Music Monday ~ Leo Fender, inventor of some legendary guitars.

Leo Fender was born this day in 1909. The 10 minute video below tells most of what a non-expert in musical technicalities (like me) would need to know about him.

In this short video Brian May explains a few of the nuances of sound available from a Fender guitar:

As for the astrological:
Leo Fender was born on 10 August 1909 in Anaheim, California. Time of birth unknown - chart set for 12 noon.

Stand-outs: the middle degrees. Venus (planet of the arts) conjunct Jupiter (excess, expansion) in trine to Uranus (innovation)...all at between 15 and 17 degrees. Sun is at 17 Leo, Neptune at 17 Cancer, Moon could possibly be within that 15-17 range in Gemini too. If Moon were to be in a middle degree, a nice Yod would form between the Sun/Moon sextile both quincunx Uranus, drawing innovative Uranus into a more comfortable situation with the core self.

Mid-sign degrees might, for some unknown reason, have special relevance in natal charts of musicians, composers (and perhaps even innovators of musical instruments?) Some research by Peter Morrell on DEGREE INFLUENCES IN MUSICIANS & COMPOSERS is detailed at his website.

Snip:

Musicians and composers need a sense of vibration [16 fixed signs] a sense of rhythm [Jupiter or Mars in earth?] and also a sense of subtle perception [Venus Neptune contacts]. They also need artistic sense [Venus] and the sense of symmetry [Libra] and architecture [Mercury Saturn] for composition. Many also deal with lyrics and thus a Gemini, Virgo, Mercury component also comes in.

Mark Knopfler :

Music Monday ~ Great Jazz Guitarists

Now and again Music Monday will feature a trio of jazz icons, instrument by instrument, with brief astro detail along with an occasional link to archived posts or other sources. For the earlier post on tenor saxophone players see Greatest Sax Voices in Jazz.

I'm still on a steep learning curve when it comes to jazz - as with most other things in this life....but then, aren't we all? When pondering on jazz guitarists the only name I could come up with was Django Reinhardt (an early favourite of mine when he played with Stephane Grapelli on violin). This was the sum total of my experience of jazz before meeting Himself, my husband.

To fill out an iconic trio I took advice from Himself. He suggested Charlie Christian and Freddie Green as worthy of inclusion along with Django.

Freddie Green. That name sounds distinctly non-jazzy to my ear - brings to mind more the boy nextdoor, or the guy who ran a local cafe. But Freddie Green, known as "the dean of rhythm guitarists" filled the rhythm guitar slot for such jazz luminaries as Count Basie, Lester Young, Benny Goodman and Billie Holiday, during his 50-year long career.

«When he played with Count Basie, everyone knew that Freddie Green was half the orchestra on his own, the man who helped the band breathe. He was the "working lung", and as an accompanist he played "four-to-the-bar" like nobody else. The secret of his swinging lightness lay in the fact that he didn't play all the strings, merely three or four of them.» [Philippe Baudoin]

Basie's "left hand", as this humble rhythm player was dubbed time and again, the "fourth wheel on the Basie band wagon", a phenomenon only noticed when rarely missing. Freddie Green's rhythm work was immaculate, pure, elastic and bouncingly light, unlike any other. His commitment to rhythm guitar misled lesser guitarists to take Green's strict confinement to rhythm work for the mark of a second-rate player.
On the contrary, Green's rhythm work was high art.
See HERE
Freddie Green: born on March 31, 1911 in Charleston, South Carolina; died on March 1, 1987.

As in my earlier post on jazz sax players, I'd expect to find Neptune (creativity) and/or Uranus (innovation, inventive) hooked into personal planets somehow, somewhere, in the charts of jazz musicians. In Freddie Green's case, less so than others, because his job was not to be inventive or creative but to provide, and hold, the chord structure and rhythmic pulse of the piece. We can see that effect in his chart: Venus in Taurus (planet of music/the arts in its sign of rulership) is conjunct Saturn. If any planet can be classed as a structure-holding planet, Saturn can! I'd say that Venus conjunct Saturn, especially when in Taurus, is classic signature for Freddie Green's style, as well as his longevity as a performer (50 years was a long, long time in the music business back then, when so many great artists fell by the wayside!)

Tribute to Freddie Green







Charlie Christian's career was tragically brief. He was born in Texas but grew up in an Oklahoma City slum. His father was a blind guitarist and singer, two of his brothers were musicians. Charlie himself built and played cigar-box "guitars" during his school days. He became a respected local musician in Oklahoma, playing an amplified acoustic guitar as early as 1937. John Hammond, the famous talent scout and producer, heard about Christian, was impressed, and arranged for the guitarist to travel to Los Angeles to try out with Benny Goodman.

Although Goodman was initially put off by Christian's primitive wardrobe, as soon as they started jamming on "Rose Room," Christian's talents were obvious. For the next two years, he would be well-featured with Benny Goodman's Sextet

.

Tragically, Charlie Christian contracted tuberculosis in 1941, and died, aged 25 on March 2, 1942.

It can be said without exaggeration that virtually every jazz guitarist that emerged during 1940-65 sounded like a relative of Charlie Christian. It would be 25 years before jazz guitarists finally moved beyond his style.

See http://www.playjazzguitar.com/charlie_christian.html".

Born on 29 July 1916 in Bonham, Texas. Here, creative Neptune conjoins his Sun and Mercury in Leo. Moon would have been somewhere from late Cancer to 8 Leo, so could also have been close to Neptune. Musical planet Venus is tightly conjunct Pluto - I wonder if that was a dark omen of his tragically early demise?








A violinist first, guitarist later, Jean Baptiste "Django" Reinhardt grew up in a gypsy camp near Paris where he absorbed the gypsy strain into his music. A disastrous caravan fire in 1928 badly burned his left hand, depriving him of the use of the fourth and fifth fingers, but the resourceful Reinhardt figured out a novel fingering system to get around the problem that probably accounts for some of the originality of his style.

A free-spirited gypsy, Reinhardt wasn't the most reliable person in the world, frequently wandering off into the countryside on a whim. Yet Reinhardt came up with a unique way of propelling the humble acoustic guitar into the front line of a jazz combo in the days before amplification became widespread. He would spin joyous, arcing, marvelously inflected solos above the thrumming base of two rhythm guitars and a bass, with Stephane Grappelli's elegantly gliding violin serving as the perfect foil. Although he could not read music, with Grappelli and on his own, Reinhardt composed several highly original tunes. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/django-reinhardt-p7407/biography.

See also my own 2007 post ~ Stephane Grappelli and Django Reinhardt - A Magical but Unlikely Pair of Aquarians>

Django Reinhardt was born on 23 January 19 in Liberchies, Pont-à-Celles, Belgium, at 10:00 PM according to Astrodatabank, with a "B" rating - not 100% reliable but it'll suffice for this purpose.

With Moon conjunct creative Neptune in Moon's rulership sign Cancer, and inventive Uranus just barely out of range to be considered conjunct Sun in Aquarius - Uranus's sign of rulership, Django had near enough a classic planetary lineup for a jazz artist. Venus, the musical planet is tightly sextile (helpful aspect) Mars in Taurus - reflecting his dynamic musical style. There's a Grand Cross in his natal chart linking Neptune, Uranus, Saturn and Jupiter, this configuration usually signifies some kind of ongoing inner conflict, possibly manifesting in Django's case as his unreliability and tendency to be unpredictable.

Below, one of Django's own compositions Nuages (Clouds). The person who uploaded this video at YouTube wrote:

This was done just weeks before he died.
I recall the original liner notes, written by Charles Delauney ( a friend of D.R) stating that there was a "certain ennui about the session" ..a sadness and premonition that Django had that he didn't have long. Delauney stated that it was the most emotional version of "Nuages" ever done.

.

Music Monday ~ Midge Ure ~ Bert Jansch

A Scottish two-parter today ~

Happy Birthday Midge Ure ! His real name is James/Jim Ure, "Midge" being Jim backwards, phonetically. He was born on 10 October 1953 in Cambuslang, Scotland at 8:30 am (Astrodatabank).

He's an all-rounder: pays guitar, keyboards, is both vocalist and songwriter. He co-wrote, with Bob Geldorf, the famous charity hit Do They Know It's Christmas, to raise money for relief of the famine in Ethiopia in 1984.
He has done a goodly amount of charity work in the UK and Africa, co-orgainising TV charity specials Band Aid, Live Aid and Live 8 with Bob Geldof, and acting as trustee for the charity. He also serves as ambassador for Save The Children.

Ure has played and sung in several different bands from the 1970s on, best-known : Visage, Thin Lizzy and Ultravox. When Ultravox disbanded he pursued a solo career.

A recovering alcoholic (par for the course, I guess), he still tours solo, or occasionally with a band. Lives in the south-west of England with second wife and their three daughters.








Sun, Neptune and Saturn close together in Libra the sign ruled by Venus, planet of the arts. Neptune's creativity and imagination feeds into his songwriting ability, Saturn includes discipline enough to balance Neptune's dreaminess and potential for addiction of some kind. His Saturn in this position will strengthen his resolve to remain a recovering alcoholic, and never to slip "off the wagon". Venus and Mars conjoined in Virgo is another indication of a love of order and discipline, which, along with his natal Saturn placement will have helped him to stay sobre and overcome addiction.

Scorpio rising, with Moon and Mercury in that sign in first house of self indicates a passionate, emotional and determined personality, not easily swayed from his goals.

His good works probably link back to his Libra Sun. Libra loves balance, his charity work is his attempt to bring some sorely needed balance to the under-privileged of this world.

Last week, commenter Sabina asked me to feature Bert Jansch, Scottish acoustic guitarist, who died last week on 5 October, aged 67.

From a Washington Post obituary:

He was quiet, modest, uncomfortable in the spotlight — not looking for No. 1 hits or commercial ditties. But when Bert Jansch picked up an acoustic guitar, people listened, often spellbound by his subtle innovation and mastery.....a virtuoso, hailed by the likes of Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page, Canadian rocker Neil Young and Johnny Marr of the Smiths as a force to be reckoned with, and learned from.

Bert Jansch is acknowledged to have influenced and inspired a generation of rock guitarists, has died at the age of 67, it is announced Wednesday Oct. 5, 2011. Jansch was a founding member of the influential folk-rock group Pentangle with whom he gave his last public performance at the Royal Festival Hall in London in August 2011. Known for his gentle eloquence on the acoustic guitar, Jansch died in London Wednesday after a long battle with lung cancer...... He was at the center of the British folk revival of the late 1960s and early 1970s at a time when British music — led by the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and the Who — dominated much of the pop world.
“I don’t know anyone who had less of a sense of celebrity. He was always very self-effacing and critical adulation was completely irrelevant to him,” Houghton said.
Folk singer Eddi Reader called Jansch “a gentle, gentle gentleman.”

From Rolling Stone

Without Bert Jansch, rock music as it developed in the 1960s and 1970s would have been very different. You hear him in Nick Drake, Pete Townshend, Donovan, the Beatles, Jimmy Page and Neil Young. There are people playing guitar who don't even realize they've been influenced by him one step removed.

This isn't one of those "obvious" charts where something immediately stands out as representing what we know of its owner. Sun and Mercury in passionate Scorpio connect to parts of Bert Jansch's nature of which we perhaps were not aware. The Bert Jansch as described above, by those "in the know", is more identifiable from his quietly capable Capricorn Moon, and Venus (planet of the arts) in perfectionist Virgo. Moon and Venus in Earth signs seem to match the musical genre to which he was drawn - folk. Folk music is earthy - isn't it?

There's a Yod (Finger of Fate) in his chart with its apex at Moon in Capricorn, linked by to 150* aspects (known as quincunx) to sextiled planets: flamboyant Jupiter in Leo, and a rather serious, disciplined Saturn and Mars in lively communicative Gemini. A blend of opposites - flamboyance and discipline - being chanelled through solid, reliable, Earthy Capricorn.

RIP Bert Jansch.

Here he plays Angie - said by a commenter at YouTube to be "a tune which was very popular with guitar players on the folk scene in the 1960s. If you could play this you were a 'made man' "

and with Pentangle: Light Flight in 1970 - then later..

PRODIGY ~ Tallan Noble Latz

I'm not sure I believe in reincarnation, but when I see someone like 9-year old Tallan Noble Latz, hear his guitar playing - I do have to wonder!

This young lad appeared in American's Got Talent this week. YouTube video clip of his performance.There are also other videos at YouTube showing Tallan playing in a variety of venues.

Apparently he is already quite well known in some circles - a prodigy, nicknamed "The T-Man". There's already a Wikipedia page for him. His date of birth is included there, it was a pleasant surprise to find that!

Here's Tallan's natal chart, set for 12 noon (in the absence of a birthtime) on 22 September 1999, and for Elkhorn, Wisconsin. I'm not absolutely sure that this was his place of birth, but the chart will at least give planet placements. Moon would be in Aquarius unless he was born after 11pm, when it moved into Pisces.



My eye was drawn first to Uranus, conjunct South Node of the Moon in Aquarius. The Moon itself was more than likely in Aquarius too. Uranus is modern ruler of Aquarius, and lying so close to the Moon's South Node gives it extra significance. The Moon's nodes are particularly sensitive points in a natal chart, so when when a planet lies close to one of them it's worth noting. In Tallan's case, he has Uranus highlighted first because it is in its own sign, then because it's on an ultra-sensitive point, then because the Moon itself is almost certainly in the same sign of Aquarius. Uranus and Aquarius relate to innovation, high levels of intelligence, maybe on occasion, even to genius.

Sun in Virgo gives Tallan an urge for perfection; it's in the last degree, said to be one of the strongest. Tallan must have worked very hard and consistently to achieve the level of skill he displays. Virgo Sun can be a hard taskmaster, I guess.

As for reincarnation - I don't know, it's a fanciful idea. I think, on balance, I prefer to rely on Tallan's stellar Uranus placement to account for his prodigious talent, and potential.

Child prodigies are nothing new, and not exceptionally rare. At Wikipedia there are long lists of examples of known child prodigies, covering many skills and talents. Whenever a new one appears on the scene though, it never fails to amaze.

The Astrological Guitar

Our planned visit to the local theater tonight to see classical guitarist Edgar Cruz, sparked a Google search to discover whether there could possibly be any connection between guitar and astrology. I typed those two words into the search box without much hope of a result and found: "The Spiritual Guitar Guide by David Cherubim"

I read the article with a certain amount of cynicism. Not that I think music isn't spiritual - I feel it certainly is, it feeds the senses, calms the troubled breast etc. But does the guitar have any more claim to being spiritual than, say, the piano, saxophone or flute. How does astrology come into it?

Here are a few extracts. Astrological connections are highlighted bold.

"Guitar playing is a Spiritual Art, for it is a musickal form of both Magick and Alchemy. It is a creative manipulation of the Elements of Nature and an artistic transmutation of Universal Forces through the skillful use of the hands and sound. It effects changes in both the player and the listener. With a proper understanding of both the technical and spiritual aspects of playing the Guitar, one is able to use the Guitar as an efficient instrument of the Will to create internal and external changes. The Guitar has its own Science, both conventional and unconventional in kind, and for the most part we are concerned here with the unconventional or rather spiritual and occult aspect of it all.

For the serious and dedicated Guitarist, learning to play and master the Guitar represents The Path or Way of Enlightenment of which there is no end. George Harrison once pointed out that it doesn't matter if you are the greatest Guitar player in the world, if you are not enlightened, then you should forget it.

Ultimately, playing the Guitar represents the Path to Spiritual Perfection. The Guitarist is always a Neophyte or Student on this Path.

There are seven Natural Tones or Notes in Musick and, with the five Sharps and Flats (the so-called Accidental Notes), we have Twelve Tones in all that we can play in various positions and octaves on the Electric Guitar. Both the numbers, seven and twelve, have great significance in Magick, Alchemy, Astrology, the Qabalah, Yoga, and in other Esoteric Systems and Philosophies and Religions. They are universally sacred numbers and they cover a lot of divine ground. But for now, regarding the seven Natural Tones (A, B, C, D, E, F and G), it should be noted that they correspond with the seven Colors of the Spectrum, the seven Chakras of Yoga, the seven Metals of Alchemy, and with the Sun, Moon, and the Planets Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. (The five Sharps and Flats [A#/Bb, C#/Db, D#/Eb, F#/Gb and G#/Ab] correspond with the five Elements of Fire, Water, Air, Earth, and Spirit.) Also, in all, the twelve tones correspond with the twelve Zodiacal Signs of Astrology (Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces) which, like the Sun, Moon and Planets, represent Spiritual Forces of Nature. Playing any of the twelve notes on the Electric Guitar, melodically or harmonically, is a musickal invocation of the mystical colors and spiritual energies of the Sun, Moon and Planets, and the Astrological and Elemental Forces of Nature."

There's more where that came from!

It's an interesting theory, for sure, but I retain some cynicism. Nevertheless, we shall wander off to the theater with all this in mind.

Here's Edgar Cruz, via YouTube, playing "Bohemian Rhapsody".