What's Going On

You might ask what’s a Marvin Gaye song doing on a guitar tribute. The answer is two-fold: I wanted to include something in the smooth-jazz category and, for me, Marvin is the most lyrical singer I’ve ever heard. I’ve borrowed quite a lot of his vocal phrasing and used them to form guitar licks. On this rendition, I’ve done my best to play exactly as Marvin Gaye sang on his hit record. To me, it’s the best lesson in timing, rhythm, improvisation and soul I’ve ever heard. Yes, I got a little wack-a-doodle on the outro. For some reason, I thought the contrast between a Wes Montgomery tone into a raucous guitar tone would be interesting… Maybe not? But, I can tell you, it was fun to rock out and it sort of sets up a prerequisite for the Holdsworth songs to follow.

Technical notes: Epiphone Casino into two 1957 Gibson GA5’s. Ribbon mic’d to an ART PRO MPA & Universal Audio 1176. Buscarino Pachelli model through a Marshall JTM45.