trio update

I've been in communication with my "eclectic" string trio (violin, classical guitar, electric guitar) -- they're learning the final fine points of the music and should be ready for their performance this weekend. There will be one brief rehearsal on Friday, and that will be the first time I'll hear all three parts together.

As I think I've mentioned before, I would describe these pieces as "chamber world-jazz". It's been very interesting to work on this piece, as I have had to keep this variety of musician's skills in mind, in order to create the most effective piece. For example, the classical guitarist is good at reading music, while the electric guitarist is better left with some basic guidelines (chord changes, etc) and allowed to do his thing. The violin needed to be voiced lower, to provide a better blend. Consequently, I avoided the violinist's high E string, which also allows for a warmer, richer sound. There was also the choice of what kind of electric guitar sound to create. After much discussion, we've decided to go with the very clean, natural tone of a hollow-body electric (for the uber-tweaky: a Gibson ES-175 into a Roland Jazz Chorus amp).