ROBBIE BASHO - ARCHIVES

Some weeks ago, logtime Basho-fans from Iowa contacted the archives, asking for possibilities to make these live recordings available for a free download. So the archives staff is very happy to get this great materal to offer the 1st gem in the "live-series". Hopefully there will be more in the future. Credits go to "tessaract3" from Iowa and Ken Eaton for the beautiful recordings and transmissions!

download
( zip file, 118 mb, 44100Hz stereo 256Kbps, incl. edition covers, track and recording infos, article)

Basho gave a four song "preview" to that concert at "The Deli Natural Restaurant" the night before.
-Redwood Ramble
-Memorial
-Pavan Hindustan
-Omar Khayyam Country
(available in player and for download here)

"upbeat"(Cedar Rapids Gazette)"Basho creates musical pictures" by Pam Freuhling
(based on a phone interview with Robbie Basho)
 
Robbe Basho is one of those rare artists whose work defies categorizing.
" Since I can't do anything about this runaway horse called the 20th century , I'd just like to do music that's nice to listen to,"
the composer/musician said during a recent telephone interview. Basho will perform a concert of original music for -6 and -12 string guitar Saturday at 7 in Sinclair Auditorium at Coe College. Many of his selections will be from his recent album, "Visions of the Country." Basho's richly textured music is " a combination of flamenco, classical, folk and blues finger work, utilizing the sonorities of Hindu, Japanese, and chinese scales". He describes his work as "scenariographic. The compositions create pictures that evoke pastoral scenes. I paint pictures of what I'm saying ".
Basho's music has structure, but there are freedom areas where he can improvise. His works are deeper in scope than jazz and more defined. A former pre-med and political science student,Basho's earliest compositions were influenced by the folk songs of the Kingston Trios. He underwent and extreme after exposure to the sounds of Ravi Shankar. Mixing the Hindu and Country double-thumbing technique, he began to evolve his "ragas for the Americas". Of his own works, Basho's favorite songs include "Dedication Song for Tassajara Zen Shinji" and "Rocky Mountain Raga." Some of his beat music is found on the album, "Song of the Stallion." The title track is ablend of Eastern - influenced music and western ideas, with frequent narration and wandering vocals. It is a condensed musical history of California. "The Lady She is in Waiting" is a blend of the spanish classical motif and the raga. He definwes this work as " a classical for steel stringed guitar, a fast-mobing second movement, using double-thumbing folk technique, and a melancholy third movement using Spanish tremolo".
"A North American Raga" is an attempt to play the raga Hindu-style. Basho uses " the simple finger-picking style of the steel-stringed guitar with poetry to enhance the mood. In short: Hindu know-how coupled with American Indian melody ". Bashos Saturday night concert will follow in the vein of his "Song of the Stallion" album, concentrating on "Americana" music which he defines as a middle ground of the spectrum, placing rock music on the bottom and classical on the top. " This type of music (Americana) should be popular in the Midwest," he said. " midwesterners are usually more healthy. People on the coasts are hung up on musical garbage ". Basho lashes out at Americans for their " degenerate moral standards and lack of manners " which he says are evident in comtemporary music. " Punk rock is demonic, degenerate ". He advocates a " back to basic melodies " approach to music. Basho is a remarkable musician whose talent has a versatility and eclecticism that defies description.
He is one of the greatest of the music world's "silent" stars."
 
 

Another gem is coming from Iowa
Credits go to: Gordon Paulsen for recording the tapes and then later rescuing them from certain oblivion. First he talked kcck (a jazz station) into letting him record it; then he acquired the tapes after the show was aired & gave them to "tessaract3", instead of letting kcck tape over them with a new show. Steve Bray of amuse me enterprises, who stored them in his basement for many years thereafter. After the renewed interest in Robbie Basho in the internet, "tessaract3" called him and he exhumed them from his basement. And definitely a great deal of credit goes to Ken Eaton for the editing and converting the tapes from reel to reel to mp3 files.

download
( zip file, 102 mb, 44100Hz stereo 256Kbps, incl. edition covers, track and recording infos, notes)

Stone City is the place where the famous artist Grant Wood had his art colony many years ago. Over the years many people have tried to revive the town as an artists colony, with varying success. The stone city general store building is at least 130 years old.
 
a few notes about the concert from "tessaract3":
The concert was on September, 20, 1982. The Stone City pub was very casual, laid back place back then - lots of people were there who had brought their dogs and kids w/ them, both of which you can hear at various points in the background -
When Robbie says at the beginning of the California Raga, "well he knows where the vibes are" it was because a large dog had climbed on stage and laid his head on Robbie's foot, where he remained staring up at him throughout the rest of the song...! "well he knows where the vibes are" !
also: I remember when I was at the concert, a girl had insisted she could hear a violin playing during "Rocky Mountain Raga" as per the record album, there was no violinist there but she could hear a violin playing above the guitar -
Really a magical night - Robbie was very inspired by the beauty of Stone City and Iowa in general -

interview with Robbie Basho:
Ode to Gravity:
An Interview with Robbie Basho (November 6, 1974)
Robbie introduces music from his Vanguard record album "Zarthus" (1974) and talks with Charles Amirkhanian about world music influences in his recent work and his interest in American Indian music.

---

Live version of "Wounded Knee",
recorded at the United State Cafe-1975
Flying Snail Studios Podcasts
(comment)
 
download
 
..
Robbie Basho live at
Amazingrace (Evanston, IL)
Feb 2, 1973