"Me and Mrs. Jones" by Alfie Zappacosta [MP3]

[Corey]

Alfie is a very fine singer and a shockingly hot guitar player. He has done a variety of wonderful things, one interesting one I encountered lately is his rendition of "Me and Mrs. Jones" which demonstrates a certain development and clarity of voice which is rare. Sounds simple but this is *hard* to pull off and *ever harder* in live performance. Here it is, just let it load, the MP3 is embedded:

http://iamzappacosta.com/shows.html

Vocal control and clarity like that is hard to find. There's a different MP3 on each page, listen through if you want to hear some amazing stuff. Alfie lives in Edmonton, my ex-home base, I have crossed paths with him a couple times, amazing guy. Kind, intelligent, and always interesting. Truly one of the most musical people I've ever seen. You have to bear in mind that while he is singing these tunes in live performance he is also playing his own guitar accompaniment, and he has a penchant for playing very difficult guitar pieces while he's singing. Astonishing though is how effortlessly he pulls it all off. He must do *nothing* but practice. It's an amazing thing to watch, even if you aren't into his music. It's like watching Gretzky skate or Pele attack the defense. :)

[gbrown]

Nice chart! Good straight-ahead rendition... classic with that harmonica in there giving a good counterpoint.

Thanks, Corey!

:yes

[Corey]

Sometime surf through the other pages on his site, each has a different MP3. This page has one of Alfie's originals, that's him playing the guitar too:

http://iamzappacosta.com/home.html

He's done various versions of that song, the rockier one was a big hit here in Canada back in the day. I remember at one point Alfie had about a dozen originals that hit the National charts. All of them had stronger-than-normal harmonic structures and subtle syncopations such as in the tune above in the 2nd (3rd?) verse section. Those syncopated phrases *are not* easy when you are singing the melody at the same time. Alfie has a knack for that, again I am about 99% certain that is the result of a fanatic dedication to regular practice and performance. I might be wrong.

Another great thing about Alfie is his way-out-of-control eyebrows. You don't see that anymore, i.e. performers with natural appearance. Most of the people I see lately look like some sort of horrific student plastic surgery experiment gone drunkenly awry. I've decided people who get cosmetic surgery *cannot* be trusted. Anyhoo.

I'm heavily ensconced in ear training right now. Blech. Vloot. Garfffff.

This page has something slightly more jazzy:

http://www.iamzappacosta.com/discography.html