Larry Coryell / Paco DeLucia / John McLaughlin
Meeting of the Spirits featuring Larry Coryell/Paco DeLucia/John McLaughlin
Live in Concert at the Royal Albert Hall, February 14, 1979
Vestapol 13087 (1999)

This aptly named video captures an acoustic performance from these guitar legends at the Royal Albert Hall on Valentine's Day, 1979. Together, in pairs and trios, they hit heights of creativity, passion and prowess few of their popular contemporaries were capable of approaching. The concert truly captures a meeting of each musician's fortes: Coryell's jazz leanings, DeLucia's flamenco mastery and McLaughlin's mercurial fusion and worldbeat sensibilities. It's an exceptional gig that showcases the group's collective versatility and ability to merge their respective genres without compromising any of them. This show served as a preview of some of the material that later appeared on Friday Night in San Francisco, the acclaimed 1980 trio album which found Al Di Meola replacing Coryell. It's also worth nothing that this release is the sole available document of the trio in this formation. Visually, the video possesses simple, clean camera work devoid of the cheesy special effects that mar so many concert films of its era. Guitar-heads will also appreciate the fact that the well-edited production offers a wide range of close-ups of each player in action from varying ranges. A variety of duo and trio shots also offer insight into the interplay and dynamics that existed between the players. It's an impressive and polished performance that deserved excavation. To the players' credit, the music remains timeless. The haircuts and lapels are another matter altogether.
— Anil Prasad (Emeryville, CA)

Tom Teasley
The Drum: Ancient
Traditions Today
The Wright Hand Drum Company (1998)

The Drum is a solo venture that presents Teasley's arrangements of his own compositions and several jazz classics. Teasley is an experimenter, using a conventional trap set in unconventional ways as well as sequencers and an array of world percussion. While it is not an instructional video per se, aspiring drummers and arrangers may find inspiration in Teasley's work. The editing is generally good, but sometimes the close-ups on Teasley's grimacing face are uncomfortable to watch. Better to focus on his hands.
— Peggy J. Latkovich
(Cleveland Heights, OH)

Ronnie McCoury
The Bluegrass Mandolin
Homespun VD-RON-MN01 (1998), 80 min.

For most of his life, Ronnie McCoury has been a member of his dad's band, the Del McCoury Band. Throughout these years he has developed a reputation as one of the finest mandolin players on the bluegrass scene. This video was made shortly after a five-year stint as Mandolin Player of the Year (in the eyes of the International Bluegrass Association), so there's no better person to be teaching bluegrass mandolin. Del McCoury is also on the video, playing guitar and singing and helping out with the stories. In the latter part of the video, Del sings four songs, including "Highway of Pain" and "How Long Blues" (while Ronnie joins in on the choruses).
Both of the McCourys talk about the powerful influence of Bill Monroe, and they start with an explanation of Monroe's mandolin style and a demonstration of it with "Blue Grass Twist." Here McCoury highlights the "blues" in early bluegrass. Ronnie McCoury then goes on to demonstrate some of his own showstoppers such as "Quicksburg Rendezvous" and "Baltimore Jonny," and famous mandolin showcases such as "Rawhide." They usually play a tune and then take it apart, slowing it down and breaking it into phrases. During these sections, the video shows a close-up of the left hand and the right hand is shown on an inset.
In addition to tunes, McCoury gives some information regarding mandolin tuning, picks, strings, as well as techniques such as bending and double and triple stops. In the process, we gain some insights on constructing solos and the use of double stops for rhythmic effects on backup playing.
Tablature to the 11 tunes is included (although not all of the solos in the later songs are written out). This will be a fine resource for budding mandolin players, illustrating the techniques that go into producing the classic bluegrass sound.
— Ivan Emke
(Corner Brook, NF, Canada)

Eric Thompson
Flatpicking Fiddle Tunes: Reels, Rags & Hoedowns
Stefan Grossman's Guitar Workshops MB98367G/GW 602 (1999)
Eric Thompson
Bluegrass Crosspicking Guitar
Stefan Grossman's Guitar Workshops MB98368G/GW 603 (1999)

After putting out Flatpicking Guitar Country Style, on which he taught the basics of bluegrass guitar, Eric Thompson has come up with a couple of level 2/3 videos which are an excellent way for guitarists to learn to pick old-time fiddle tunes and crosspicking techniques. On the fiddle tunes video Thompson guides the viewer/musician through seven of his favorites, including "Texas Gals," "Miller's Reel," and "East Tennessee Blues" while the crosspicking video features "Fly Around My Pretty Little Miss," "Beaumont Rag," "Wildwood Flower," and two others. The fact that Thompson doesn't try to teach too many tunes is to the learner's advantage because it allows the guitarist to devote plenty of time to each one since each tape is 84 minutes long.
On both videos Thompson starts out by performing the tune as it should be played, at least according to his arrangement of it, and sometimes shows alternate ways of playing it. He then explains the individual parts and plays the tune again much more slowly. He then plays the melody, allowing the performer at home to provide back-up, and then reverses the process. The production also makes use of split-screen images to show both hands. It's a very logical and easy-to-understand approach and Thompson is a congenial teacher who approaches teaching at a leisurely pace. Both videos can be added to the rapidly growing list of excellent teaching aids for aspiring old-time and bluegrass guitarists. Each video comes with a 24-page booklet that includes transcriptions of music and tablature.
– Paul-Emile Comeau (Comeauville, NS, Canada)