I've always felt that the way music is continually changing is one of the very best things about it. Just look at all the ways that Appalachian musicians deconstructed their own Irish and Scottish roots music. Fantastic. And once the new genre seemed established awhile, look at the way that Bill Monroe messed with it to create bluegrass.
Why anyone would complain about this creative process is beyond me. Not to mention how hopeless it is to complain, given that so many dedicated musicians work nonstop to develop an original sound. Let's be happy listening to recordings that go back to the 1920s rather than trying to criticize new arrangements of old tunes, which sounds too much like the music police.
One of the tunes I'm learning this week is Evening Prayer Blues. It came to life not by Bill Monroe nor as bluegrass, but composed on harmonica in 1927 by DeFord Bailey. DeFord was a black composer who performed at the Grand Old Opry. Is that enough reason to label the original as country blues or as country music? I prefer to think of it as Old Time, but for no scholarly reason.
In learning the tune, I confess to not being a big fan of upbeat bluegrass tremolo. So I've mostly avoided the many versions by established bluegrass mandolin players. That's just me. I started by listening to the original on harmonica by DeFord, then settled on two newer versions which I'll whittle down to the one I'll load into the Amazing Slow Downer in order to learn the basic melody to which I will add my own musical "features". The first version I like is by the Irish fiddler, Kevin Burke. His arrangement actually reminds me of a slow blues recorded by British blues bands in the 1960s. Makes me wonder what Jimi Hendrix would have done with this tune. The second version is by The American Fiddle Ensemble, fronted by Darol Anger, and which displays gorgeous harmonic textures vaguely reminiscent of Stevie Wonder, but filtered through Eurojazz.
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