Spotlight

"Y'all Better 'Face Up,' Now" 

By Peter Ramsey

As unfair as comparison can be to musicians, they do at least get to the point. Atlanta jazz/rock guitarist Cooper Tisdale's guitar work is often likened to Jeff Beck and Eric Johnson.

Tisdale has made a name for himself playing I a number of various Atlanta groups before forming Face Up as a vehicle for his original guitar driven compositions.

Cooper has also been a feature guitarist with the Thunder Thieves with bassist John Ivey who was the musical director in the early Motown days (director of the Little Stevie Wonder Fingertips session). Along with Ivey, Tisdale currently backs up the Drifters on many of their Georgia dates.

Tisdale's most recent effort before forming Face Up was with the Tone Poets, an original rock band that caught the favorable attention of Terry Bosio and Jeff Beck.

To that end Tisdale has released an independent CD of ten strong originals at his own expense under the name Face Up that he hopes will open some doors on both sides of the border. Hopefully, one of those doors will be a record company.

"It took over two years to make this record, buying bits of time at 7th Heaven Studios in Norcross as I could afford it."

"Sometimes I think it would be a lot easier to take steady work with a rising band and just concentrate on my playing. Trying to promote my own solo career with original tunes is a lot more work and time for a whole lot less money, but I feel strongly about the writing and don't think it would be fair to myself to take the easy route until I've given my solo career every chance."

After attending college in the seventies, Tisdale made his "big move" to the Musicians Institute (aka Guitar Insitute of Technology) in LA where he studied under notable guitarists Scott Henderson and Chick Corea's Frank Gambale.

It was in LA that Tisdale developed his interest in jazz guitar. "Being from Atlanta a guitarist is expected to play like Duane Allman or Dickie Betts, but I spent my formative years listening to Brian May and Jeff Beck." While in California, Cooper had an opportunity to do some studio work with the great Tommy Tedesco.

Among his other influences at this time was the legendary Wes Montgomery. For those who have seen the Eric Johnson instructional video, you may remember the extensive time spent demonstrating Montgomery's trend setting techniques.

Back in Atlanta in the eighties, Tisdale played with Kathy Carlille and her dad "Thumbs" Carlille (Roger Miller) known for his endorsement ads for Fender guitars. This band also played on the same bill with Chet Atkins.

Tisdale has also recorded with Atlanta keyboardist Nancee Kahler and Open the Sky, and with Kristen Hall on the Windham Hill/High Street label.

Face Up has been working steadily in the southern states this summer, booked into the Jazz Day lineup at the Martin Luther King Center for Non Violent Change this weekend. They recently did benefits for the Red Cross and Habitat for Humanity, a housing project sponsored by Jimmy Carter. Before heading north the band will be featured at the Jazz in The Park festival on St. Simon's Island, Georgia.

Cooper has been making the trek to Canada on an annual basis for four years. His first appearances were with regional rock bands in Simcoe, Port Dover, and Kitchener, each year introducing more original work and gaining more audience. This is the first year he will make the trip with his full band. "It has always been a goal of mine to bring a fully rehearsed band to Canada. Over the past few years I've made some great friends up there nad feel that there is a strong audience to the type of music I do."

This month Tisdale and band will be undertaking an amibitious six night tour of the area including Hamilton, Port Dover, London, Kitchener, and Toronto.

"There's still a little betterness about the World Series, but I know I'll feel better when we can get up there and kick some ass with the music thing. Seriously, I love Ontario and really enjoy the countryside whenever I'm there. Toronto is a great city, players down here rave about playing there. I hope I can just keep building on the annual trip, gaining more following every year."

Tisdale's music is somewhat enigmatic in nature and hard to define in standard terms.

"The CD is getting a lot of play in southern Georgia, but not from any one type of radio programming. As an example, we're getting played on campus radio, the black jazz stations, and the hard rockin' stations."

You can expect a full range of music from Tisdale and Face Up, everything from Hendrix and Stevie Ray to the Crusaders and Stevie Wonder. It's a soulful mix of blues, R&B, soul, rock and of course a good helping of original southern fried jazz/rock.