arrangements.

Also ...

Forumite Bob Talifer's CD (title?)

Buddy Emmons Live At The International Steel Guitar convention

Rob Ickes (Dobro® player for Blue Highway has an excellent CD called Slide City.
Canadian steel guitarist Stephen Miller has a very good CD called Dobrology. It's available from him directly:
Rumrill Records
P.O. Box 342, Postal Station E, Toronto, Ontario, M6H 4E2, Canada


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Brad's Page of Steel:
www.well.com/~wellvis/steel.html
A web site devoted to acoustic & electric lap steel guitars

And what about 'sWonderful, with Curly Chalker sounding pretty darn good with the
wonderful fiddler Joe Venuti, the great swing mandolin of Jethro Burns, Bob Will's guitar player Eldon Shamblin, and a pretty fair rhythm section? I think you can still get this from Elderly. There's some fine playing, though the piano player gets the same solo space as Joe and Curly, really nice of them but -- I'd like to have heard Venuti, Chalker and Burns with just bass and drums. Live in my home town, while we're at it. And let's make that rhythm section, oh..Chico Hamilton and Ray Brown, okay? No, I'll play bass.

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D-8: C6/A6; E13

Brad mentioned Stephen Miller's Dobrology - a fine album. I also strongly recommend the albums by Don Rooke's band The Henrys. They play a beautiful roots-based style of jazz, with Don playing lead on a Kona. All three albums also have the bonus of vocals by the great Mary Margaret O'Hara. The CD titles are Puerto Angel, Chasing Grace and Desert Cure. They're available through Elderly or the Henry's own website: www.irus.rri.on.ca/~henry/<p ALIGN=CENTER><FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b">[This message was edited by Ian McLatchie on 12-16-99]</FONT></P>

Let me second that recommendation for S'wonderful; it's a timeless record. Danny Gattton's Redneck Jazz Explosion is an incredible live album with Buddy Emmons on steel. I think this is - hands down - the hottest playing I've ever heard from both players.

Tony,
As the replys went on, it seems they forgot that you asked about jazz on "non-pedal" steel. I don't consider myself a killer jazz player but, I do have an album of jazz standards like Satin Doll, Where or When, Tenderly etc. called "A Different Slant". You can hear some of it at www.megsinet.net/~junod/musicmikeihde.html and e-mail me at thephotodoctor@mediaone.net for more info. Hope to hear from you soon.

I have a tape of Leon McAuliffe playing Stardust, and it's very cool. I've tried to find what album this is from (the tape is a kind of best of, with a not great remake of steel guitar rag), but can't find any info. It also has a song called "Take it away, Leon" which has some very swing/jazzy playing on it. The tape is worth it for these 2 songs alone. This is late 50s/early 60s stuff I think. I'd definatly be interested in finding more of this stuff!

I have an album "Take It Away, Leon" by Leon McAuliffe and The Cinnamon Boys /( Stoneway
STY-139 is in upper right corner)
address on album shows Stoneway Records is in Houston, Texas.....
Songs on this album:
Side 1:
Take It Away, Leon
In The Mood
My Blue Heaven
This Is The Southland
When The Saints Go Marching In
Goin" Home

Side 2:
Twin Fiddle Rag
Sittin' On Top Of The World
Sawed-Off Shotgun
Steel Guitar Polka
Steel Guitar Rag
The One Rose

I would be glad to make you a cassette of this if you would like ...send email to let me know
Herb Remington CD "Steeling Memories"
has Stardust, Canadian Sunset and others these are non pedal songs. You can get this CD from a music store, Scotties, or from Herb Remington.
Herb Remington is in Houston, Texas.


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Whenever I hit wrong notes I just SAY "I'm playing jazz!" And considering all the clams I hit, I'll soon be giving Charlie Parker a run for his money

Next step is to learn to deliberately play the 'wrong notes', Chris! But how can you learn to do that?
Someone gave me "Tom Bradshaw's Pedal Steel guitar products" It struck me that this catalogue is loaded with instructional material for playing jazz on the pedal steel. I can't even think of one book that covers (the basics of)improvisation for dobro (g-tuning) or lapsteel!
My questions:
- does anyone know instructional material for playing jazz without pedals?
- there must 'No Peddlers' among you who are into jazz (like me): what/how do you practise?
BTW: Mike Auldridges' Eight String Swing hasn't been mentioned.

Pieter

I'm right in the middle of that right now. I've been playing steel about a year and a 1/2 and I'm just starting to apply the jazz stuff I know on guitar to the steel. Some of it works and some doesn't. I sit down and play a lick on the guitar that I would natuarly play and then try to fiquare a way to play it on the steel. Making some slow progress!
The hardest part for me is not knowing the neck as well as I'd like. I still have to think too much!

To Mike Ihde, yes, I bought a copy of your "Different Slant" album from you when you played the British Steel Festival a year or two back (Highly recommended!)- it really shows what the Leavitt tuning can do. I've spent a year finding my way round C6, so although I can play some things on Leavitt tuning by following tab (wonderful chords!), wothout tab, I'm lost, so I try playing along with your tape on C6.

A good current album featuring non-pedal steel jazz is "The Hot Guitars of Biller and Wakefield", on Hightone Records featuring Jeremy Wakefield on the Bigsby steel.Mr. Wakefield is likewise featured on a new CD by T.K. Smith's Ranch Boys. Also on Hightone check out "Big Sandy presents the Fly-Rite Boys", with lots of great non-pedal steel work from British steel player Lee Jeffries. I don't work for Hightone; they're just one of the few labels around that shows any commitment to real country/western swing music. God bless Hightone. And if you're ever in Kansas City, check out Bill Dye.