Two of my favorites together :clap:
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Roger Ridley was a very talented and interesting artist:
Mr. Ridley lived and worked in Las Vegas and he would drive to Santa Monica on Saturdays (where the playing for change recordings were made) to play on the street and then drive home that night.:clap:Quote:
Roger Ridley was a working musician who made his home in Las Vegas, Nevada. Known for his singing, guitar playing and songwriting, Roger’s style is best described as his very own, “Musical Gumbo” with influences from R&B and soul legends such as Sam Cooke and Otis Redding. Roger created a style that was totally unique to his own musical personality.
With his easy-going manner and awesome presence, Roger accumulated a host of friends while performing at some of New York’s most popular clubs such as the Baby Grand and the Cotton Club. He also opened for the likes of Millie Jackson and Clarence Carter, opportunities that paved the way for him to perform at the US Open in New York City and at the wedding of Douglas Kennedy, son of the former US Attorney Bobby Kennedy.
Never one to be limited to one ambition or genre, Roger appeared on several stage productions including, “Blues for a Gospel Queen” and “No Place To Be Somebody” in New York City, as well as the Kenneth Feld Production, “Madhattan”, in Las Vegas. He recorded the title song to Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Star Light Express”, jingles for the Nickelodeon television station, the NBA and a blues song for the Disney Channel.
His dedication to stage performance allowed him to travel all over the world, including places such as Milano and Bologna, Italy and Lugano, Switzerland where he was a part of the “Blues to Bach” concert and Japan where he performed in the “Liberty on The Street” Japan tour. He continued to perform until his untimely demise on Wednesday November 16, 2005.
That video was so fine. The guy or gal who put that together must have spent an inordinate amount of time finding bits in the same key & tempo from attractive subjects to make a whole. Kudos to him, which people obviously appreciate as there have been over 44 million views so far. I hope he made a few bucks out of the effort, and shared some with the performers. Bet that later never happened though.
On further viewing, I note the lead musician has no headphones, which tells me he was laying down the foundation track, while the others had headphones while performing indicating they were following the lead, which accounts for the matching tempo & key agreement. Still, and impressive and rewarding effort. I also wonder if the musicians were/are paid. I hate the talent getting left out of the benefits.
Read more here.
This has become a much bigger thing than I realized since first encountering these recordings some years ago with the first for me being "Stand by Me".
I don't know if the artists are paid directly but I do know that many have been indirectly benefited from the exposure---not the least of which is Grandpa Elliott who has traveled widely, appearing on these works as far away as South America. I have also seen him on late night TV.
Glad you enjoyed them :cool:
That boy certainly has some energy!
Notice that his guitars are Well worn. Thanks Dave.
Here’s a nice and different treat, Ahmed Alshaiba, playing Intersteller on an Oud —
https://youtu.be/Fl3JtW8TyiE
Very interesting. I had never heard of the Oud prior to this.