#4494, Pedal Steel and Lap Steel
Baltimore-based virtuoso Susan Alcorn, California pedal steel guitarist Chuck Johnson, and Norwegian pedal steel player Geir Sundstøl offer new approaches to pedal steel and lap steel guitar.
From the composer, improviser, and serial collaborator Susan Alcorn, hear a chamber-jazz-Americana tune, based on a Qawwalil praise song, complete with hand-claps, in the vein of an “ecstatic hoedown” (with thanks to Braithwaite & Katz Communications.) There’s also Americana-tinged chamber jazz with lap steel guitar Arabic oud, and Erik Friedlander’s cello from New York-based band Sandcatchers.
Also, hear a bit into the sacred steel tradition, which stretches back to the 1930s, where the pedal steel is used in place of an organ as the lead instrument in the worship service. Listen to "In the Garden" from a Smithsonian Folkways compilation, featuring Sonny Treadway. Then, it’s music by Duet For Theremin And Lap Steel, an Atlanta, GA-based outfit creating ambient music which is “the perfect soundtrack for viewing images of the cosmos.” Their 2021 record, ‘Oumuamua, is a Hawaiian term for “a messenger from afar, arriving first,” inspired by the first known interstellar object detected passing through our Solar System, observed in late 2017.
There’s also music from Norway which somehow evokes both the wide expanses of the American west while also tapping into the slack key guitar of Hawaii from Trond Kallevåg, featuring pedal steel player Geir Sundstøl. It’s from the record, Bedehus & Hawaii, which evokes both a spiritual place (“Bedehus” is Norwegian for a local prayer-house or chapel) and hanging out on an outdoor lanai (an open-sided porch or patio) in Hawaii. Plus, listen to atmospheric music from pedal steel guitarist and composer Chuck Johnson, and work by Montreal-based baritone/bass saxophonist/composer Jason Sharp, which features Joe Grass on pedal steel guitar. - Caryn Havlik
Program #4494, Pedal Steel and Lap Steel (First Aired 5/11/2021)
ARTIST: George Strait
WORK: When Did You Stop Loving Me [:30]
RECORDING: Pure Country
SOURCE: MCA Records
INFO: Available at AppleMusic, YouTube Music, Spotify, etc.
ARTIST: Pink Floyd
WORK: The Dark Side of the Moon, excerpt [:15]
RECORDING: The Dark Side of the Moon
SOURCE: EMI 679180
INFO: Available at AppleMusic, YouTube Music, Spotify, etc.
ARTIST: Various: Willie Eason
WORK: Just A Closer Walk With Thee [:15]
RECORDING: Sacred Steel
SOURCE: Arhoolie Records / Smithsonian Folkways
INFO: https://arhoolierecords.bandcamp.com/track/in-the-garden
ARTIST: Brian Eno, Roger Eno, Daniel Lanois
WORK: Deep Blue Day [:15]
RECORDING: Apollo: Atmospheres & Soundtracks
SOURCE: Editions EG CD-53
INFO: Available at Amazon.com
ARTIST: Sandcatchers
WORK: Northeast Rising Sun[6:17]
RECORDING: What We Found along the Way
SOURCE: Chant Records
INFO: sandcatchers.bandcamp.com | chantrecords.com
ARTIST: Susan Alcorn Quintet
WORK: Northeast Rising Sun [7:16]
RECORDING: Pedernal
SOURCE: Relative Pitch Records
INFO: https://susanalcornquintet.bandcamp.com/album/pedernal
ARTIST: Geir Sundstøl
WORK: Waterloo [5:06]
RECORDING: Brødløs
SOURCE: HUBRO Music
INFO: hubromusic.com
ARTIST: Various Artists: Sonny Treadway
WORK: In the Garden [3:08]
RECORDING: Sacred Steel
SOURCE: Arhoolie Records / Smithsonian Folkways
INFO: https://arhoolierecords.bandcamp.com/track/in-the-garden
ARTIST: Chuck Johnson
WORK: Raz de Maree [8:12]
RECORDING: The Cinder Grove
SOURCE: Vin du Select Qualitite
INFO: chuckjohnson.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: Duet for Theremin and Lap Steel
WORK: Vesta [8:27]
RECORDING: 'Oumuamua
SOURCE: Stick Figure Recordings
INFO: stickfigurerecordings.com
ARTIST: Trond Kallevåg [Hansen]
WORK: Bedehus & Hawaii [6:42]
RECORDING: Bedehus & Hawaii
SOURCE: HUBRO Music
INFO: hubromusic.com
ARTIST: Jason Sharp
WORK: Ride On Into The Sweetening Dark [3:18]
RECORDING: A Boat Upon Its Blood
SOURCE: Constellation CST 119
INFO: cstrecords.com
