The Chetboard

I just wanted to leave a little review of the concert my wife and I attended last night of Tommy E. performing
in Kalamazoo. Some of you know that I was concerned but I'm really glad I took my wife to see him. I was worried
a little at first because Frank Vignola and his accompinist came out for the first 30 minutes and I felt they were using up Tommy's time.

There was a brief break of about 15 or 20 min. and then the house lights went down and Tommy came out. He was very captivating and played most of his "showpieces" except for "Guitar Boogie", which I really wanted her to hear. The one I looked forward to the most was "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" with all of the harmonics that he uses, and he didn't disappoint me. My wife wants me to learn it now. He played another tune that I also want to learn called "Digger's Waltz". It was quite pretty and one of the top 2 favorites of my wife and I.

He finished up the show by calling Frank Vignola and his accompanist back out and they played duet and trio pieces
mostly in that "Gypsy Jazz" category, which I'm not fond of. They played for another 30 minutes or so. My wife didn't care for that portion of the show either. I really didn't want that to be ringing in my ears when I walked out of the theater, but I could tell that it was a lot of fun for Tommy.

The middle 60 minutes of just Tommy was my favorite. Hopefully, if I ever see him again in the future, he'll do the entire show himself.

Rande

I got to see Tommy live when he did a small venue here in Scottsdale Arizona back in September of 2001 called Masters of Acoustic Guitar. My wife and I both went, and she enjoyed the entire show. He appeared with Stephen Bennett who did the first part, then Tommy came out and did more than an hour. At the end, they were both on stage and even invited one of the local hosts of the venue to do a tune.

Rande, glad you got to see Tommy and glad to hear he didn't disappoint.

It's funny you should mention "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" because I'm driving a truck for a living these days and I'm in Liberal, Kansas as I write this, which is supposed to be Dorothy's home on the WIzard Of Oz.

Hope you get the chance to see Tommy in concert again. I know I'll jump at the chance to do os if the opportunity ever comes again!

I've seen his play in person two times, never been disappointed. He puts on a good, long show, and usually has another artist come out and play along with him. He used Steven Bennet one time and Todd Hallawell another time. I don't know if he ever does his show totally alone. He remains one of the few world class guitarists in my book.

Tommy recently played a couple of nights in Austin, and Larry Carlton was his guest on one of those nights. I've been a big LC fan for many years, starting when Chet had him on the Stay Tuned album. I was also very fortunate to see Chet and Larry together in Houston years ago. Chet also had Leo Kottke and Albert Lee on that show. It was great seeing those guys on stage together with an outstanding band backing them. Anyway, as much as I would have enjoyed going to Austin and seeing Larry and Tommy play together, I was not able to do so. I understand that Tommy has gone back to playing some electric guitar these days. That would have been quite interesting to see.

Bill B.

BillB wrote:Tommy recently played a couple of nights in Austin, and Larry Carlton was his guest on one of those nights. I've been a big LC fan for many years, starting when Chet had him on the Stay Tuned album. I was also very fortunate to see Chet and Larry together in Houston years ago. Chet also had Leo Kottke and Albert Lee on that show. It was great seeing those guys on stage together with an outstanding band backing them. Anyway, as much as I would have enjoyed going to Austin and seeing Larry and Tommy play together, I was not able to do so. I understand that Tommy has gone back to playing some electric guitar these days. That would have been quite interesting to see.

Bill B.

That would have been a good show as I'm a big Carlton fan also.I learned the Kid Charlamagne solo(no tab) years ago and and got a great insight into his way of thinking and soloing(Larry gets a superb blues tone also).Just and accident(didn't know any better when I bought it),but in my playing days I used a '67 335 with the 1 9/16 neck like Larry's.Great sounding git even with the tiny neck(really gets big on the high end though).Sometimes I wish I'd lived in a great music city like Austin as I think it has a better music scene than most cities.Tommy and Larry must have sounded wonderful together. The Best, Ty M.

My hope was to see "pure" Tommy. A recording engineer friend of mine in Nashville went to see him right there in a large concert hall in town. He became a fan after watching him at CAAS when he came to visit me there. He told
me that the concert was nearly 2 hours of nothing but Tommy. He was surprised when I told him that I only got to see him in a limited section in the middle of the program. I believe I saw more of Frank Vignola that evening than I saw of what I paid for. Frank played for 30 to 45 min. before and then about an equal amount with Tommy after Tommy was finished with his solo portion. That was nearly 60 to 90 min. of Frank. Tommy's solo portion wasn't all that long.

I know that in the future I'll check more closely. Nothing was mentioned about Frank when I first bought the tickets.

I have a great respect for Frank's ability but I usually attend guitar concerts to learn and pick up ideas and techniques. I have no desire for improving my flat picking at this point in my life.

Rande

Did he still bring out the Kalamazoo guitar to play? That was probably my favorite moment in a show he did in Muncie IN a year or so ago. Carrying and playing a budget guitar because a fan had left it to him when they passed. If I remember right it was someone in MI that left it to him.

In case you haven't seen it, here is Tommy with this guitar during soundcheck in Ottawa a few years ago.

ccenters wrote:Did he still bring out the Kalamazoo guitar to play?

He played St. Louis on Tuesday night (Sept. 28), and he used the Kalamazoo in the duet section with Frank Vignola. I believe he used that guitar on the "Just Between Frets" cd with Frank.