Conversation between rhythm and solo guitar-Remi Harris

Buco · June 2018

People mention this a lot, the conversation between the two musicians. But it's not always easy to find a good example. Here in this Remi's video which deserves to be watched from beginning to the end anyhow and besides the interactive intro, if you go to about 1:59, you will see how Remi reacts to something that rhythm guitarist played.
Not overly complicated stuff but it shows that Remi was listening and decided that he could playfully react and then two of them make a little bit of exchange.

Jim Kaznosky · June 2018

Yep. That's how its done.

Russell Letson · June 2018

Three things occur to me right off the bat: First, that kind of conversation is much easier to manage in a trio format than a quartet or quintet--there' s more open space and less of a chance of someone zigging when someone else zags. Second, the rhythm player is operating very much in drummer mode, keeping the pulse (along with the bass) and sparingly inserting accents or walks. Third, he does nevertheless sometimes operate in comping mode, responding to (or even feeding) the lead's gestures and figures. Final bonus observation: notice how straight rhythm becomes the primary function when the tempo increases--there's not enough space to do much more at that speed, though I think I heard a couple of accents inserted.