You’re welcome. You might also want to check out the associated act Helen Money, which is Alison Chesley’s stage name for her amplified and electrified cello work. It’s a mix of ambient, drone, and I’d say metal genres. All instrumental.
Crooked Still started out as a vocal/cello/banjo/bass quartet, but I think the cellist left and was replaced by a fiddler, which would have spoiled the whole thing.
Here’s a 2-minute version of the old timey classic “Little Sadie.” It’ll snap your stix.
I’d like to hear more Marxophone (best known from the Doors’ version of “Alabama Song”).
And nothing says “cool retro space age bachelor pad music” like a clavioline.
Steel guitar outside of country music.
All-time favorite cor anglais moment: the solo in the Doors’ “Wishful Sinful.”
Yeah, in classical music, you hardly ever hear music for solo trombone. Concertos and sonatas for trombone do exist, I’m sure, but there aren’t any really famous ones.
In rock/pop there isn’t much solo trombone either, but the instrument is used to good effect in the Kinks’ “Dead End Street” (and to manic effect in the Swirling Eddies’ “Attack Of The Pulpit Masters”).
I want more cornett (early music type, not the trumpet type), toy piano, steel drum, and kettle drum in mah music.
I’ve always thought that music with a prominent bass clarinet always seems to sound great.
As others have mentioned, the English Horn is an instrument with a lovely warm rich tone that I’d like to hear used more often. Also the bass flute. It isn’t as versatile as the rest of the flute family, but it has a lovely unexpected deep, yet bright, tone.
In Pop/Rock the only other example I know of is the Lovin’ Spoonful “She Is Still A Mystery To Me.”
Here’s a video of them in '67 with the Marxophone showing in all its wierd splendor. (They’re miming to the record although I think Sebastian’s lead vocal is live.)
Came in to mention this – it’s really effective, for instance, in some of Dire Straits’ and Mark Knopfler’s music. The steel guitar adds a distinctive sound that could be really effective in a lot of alt-rock and alt-country music.
Thanks for that. I never knew he used the Marxophone, although it makes sense that he would, as it’s sort of a modified autoharp, which was kind of his signature instrument in the Spoonful.
Steve Howe plays a fair amount of lap steel guitar with Yes, and that’s pretty durn far outside of country music.
Some of Derek Trucks’ tracks are slide guitar used to play Indian raga-type jams and exploratory jazz. He studied both as part of his mastery.
Avett Brothers have cello in a lot of their songs.
The Lyricon, a wind synthesizer from the 70s, in fact, the first wind controller. Here is an example from Shadowfax, a popular group on the Windham Hill label in the 80s.
A great early example of cello in rock would be the chorus in “Good Vibrations”, with the three (?) cellos doing those “boogety-boogety-boogety” ostinato triplets behind the vocal and modified theremin.
There’s not enough Hurdy Gurdy in rock…
Faun
Page & Plant
Or bagpipe ensembles like Corvus Corax
also needed: more Hammered Dulcimer
Dead Can Dance
That’s because Blue Bells of Scotland taught us to never wish for anything featuring us ever again.
By the way, for rock music featuring both trombone and cor anglais, check out “The Peacock’s Tale” from King Crimson’s Lizard.