[Jump to pics and video.] After several months of scheming and planning the first ever Athens Ohio Guitar Flash Mob finally happened on Saturday morning. We met at 10:15am to rehearse and at 11:00am we encircled the farmers market shoppers in the center of the mall with 28 acoustic guitarists and launched into Don McLean’s epic song “American Pie.” Each verse featured a different singer (listed below) and everyone joined in on the choruses. By the final two choruses we had just about everyone in the mall singing along. I felt it was a great success and hope to organize a similar performance again sometime in the future. Scroll down for more information on the mob and for photos. I’ll put more behind-the-scenes information in a different post.

American Pie Flash Mob Singers
Verse 1: John Horne • Verse 2: Tag Hauschild • Verse 3: Lucas Reilly • Verse 4: Dan Wasserman • Verse 5: Charlie Houtz • Chorus Singers: Peter Babrow • Sarah Clary • Jordan Dean • Marcus Fakler • Craig Garrelts • Sydney Hardy • Zach Hitchcock • Brad Huffman • Erin Malone • Carter McCutchan • Brytton McGuire • Emersynn McGuire • Misha Mochanov • Matt Oviatt • Zach Quillen • Kyle Reynolds • Rockin’ Reggie Robinson • Sam Terkel • Madison Vassari • Nick Weckman • Mike Witter • Kevin Xiao • Ben Ziff • (Please let me know if I missed anyone!)

Following the flash mob performance I held a short student recital. The program is below.

Student Recital Program – Saturday January 28 2012

Charlie Houtz
Rock Riff Medley: Sweet Home Alabama • You Really Got Me • Back in Black • Crazy Train • I Love Rock and Roll
Star Wars – John Williams

Zach Hitchcock
Volga Boatman – Traditional Russian Folk Song
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer – Johnny Marks

Peter Babrow
Readymade – Red Hot Chili Peppers

Jordan & Milena Dean
I Love Rock & Roll – Joan Jett & The Blackhearts

Tag Hauschild
Crossroads – Eric Clapton

Eme McGuire
Alchemy – Girls Dead Monster

Kevin Xiao
Home – Jack Johnson
Across the Universe – John Lennon

Justin Dowler
Layla – Eric Clapton
Blues Jam in A

Pics & Video

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My year-end contribution to the WOUB Music Blog. You can see all of the top music pics for 2011 here: http://woub.org/tags/best-2011

1. David Budway, A New Kiss Pianist David Budway shows off his chops with sparkling compositions and engaging improvisations. The energy of this recording reflects the intensity and joy that I found as a student of Budway while studying at Duquesne University. Standout selections include the funky “MainTAIN Speed Though Tunnel” and “Sama’i Shat Arabud” which incorporates the sounds of traditional Lebanese music. Also on board for this recording are bassist Eric Revis and drummer Jeff `Tain’ Watts. Special guests include saxophonists Branford Marsalis and Marcus Strickland, guitarist Ron Affif and accordionist Joe`Sonny’ Barbato. (davidbudway.com)

2. Miles Davis, Miles Davis Quintet Live In Europe 1967 A previously unreleased series of live recordings of Miles’ “second great quintet,” featuring Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter and Tony Williams. This is probably not a disc for the casual jazz listener, but for those that have followed the career of Miles and the other members of the group, it is a marvelous look at how the group transformed themselves and the music night after night.

3. Sarah Jarosz, Follow Me Down Sarah Jarosz’ second release sits comfortably in the center of bluegrass, blues, and folk. The songs here are smart and catchy, but the instrumentation is rootsy and acoustic. In addition to her fine singing, Jarosz does a great deal of playing, showing off her skills on guitar (using an unusual alternate tuning on the title cut) and octave mandolin.

4. Julian Lage Group, Gladwell On this concept album, jazz guitar prodigy Lage takes the listener on a tour of the imaginary town of Gladwell. In addition to cello, the group features saxophone, bass and percussion and seamlessly synthesizes jazz, classical, folk, bluegrass and world music influences into their compositions.

5. Delfeyo Marsalis, Sweet Thunder: Duke & Shak Trombonist Delfeyo Marsalis revives and expands upon Duke Ellington’s suite “Such Sweet Thunder” with a group of all-star musicians. The work is inspired by Shakespearean themes and characters. The great balance of ensemble and solo work is reminiscent of the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra.

6. Pat Martino, Undeniable The 67-year-old jazz guitarist proves that he is as strong as ever in this smoking live set recorded at Blues Alley in 2009. Martino’s original compositions are reminiscent of a 1960s Blue Note-era style that allow him to easily spin his extended hard-bop lines. The recording also features the unrestrained playing of organist of Tony Monaco, tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander and drummer Jeff “Tain” Watts.

7. Pat Metheny, What’s It All About? Pat Metheny’s latest release is one of his friendliest ever: a cover collection of pop songs from the 1960s and 1970s played on solo acoustic guitar. Metheny’s approach to arranging utilizes not only his idiosyncratic harmonic devices but also a unique baritone tuning that doesn’t sound quite like anything else. Despite breezy titles like “Cherish” and “Betcha by Golly, Wow,” the nostalgic interpretations make these songs wistful and poignant.

8. Adam Rafferty, I Remember Michael Guitarist Adam Rafferty has focused solely on acoustic fingerstyle playing over the past few years and is quickly becoming recognized as one of the best in the world. With this release, Rafferty pays tribute to his childhood inspiration Michael Jackson. The tunes here are all instantly recognizable and Rafferty brings each one to life with an emphasis on keeping the original grooves funky and intact, despite the limitations of the instrument. The quality of the recording is immaculate and intimate enough to capture Adam as he occasionally beat-boxes under his breath. (adamrafferty.com)

9. John Scofield, A Moment’s Peace John Scofield seems to manage a new release of mostly-original material every year. This year the focus is on quiet, bluesy ballads. Each tune feels like it could be the final tune in the last set of a late-night session where the players have finally abandoned their hot licks for purely emotive playing. Also contributing to the recording are pianist/organist Larry Goldings, bassist Scott Colley and drummer Brian Blade.

10. Paul Simon, So Beautiful or So What At 70, Simon is still among the best American lyricists. His recent compositions lack the melodic strength that he had in the 1960s, but he has a lot more to say now and a completely different approach to composing. The instrumentation and production are so unique and varied that they may be a bit of a distraction at first listen, but the songs are so personal that they quickly grow on you.

Athens Ohio guitarists! Please join me and my students for a GUITAR FLASH MOB!

On Saturday January 28 we will be treating the Market on State to a surprise performance of Don McLean’s “American Pie” and we need as many guitarists as possible to play and sing on each chorus. Please come and help us out – it will be a blast!

If you want to participate, here’s all you need to do:

1. Be willing to play and sing! You will have the opportunity to join in six times.
2. Have a guitar (preferably acoustic) with a guitar strap.
3. Learn the VERY EASY and FUN chorus to American Pie. (Scroll down for music.)
4. Meet us at 10:15am to tune and rehearse the song once or twice.
5. Performance will happen at 11:00am.

PLEASE let me know if you are planning on participating so I know how many people to expect. You can join the event here or contact me via: http://www.johnhorneguitar.com/contact-john/

Even more details:
“American Pie” sheet music is available here:
http://www.johnhorneguitar.com/american-pie-chorus.pdf

Tutorial for the flash mob on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IF9_StNmsqQ

Listen to the original recording on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lu7hxguhFfI

We will meet to rehearse promptly at 10:15am in the old Shoebilee location in the Market on State. It is the large vacant store near the indoor playground area at the Tractor Supply Co. end of the mall.

At the rehearsal I will ask for your attention. We will tune up, talk through the performance and then play through the entire song one or two times tops. At 11:00am we will perform in the center of the mall.

The Athens Farmer’s Market and WATH/WXTQ Healthy Living Expo will also be going on so we should have a good audience!

This past weekend I was playing a trio gig with my friends Steven Heffner on the bass and Scott Kitchen on drums. As the end of the gig was approaching I looked at my band-mates and asked: “Any requests?” meaning: “Are there any tunes we haven’t played yet tonight that you’d like to play before we wrap this up?”

There were three couples, all over 50, maybe over 60, seated very near the band and one gentleman immediately spoke up. “Can you play The Nearness of You?”

For a split-second I was irritated. I was clearly not asking the audience for requests. I looked at him. He seemed nice enough. The irritation passed. “Well, we don’t have it in our regular repertoire, but I think I have the music for it here. Let me take a look…” As I pulled out the Real Book Steven confirmed that the chart was indeed in the book and proceeded to sing the first few bars as he often does.

Then I hear the man say, “I guess I’d better get my feet moving.” With that, he started shuffling his feet around. Getting his circulation going I guess. I glanced suspiciously over the the top of the book wondering what in the hell he was up to.

After flipping through the book for a few seconds I find the page and examine the music looking at the key, the form, and generally checking for any difficulties that might pop up along the way. I’d probably only played the song a handful of times. It looked easy enough. I put the book on the stand and look up. By now the man is standing and he proceeds to address the room. I usually don’t like when people do this sort of thing. You never know what they are going to do or say, especially after a few drinks. I wish I could remember what he said word-for-word, but this was the gist of it:

“The song “The Nearness of You” was something that we heard on our very first date.” He motioned to his wife, who was still seated. “That was a long time ago now. We’ve been together ever since and whenever we hear the song, we dance.”

Nothing more was said. We began to play and the couple found a space in in the room to begin their dance. I think everyone was touched by their tenderness. The song really was an easy one but it was beautiful too. After playing all night together the trio locked up as if we had rehearsed for this moment. Because I was basically sight-reading I could only see the couple moving out of the corner of my eye. My heart melted as I played. I felt so blessed to be able to provide music that was obviously very meaningful to them. Most of the time it’s difficult to know whether or not music has any on significant impact on an audience. At least for this one song I knew that that my playing really touched someone.

I wish it could be like that every time.

Note: The title “Dancers in Love” is also the name of a Duke Ellington Composition.

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