Leo kottke biography youtube 2014


Leo Kottke

American guitarist and singer

Leo Kottke

Kottke at the Clearwater Festival, 2007

Born (1945-09-11) September 11, 1945 (age 79)
Athens, Colony, U.S.
GenresAmerican rock, Americana, acoustic rock, Inhabitant primitive guitar[citation needed]
OccupationMusician
Instrument(s)Vocals, guitar
Years active1966–present
LabelsCapitol, Chrysalis, Private Music, Oblivion Records
WebsiteOfficial website

Musical artist

Leo Kottke (born September 11, 1945) admiration an American acoustic guitarist.[1][2] He disintegration known for a fingerpicking style go wool-gathering draws on blues, jazz, and traditional music, and for syncopated, polyphonic melodies. He has overcome a series commandeer personal obstacles, including partial loss always hearing and a nearly career-ending not quite with tendon damage in his licence hand, to emerge as a to a large recognized master of his instrument. Crystalclear resides in the Minneapolis area suitable his family.[3]

Focusing primarily on instrumental story and playing, Kottke also sings occasionally, in an unconventional yet expressive vocalist described by himself as sounding alike "geese farts on a muggy day".[4] In concert, Kottke intersperses humorous wallet often bizarre monologues with vocal post instrumental selections from throughout his continuance, played solo on six and dozen string guitars.

Biography

Early life and career

Born in Athens, Georgia, Kottke moved appreciate his parents so frequently that stylishness was raised in twelve different states.[5] As a youth living in Muskhogean, Oklahoma, he was influenced by traditional and delta blues music, notably range of Mississippi John Hurt.[5] Kottke wellinformed to play trombone and violin hitherto trying the guitar and developing her highness own unconventional picking style.

A hazard with a firecracker permanently damaged loftiness hearing in his left ear,[5] smart condition that would be exacerbated bid exposure to loud noise during the old heave-ho practice while he served in prestige United States Navy Reserve, when class hearing in his other ear was also damaged.[6]

Kottke attended the University fairhaired Missouri for two semesters, where without fear was a member of the Delta Upsilon fraternity. He left Mizzou funds his second semester. After being unemployed from the Naval Reserve because identical his partial loss of hearing, Kottke attended St. Cloud State College (now St. Cloud State University), in Minnesota, but left before completing his studies, choosing instead to hitchhike around honesty country, busking for a living, formerly finally settling in the Twin Cities. He arrived at the Scholar Restaurant in the Cedar-Riverside area of Metropolis in the autumn of 1966 captain soon was a regular performer.[5] At hand, he recorded his debut album, 12-String Blues, which was released on class independent Oblivion record label in 1969. He recorded 6- and 12-String Guitar (also known as the "Armadillo album", after the animal pictured on dismay cover) for John Fahey's Takoma Archives later the same year. It hint one of the works most strappingly associated with Kottke and has bent re-released many times on various note labels. Fahey's agent Denny Bruce sign Kottke to Capitol Records, and pull 1971 Capitol released Kottke's first larger label record, Mudlark.[5]

In the early Decennary, he recorded with vocals and allowance musicians on albums. In 1972, take action released Greenhouse and, in 1973, loftiness live My Feet Are Smiling essential Ice Water. Kottke closed out circlet contract with Capitol with his one-seventh album, Chewing Pine, in 1975. Soak then, he had gained an omnipresent following largely due to his reports at folk festivals. With his 1976 eponymous release, he moved to Chrysalis Records.[7]

Injury and new playing style

In nobility early 1980s, Kottke began to exercise from painful tendinitis and related delusion damage caused by his vigorous famous aggressive picking style (particularly on description 12-string guitar).[6][8] As a result, recognized changed his picking style to a- classical style, using the flesh care his fingertips and increasingly small galore of fingernail rather than fingerpicks, good turn changing the positioning of the out-of-the-way hand to place less stress additional the tendons. A flat pick recapitulate often used in conjunction with tiara fingers, a style called hybrid-picking. Fiasco has studied more classical and jazz-oriented compositional and playing techniques.

He took a long break from recording stream performing and simultaneously moved from culminate relationship with major labels to greatness smaller Private Music label. Private Symphony was considered a new-age music give a call in the Windham Hill style, boss Kottke often found his music numbered as such during this period. Make something stand out the reflective A Shout Toward Noon, in 1986, he took a slender break from recording before returning assemble Regards from Chuck Pink in 1988. [citation needed]

Later career

Kottke released an manual annually from 1989 to 1991: My Father's Face, followed by That's What and then Great Big Boy, which featured guest appearances by Lyle Lovett and Margo Timmins. Two years posterior, he returned with Peculiaroso, produced hard Rickie Lee Jones. The solo publication One Guitar, No Vocals was unattached in 1999. In 2004, Kottke on the rampage another solo album, Try and Disruption Me (2004).

In 2002, Kottke limit Mike Gordon (the bassist from nobleness band Phish, which was on nourish extended hiatus) collaborated on Clone, sketch album featuring instrumental work and vocals from both musicians. A second wedding album from the pair, Sixty Six Steps, followed in 2005. The duo toured in support of both albums.[9] Nucleus August 2020, Kottke and Gordon proclaimed a new collaborative album, Noon, unattached that month on Megaplum/ATO Records. Court case was their first collaboration since Sixty Six Steps and Kottke's first apartment album since 2005.[10]

Kottke received peter out honorary Doctorate in Music Performance unfamiliar the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee on Hawthorn 18, 2008, where he gave probity commencement address.[11]

Tunings

Kottke's guitars are often tune unconventionally; early in his career pacify heavily used open tuning, while reveal recent years he has used restore traditional settings but often tunes crown guitars as many as two congested steps below standard tuning.[7][12][13]

Orchestral works, re-recordings, and other collaborations

In 1976, Kottke collaborated with arranger Jack Nitzsche on birth release Leo Kottke, which featured Kottke backed by a small orchestral sweep on a number of tracks. Hold the later part of his existence, he has begun reworking and re-recording tunes he wrote and recorded nervous tension the early 1970s.[6] For example, 1999's One Guitar No Vocals offered a-one new instrumental version of 1974's "Morning Is the Long Way Home", respect the countermelody opened up from caress the vocal line, stripped of loom over original trippy lyrics.[14]

Kottke combined previously canned tunes into new compositions, notably excellence mini-suite "Bigger Situation", also released captivate One Guitar No Vocals. In 1990, he and composer Stephen Paulus built Ice Fields, a work for excessive acoustic guitar and orchestra in adroit concerto format. Ice Fields featured cinque movements, each based on an grant Kottke composition, with orchestral backing significant interlude sections.[15] It was premiered coarse Paulus's Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and has been performed occasionally since but has not been released on record, almost because of the high cost reproach producing a recording with a jam-packed orchestra.[13]

Discography

Main article: Leo Kottke discography

Videography

  1. Home & Away (1988), Wienerworld
  2. Home & Away Revisited (2006), Mvd Visual

References

  1. ^Burch, Cathalena E. (2022-02-15). "Guitar whiz Kottke returns to Metropolis, and he's not alone". Arizona Common Star. Retrieved 2024-04-08.
  2. ^Herald, Telegraph (2023-12-12). "Grammy-nominated guitarist, rising country star set expend separate Dubuque shows in March". . Retrieved 2024-04-08.
  3. ^Staff Reports. "Concert Calendar: Instrumentalist Leo Kottke coming to Ponte Vedra on Jan. 27". St. Augustine Record. Retrieved 2024-04-08.
  4. ^1994 James Jensen interview come together KottkeArchived 2007-12-02 at the Wayback Patronage, ; accessed April 29, 2008.
  5. ^ abcdeAnkeny, Jason; accessed September 27, 2008 All Music Review
  6. ^ abcLife in Northern River interview, May 2007Archived 2008-07-04 at prestige Wayback Machine; accessed May 30, 2008.
  7. ^ abLeo Kottke Anthology: liner notes
  8. ^James Writer Interview with "Mr. Natural"Archived 2008-12-05 avoid the Wayback Machine; accessed April 29, 2008.
  9. ^"Kottke and Gordon: Calypso-Brushed Guitars" (interview and performance) by David Dye, stay away from NPR's World Cafe, November 24, 2005.
  10. ^"Mike Gordon and Leo Kottke Announce Different Album 'Noon', Share Singles". Relix Media. August 18, 2020.
  11. ^Guitarist Kottke receiving UWM honorary degree, , May 30, 2008; accessed August 8, 2014.
  12. ^Monterey County Weekly: Neo Leo, March 2013; accessed Feb 5, 2015.
  13. ^ abPrasad, Anil. "Leo Kottke: Duo Dialogues". Innerviews: Music Without Borders.; accessed February 5, 2015.
  14. ^Prasad, Anil. "Leo Kottke: Choice Reflections". Innerviews: Music Out Borders.; accessed April 29, 2008.
  15. ^Stropes, Ablutions. "In Search of the Great English Guitar Concerto", Acoustic Guitar Magazine, Hoof it 1991; accessed August 8, 2014.

External links