French-born, Tucson-raised musician Naïm Amor told us about his Greg Ginn (Black Flag) love...
Naïm Amor: I’m not going to talk about a specific guitar riff here but rather the particular and original phrasing of Greg Ginn on Black Flag albums like My War and Loose Nut.
I always heard Greg Ginn’s “sound” as the perfect Intentionally or not, infusion of free jazz into “ Rock’n Roll” and more precisely punk rock . I say infusion on purpose to put it into contrast with another entire genre of music, the unfortunate “fusion” of jazz and rock. The sound and phrasing of Ginn solos on electric guitar is pure energy and in a somewhat I’m guessing improvisational dynamic. He completely propels the basic and brutal songs structures of Black Flag into very original territories. His playing is a scream art form. I find it very sophisticated , expending the harmonies and doing that by never being cerebral. Maybe like Ornette Coleman or Eric Dolfy , Coltrane even, Greg Ginn while composing on very basic chords achieves to free himself from the obvious scales , lines, in an organized chaos, like a brutal manifestation of nature.
Naïm Amor and Kid Congo Powers' album Tucson Safari is out now. Tour dates below.
Photo: Amor (left) with Kid Congo Powers. Credit Chris Carlone.
