Summer-Fall
2010
Bob had a busy summer
performing throughout the tri state area. Highlights included some great
gigs to enthusiastic response with his trio: At the Turning Point (
with John Richmond lending his strong tenor), with a great performance
review by David Orthmann focusing on the contributions of the trio's
drummer, Steve Johns. (Shout out to Dan Kostelnik being named to the
DownBeats Critic Poll). Bob started the summer at Storm King and then a no
holds barred couple of sets at the Candlelight with tenor great Ralph
Bowen as special guest; they return Oct. 16.
The Maplewood Jazz
Fest was a raise the roof performance. The trio looks forward to the OSPAC
Jazz Festival Sept 25 and starting some blues/jazz shows at Papillon,
bringing in Doris Spears, out of Chicago and Gene Ammons. These are billed
as the Bob DeVos Blues Project.
A big date on the
upcoming calendar is Bob's return to the Cape May Jazz Festival on Nov.
13, with his trio and a Date TBA gig at Cecil's.
On the recording front, Bob has been writing, arranging and performing new material he
plans to record with his trio this fall after Cape May. He has a new
performance video shot during a concert at the Baird Center and will be
uploading some selections to You Tube.
Bob
digs being the frequent guitarist with the irrepressible Hammond B3
organist Akiko Tsurga that reunites Bob with tenor great Jerry Weldon and
effervescent drummer Rudy Petschauer. Among the four of them
are Hammond experience and chops to burn. The big highlights were
Akiko's group at Pine Grill Reunion in Buffalo and Jazz Mobile at Grant's
Tomb. Huge audiences, huge response. They go into Dizzy's Club Coca
Club, late night from Aug. 31-Sept. 4.
Bob has been playing ultra- hip duo gigs with
pianist Don Friedman and also with fellow guitar greats Vic Juris
and Dave Stryker. He enjoys periodically being
part of bassist John Lee's group, playing as part of Mike LeDonne's Organ Grooves at SMOKE,
and accompanying vocalists Sarah Partridge and Laura Hull.
He continues teaching guitar
studies at Lehigh, an occasional performance with Bill Warfield's NY
Jazz Repertory Big Band, and working with his private students.
Bob
likes hearing from listeners an musicians worldwide and he answers all
emails about his music, equipment and teaching. See link to contact page
above to send Bob an email or to call him.
Archived
Notes: 2005-mid 2010, including An Organ Summit Supreme
On the CD
Player and Beyond - What I'm Listening To and Why
I
listen mainly to classical and jazz. When I listen in the car, it is
always jazz. At home, it depends on the state of the world, the state of
my own emotions, what I have just heard live. Yesterday it was
the Isley Brothers, today Maurizio Pollini's most recent Chopin CD. I've
also been spending a lot of time with Lee Morgan's The Procastinator.
In
December 08 I heard Wayne Shorter's Quartet with the Imani woodwinds
quintet at Carnegie Hall-- some of the most stirring and memorable
music I've heard.
When
I need to hear perfect order, I listen to classical.
In
periods of writing my own music, I listen almost exclusively to
classical. Ten years ago, I studied composition with Edgar Grana.
During that time we analyzed the music of Chopin, Elgar, and Schumann to
explore thematic composition, expansion of elements of form, and harmonic
& modulation devices. It is natural for me, to return to classical
listening when I am writing.
Edgar
also introduced me to the playing of classical pianist Maurizio Pollini
and I have been listening to him off and on since then.
Pollini
has been on my CD changer almost exclusively for the past few months. For
one, I am actively composing right now and wanted to return to him. Three
years ago my wife Carol and I heard Pollini at NJPAC doing a brilliant performance of
Chopin and Debussy. This concert rekindled my interest in his recordings.
His interpretation transcended the written score and the instrument. What
I mean is, it wasn't as if Pollini were saying "I'm playing the
piano, I've memorized this canon of work, I've got great chops."
Within the stricter boundaries of classical forms, he was giving an
interpretation so personal, so profound, that the playing became pure
music.
This,
of course, is what I seek in the jazz musicians I want to play with and
hear: pure music, pure expression. I'm not interested in music or
musicians who are showing off technique. It has to be a given that you
need great technique, but as an end in itself, technique is empty.
This
is far from a comprehensive list, but I go to Bill Evans, Wayne Shorter,
Wes, of course, Coltrane, McCoy Tyner, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Keith
Jarrett, when I want to hear pure music.
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of Page)
Equipment
Guitars
Both
musicians and people who come to hear me ask me a lot about the equipment
I use. Many people know that I work on my own amps and have built a
few of my own. The guitar I play the most frequently often elicits a lot of
notice, so let me start with talking about guitars.
As
with most professional guitarists, I have many guitars. Most of these are
factory made: Gibson, Fender, Takamine nylon string and others. Of these,
I mostly use my Gibson Super 400, pictured in my web banner, for some of
my recording work. I play the Gibson L5 on duo and lower volume gigs.
I recently picked up a very nice Peerless guitar from Lou Del Rosso of
Guitars' N Jazz; his link is on my Contact page.
My mainstay guitars
are my two Rob Engel custom archtops,
which you see in
all the website photos and pictured left. Rob is an old friend and a great
guitar maker. I've been playing my first Engel guitar since 1991 and used it on all
of my
own recordings. A couple of years ago, I changed the pickups to Lindy
Fralin. The guitar fits me and my style. Rob and I worked
together on the measurements and the shape of the neck. I've tried
many custom guitars, and they all seem to have one problem: Feedback.
Rob's guitars never feed back, even at Charles Earland volumes with two
Leslies! Rob's website and email address are on my Contact page. I
am playing my latest Rob Engel guitar in the photo at the top of this
page. I have been using it since November
2007. It's truly an incredible guitar, a real beauty.
I
carry my guitars in gig bags made by Undercover Cases. They provide
great instrument protection and have some truly unique features. Check
them out, they're the best; their website is listed on my links page.
I
have been a long time user and endorsee of D'Addario strings. I use their
EXL145 set on my Engel guitars and Chrome Flat Wounds on my archtop
guitars. I also use their Planet Waves picks, heavy gauge.
Amps
Generally
I like Fender Amps or "Fenderish" amps. If I had a roadie, I
would use my blackface Fender Twin Reverb that weighs in over 80
pounds. For my own recordings, I have been using a blackface Showman head that
I have modified. I used this amp on Shifting Sands along with a
Fender Tweed Bassman and my extensively modified Deluxe Reverb. However,
on Playing For Keeps I only used my Deluxe Reverb. It seems to be my
best sounding amp at the moment. There are very few original parts left in
this amp, like the pilot light for example.
I
recently finished building a 2-10" speaker amp with a modified Fender
Vibroverb circuit. I've used it on a couple of gigs and it has promise. I recently pretty much entirely rebuilt my early 70s
Fender Princeton. I am always looking for a Tweed or Blackface era
Fender.
(Top of Page)
Write
me with any questions at
Deviousguitar@aol.com
Bob
