Soul Stream Posted May 27, 2007 Report Share Posted May 27, 2007 I ran across this organist's site, Vanessa Rondriges, on myspace. Apparently she lived with Lonnie Smith for a month and he taught her how to play. Here's her account of it...pretty cool... Lessons with Dr. Smith ... where to start ... ?? Well, at first he didn't let me play the real organ, so we started on the Korg CX3. He said "Your right hand is good ... your left hand is very bad!" -- and proceeded to make me play bass lines PAINFULLY slowly ... "Play it slow ... SLOW!!!" for the first few days. Every morning he would wake me up by swatting me with my wallet strap and saying "Get yo yase off that couch!" I would wander sleepily into the front of the house where he's got 4 hammond organs crammed into one little room, and sit in my PJs watching him practice, play, noodle around just for the fun of it -- and it was amazing. Of course I recorded it with my mini-disc player. "I know you've got that thing on ... I cannot stand you - you get on my last nerve!" Sometimes we'd play duets, sometimes I'd just play alone for him and he'd give me suggestions. It was very un-structured. "Practice makes terrible" Sometimes I'd be watching TV and he'd come into the den and launch into some crazy story about touring with Joe Dukes, or some encounter with Jimmy Smith, or some outrageous argument he'd had with an ex-girlfriend. Of course I'd turn the TV off faster than you could say "it's your fault", and listen up good. He would also often take me out for dinner/lunch/visits with his friends, my grandparents, other students of his, and since his kitchen was being renovated I taught him how to cook rice & beans (Caribbean style) in the microwave. I told him a story about how I once tried to poach an egg in the microwave and when I brought it out I poked it and it exploded all over my face and hair. He laughed so hard and said "Hey, we should do that -- blow up some eggs and potatos and things, and then we'll PLAY that! You've got to PLAY LIFE!!!" "Practice makes terrible" is what Lonnie used to say ... he'd come in the room while I was practicing bass lines really SLOW, and he'd laugh and say "Practice! Practice makes terrible!" (not laughing at me in a malicious way or anything, though I'm sure I really did suck, but he always says stuff like that, like "I do not like you", "It's your fault", and "You get on my last nerve" ... you just have to meet him to understand, it's really hard to try to describe his personality to people who have never met him ... I hope that gives you an idea of what my time there was like ... very hard to put into words, but I did my best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Nessa Posted May 27, 2007 Report Share Posted May 27, 2007 This makes me think the stride players of the '20s were an influence somewhere along the road. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soul Stream Posted May 28, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 28, 2007 This makes me think the stride players of the '20s were an influence somewhere along the road. How so Chuck? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJ Shearn Posted May 28, 2007 Report Share Posted May 28, 2007 man that's funny. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Magnificent Goldberg Posted August 8, 2007 Report Share Posted August 8, 2007 Just found this thread. Great little piece! You can trace stride into Monk and, if there's an organist more influenced by Monk than Dr L, I don't know of him. Listen to Dr L's piano playing. I don't know about the harmonies and other clever Monk stuff, but the rhythm and phrasing are there. MG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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