An Overdose Of Fingal Cocoa

James McMurtry

2012-01-29T13:30:00.001+01:00

James McMurtry - Candyland - 1992 - Columbia

Like Dire Straits' Mark Knopfler (but with less mumble), James McMurtry offers a deep, personable (if plain) voice and delivery, equally suited to both country and rock. The instrumental backing veers between and blurs the two forms, the fluid dynamics rendering the distinction irrelevant. Whatever you call it, the music serves up a perfect backdrop to McMurtry's strong suit -- his evocative, short-story lyrics. Eventually, rock appears to win out as guitars veer into overdrive on "Save Yourself" and "Storekeeper"; the disc finally closing with the wistful, acoustic "Dusty Pages." © Roch Parisien © 2012 Rovi Corporation. All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/album/candyland-r58520

A very underrated singer, musician and brilliant songwriter, James McMurtry from Fort Worth, Texas has a lot of great songs under his belt. The guy has a voice that sounds like a cross between Johnny Cash, David Byrne, and Lou Reed. Lyrically, the guy is a great storyteller. Like Leonard Cohen, David Byrne, Mose Allison, Janis Ian, Tino Gonzales, Lou Reed, or the young Dylan, James writes songs often with a socio-political theme. He writes evocative lyrics, often cynical and dry, but never boring, and like the aforementioned artists he has the rare talent of writing great music for what often sounds like dull topics. His music is steeped in Americana, and roots rock. "Candyland" is an album of beautiful poetic songs with wonderful lyrics and brilliant instrumentation all round. In his regular column for Entertainment Weekly, noted author (and passionate rock ’n’ roll enthusiast) Stephen King cited McMurtry as “the truest, fiercest songwriter of his generation.” "Candyland" is HR by A.O.O.F.C. Buy James' outstanding "Too Long in the Wasteland" album, and search this blog for more releases. Support real musicians and real music [All tracks @ 320 Kbps: File size = 84.2 Mb]

TRACKS

A1 Where's Johnny
A2 Vague Directions
A3 Hands Like Rain
A4 Safe Side
A5 Candyland

B1 Don't Waste Away
B2 Good Life
B3 Save Yourself
B4 Storekeeper
B5 Dusty Pages

All songs composed by James McMurtry

MUSICIANS

James McMurtry - Electric & Acoustic Guitar, Farfisa Organ, Vocals
David Grissom - Electric & Acoustic Guitar, Farfisa Organ
Kenny Aronoff - Lap Steel Guitar, Drums, Percussion
Mike Wanchic - Lap Steel Guitar, Background Vocals
Toby Myers - Bass Guitar, Background Vocals
Dave Pomeroy - Bass Guitar
Pete Wasner - Organ, Piano, Synthesizer
John Cascella - Keyboards
Doug Lacy - Steel Drums, Accordion
Steve Crowes - Synclavier
Lisa Germano - Fiddle, Background Vocals
Dweet Dadoux - Harmonica
Syd Straw, Jimmy Ryser, Randy Garibay, Jr. - Background Vocals

SHORT BIO

Texas singer/songwriter James McMurtry, known for his hard-edged character sketches, comes from a literary family; his father, novelist and screenwriter Larry McMurtry, gave James his first guitar at age seven, and his mother, an English professor, taught him how to play it. McMurtry began performing his own songs while a student at the University of Arizona and continued to do so after returning home and taking a job as a bartender. When it transpired that a film script McMurtry's father had written was being directed by John Mellencamp, who was also its star, McMurtry's demo tape was passed along, and Mellencamp was duly impressed, serving as co-producer on McMurtry's 1989 debut album, Too Long in the Wasteland. McMurtry also appeared on the soundtrack of the film (Falling from Grace), working with Mellencamp, John Prine, Joe Ely, and Dwight Yoakam in a one-off supergroup called Buzzin' Cousins. McMurtry has continued to record, releasing albums in 1992 and 1995. Walk Between the Raindrops followed in 1998, and 2002 saw the release of Saint Mary of the Woods, his last for the Sugar Hill label. He signed with Compadre the following year, releasing Live in Aught-Three in 2004 and Childish Things in 2005. Just Us Kids appeared in 2008 on Lightning Rod Records, with another concert album, Live in Europe, arriving in 2009. © Steve Huey © 2012 Rovi Corporation. All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/artist/james-mcmurtry-p4878/biography

BIO (WIKIPEDIA)

James McMurtry (born March 18, 1962 in Fort Worth, is a Texas rock and Americana music singer, songwriter, guitarist, bandleader and occasional actor (Daisy Miller, Lonesome Dove). With his veteran bandmates and rhythm section The Heartless Bastards (Darren Hess and Ronnie Johnson) he tours regions of the United States and, increasingly, Europe, for parts of each year, performing in intimate and mid-sized venues, especially those with dancing room for his audiences. His father, novelist Larry McMurtry, gave him his first guitar at age seven. His mother, an English professor, taught him how to play it: "My mother taught me three chords and the rest I just stole as I went along. I learned everything by ear or by watching people." James spent the first seven years of his boyhood in Ft. Worth but was raised mostly in Leesburg, Virginia. He attended the Woodberry Forest School, Orange, Virginia. He began performing in his teens, writing bits and pieces. He started performing his own songs at a downtown beer garden while studying English and Spanish at the University of Arizona in Tucson. After traveling to Alaska and playing a few gigs, James returned to Texas and his father's "little bitty ranch house crammed with 10,000 books". After a time, he left for San Antonio, where he worked as a house painter, actor, bartender, and sometimes singer, performing at writer's nights and open mics. In 1987, a friend in San Antonio suggested he enter the New Folk songwriter contest. He was one of six winners that year. John Mellencamp was starring in a film based on a script by James's father, which gave James the opportunity to get a demo tape to Mellencamp. Mellencamp subsequently served as co-producer on McMurtry's 1989 debut album, Too Long in the Wasteland. McMurtry also appeared on the soundtrack of the film Falling from Grace, working with Mellencamp, John Prine, Joe Ely, and Dwight Yoakam in a "supergroup" called Buzzin' Cousins. McMurtry released follow-up albums in Candyland (1992) and Where'd You Hide the Body (1995). Walk Between the Raindrops followed in 1998 and 2002 brought St. Mary of the Woods. In April 2004, McMurtry released a tour album called Live In Aught-Three. In 2005, McMurtry released his first studio album in 3 years. Childish Things again received high critical praise, culminating in him winning the song and album of the year at the 5th Annual Americana Awards in Nashville, Tennessee. The album was perhaps McMurtry at his most political, as his working-class anthem "We Can't Make It Here" included direct criticism of George W. Bush, the Iraq War, and Wal-Mart. McMurtry released his follow up album to Childish Things in April 2008. Just Us Kids continued with the previous album's political themes and included the song Cheney's Toy, McMurtry's most direct criticism of George W. Bush so far. Like We Can't Make It Here from the previous album, Cheney's Toy was made available as a free Internet download. James McMurtry currently resides in Austin, Texas. When in Austin McMurtry and The Heartless Bastards play a midnight set at The Continental Club on Wednesday nights. He's usually preceded by another Austin roots rock legend, Jon Dee Graham.

Brian Knight

2012-01-29T01:53:00.002+01:00

Brian Knight - Good Time Down the Road - 1988 - PRT Records

The late Brian Knight was one of the most respected and important figures in British blues history. He was an influential vocalist, slide guitarist, harmonica player and founding member of The Rolling Stones. In the early '60's Brian met Brian Jones on West London's blues circuit. Jones was forming a band, and asked Knight to sing. Geoff Bradford joined the line-up on guitar along with pianist Ian Stewart, bassist Dick Taylor (later of The Pretty Things) and a succession of drummers. It was the beginning of The Rolling Stones. Knight wanted to pursue the Muddy Waters school of blues, while Brian Jones favoured Bo Diddley and Chuck Berry styles. Brian Knight left, and Mick Jagger and Keith Richards later teamed up with Brian Jones, and the rest is history. Brian Knight formed a new band, Blues By Six with Charlie Watts on drums. They gained prestigious London residencies at the Marquee and 100 Club, often supported by "The Rollin' Stones Group". In 1966, exhausted from constant touring, Brian Knight quit making music until the early 70's when he was reunited with Geoff Bradford in a band called The Bradford - Knight Blues Band. A high profile act on the blues circuit, they often welcomed Rick Wakeman and other assorted luminaries onstage for impromptu lunacy! Brian had a unique 'attacking' style of slide and harmonica playing, and from the 70's - 90's he shone as a blues star, performing with Fairport Convention's Bruce Rowland, Ian Stewart (the sixth Stone), Charlie Watts, Peter Green, Dana Gillespie, Paul Jones, Ronnie Lane, Georgie Fame, Zoot Money, Chris Farlowe, Micky Moody, and many more. The gigs he generally played were good venues / festivals in the UK and Europe including a great gig with BB King at The Gosport Festival in the South of England. Even though he played mostly on numerous sessions by other artists, he released a few solo albums. Brian died on September 25th 2001 and should be remembered and celebrated as one of Britain's blues legends. "Good Time Down The Road" was Brian's first solo album, recorded after he'd spent several years away from the UK Blues/R&B circuit. He teamed up with a strong studio band for the album including session guitarist Jon McLoughlin, bassist Ray Bailey and drummer Steve Bray. "Good Time Down the Road" features original material mixed with some "no frills" cover versions of standard blues tracks like "High Heel Sneakers," "Hoochie Coochie Man," "My Babe," and "Meet Me at the Bottom." Despite receiving good reviews the album only made a minor impact due to bad timing problems by record distributors. It is sad that Brian never got the credit he deserved. On his trademark copper topped guitars, he was innovative in his guitar technique, and was one of Britain's greatest slide players. The 2003 CD re-issue includes four live tracks recorded with guitarist Toni Vines, at the 1995 Buxton Alexis Korner Memorial Concert. Try and listen to Brian's "A Dark Horse" album [All tracks @ 160 Kbps: File size = 68.8 Mb]

TRACKS / COMPOSERS

1 Hi-Heel Sneakers - Higginbotham
2 Hoochie Coochie Man - Dixon
3 99 Years - Fuller
4 My Babe - Jacobs
5 Good Times Down the Road - Knight
6 Meet Me at the Bottom - Weaver
7 Honey Bee - Waters
8 She Caught the Katy - Mahal
9 Any Way You Want Me to Do - Reed
10 Tired, Broke and Busted - Davis, Dixon

MUSICIANS

Brian Knight - Guitar, Slide Guitar, Harmonica, Vocals
Jon McLoughlin - Guitar
Toni Vines - Guitar on Bonus Tracks
Ray Bailey - Bass
Steve Bray - Drums

BIO

Brian Knight, who has died of cancer aged 61, was a wonderful guitarist who came from that late-1950s repertory company of musicians who provided the cast for the 60s British rhythm and blues boom, but achieved little fame - or money - from it. At the beginning of the 60s, he met Brian Jones at an Ealing r 'n' b club. Jones was forming a band, and Brian became its vocalist; but Brian was a devotee of Muddy Waters, while Jones favoured Chuck Berry, and down such sectarian divisions the band plunged. Jones departed for what became the Rolling Stones while Brian created Blues By Six (BBS). Electric blues was supplanting the "trad" jazz craze, and in clubs BBS - featuring drummer Charlie Watts - became immensely popular, and also backed touring American bluesmen. Overworked Watts, still holding down a day job, moved on, to Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated. Brian was working class, born in north-west London. In the early 1950s, a radio era dominated by crooners, what impressed him was the black American blues singer Josh White, and interest had been sparked. In the mid-1950s, he got his first job as a panel beater in a London garage. Also employed there was the pioneer British blues harmonica player, Cyril Davies. Davies invited Brian to visit the Wardour Street Roundhouse pub - the venue for Davies and Korner's London Skiffle Club and the London Blues and Barrelhouse Club. It was there that Brian heard Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, and Muddy Waters. He was there the night that Big Bill Broonzy had to be extricated from a passionate, if over-enthusiastic, Margaret Mead, the anthropologist, and he helped cart Bill off to my Waterloo flat. In those days, aficionados of American music headed to its source by the cheapest route, by signing up on a merchant ship. So, like the jazzman Ken Colyer, a New Orleans enthusiast, Brian headed west. He spent two years in the US coastal trade, from the Gulf of Mexico to Maine, learning guitar and absorbing the music, visiting black clubs and gospel halls. Back home in 1957 he played his first gig, at the White Hart in Southall. He turned down an invitation from Korner to join Blues Incorporated, as a vocalist. But then came Brian Jones and BBS. The times did not treat Brian kindly. In 1964 Cyril Davies died of leukaemia. Two years later an exhausted Brian quit the music business and bought a garage. In 1967 he married Davies's widow, Marie. He continued to work with bands, perfecting a slide guitar technique that earned the respect of musicians like Ronnie Wood, Peter Green and Eric Clapton - who recorded with him. And then there was Terry and McGhee. Brian had the habit of showing up on their tours - and at their after-show jam sessions. One night, at the Half Moon pub in Putney in 1975, the two Americans were playing when in walked Brian. McGhee put down his guitar, and switched to piano. He was not playing, he announced, when "there was a proper guitarist" around. In his later years he played acoustic guitar and harmonica in East Anglian pubs, inviting local musicians to join him on stage. Brian was an outstanding musician, and if his life history was closer to those of the black Americans who were his inspiration than those of the rock stars who admired him, well, that is perhaps the way he would have preferred it. He is survived by Marie, their two daughters and his stepdaughter and stepson. Brian Knight by & © John Pilgrim - Thursday December 6, 2001 © Guardian News and Media Limited 2008 © 2011, all rights reserved

Larry Coryell

2012-01-27T17:34:00.001+01:00

Larry Coryell - Fallen Angel - 1993 - CTI Records

On Fallen Angel, Larry Coryell teams up with arranger Don Sebesky to produce a wide-ranging album full of sampled sounds and programmed tracks in an attempt to mix the old CTI sound of the '70s with the production techniques and rhythms of the '90s. "Inner City Blues" kicks things off with great promise, as Coryell jams over a pre-programmed rhythm track with background vocalists. On "(Angel on Sunset) Bumpin' on Sunset," he improvises along with a sampled Wes Montgomery, then turns Erroll Garner's classic "Misty" into a mid-tempo reggae jaunt through which he and pianist Mulgrew Miller travel lightly. The CTI connection is brought to the forefront with a remake of Deodato's "2001" hit called "Thus Spoke Z," on which the famous theme is implied but never stated. Other highlights include a funky, angular tribute called "Monk's Corner," Sebesky's attractive "I Remember Bill" and the solo "Westerly Wind." There are also two pleasant smooth jazz vocal pieces at the front of the album, the beautiful ballad, "Fallen," a duet between vocalists Klyde Jones and Jeanie Bryson, and the funky made-for-radio "Never Never," featuring saxophonist Richard Elliot and a vocal from Ms. Jones. Fallen Angel was obviously an attempt to find Larry Coryell a place on the smooth jazz playlist, a task it didn't really accomplish. While it is not likely to appease those who bemoan the guitarist's failure to live up to his initial promise, it can be enjoyed if taken on its own terms. © Jim Newsom © 2012 Rovi Corporation. All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/album/fallen-angel-r193718/review

"Fallen Angel" is a mix of standards like Stardust, Misty, Stella By Starlight plus two original Coryell compositions.You will notice the absence of a rhythm section and in most cases bass, drums and chords are all programmed by CTI house arranger Don Sebesky. Jim Newsom of allmusic.com noted that this album was an attempt to help Larry Coryell achieve a higher profile in commercial mainstream smooth jazz. There are a few guest musicians and vocalists on the album including Jeanie Bryson who sings duet with Klyde Jones on "Fallen". Jeanie notes that "Don Sebesky, who produced and arranged this record, heard me on our New York area jazz station (WBGO), and recruited me to sing the title tune, "Fallen", as a duet with Klyde Jones. The band did several fun gigs around New York City , and Larry was a gas to work with. Don would later involve me in another wonderful , high-profile project". This album has been criticized in many quarters for being too commercial, too "studio manufactured", and lacking the more "serious" jazz guitar side of Larry Coryell that can be heard in albums like "Fairyland" or "Spaces". It's a mistake to be too orthodox in one's views on jazz. "Fallen Angel" was a successful attempt by Larry Coryell to do something "different". It definitely does not fall into the often bland, elevator style smooth jazz genre, and the album is HR by A.O.O.F.C. A review on Amazon says that "Larry Coryell is one of those talented jazz guitarists who can doze on with MOR smooth jazz material for whole albums - truly lazy playing - but then send a shiver down your spine with one blistering track out of the blue, displaying the man's true heritage with the greats and showing just what he's capable of. So it is with Fallen Angel. Although there are a number of prime examples of Coryell's craft on this collection (Angel on Sunset, Pieta, Thus Spoke Z, Stella by Starlight), the best by miles is Monk's Corner. This is a true original - the master extracting a range of grunts, groans, vibratos and impossible notes from his instrument while dueting with Ted Rosenthal's fractured piano melody, while the rhythm section plays an insistent beat to perfection. Glorious playing to extend the art, and a haunting riff to boot. 4.0 out of 5 stars Worth buying for Monk's Corner alone, 4 Feb 2004 By & © Andy Millward (Tiptree, Essex, UK) © 1996-2012, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fallen-Angel-Larry-Coryell/dp/B00003L2CN" Listen to Larry's incredible playing on his "Monk, 'Trane, Miles & Me" album

TRACKS / COMPOSERS

1 Inner City Blues - James Nyx, Marvin Gaye 3:31
2 Fallen - Lauren Wood 3:45
3 Never Never - Lyrics by Klyde Jones & Music by Don Sebesky 3:34
4 Angel On Sunset - Don Sebesky, Wes Montgomery 5:40
5 Stardust - Hoagy Carmichael, Mitchell Parish 5:55
6 Misty - Erroll Garner 4:32
7 I Remember Bill - Don Sebesky 3:07
8 Pieta - Sergei Rachmaninoff 5:53
9 Thus Spoke Z - Richard Strauss 4:49
10 Stella By Starlight - Ned Washington, Victor Young 4:31
11 Monk's Corner - Don Sebesky, Larry Coryell 6:26
12 Westerly Wind - Larry Coryell 2:04
13 The Moors - Larry Coryell 2:53

MUSICIANS

Larry Coryell - Electric & Acoustic Guitar
Romero Lubambo - Electric & Acoustic Guitar
Wes Montgomery - Electric Guitar (Sampled) on "Angel On Sunset"
Dori Caymmi - Acoustic Guitar, Vocals
Nico Assumpção - Bass
Luiz Avellar - Keyboards
Don Sebesky, Jamie Lawrence - Synthesizer
Mulgrew Miller - Piano on "Stardust", "Misty", & "Thus Spoke Z"
Ted Rosenthal - Piano on "Pieta", & "Monk's Corner"
Billy Cobham - Drums
Tiao Oliveira, Monica Millet - Percussion
Donald Harrison Alto & Soprano Sax.
Richard Elliot - Tenor Sax. on "Fallen", & "Never Never"
Chris Hunter - Alto Sax. on "Thus Spoke Z"
Márcio Montarroyos - Trumpet
Klyde Jones - Vocals on "Inner City Blues", "Fallen", & "Never Never"
Jeanie Bryson - Vocals on "Fallen"

ABOUT LARRY CORYELL

As one of the pioneers of jazz-rock -- perhaps the pioneer in the ears of some -- Larry Coryell deserves a special place in the history books. He brought what amounted to a nearly alien sensibility to jazz electric guitar playing in the 1960s, a hard-edged, cutting tone, phrasing and note-bending that owed as much to blues, rock and even country as it did to earlier, smoother bop influences. Yet as a true eclectic, armed with a brilliant technique, he is comfortable in almost every style, covering almost every base from the most decibel-heavy, distortion-laden electric work to the most delicate, soothing, intricate lines on acoustic guitar. Unfortunately, a lot of his most crucial electric work from the '60s and '70s is missing on CD, tied up by the erratic reissue schemes of Vanguard, RCA and other labels, and by jazz-rock's myopically low level of status in the CD era (although that mindset is slowly changing). According to Coryell, his interest in jazz took hold at the age of four, and after his family moved from Galveston to the state of Washington three years later, he began to learn the guitar, studying records by Tal Farlow, Barney Kessel and Johnny Smith. As a teenager, he played in a band led by pianist Mike Mandel, and by 1965, he gave up his journalism studies at the University of Washington in order to try his luck in New York as a musician. Before the year was out, he attracted much attention jamming in Greenwich Village and replaced Gabor Szabo in Chico Hamilton's band. In 1966, he made a startling recorded debut on Hamilton's The Dealer album, where his blues and rock ideas came to the fore, and that year, he also played with a proto-jazz-rock band, the Free Spirits. Coryell's name spread even further in 1967-68 when he played with Gary Burton's combo, and he was one of the most prominent solo voices on Herbie Mann's popular Memphis Underground album (recorded in 1968). He, Mandel and Steve Marcus formed a group called Foreplay in 1969 (no relation to today's Fourplay), and by 1973, this became the core of the jazz-rock band Eleventh House, which after a promising start ran aground with a string of albums of variable quality. In 1975, Coryell pulled the plug, concentrating on acoustic guitar and turning in a prolific series of duo and trio sessions with the likes of Philip Catherine, Emily Remler, John Scofield, Joe Beck, Steve Khan and John McLaughlin. In the mid-'80s, Coryell toured with McLaughlin and Paco DeLucia, and in 1986 participated in a five-way guitar session with his old idol Farlow, Scofield, Larry Carlton and John Abercrombie for the Jazzvisions series. Coryell has also recorded with Stephane Grappelli, Charles Mingus, Sonny Rollins and Kenny Barron, and has taped Brazilian music with Dori Caymmi for CTI, mainstream jazz for Muse, solo guitar for Shanachie and Acoustic Music, and (for Nippon Phonogram in Japan) an album of classical transcriptions of music by Stravinsky and Rimsky-Korsakov. In other words, Coryell will probably remain as eclectic as ever throughout his career, which will no doubt make life difficult for musicologists with a yen for pigeonholing. Coryell's career in the 21st century has been just as active. 2004 saw the release of Tricycles, an excellent trio date with drummer Paul Wertico and bassist Mark Egan. Electric from 2005 found Coryell playing jazz standards and rock anthems with Lenny White on drums and Victor Bailey on electric bass. In 2006, he released the performance album Laid Back & Blues: Live at the Sky Church in Seattle. © Richard S. Ginell © 2011 Rovi Corporation. All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/artist/larry-coryell-p6340/biography

Stephen Bennett

2012-01-27T17:26:00.001+01:00

Stephen Bennett - Alert the Authorities - 2008 - Cimirron/Rainbird

Nine covers of old standards and three originals by the master of the harp guitar, Stephen Bennett. This guy is talented beyond belief. That talent doesn't include his vocals! Stephen has said that "I am delighted to proclaim that no pitch altering technology was used for this project. To make it still sound ok, I have intentionally de-tuned the guitars so that you don't notice now bad the vocals really are...one does what what one must...". We believe you Stephen. Thousands wouldn't! Listen to Stephen's "Reflections" album, and check out his sensational "Beatles Acoustic Guitar Solos" For more great acoustic guitar, check out Laurence Juber on this blog

TRACKS / COMPOSERS

1. The Garden Song - Tray Eppes 2:48
2. Tuxedo Junction - Hawkins & Feyne 2:49
3. It's Only A Paper Moon - Arlen & Harburg 2:38
4. I'm Beginning To See The Light - George, Hodges, Ellington, James 2:19
5. What A Wonderful World - Thiele & Weiss 4:43
6. Hernando's Hideaway - Adler & Ross 3:03
7. It's You I Like - Fred Rogers 2:42
8. Mind's All Troubled Blues - Reverend Gary Davis 3:38
9. Dumpster Love - Stephen Bennett & Steve Taylor (some lyrics) 3:22
10. On The Occasion Of Our Anniversary - Stephen Bennett 3:11
11. Just Like You - Pete Wernick 3:30
12. Thanks - Stephen Bennett 4:32

MUSICIANS

Stephen Bennett - Acoustic, Harp, Slide, & National Guitar: Clarinet on "I'm Beginning To See The Light"
Jimmy Masters - Upright Bass on "I'm Beginning To See The Light"

BIO

Stephen Bennett is an extraordinary musician, an acknowledged master of the harp guitar, a challenging teacher, a gifted composer, and a performer of astounding sensitivity. The Toronto Fingerstyle Guitar Association calls him “the Jedi Master of Fingerstyle Guitar”… Stephen has traveled the world and performed with the best. From California to Maine, Texas to Tennessee, as well as around Europe, Canada, Australia and Japan, Stephen has played all sorts of venues and events. He has released 20 recordings of music, along with a couple of DVDs, books and other instructional materials – and he’s always working on something new! The testimony of those who hear Stephen is that his work is the product of both mind and heart, intellectually challenging and emotionally satisfying – - and it is deeply personal, even as it is universal. Listeners have a feeling that they have stepped into the world of the musician, and for a short moment in time, there are only the two of them there. Says one reviewer: “With his ear near the body of the harp guitar, Mr. Bennett gave the impression of a father cradling a newborn baby . . . His performance was imbued with heart and grace.” The producer of a Texas music Festival writes, “Stephen’s music draws the listener in. He has the ability to make you feel as though you are a part of the music he is making. From France: “Stephen’s compositions are so beautiful, filled with great emotion and great sensitivity. He is one of those musicians who serve the music, and only the music.” “When I first heard him playing a few years ago in France, I felt like I had been pushed into a different world, where the lost emotions come back to your heart and make it beat in a different way. What Stephen can do, and few artists have this gift, is to speak directly to your heart and to move your best feelings!” Pierpaolo Adda, music journalist and festival promoter, Italy.“The image of Stephen Bennett embracing his harp guitar is the one that tends to linger. The fact that Stephen is only too happy to champion the cause of the harp guitar may inadvertently obscure his abilities on the six-string instrument. In what is becoming known as the Golden Age of Guitar Luthiery, it’s easy to overlook the fact that this is also the Golden Age of Guitar Playing. With six strings or more, as one of the most original and prolific composers and arrangers for the guitar on the current scene, Stephen Bennett is clearly a part of the latter heritage.” S. Rekas – Mel Bay Publications Stephen is also is the founder of the Harp Guitar Gathering, an event that celebrated its seventh season in October of 2009. The HGG seeks to celebrate all things harp guitar as it brings players, luthiers, scholars and fans together for a weekend of performances, workshops and camaraderie.Whether playing his great-grandfather’s harp guitar, slide on his National resonator guitar, or a standard six-string, Stephen Bennett is a musician to hear. His music has won awards and critical praise. In live performance and on record, his diverse musical influences and interests are joined in a life-long love affair with the sound of guitar strings. © 2009 Harp Guitar. Conforms to W3C Standard XHTML & CSS 2.8.6, http://truefiretv.net/sites/harpguitar2/?page_id=51

MORE ABOUT STEPHEN BENNETT

Stephen Bennett is one of the greatest performers and songwriters that we have ever had the pleasure of knowing. His music moves and inspires us to no end. Guitarist Stephen Bennett was born in Oregon, grew up in New York and has lived in Virginia for the last twenty-five years. Since his 1987 win at the National Flatpicking Championship, held in Winfield, Kansas, USA, he has come to be known as a guitar master, one who consistently garners critical praise and audience enthusiasm for his recordings and live performances. He is the only person to ever win awards in both flatpicking and fingerpicking styles in the nearly 30-year history of the National Guitar Championships. His arrangement and performance of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite has been played on radio stations around the United States and is regarded in some quarters as the alternative version. As one of the world's only performers on the too long neglected harp guitar, Stephen has created arrangements of classic tunes and composed new music as well. Three of his harp guitar compositions have been included in compilations on the Narada label, with the latest due out in March of 2001. Three other of his pieces have been licensed by the Bose Corporation. Stephen performs regularly around the US and recently in Europe as well, including a recent performance on Garrison Keillor's A Prairie Home Companion. Armed with a standard six-string, an old National steel resonator guitar, his harp guitar, a broad repertoire, and thirty-five years of guitar playing experience, Stephen Bennett engages his audiences with an entertaining show of first-rate musicianship. © http://www.pick-uptheworld.com/featuredartist.html

Isotope

2012-01-27T01:04:00.001+01:00

Isotope - Illusion - 1974 - Gull

Gary Boyle formed the great jazz-rock band, Isotope in 1973 with three other experienced jazz musicians, Nigel Morris, Brian Miller & Jeff Clyne (ex Nucleus). The band released three good albums during the mid 70s, which were well received, with some reviews comparing the band to John McLaughlin's Mahavishnu Orchestra. "Illusion" is a great album in the Canterbury influenced progressive jazz rock fusion mould. For music in the same vein, search this blog for albums by Ian Carr/Ian Carr's Nucleus. Three albums worth hearing are Gary Boyle's wonderful "Games" album, Brand X's "Moroccan Roll" album, and Nucleus' "Labyrinth" album. Check out Isotope & Gary Boyle's - "Live At The BBC" album on this blog. Also check out Hugh Hopper on this blog

TRACKS / COMPOSERS

A1 Illusion - Gary Boyle 3:54
A2 Rangoon Creeper - Laurence Scott 5:54
A3 Spanish Sun - Gary Boyle 7:45
A4 E-Dorian - Hugh Hopper 2:00

B1 Frog - Gary Boyle 2:30
B2 Sliding Dogs, Lion Sandwich - Hugh Hopper 5:59
B3 Golden Section - Hugh Hopper 5:13
B4 Marin County Girl - Gary Boyle 2:06
B5 Lily Kong - Hugh Hopper 2:33
B6 Temper Tantrum - Laurence Scott 3:42

BAND

Gary Boyle - Guitar
Hugh Hopper - Bass
Laurence Scott - Keyboards
Nigel Morris - Drums

BIO

The more-jazz-than-rock fusion band Isotope may have not had the longest career, but they played an integral part in the Canterbury Scene with some of its key players spending time in the band. Guitarist Gary Boyle had been playing in Dusty Springfield's band for a couple of years before he caught the prog rock bug. He got it while playing in Brian Auger & the Trinity and afterward decided to go back to school to further his musical studies. After leaving school he played with Keith Tippett and Mike Gibbs, but it was in Stomu Yamash'ta's East West band that he met drummer Nigel Morris. The two formed Isotope in 1973 and soon bassist Jeff Clyne was onboard. The band's self-titled debut appeared in 1974, followed soon after by Clyne's departure. Former East West bassist Hugh Hopper joined the band in March of 1974, the same year Boyle was to place third in the category of "Best British Guitarists" in Melody Maker's reader poll. Keyboardist Laurence Scott was added to the band for 1975's Illusion and the band gathered more fans on a U.K. tour supporting Gong. Hopper and Scott left the band and were replaced by bassist Dan K. Brown and two keyboardists — Frank Roberts and Zoe Kronberger — for 1976's Deep End. Management and record company struggles caused the band to break up in 1977. The See for Miles label reissued the band's albums in the mid-'90s and Hux unearthed two radio sessions for 2004's Live at the BBC. © David Jeffries, allmusic.com

BIO (WIKI)

Hugh Hopper and Laurence Scott (b. 7 Feb 1946) respectively. After touring, this new line-up recorded Illusion. Further touring followed and there were various personnel changes. Deep End was recorded in 1976 with two keyboardists, Zoe Kronberger and Frank Roberts. Hopper played on one track, but the bass was otherwise handled by Dan K. Brown. Boyle subsequently focused on a solo career.

MORE ABOUT ISOTOPE

This British jazz-rock group was founded in June 1972 by guitarist Gary Boyle, who had previously played with Dusty Springfield, Brian Auger and Eclection, as well as guesting on numerous jazz sessions. The original line-up of the band featured former Nucleus bassist Jeff Clyne, as well as two unknown young players he'd met on the jazz circuit : keyboardist/composer Brian Miller (who wrote almost all the tracks on the band's eponymous debut) and drummer Nigel Morris. The original line-up briefly featured Stan Sulzmann (sax) and Aureo De Souza (percussion°. The band soon signed with Gull Records in England and Motown (!) in the USA, and started touring colleges and clubs around Britain, as well as touring on the continent - France, Germany and Scandinavia. In March 1974, shortly after the release of the first album, a clash of egos led to Miller and Clyne suddenly leaving. They were replaced by Laurence Scott, a semi-pro keyboard player, and Hugh Hopper, whom Boyle had met while working with Stomu Yamash'ta. The new line-up embarked on a UK tour in June and July, followed by dates in Germany and the Netherlands in August. They then entered the studio, with Poli Palmer (ex-Eclection and Family) producing, to record Illusion. The writing was now shared equally between Boyle, Scott and Hopper. Intensive touring in Britain followed, and a US tour was undertaken in March and April 1975. Percussionist Aureo DeSouza was then added to the line-up for a European tour, and drummer Jeff Seopardie also reinforced the band for British dates later that year. In December 1975, Scott left and was replaced by Frank Roberts. At that point, management problems resulted in a very difficult financial situation and Hugh Hopper decided to leave. In March 1976, a third album, Deep End, was recorded (production duties were handled by Brand X's Robin Lumley), with Hopper playing on only his own composition "Fonebone". Bassist Dan K. Brown and second keyboardist Zoe Kronberger were added at that point, but gigs became sparser. There was one last line-up change in 1977, with only Boyle surviving from previous incarnations, alongside Geoff Downes on keyboards (later in Yes and Asia), Steve Shone on bass and Colin Wilkinson on drums, but this new Isotope never went beyond the rehearsal stage, only recording a couple of radio sessions. Gary Boyle subsequently embarked on a solo career. © http://calyx.perso.neuf.fr/bands/related.html

GARY BOYLE BIO

b. 24 November 1941, Patna, India. After learning to play the guitar during childhood, Boyle attended the Leeds College of Music in the north of England in the early 60s. He then joined Eclection, a folk rock band. His first high-profile engagement was a mid-60s spell with singer Dusty Springfield. He then made concert tours of the UK, Europe and the USA, and also sometimes recorded, backing artists such as Brian Auger and Julie Driscoll. In the early 70s he was a London-based session musician, appearing on numerous albums as well as playing on radio, television and on film scores, together with a stint composing jingles. Among artists with whom he recorded during this period are Mike Gibbs, Bert Jansch, Keith Tippett, Mike Westbrook, Norma Winstone and Stomu Yamash'ta. He also backed saxophonist Eddie Harris for a gig at Ronnie Scott's club. Despite all this activity, Boyle was eager to lead his own band and in 1973 he formed Isotope with, initially, Jeff Clyne (bass), Brian Miller (keyboards) and Nigel Norris (drums). During the two years of this jazz-fusion band's existence there were national and international tours and a number of albums. In the late 70s, now a solo artist, Boyle was voted New Star in the Melody Maker Poll and his first solo album, The Dancer, won the Pop/Jazz Award at the Montreux International Jazz Festival. In the early 80s Boyle was resident for a while in Denmark, where he recorded further albums. Back in the UK, he formed a trio he named Triple Echo with which group he featured the Roland Guitar Synthesizer. He also became deeply involved in education and has taught at several establishments, chiefly in the north west of England, including Wigan & Leigh College and the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts. In addition to jazz rock fusion, Boyle has also sustained an interest in traditional folk music. Other artists with whom Boyle appeared over the years are John Etheridge, Jim Mullen and Eberhard Weber. In the early 00s, in addition to leading his own trio, he was also co-leader of the Gary Boyle/Nat Birchall Quartet and sometimes worked in duo with singer Brigitte Escobar. © IPC MEDIA 1996-2009, All rights reserved

Laurence Juber

2012-01-26T17:34:00.001+01:00

Laurence Juber - Solo Flight - 1990 - Beachwood Records

Laurence Juber was a young working musician in London in the '70's when Paul McCartney asked him to become Wings’ lead guitarist. There's a guy who knows a good musician when he hears one! Laurence was three years with Wings. In that time he won a Best Rock Instrumental Grammy for "Rockestra" from Wings' Back To The Egg album. After Wings split in 1981, Laurence began a new career as a solo artist, composer and arranger. He is now acknowledged as one of the world's most accomplished top finger-style acoustic players and guitar virtuosos, being voted No.1 by Fingerstyle Guitar magazine. He is also a highly sought after session musician. His guitar technique is amazing, and his melodic flourishes, and even the way he plays single notes are totally unique. His "LJ Plays the Beatles" was voted one of Acoustic Guitar magazine’s top 10 all-time acoustic albums. He has several other extraordinary albums on release like his "Guitarist" album, and his "Groovemasters" album with Preston Reed. He regularly tours with the great Al Stewart, and can be heard on Al's "Between The Wars" album. "Solo Flight" is HR by A.O.O.F.C. The album contains an eclectic mix of blues, jazz, and folk. There are fourteen original solo guitar instrumentals. The ex-Wings guitarist has released a few masterpieces demonstrating his total command of the instrument, and is one of the greatest acoustic guitar players of modern times. Check out his awe inspiring "LJ Plays the Beatles, Vol. 2". Buy his amazing "Altered Reality" album. For acoustic guitar in the same vein, check out Stephen Bennett's awe inspiring "Beatles Acoustic Guitar Solos". Search this blog for other releases. [All tracks @ 320 Kbps: File size = 94.7 Mb]

TRACKS

1."A Bit of a George" - 2:40
2."Breath of Air" - 2:50
3."The Stepney Two Step" - 2:13
4."Tombeau (Elegy)" - 1:54
5."I'll Think of You & Smile" - 2:58
6."Open for Business" - 3:00
7."Solo Flight" - 2:13
8."In Your Arms" - 3:41
9."Ferdinand's Lute" - 2:47
10."Elevations of the Heart" - 3:22
11."This Process (Is a Process)" - 3:52
12."Joanna" - 2:43
13."Barnet Fair" - 5:27
14."Slow Dance" - 3:04

All tracks composed by Laurence Juber

ABOUT LAURENCE JUBER

Acoustic guitarist, composer, and producer Laurence Juber, known by many of his fans simply as "LJ," was born and raised in London. By the time he was 13, he began to earn money by performing at local get-togethers. A couple of years later he took up the study of classical guitar and then went on to earn a music degree from the London University, Goldsmith College. He also performed as a soloist with the National Youth Jazz Orchestra. Around the mid-'70s, Juber found work as a session player. He perfected his skills as a variable guitarist along the way and earned a respected name for himself in the profession. In 1978 he joined the Paul McCartney group Wings as lead guitarist, where he spent the next two years. During this time Juber won a Grammy award for Best Rock Instrumental for the tune "Rockestra" off the album Back to the Egg. In the early '80s Juber left his homeland behind and moved to Los Angeles. He easily slipped back into session work. He did a lot of work for hit television shows like Home Improvement, Seventh Heaven, Boy Meets World, and Roseanne, as well as noted movies such as Dirty Dancing, Splash, Doc Hollywood, Pocahontas, Snow Day, Good Will Hunting, and many others. In 1990 Juber signed with the Beachwood Records label, which belonged to fellow artist and friend James Lee Stanley. That very year Juber recorded his solo debut album, Solo Flight. It was followed three years later by Naked Guitar, and then by Winter Guitar in 1998. In 1999 Juber was named as the number one Fingerstyle Guitarist of the Year. In between numerous tours, he released three new albums for 2000 -- LJ Plays the Beatles, Naked Solos, and The Collection -- each recorded under the Solid Air Records label. © Charlotte Dillon © 2011 Rovi Corporation. All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/artist/laurence-juber-p26582/biography

BIO (WIKIPEDIA)

By his own account, Juber began playing guitar the week that "I Want to Hold Your Hand" by The Beatles was released. Beginning on a cheap acoustic guitar, he learned to read music early, figuring out the system of music notation for himself. He began to earn money playing the guitar at 13, and began to study classical guitar at the age of 15. Enraptured by the sounds on records of the mid- to late-60's, he set his sights on becoming a session guitarist in London's music studios. He earned his music degree at London University (Goldsmith College) where he expanded his horizons playing the lute. Upon graduation, he immediately began work as a session guitarist, working on his first project with producer George Martin on an album for Cleo Laine. Juber gave up a lucrative and highly successful studio career when invited to join Paul McCartney and Wings. He played on recordings that were to become Back to the Egg, as well as the subsequent tour. From these sessions he garnered his first Grammy Award, winning Best Rock Instrumental for the track "Rockestra Theme" from Back to the Egg. He was miscredited as Lawrence Tuber on the album sleeve. From this period dates his first solo album Standard Time (only released on vinyl). Ex-fellow Wings members Paul McCartney and Denny Laine played along on the track Maisie. When Wings disbanded, Juber moved to the United States of America. In New York City he met his future wife, Hope, and soon moved to her native California. He subsequently resumed work as a studio musician and played guitar for numerous television shows, including Happy Days and Family Ties, and for movies, perhaps most famously playing the James Bond theme for the movie The Spy Who Loved Me. In 1990, he released his second solo album, Solo Flight. During the next decade he would begin to explore altered tunings. In 2000, Juber released the solo album LJ plays the Beatles and The Collection and in 2003 the album Guitarist was released to critical acclaim. Juber's credentials as a top-tier fingerstyle guitarist continue to grow. Having been voted "Guitarist of the Year" by readers of Fingerstyle Guitar magazine as well as one of the top acoustic players of all time by Acoustic Guitar magazine, Juber is an ambassador for his instrument as well as his own music. He has released nineteen critically acclaimed CD's to date, and has earned a second Grammy for Best Pop Instrumental for his solo guitar arrangement of "The Pink Panther Theme" on the CD Henry Mancini: Pink Guitar. Juber has also released a series of instructional CD's that teach basic music theory and arrangement techniques for guitarists. In addition to his own recording and performances, Laurence Juber has produced and played on Al Stewart's albums Between the Wars (1995), Down in the Cellar (2000), A Beach Full of Shells (2005) and Sparks of Ancient Light (2008), and occasionally performs with Stewart

David Fiuczynski

2012-01-25T13:50:00.001+01:00

David Fiuczynski - KiF Express - 2008 - Fuzelicious Morsels

Highly inventive jazz fusion from the virtuosic and amazing futuristic fusion/jazz-rock guitarist, David "Fuze" Fiuczynski. Phil DiPietro in All About Jazz said of this album that "Kif Express places Fuze beyond cutting-edge, as a conceptualist of daunting capabilities and unwavering vision and one of the instrument's continuously consistent innovators. It shows not only that no other guitarist can do all the things he does, it provides glaring, dazzling proof that they're not even attempting". This album is HR by A.O.O.F.C. Listen to Dave's "Black Cherry Acid Lab" and "Jazzpunk" albums. The "Screaming Headless Torsos" album is @ SCHETO [All tracks @ 320 Kbps: File size = 144 Mb]

TRACKS

1 Shiraz 5:01
2 Moonring Bacchanal 4:44
3 Sakura - Ying Hua 5:39
4 Cumin 7:25
5 Habibi Bounce 5:58
6 Fung Wah Express 6:04
7 Arcadia Finlandis 2:40
8 Phoenix Rising 6:47
9 Almond Pear 8:48
10 Ek Balaam 4:24
11 Sakalahachi 6:23

All tracks composed by David Fiuczynski except "Habibi Bounce" by David Fiuczynski & Lian Amber, and "Fung Wah Express" by David Fiuczynski & Mike Rivard

MUSICIANS

David "Fuze" Fiuczynski - Guitar, Guitar Overdubs, Programming, Additional Beat & Sound Programming
Steve Jenkins - Bass
Mike Rivard - Double Bass on Track 7
Jim Funnell - Keyboards on Tracks 4, 9
Skoota Warner - Drums, Bertram Lehmann - Drums on Track 7
Daniel Sadownick - Percussion on Tracks 2, 3, 4, 9, 10
Nikolay Moiseenko - Alto Saxophone on Tracks 4, 9
Geni Skendo - Shakuhachi Flute on Track 11

SHORT BIO

Guitarist David "Fuze" Fiuczynski came to prominence with the 1994 release, titled Lunar Crush. An outing that also featured the heavy-handed and sweeping sound and style of Hammond B-3 organ specialist John Medeski, of "Medeski, Martin & Wood" fame. Thus, Fiuczynski's angular and often unorthodox phrasing along with ferocious chops and an expansive jazz fusion/rock vernacular alerted more than just a few. The "Fuze" has also recorded with drummer Ronald Shannon Jackson's high-octane ensembles, trumpeter Jack Walrath, New York City "Downtown" composer/saxophonist John Zorn, the late modern jazz pianist Don Pullen, and may others of note. However, the guitarist's Screaming Headless Torsos quartet boasts world-beat rhythms integrated with complex jazz fusion time signatures and blaring psychedelic overtones atop the rhythm section's bone crushing backbeats. Fiuczynski's 1999 effort, Jazz Punk, also serves as an enticing glimpse into the artist's diverse repertoire and willingness to incorporate disparate art forms into his modernist approach. With this release, the "Fuze" demonstrates a tremendous faculty for melding Chopin, John Philip Sousa, Hendrix, and other composers of note, into jazzy, electrified themes and shrewd statements with raw, unaffected firepower. Fiuczynski's 2001 outing titled Amandala was produced and recorded for his FuzeLicious Morsels label, as the artist continues to seek out new terrain while also paralleling his signature mode of execution with forward-thinking methodologies and novel applications. © Glenn Astarita © 2011 Rovi Corporation. All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/artist/david-fiuczynski-p76393/biography

Jay Hooks

2012-01-25T03:20:00.001+01:00

Jay Hooks - Red Line - 2002 - Provogue

Julypm (houstonpress.com/2003-04-24/music/jay-hooks) said that "Blues musicians in the US don't get the recognition here that they deserve. It's not because we are 'spoiled by an excess of worthy talent', but rather exposed to an excess of worthless talent. Those of you with a Lady Gaga or Madonna collection will have no idea what I'm speaking of. Those with a Trower, Hendrix, Winter, Erickson or Gales collection know for sure what I mean".

Jesus himself said that no man is a prophet in his own hometown, and very often that proverb can be applied to musicians as well. Ask Jay Hooks. While the blues-rock shredder plays to audiences of hundreds and even thousands across Europe, it's mostly small clubs and sports bars once his boots hit the sizzling H-town concrete. Even his record label is Dutch. Hooks's third record finds him still exporting his driving brand of Texas blues, one that continues to improve with each release. This hugely talented guitarist's ringing tones and dirty sound recall his heroes Freddie King, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Albert Collins, but Red Line betrays his equal fondness for '70s boogie rockers like Savoy Brown and Humble Pie. The best material here -- "Last Stand," the hook-laden "Findin' My Way" and the danceable "Lowlands" -- affords him breathing room for lightning-fast fret workouts. Aided by the drumming of King's X skin thumper Jerry Gaskill and longtime bassist Maria Del Prete, Hooks's sweaty bar band is firmly grounded in its blue-collar, beer-swilling roots. It's music that doesn't just blow through stop signs -- it runs them down. Other aspects of the package, though, don't fare so well. Hooks's limited vocal skill restricts much of his singing to flat, unemotional tones, and the lyrics rarely stray from traditional blues-rock imagery: lots of being on the road, outlaw behavior, rainstorms and coldhearted women who still give ya fever. One could say that European audiences, in their love and appreciation for real American music played by real Americans, ignorantly make stars out of average talents. But had he never set foot on foreign soil, Jay Hooks would still be considered a top-notch axman in Houston, or any other Yank city. The only reason more people here don't go out to his shows is that we're spoiled by an excess of truly worthy talent. By & © Bob Ruggiero Thursday, Apr 24 2003 © 2012 Houston Press, LP, All rights reserved
http://www.houstonpress.com/2003-04-24/music/jay-hooks/

Jay Hooks has been playing around Houston area and Texas for a long time and this CD gives me the feel that his real element is the live setting. That's not saying that this CD is bad by any means, but the style of music just screams for a live club setting. Hooks started playing guitar when he was ten and was taken with Stevie Ray Vaughn, Johnny Winter and Jimi Hendrix. As a lot of other artists, Jay Hooks spent a few years performing as a sideman honing his chops. The last year before going solo was spent on a countrywide tour with Antone’s recording artist Miss Lavelle White. It always seems that artists who have spent time as a sideman seem to have a little more going for them as they understand the concept of what each member of a band is supposed to do. Bottom Line: Solid Texas rockin blues with lots of guitar work. If your a guitar freak, or you dig Texas style blues, then you should like this CD. the musicianship is good, the vocals work well within the setting, although they are not fantastic. If you like Texas blues, then you should like this CD. There's not a lot of new territory explored here, but Jay Hooks has explored and knows the territory well. These guys should be really good in a live setting based upon the CD. Lots of energy and blues rock attitude. I give it a solid three out of five stars. by & © Robert T. Murphy Review date: February 2004 "This review is copyright © 2004 by Robert T. Murphy, and Blues On Stage at: www.mnblues.com, all rights reserved. Copy, duplication or download prohibited without permission." http://www.mnblues.com/cdreview/2004/jayhook-redline-rm.html

This is the second full-length album of Houston native Jay Hooks for Provogue – Mascot Records. This youngster started his solo career in 1997, after having toured with Miss Lavelle White band, with his debut release “Hooked Up” for Sunburst Records. His first, self-titled, record for Provogue was released in 2000. Amongst his friends are Joe “Guitar” Hughes, Albert Collins and Billy Gibbons; and their influences surely can be heard. Traditional Texas blues (rock) reminding of S.R.V. and Rory Gallagher (“Burning Up”), ZZ Top (“Cold Natural Thang”), and sometimes close to BB King’s vibrato (“Strong Love”).As an extra, the listener gets a well-performed version of Hendrix’ ”Freedom”. Hooks is a well-educated, traditional guitarist, but his vocals could use a bit more fire at times. One of the best songs vocally is “Wicked Wayward Son”, where the voice is just supported by a slide-guitar. The pretty mainstream production by Hadden Sayers is all right, as it fits the music. Together with bass player Delprete, and drummer Gaskill (ex- Kings X), Hooks has managed to deliver a varied album within the borders of traditional blues-rock. © (Cor) Rating: 6.5/10 © Rockezine.com Sep 07, 2002 http://rockezine.com/asp/rez_areview.asp?ID=661&review=Jay%20Hooks%20-%20Red%20Line

The great state of Texas, USA has turned out some of the greatest blues/rock artists of all time. Legends like Albert Collins, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Johnny Winter, Bobby Mack, and many others have produced some phenomenal blues rock. In fact, Texas blues/rock has become a genre unto itself. Jay Hooks can be added to this list. He used to play to audiences of thousands across Europe, and yet when he hit Houston, it was mostly the small bars and club venues where he hung out. He is constantly overlooked as a great blues rock artist, even though he is an experienced and proven performer who has always preserved the great, traditional Texas blues/rock sound. Unlike many of his contemporaries who have "sold out" to playing mediocre "run-of-the mill" commercial blues rock, Jay stayed loyal to the classic roots blues rock sound of the past, the kind of sound that helped to make the incomparable Stevie Ray and others so great. Jay Hooks is one hell of a good axeman, and "Red Line" is a great example of the traditional Texas blues/rock sound with stellar guitar work and a kick ass groove. Jay can be a fiery and passionate guitarist, influenced by greats like Freddie King, SRV, Johnny Winter, and Jimi Hendrix. Jay has said, "I work real hard on perfecting my sound and have no plans of backing off the Hendrix/Vaughan style. I'm only interested in working on strictly guitar driven blues." Jay has had personal problems over the last few years and now only jams occasionally, sometimes with Maria Del Prete. "Red Line" is HR by A.O.O.F.C. Buy his great s/t album. You won't be disappointed. Support real musicians who play real music. Does anyone in the Houston area know if Jay is still playing? [All tracks @ 320 Kbps: File size = 106 Mb]

TRACKS

1 Burnin’’ Up 3.08
2 Last Stand 4.00
3 Once Around The Moon 4.33
4 Cold Natured Thang 2.54
5 Strong Love 4.56
6 Findin’’ My Way 5.14
7 Wicked Wayward Son 2.42
8 Across The Pond 3.11
9 Lowlands 3.13
10 Do Whatcha Gotta Do 4.24
11 Half Hell Half Voodoo 5.19
12 Freedom

BAND

Jay Hooks - Guitar, Vocals
Maria Del Prete - Bass, Vocals
Jerry Gaskill - Drums

SHORT BIO

Houston native Jay Hooks can stand shoulder to shoulder with the long list of Texas electric blues guitar legends he emulates. He grew up playing guitar on the Houston bar circuit throughout the late '70s and '80s, earning his stripes by playing in the shadow of local legends like Albert Collins and Billy Gibbons. Taking a nod from these sources, Hooks' was able to incorporate the highly typified electric blues/rock sound of Stevie Ray Vaughan with his affinity for more traditional blues influences. He received his first major exposure after he was asked to join Texas R&B die-hard "Miss" Lavelle White on a series of national tours. Hooks intermittently toured as White's guitarist for about a year before putting together a backing band and going solo in 1997. He went into the studio as a band leader and came out with his solo debut, Hooked Up. The album features a collection of gritty, rock-tinged electric blues numbers that didn't stray far outside the conventions that his aforementioned guitar heroes had brought into an international spotlight. That same spotlight also found Hooks at the end of the '90s when a European record executive by the name of Ed van Zyl heard the record and offered Hooks a contract with international marketing and distribution. The result of the contract was a self-titled sophomore effort that Hooks recorded under the guidance of producer Ben Elliot (whose resumé boasts the likes of Leslie West and Eric Clapton) for Provogue/Mascot Records. Jay Hooks' self-titled full-length recalled the strong regional traditions of Texas' super-charged blues and was released in the fall of 2000. © Nate Cavalieri © 2012 Rovi Corporation. All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/artist/jay-hooks-p443197/biography

MORE

Texas, a place where history vibrates through the land and its images are compelling and timeless, especially for guitar driven blues. From Albert Collins to Johnny Winter to ZZ Top the best music from Texas has always featured a healthy dose of guitar. Now meet Jay Hooks with his powerful blend of slashing guitar and soulful vocals.Jay Hooks the, 30 year old Houston native who in his early years as a musician sought out and befriended a number of blues legends such as Joe "Guitar" Hughes, Albert Collins, and Billy Gibbons. As a teenager Jay hung out with an older crowd of people, and they would take him to see these great blues guitarists. Inevitably that early experience fueled his desire to become a soaring guitar player and vocalist. After a few years of playing guitar with local musicians, Antones recording artist, Miss Lavelle White, approached Jay, and hired him to go on the road throughout the U.S. and Canada in support of her new release; however after a year stint with Miss Lavelle, Jay knew it was time to start his own band. In early 1997, Jay went into Sugar Hills Studios (Houston) with his new band and recorded his debut release "Hooked Up" for Sunburst Records. The CD was released that summer and was well received. After successfully touring his trio throughout the Southwest, Sunburst Records decided to license "Hooked Up" in the European market. That effort caught the attention of Provogue-Mascot record executive, Ed van Zyl, who offered Jay a recording contract. Jay traveled to New York City to record with producer Ben Elliott at Showplace Studios which resulted in the self-titled CD for Provogue-mascot, Jay Hooks, that was released worldwide in the fall of 2000. Ben has recorded blues legends Peter Green, Leslie West and Eric Clapton to name a few. The CD features 12 originals that Jay co-wrote with David Whitehead, and as Jay Hooks so bluntly puts it, "I work real hard on perfecting my sound and have no plans of backing off the Hendrix/Vaughan style. I'm only interested in working on strictly guitar driven blues." This is Jay Hooks - deep-involved feelings with hard driving guitar. After all, when the house lights come up, it ain't what you play; it's how you play. © 2007 Hotburrito http://www.hotburrito.nl/ency/bluesrock/jayhooks.html

Jay Hooks

2012-01-24T18:19:00.001+01:00

Jay Hooks - Hooked Up - 1997 - Sunburst

The great state of Texas, USA has turned out some of the greatest blues/rock artists of all time. Legends like Albert Collins, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Johnny Winter, Bobby Mack, and many others have produced some phenomenal blues rock. In fact, Texas blues/rock has become a genre unto itself. Jay Hooks can be added to this list. He used to play to audiences of thousands across Europe, and yet when he hit Houston, it was mostly the small bars and club venues where he hung out. He is constantly overlooked as a great blues rock artist, even though he is an experienced and proven performer who has always preserved the great, traditional Texas blues/rock sound. Unlike many of his contemporaries who have "sold out" to playing mediocre "run-of-the mill" commercial blues rock, Jay stayed loyal to the classic roots blues rock sound of the past, the kind of sound that helped to make the incomparable Stevie Ray and others so great. Jay Hooks is one hell of a good axeman, and "Hooked Up" is a great example of the traditional Texas blues/rock sound with stellar guitar work and kick ass groove. Jay can be a fiery and passionate guitarist, influenced by greats like Freddie King, SRV, Johnny Winter, and Jimi Hendrix. Jay has said, "I work real hard on perfecting my sound and have no plans of backing off the Hendrix/Vaughan style. I'm only interested in working on strictly guitar driven blues." Jay has had personal problems over the last few years and now only jams occasionally, sometimes with Maria Del Prete. Julypm (houstonpress.com/2003-04-24/music/jay-hooks) said that "Blues musicians in the US don't get the recognition here that they deserve. It's not because we are 'spoiled by an excess of worthy talent', but rather exposed to an excess of worthless talent. Those of you with a Lady Gaga or Madonna collection will have no idea what I'm speaking of. Those with a Trower, Hendrix, Winter, Erickson or Gales collection know for sure what I mean". "Hooked Up" is HR by A.O.O.F.C. Buy his great s/t album. You won't be disappointed. Support real musicians who play real music [All tracks @ 320 Kbps: File size = 80.5 Mb] N.B: Does anyone in the Houston area know if Jay is still playing?

TRACKS / COMPOSERS

1. Greenlight (Ronnie Earl) [3'57'']
2. Ridin' The Blind (Mix Irving Music) [3'57'']
3. Strait Whiskey (J.Hooks, D. Whitehead) [3'31'']
4. All Your Lovin' (Otis Rush) [4'31'']
5. Ako's (Ronnie Earl) [4'09'']
6. I Don't Believe (Don Robey) [3'21'']
7. Right Place Wrong Time (Otis Rush) [5'02'']
8. Smothered (J.Hooks, D. Whitehead) [4'05'']
9. Villa Nova Junction (Jimi Hendrix) [2'48'']

BAND

Jay Hooks - Guitar, Vocals
Marie Del Prete - Bass, Vocals
Lil Joe Frenchwood - Drums

SHORT BIO

Houston native Jay Hooks can stand shoulder to shoulder with the long list of Texas electric blues guitar legends he emulates. He grew up playing guitar on the Houston bar circuit throughout the late '70s and '80s, earning his stripes by playing in the shadow of local legends like Albert Collins and Billy Gibbons. Taking a nod from these sources, Hooks' was able to incorporate the highly typified electric blues/rock sound of Stevie Ray Vaughan with his affinity for more traditional blues influences. He received his first major exposure after he was asked to join Texas R&B die-hard "Miss" Lavelle White on a series of national tours. Hooks intermittently toured as White's guitarist for about a year before putting together a backing band and going solo in 1997. He went into the studio as a band leader and came out with his solo debut, Hooked Up. The album features a collection of gritty, rock-tinged electric blues numbers that didn't stray far outside the conventions that his aforementioned guitar heroes had brought into an international spotlight. That same spotlight also found Hooks at the end of the '90s when a European record executive by the name of Ed van Zyl heard the record and offered Hooks a contract with international marketing and distribution. The result of the contract was a self-titled sophomore effort that Hooks recorded under the guidance of producer Ben Elliot (whose resumé boasts the likes of Leslie West and Eric Clapton) for Provogue/Mascot Records. Jay Hooks' self-titled full-length recalled the strong regional traditions of Texas' super-charged blues and was released in the fall of 2000. © Nate Cavalieri © 2012 Rovi Corporation. All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/artist/jay-hooks-p443197/biography

Aged 18, bassist, Marie Del Prete was the youngest permanent employee of NASA Johnson Space Center, Awards/Astronaut Selection Office. After 6 years, tired of "pen pushing" she quit when she was offered a 2 year acting/modelling contract. She could have renewed her contract but accepted a job offer from Stubbs Cycles to be the first computer/service writer woman in Houston for a steadier income. Then, Jay Hooks asked her to play bass in his band and sign a 5 record deal. She dropped everything to follow that dream.

Terry Herman Trio (Beatles Related)

2012-01-23T13:55:00.001+01:00

Terry Herman Trio - Blue Michelle - 1984 - Denon

A very early, and very hard to find jazz CD from 1984 of nine instrumental Beatles' covers by the obscure Terry Herman Trio on the Japanese Denon label. There is very little about this band on the net, except that they have released other albums under the name of Teru Sakamoto who seems to be the same "person" as Terry Herman. The album cover contains a hidden picture of The Beatles, with Paul McCartney on the far right. Can anybody please provide some info? The piano by Teru Sakamoto is superb, and there are good extended versions of songs including "And I Love Her", "If I Fell", and "P.S. I Love You". This is a really good jazz album of real interest [All tracks @ 320 Kbps: File size = 71.9 Mb]

TRACKS

1 Michelle 4:33
2 Can't Buy Me Love 4:22
3 If I Fell 6:09
4 And I Love Her 6:54
5 All My Loving 4:44
6 Yesterday 2:10
7 Girl 4:33
8 Here, There And Everywhere 4:47
9 P.S. I Love You 5:59

All songs composed by John Lennon & Paul McCartney

MUSICIANS

Terry Herman = Teru Sakamoto (p)
Kazuyo Yamaguchi (b)
Takahiro Suzuki (ds)

Steve Marriott

2012-01-22T15:42:00.001+01:00

Steve Marriott - Packet Of Three - 1984 - Aura

This 1984 show was recorded on July 6th, 1984 at Dingwalls club in North London by the late Steve Marriott, (ex-leader of the Small Faces and Humble Pie), and his Packet of Three band, and was originally broadcast live on radio. This album has been released under various titles, including "Dingwalls", "Packet of Three: Live" and "Steve Marriott Voice of Humble Pie". Most of these later releases contain extra tracks from the gig. The album doesn't showcase Steve's guitar work, and it's worth listening to the bonus versions of the albums where Steve's guitar is more prominent. Listen to Steve's 1975 "Marriott" album, and Humble Pie's "Smokin'" album [All tracks @ 320 Kbps: File size = 105 Mb]

TRACKS / COMPOSERS

1 What'cha Gonna Do About It? - Potter, Samwell 4:16
2 Bad Moon Rising - Fogerty 6:31
3 All Shook Up - Blackwell, Presley 3:17
4 The Fixer - Marriott, Ridley, Shirley 7:24
5 All or Nothing - Lane, Marriott 5:48
6 Five Long Years - Boyd 7:42
7 I Don't Need No Doctor - Armstead, Ashford, Simpson 12:46

BAND

Steve Marriott - Guitar, Vocals
Jim Leverton - Bass [Juicy Lucy, Fat Mattress, Savoy Brown]
Fallon Williams - Drums

BIO

The frontman for British hitmakers the Small Faces and Humble Pie, singer/guitarist Steve Marriott was born January 30, 1947 in London; a successful child actor, he played the role of the Artful Dodger in the musical Oliver! as a teen, but by the mid-'60s, he was working in a local music shop. There he met bassist Ronnie Lane, agreeing to jam with his band the Pioneers; Marriott soon joined the group full-time and, after adopting a sound influenced by American R&B and a look inspired by Mod fashions, they rechristened themselves the Small Faces. Though best-known in the U.S. for their hit "Itchycoo Park," at home, the Small Faces enjoyed much greater success, reeling off a series of smashes including "All or Nothing," "My Mind's Eye," and "Lazy Sunday" as well as the 1968 classic LP Ogden's Nut Gone Flake. The chart popularity of "Lazy Sunday" rankled Marriott, however -- he'd recorded the song as a joke and it was released despite his objections -- and when the more thoughtful "The Universal" failed to crack the Top 20, his dissatisfaction only increased. Marriott's tenure with the Small Faces ended after he stalked offstage during a New Year's Day 1969 performance; he soon recruited ex-Herd guitarist Peter Frampton to form the hard rock combo Humble Pie, and after months of woodshedding at Marriott's Essex cottage, the group issued its debut single, "Natural Born Boogie," cracking the U.K. Top Five. The LP As Safe as Yesterday Is followed, but again American success eluded Marriott until the release of the 1971 Humble Pie live album Performance: Rockin' the Fillmore, which went gold. Although Frampton left the band soon after, 1972's Smokin' was a smash, reaching the U.S. Top Ten; subsequent efforts failed to achieve the same heights, however, and Humble Pie disbanded in 1975. After the release of the solo Marriott, in 1976, he joined in a Small Faces reunion, then four years later re-formed Humble Pie with original drummer Jerry Shirley; after two LPs, the group again dissolved. Marriott spent the better part of the decade in seclusion, but was planning to reunite with Frampton when he lost his life in a house fire on April 20, 1991. © Jason Ankeny © 2012 Rovi Corporation. All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/artist/steve-marriott-p19169/biography

Various Artists (Beatles Related)

2012-01-21T16:06:00.001+01:00

Various Artists - The Soul Of Lennon & McCartney - 1995 - Dino Entertainment

Great collection of Lennon & McCartney classics covered by Motown artists. Some of these covers are not very well known, e.g the covers by Cissy Houston, Gwen Guthrie, Maxine Brown, and The Five Stairsteps. These Liverpudlian lads had talent to burn. John Lennon & Paul McCartney's songs have been interpreted by thousands of artists in every conceivable music genre. Here are 18 soul covers of John and Paul's songs and no matter how many times these songs are heard, they never fail to impress. The songs are from numerous sources, so SQ varies. [All tracks @ 320 Kbps: File size = 117 Mb]

TRACKS

A1 Let It Be - Aretha Franklin
A2 Hey Jude - Wilson Pickett
A3 Long And Winding Road - Cissy Houston
A4 Come Together - Ike & Tina Turner
A5 In My Life - Richie Havens
A6 Yesterday - P.P. Arnold
A7 I Want You (She's So Heavy) - Sarah Vaughan
A8 Can't Buy Me Love - Ella Fitzgerald
A9 Ticket To Ride - Gwen Guthrie

B1 Day Tripper - Otis Redding
B2 Got To Get Into My Life - Earth, Wind & Fire
B3 We Can Work It Out - Maxine Brown
B4 And I Love Her - The Detroit Emeralds
B5 Lady Madonna - Booker T. & The M.G.s
B6 Dear Prudence - The Five Stairsteps
B7 A Hard Day's Night - Dionne Warwick
B8 Fool On The Hill - The Impressions
B9 Get Back - Al Green

All songs composed by John Lennon & Paul McCartney

Roger Chapman and The Short List

2012-01-20T00:08:00.001+01:00

Roger Chapman and The Short List - Mail Order Magic - 1980 - Line Records

“After a career spanning 30 years, Roger Chapman’s fiery stage presence remains undimmed. He still struts and frets, wringing every syllable from a multicoloured repertoire of rock, soul and ballads. His astounding voice rips through the lyrics, devastating the unsuspecting listener with raw emotion. The sheer power and commitment of his delivery is a revelation to audiences brought up on a diet of blandness and mediocrity. Chappo is both a legend of rock past and a pioneer of rock present, and the story is still very much unfolding…” [From Roger’s Public Relations Dept.]

Roger Chapman's second studio album, Mail Order Magic, was recorded under some tough conditions for the singer. Punk and new wave were sweeping England of any "oldies" acts, and Chapman was having trouble taking root in his own country. In addition, the label to which he had signed was folding, giving him a deadline to finish and release the album. Meanwhile Chapman, still high from the success of continental tours, tried to up the ante by recording with better players, including old Family-mate John Wetton. But lack of finances bumped the sessions from studio to studio, and Terry Barham and Paul Smykle (notable for reggae production) were brought in to stitch together the recordings into a pressable album. Considering all of this, the results were fantastic. The hard-edged rock, especially "Unknown Soldier," suited Chapman's edgy voice best. The Shortlist also served up R&B and even a little experimental music ("Ground Floor" sounds like an early demo of "Higher Ground"). Chapman would find a more comfortable career down the road, but the material would rarely be as convincing and as powerful as this. © Patrick Little © 2012 Rovi Corporation. All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/album/r32694/review

Roger Chapman is a British rock legend, best known for for his spectacular stage presence and amazing powerful vibrato vocals. Roger played with the hugely talented and original British band, Family, (who called it a day in the early 70’s). During their seven year lifespan, Family had achieved an almost unequalled standard of musical output and musicianship. Arguably, at least four of their eight albums can be regarded as rock classics. Family were regarded by critics, and by the public in general, as one of Britain's finest rock bands. John Peel, the late, great BBC Radio 1 DJ, once said that he'd travel any distance to see Chapman perform. Sadly, by the late seventies, Roger had practically disappeared from the music scene.The mechanics of the music business, e.g, glam rock, the dawn of punk, new wave, and romanticism, dictated the demise of many great rock and progressive rock bands, who had dominated the music scene, (especially in Britain), for so long. That is not to say that these new genres did not produce some great bands. However, the musical scene at this time did not suit Roger Chapman's style of music, and never one to bow to commercialism, Chapman went to Germany in the early eighties where he still spends most of his time, and is regarded as a cult figure there. He has also received well deserved Artist of the Year and Lifetime Achievement Awards from the German people. Roger was never one for convention, and has always done his own thing in music with complete disregard for commercialism. "Mail Order Magic" was the second solo album by Roger Chapman and his then band The Shortlist. The production of this album was troublesome and difficult, but a convincing and powerful album was the end product, and HR by A.O.O.F.C. Buy Roger's brilliant 1979 album, "Chappo." It is also a musical education to listen to Family's "Music in a Doll's House," "Bandstand," and "Fearless " albums. Search this blog for related releases [All tracks @ 320 Kbps: File size = 96.7 Mb]

TRACKS / COMPOSERS

A1 Unknown Soldier (Can't Get To Heaven) - Roger Chapman 3:44
A2 He Was She Was - Roger Chapman & Geoff Whitehorn 4:48
A3 Barman - Roger Chapman & Poli Palmer 5:24
A4 Right To Go - Roger Chapman 4:05
A5 Ducking Down- Roger Chapman & Geoff Whitehorn 3:53

B1 Making The Same Mistake - Roger Chapman & Geoff Whitehorn 4:58
B2 Another Little Hurt - Roger Chapman & Tim Hinkley 3:53
B3 Mail Order Magic - Roger Chapman 4:26
B4 Higher Ground - Roger Chapman 4:15
B5 Ground Floor 1:56 - Roger Chapman & Poli Palmer

MUSICIANS

Roger Chapman - Harmonica, Vocals
Geoff Whitehorn - Guitar
Jerome Rimson - Bass, Vocals
John Wetton - Bass
Tim Hinkley - Keyboards
Poli Palmer - Synthesizer
John Halsey, Les Binks, Mitch Mitchell - Drums

BIO

Roger Chapman is best known for his barbed-wire voice, used to front British '70s rock acts Family and Streetwalkers. He began a long-awaited solo career in 1978 that led to over a dozen full-length releases. Never heard of them? It's not surprising: album-wise, he camped out in Germany for 20 years. His first album and tour got high praise in his British homeland, but critics cut into him soon after. When the hassle-free German market beckoned, Chapman began to focus his subsequent work there, where he had become a musical hero, "the working-class artist." Chapman split with his longtime writing partner, Charlie Whitney, after the breakup of Streetwalkers in 1977. He surrounded himself with ace session musicians to cut a debut solo effort, Chappo. It was an album of strong rock that catered to the singer and not the musicians. An appearance on Germany's Rockpalast TV show and the ensuing hit single, "Let's Spend the Night Together," gave Chapman the shot of success he needed, so he set up operations in Germany. Live in Hamburg was a reassuring second album, demonstrating the live energy of this experienced yet stage-crazed performer. Studio albums over the next few years blended straight power rock with funk, R&B, and soul, all topped with Chapman's characteristic vocal style. In the 1981 German Music Awards, Chapman was voted Best Singer, and his Hyenas Only Laugh for Fun won an award. Chapman and his backing band, the Shortlist, released two alter-ego albums in the early '80s as the Riff Burglars. These releases honored roots and classic rock by artists like Chuck Berry, Willie Dixon, and Leiber & Stoller. A lead vocal on Mike Oldfield's 1983 hit "Shadow on the Wall" also added to Chapman's diverse repertoire. Chapman's mid-'80s foray into polished studio sounds did not fare well with his audience. When his extended partnership with guitarist Geoff Whitehorn ran its course, Chapman returned to pure rock form with 1989's Walking the Cat, which featured Alvin Lee and old friend Bob Tench. Two compilations filled a silent period in the mid '90s, but 1996's Kiss My Soul was a comeback for the guy who had never gone away. It even got attention and a pressing in Chapman's British homeland, where he often toured despite the lack of domestic releases. This was followed by 1998's A Turn Unstoned? and the two-CD Anthology; the next year saw re-releases of Chappo and Mail Order Magic. Moth to a Flame was issued in early 2001. A number of live and archival releases followed in the early 2000s, and a new studio album, One More Time for Peace, was released in 2007. In 2009 Chapman announced that he would be retiring from live performances, and his final appearance dates were subsequently announced, culminating in several festival sets in the U.K. and Germany planned for August 2010. © Patrick Little © 2012 Rovi Corporation. All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/artist/roger-chapman-p16393/biography

Bill Gable

2012-01-19T17:41:00.001+01:00

Bill Gable - There Were Signs - 1989 - Private Music

A Midwesterner hailing from Illinois, Gable's music has been described as having a "pure, naive, almost rural quality." While I must agree with this description as far as it goes, there's much, much more to Gable's music ... An accomplished and classically-trained pianist and cellist, he also exhibits an extraordinary talent as a songwriter and lyricist. While his vocal range and timbre is reminiscent of James Taylor, the exciting latino rhythms he incorporates on some of the album's nine selections gives him a musical signature all his own. This is an inspired album that is sure to please those who have transcended soft rock and are looking for more meaningful music‹highly recommended. - The Herald, Allaire, N.J.

Bill Gable is a new pop star. "There Were Signs" is terrific. This is adult, interesting and affecting music, sophisticated lyrics set to sweet and daring melodies, sung by a voice that invariably touches the heart. He sounds a bit like Don McLean, but the voice is beefier. Every song here tells a story, each vividly told. There are few happy endings, but a lot of gorgeous music. "Run, go ahead, run / What's the point of loving you? You're the kind of girl who tends to make the world a lonely place" sings Mr. Gable without a hint of bitterness in his voice. "Who Becomes the Slave" recalls Stewart Copeland's solo work, and the Latin American flavor of much of the material is not far from the best Brazilian jazz of the 1960s. If I frankly don't understand "The 3 Levels of Nigeria," I confess that I am drawn to it. "Leaving Venice to the Rain" will bring a melancholy smile to those who have loved. The lyrics are curiously straight-forward, their impact coming as a surprise each time. - Washington Times

One of the most inventive works I've heard in years. A terrific blend of poetry with a unique vocal style and the music is a combination of jazz, folk, classical, latin and so much more. Really refreshing. - Russ Davis, Music Director, WQCD-FM, New York City

Here is an album for everyone. Take away the lyrics and the music stands on its own ... While Bill Gable wrote all the songs on this release, he enlisted the talents of Rob Mounsey, Jimmy Haslip (Yellowjackets), Mark Egan (GRP Records), jazz percussionist Airto Moreira, and Jeff Porcaro (Toto), among others, to perfect and interpret this debut collection of sensitive tunes. Add the lyrics, the soft voice and spontaneous phrasing, and you have an artsy, personal look at a mature musician ... On this album he plays not only keyboards but guitar and percussion. And, of course he writes: "Far away in the north of the country / Is a place where nothing can grow / And the people who all live there are crazy from no home...". These lyrics, with political and philosophical implications about the caste system in Africa, are strengthened by the Afro-Cuban beat, the earthy feel of the music on "The 3 Levels of Nigeria." If we must categorize musicians, Bill Gable could be called a jazz singer / poet. While many of his songs reflect romantic, love-torn realizations about life and its transparent ironies, it is the attention to musical detail and the perfect capture of mood with music that make Gable a remarkable artist. - Jazz Link

Bill Gable is a groundbreaker. It's taken this 37-year old Midwesterner a long time to hit the beach, but "There Were Signs" should establish Gable as a force to be reckoned with in the vocal-pop-jazz wake of Michael Franks. With a beautiful tenor strangely reminiscent of Don McLean, an exotic grasp of world music (equal in scope to Working Week), sophisticated and unpredictable melodic lines, densely layered instrumentation and crystalline CD production values (thanks to producers Gable and Rob Mounsey), this is a blue-ribbon debut. And behind it all is an uncompromising moral consciousness, coupled with a bard's sensitivity. Just listen to this opening verse from "Letting the Jungle In:" "Your love does this thing / To my nervous system / Deep in the twilight of memory / Standing in a cage / When the bar is lifted / Who knows how to behave?" - JAZZIZ

After hearing "There Were Signs," I wondered why it took such an obviously talented songwriter this long to get a deal! After eight years on the New England club circuit, Bill moved to LA, where he set up his own recording studio to work on original material. Along with co-producer Rob Mounsey, whose list of credits includes Steely Dan, Steve Winwood, and Michael Franks, among others, Gable has come up with an accomplished mix of pop, jazz and world music that sounds like nothing else on the radio today. At times, such as in "All The Posters Come Down," I was reminded of Paul Simon's Afro-pop hybrid "Graceland." To start making a lot of comparisons, however, would be a disservice to a highly original new voice. - MAC Report

Gable's voice blends in here with the other instruments, creating a pleasing tone that permeates the whole project without ever sounding dull. Artist is perfect for AC outlets as well as adult alternative stations that play vocal offerings. Superb lyrical imagery throughout. - Billboard

A reviewer on Amazon called this album "a mixture of pop, jazz and world music unlike anything else you've heard. And the musical performances are simply superb. "There Were Signs" is a masterpiece. Big words, but true!". Walter Becker (Steely Dan) said that "Bill Gable is first and foremost a great songwriter but he also has a marvelous ability to incorporate exotic musical elements and seemingly disparate influences into a uniquely seasoned and tasty succotash of third world post-modern sense and style". There is no question that this is a very much overlooked album, by a singer/songwriter in the same league as Michael Franks, and is HR by A.O.O.F.C. Buy Bill's great "This Perfect Day" album and support real music. [Tracks @ 207-320 Kbps: File size = 64.3 Mb]

TRACKS

1. Go Ahead And Run (4:37)
2. Who Becomes The Slave (4:52)
3. All The Posters Come Down (4:34)
4. The 3 Levels of Nigeria (5:25)
5. Cape Horn (4:35)
6. High Trapeze (5:31)
7. There Were Signs (4:56)
8. Letting The Jungle In (4:31)
9. Leaving Venice To The Rain (6:33)

All songs composed by Bill Gable except "Who Becomes The Slave" by Bill Gable & Casey Schelierell

MUSICIANS

Bill Gable: guitar, synths, piano, melodica, sanfona, zamponas, mbira, percussion, vocal
Pino Marrone: electric guitar
Nelson Faria: guitar solo
Jimmy Haslip: electric & fretless bass
Lloyd Moffit: electric upright bass
Octavio Bailly: electric bass
Mark Egan: fretless bass
Rob Mounsey: synths, seiza benches, melodica solo, background vocals
Jim Lang: organ
Jeff Porcaro: drums, percussion, hi-hat, surdo
Jerry Marotta: drums
Airto Moreira: drums, percussion, pandeiro
Casey Scheuerell: drums, congas, table, cymbals
Manolo Badrena: percussion, ganza, effects
Luis Conte: tamborine, ganza, congas, shekere, bata, vocal
Lew Soloff: trumpet, piccolo trumpet
David Nadien: violin solo
Dani Minnick, Gabriela Molinari, Sally Dworski, Eliza Gilkyson, Marilyn Scott: background vocals

BIO

Bill Gable has been called one of America's most gifted living songwriters. Highly reclusive by nature, he reportedly lives in either Los Angeles or Ouro Preto, Brazil. He is known to have been prominent in the Boston music scene during the 1970s, where he was well-known for failing to show up for gigs and for refusing to perform through PA systems due to what he termed the "inherent falseness and inelasticity of electrostatics." Consequently, much of his music was overlooked, even during Gable's now-legendary live performances during that era. In 1990, after an intense bidding war with all the major labels, the BMG subsidiary label Private Music signed Gable to a worldwide, multi-year, multi-million dollar deal which netted the sole release There Were Signs, now sadly long out-of-print. In due course, the label tired of Gable's insistence that all of his masters be delivered in a brown bag at a drop point designated only 15 minutes prior to delivery, and only through an emissary. "We had two full-time employees assigned to dealing with this nutcase," the label once complained in a widely-publicized press release. After this point, Gable refused to acknowledge his affiliation with the label, and he was soon dropped from its roster. Precious little is known of Gable's early years. Claiming to have been raised by Bedouins, Gable early on was a virtuosic classical pianist and cellist. During the 1980s, a period when it is believed he may have worked alternatively as a migrant bean-picker and a t-shirt salesman, Gable surfaced as a regular contributor to Yellowjackets records and as a songwriter in various genres. Operating out of his secluded Roman Foods Studio located somewhere in the Hollywood Hills, Gable became an engineer of choice for various artists during this era as well. He gained European prominence in the late 1990s through his collaboration with Branford Marsalis, which netted a top-10 radio hit in the Benelux countries. Beyond these scant facts, little is known of his whereabouts or current activities, save that he is rumored to be in the finishing stages of a third solo recording based loosely upon the American Midwest. © 1989-2005 Bill Gable. All Rights Reserved http://www.billgable.net/bio.html

Willow

2012-01-19T00:13:00.001+01:00

Willow - Branching Out - 1974 - 20th Century Records

"A lot of people have an instant aversion to “soft rock.” Most imagine insipid lyrics, watery harmonies and bland musical arrangements. That couldn’t be further from the case with Branching Out which, as its name indicates, is a musical step forward for the trio in lyrics, texture and engineering quality. The album alternates between high tempo Byrds-inspired folk rock on tracks like “No Sweat” and “Taking Life Easy” and intricately arranged string-laced ballads such as “Thinking of You” and “All My Life” that possess a memorably aching, poignant beauty". © http://www.vine-yl.com/willow.htm

Willow was an early to mid '70's Bay Area acoustic folk rock band that made two albums with 20th Century Fox. Their music has been described as "an amalgam of CSNY and America. Great harmonies and fluid acoustic guitars deliver strong songs." The album was also described as "melodic rural rock with middle of the road songwriting". The music is comparable to early '70's British bands like Lindisfarne, and McGuinness Flint, although with a more West Coast "poppy" sound. Willow's s/t album can be found @ http://akashaman.blogspot.com/2008/03/willow-73-debut.html Any more info on Willow's band members would be greatly appreciated. Has anybody got a full credits list for "Branching Out", and were any of the band members involved in any other music projects? For music in a similar vein, check out Blue's underrated "Life In The Navy" album. [All tracks @ 320 Kbps: File size = 83.9 Mb]

TRACKS

1 NO SWEAT
2 LAY LIKE A LADY
3 MYSTERY MAN
4 LOAVES & FISHES
5 THINKING OF YOU
6 LIGHTNING (CREEPY ONE)
7 RUM & SUNSHINE
8 ELIZABETH
9 ME & THE MISSES
10 TAKING LIFE EASY
11 ALL MY LIFE
12 LAND ARMY LADY

All songs composed by Barry Fitzgerald, William McSweeney and Kevin Dolan

MUSICIANS [Not Definitive]

Barry Fitzgerald - Lead Vocals
William McSweeney - Lead Vocals
Kevin Dolan - Lead Vocals

ABOUT THE ALBUM

Willow’s sophomore album, Branching Out, released in 1974, is a perfect advertisment for the glory of collecting vinyl. This is simply an album you would almost certainly never hear about, never listen to, and never find if you did not dig in the crates. The reason is that Willow, like so many countless bands from the Sixties through the Eighties (but especially the Seventies) has never had its catalog released in any other musical format. And that is both a crime and a selfish delight. I first heard of Willow from a blogger named Akashaman who generously shares his latest LP discoveries online in the form of ripped mp3s. I was intrigued by the day-glo cartoonish cover art, as well as by his description of California folky soft rock. I had been a secret AM radio geek since childhood, going back to the days when my father would serenade my sister and I to sleep with the Carpenters, Captain and Tennille and Carole King through our built-in wall mounted Nutone stereo system. (Step #1: My name is Derek, and I am a fan of Bread.) I downloaded the mysterious album and within a week was listening to it on a trip across the Atlantic to a wedding in Scotland. There was something peaceful, mellow and nostalgic in the gentle but intricate melodies that employed flute, banjo, clarinet and vocal harmonies. Especially in the context of visiting old college friends, some of whom I hadn’t seen in a decade. The track “Mellow Days” became an instant favorite, the perfect bittersweet anthem for ambivalent travelers. But I have to admit, one of the things that made the songs so compelling was their anonymity. Listening to a record in its entirety that one knows nothing about is an interesting, evocative experience. You spend your time simultaneously looking for clues about the band, its origins, its inspiration, and also imagining your own personal vision of what the songs mean. It’s like being handed someone else’s dream with no identifying marks. I returned determined to find my own copy of this new favorite on vinyl, which Akashaman had wisely labeled a grower. My efforts were partially rewarded two months later when I found Breaking Out at Chad’s Records, my amazing hometown vinyl paradise. As soon as Chad put the platter on the turntable and I heard “Mystery Man,” I recognized that familiar feeling—the hairs standing up on my arms and neck, the rampant joy of finding buried treasure. Search the internet for Willow, for “Branching Out,” for the artists’ names. I guarantee you will find nothing but a few brief listings by online dealers. Next to nothing is available about the men who wrote, performed and recorded this wonderful music, and that is fine by me. For the record, their names are Barry Fitzgerald, William McSweeney and Kevin Dolan. All three share songwriting credits and take turns on lead vocals. It seems they were a product of the Bay Area, and their sound reflects the alternatingly sunny, hazy and pleasantly melancholic aspects of that region. A lot of people have an instant aversion to “soft rock.” Most imagine insipid lyrics, watery harmonies and bland musical arrangements. That couldn’t be further from the case with Branching Out which, as its name indicates, is a musical step forward for the trio in lyrics, texture and engineering quality. The album alternates between high tempo Byrds-inspired folk rock on tracks like “No Sweat” and “Taking Life Easy” and intricately arranged string-laced ballads such as “Thinking of You” and “All My Life” that possess a memorably aching, poignant beauty. The record also flirts with an abstruse, allegorical hippie-Christian element that is never clearly defined or expressed, but lends a deeper mystical quality to songs such as “Mystery Man” (Mystery Man with the light above your head, won’t you save me…) and the awesome psychedelic-tinged rocker “Loaves and Fishes” with its tale of a regular man who realizes he’s not going to be confused with the "man from Galilee." (Ooh yeah, you know it’s been a long, long lonely kind of day, but anyway…) The album is not perfect by any means, and I’m sure it will inspire its share of detractors. The Calypso-flavored “Rum and Sunshine” and the vaudevillian “Land Army Lady” (replete with swinging clarinet and McCartney-esque overdubs of bombs and air-raid signals) are perhaps my two least favorite tracks. But like the Girl in Longfellow’s famous poem, when it is good, it is very, very good. It's a low-key soft rock album of remarkable finesse, texture and flavor. One that lays you back instead of bumming you out. And always, your head is gazing dreamily up to the sky, fascinated by visions of clouds through upturned branches. I could wish for the sakes of the gentleman who made Branching Out that it would grow more famous, cultivating the audience it rightly deserves. But for my own selfish sake, I’ll be happy to let the record spin in blissful anonymity for many Mellow Days to come. On a side note, we paired this record with Tulocay Zinfandel because we truly believed it cast the same spell we felt sitting with winemaker Bill Cadman, sipping his meticulously hand-crafted reds and indulging in his warm, earthy, generous spirit. It was his request, however, (jokingly or not) that we listen to Bach’s "Toccata and Fugue" while drinking his deep, incantatory Zins. So here’s to a great winemaker and an even greater guy. Bill, we are more than happy to oblige: © http://www.vine-yl.com/willow.html

Louis Van Dyke (Beatles Related)

2012-01-17T12:39:00.001+01:00

Louis Van Dyke - Louis Van Dyke Plays Lennon - McCartney - 1970 - CBS

I first became aware of Louis Van Dyke on the "Fond Memories of Frank Rosolino" CD and it became apparent that here was a creative mind with impeccable jazz abilities who was able to play into the sound of whatever environment he chose. This recording could be by a very different musician than heard on the Rosolino album as Van Dyke is able to switch hats and maintain the integrity of whichever he is wearing at the time. What we have here is unusual to say the least: 9 songs by the Beatles performed in 1974 on the Flentrop Organ in the Netherlands Reformed Chuch at Loenen a.d. Vecht. The opening medley "Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight", sets the tone for what is to follow: a beautiful arrangement, reminiscent of Bach in its external presentation, but never losing the essence of the original melodies and building on them to produce greater emotional weight and beauty as the music unfolds. How this is achieved on a single instrument is a marvel and credit must be given not only to the reverence with which Van Dyke treats his material but how he builds the structural layers of his arrangements to enhance the overall expression. Some of the registration choices are uncannily apt such as that which begins "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds" and it is impossible not to react at the recognition of the melody treated with such carefully selected timbres. This is only part of the actual musical content of the arrangements whose inventiveness is satisfying in each selection. Van Dyke has brought a freshness and even purity without cliches of similar attempts to make popular music sound Classical and vice versa. [from ***** Van Dyke Spins New Magic With The Beatles, August 16, 2011 By & © Charles Andrew Whitehead (Fort Worth, Texas) © 1996-2012, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates http://www.amazon.com/Louis-Van-Dyke-Plays-Lennon/dp/B0002N7IBY

Louis van Dijk (Born 27 November 1941, Amsterdam) is a Dutch pianist, mainly active in the jazz genre. He studied solo piano at the Amsterdam Conservatorium. He played together with Pim Jacobs and Pieter van Vollenhoven under the name De Gevleugelde Vrienden (i.e. 'The Winged Friends'). In September 2005, he played at a charity concert at the Concertgebouw to raise funds for New Orleans after the city was hit by Hurricane Katrina. For his accomplishments as a musician, he has been awarded the honorary title of Knight of the Order of the Netherlands Lion. Louis was educated as a classical piano-player and like so many other jazz musicans he became fascinated by the instrument in church. His father was sexton in the Prinsessekerk in Amsterdam. This album of Beatles' covers featuring Louis van Dijk at the Flentrop Organ in the Netherlands Reformed Church at Loenen (aan de Vecht), Utrecht, 1970. Lennon & McCartneys songs have been adapted for every conceivable musical genre. This obscure album containing nine classic Lennon & McCartney songs played on a church organ is definitely one of the Beatles' most "unusual" covers albums. The adaptions work, not just because of Louis van Dyke's classical training on the piano, but also because of the melodic compositional songwriting skills of John Lennon & Paul McCartney, arguably the most talented songwriting duo in the history of music. This is timeless music, and can't fail to impress. HR by A.O.O.F.C. Louis & Selma van Dijk recorded an album called "Van Brubeck tot Bannink" which contains some magnificent piano work. Some of the songs on the album include "Cry Me A River", "Every Time We say Goodbye", and "Whatever Lola Wants". It's a beautiful album. Louis' "Mariposa" album also contains covers of songs by Lennon & McCartney, Leonard Cohen, Bach, and others [Tracks @ 224-256 Kbps: File size = 50.8 Mb]

TRACKS

A1 Golden Slumbers and Carry That Weight 5:30
A2 She's Leaving Home 4:15
A3 For No One 2:55
A4 Eleanor Rigby 5:38

B1 Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds 4:55
B2 Hey Jude 4:40
B3 Goodnight 6:25
B4 Blackbird 3:05
B5 Nowhere Man 1:45

All music composed by John Lennon & Paul McCartney

1970 ALBUM LINER NOTES

The organ heard in this recording is the one in the Netherlands Reformed Church at at Loenen (aan de Vecht), Utrecht. It was constructed by D.A Flentrop of Zaandam, Holland. The tone-speech and voicing are characteristic of the great classic European organs. Special thanks are extended to Joop Reiziger, producer of many internationally praised organ recordings for CBS-Artone, whose assistance in the production of this album is greatly appreciated. This is not just another recording of Lennon & McCartney songs — it is a project which by its very dimension and unique conception immediately fired the enthusiasm of all concerned with Its production. When producer John Vis presented the idea to Louis van Dyke to make an album of music from the Beatles' Songbook performed on a church organ, Louis van Dyke was immediately carried away by it. The very first thing to be done, of course, was to find the one organ among the many magnificent church organs in the Netherlands on which tonal results could he achieved which would adequately suit the music. In fact, the project almost became an obsession to both of them during the time it was in the planning stage. Although, as a recording artist, Louis van Dyke has become a very popular pianist and leader of his own trio, he is originally a classically trained organist who has taken his conservatory degree. Tutored by the renowned Piet van Egmond and Simon C. Jansen, he has been playing the organ during services for ten years already. Add to this his great affinity for the music of the Beatles, and you have two good reasons why Louis seemed predestined to fully realize the projects scope. This Louis van Dyke LP is unusual from yet another point of view: the choice of material. When selecting the songs for this recording, Louis and John were struck by their strong relationship to classical music and old church music, in a harmonic as well as in a melodic sense. Being well versed in this particular idiom, it was only natural for Louis to approach these familiar tunes in the way which suits him best. That is, in a completely extemporaneous manner. Believe it or not, all of the music heard in this album has been fully Improvised! This recording, therefore, not only illuminates a hitherto obscured side of Louis van Dykes musicianship, it also helps to focus attention once again on a number of uncommonly attractive melodies. Golden Slumbers and Carry That Weight come from The Beatles' Abbey Road LP. And they are in fact companion pieces. Louis has here, too, conceived them as a musical unity. She's Leaving Home, one of the most moving melodies in the "Sgt Pepper" album, has become a two-part cantilene, whereas For No One has been transmuted by Louis into the trio-sonata form. In his performance ol Eleanor Rigby, from "Revolver", Louis has followed the procedure of the fugue. The initial section is followed by a further exposition which develops Into a distinct statement of the tune's second theme ("All the lonely people..."). The third section is an Improvised cadenza winding up with a re-statement of the main theme and a radiant major chord in the coda. Lucy In the Sky with Diamonds, another song from the "Pepper" LP, is being approached here as if It were a Hallelujah choir: a hymn of praise to heaven. Hey Jude is played In the manner of the celebrated chorale preludes by J S. Bach, the melody being embellished by the usual ornaments. Louis has made Goodnight into a blessing chorale, whilst the overall musical form is that of a passacaglia with parenthetic phrases. Blackbird easily is the most transparently reglstrated piece in this album. Louis only was interested In bringing out the beauty of the original music here. He carefully follows the melody, thus preserving it's tenderness. The same is true for Nowhere Man from the "Rubber Soul" album: not a single note of the original melody has been changed. Louis only altered a couple of chord sequences in order to transform the piece into a pure hymn. This makes for a particularly fitting finale of an exciting recording. A production which has provided Louis van Dyke with challenging foundations on which to develop his improvisational art. Set in appropriate superimposed forms, these unique interpretations are characterized by a truly marvellous feeling for the material. As you listen you will rediscover these well-known Lennon & McCartney songs and admire Louis' superb performance as an organist and as a creative musician. [from album liner notes © Pete Venudor - LvD 1970]

MORE ABOUT LOUIS van DYKE

A few weeks ago I found the CBS LP What Now, My Love by the Louis van Dyke Trio. Louis van Dyke, in fact his surname was van Dijk, but that didn't look English enough I guess, made this LP March / April 1966 with his trio featuring himself at the piano, Jacques Schols bass and John Engels at the drums. It was his second album. In 1961 he had won the Loosdrecht Jazz concours with his trio and made his first album, titled Trio / Quartet in June 1964. In the quartet recordings Carl Schulze, the vibraphone player, was added. He won with this LP an Edison Award, one of the most important awards in the Dutch amusement world. He was educated as a classical piano-player and like so many other jazz musicans he became fascinated by the instrument in church. His father was sexton in the Prinsessekerk in Amsterdam. He studied at the Amsterdam Conservatory and became interested in jazz. For young jazz musicians the Loosdrecht festival was a usefull leg to success. I found this LP in a junk shop in my small village Heinkenszand (southwest part of The Netherlands) between BZN and Alle Dertien Goed ( = All Thirteen Tracks Okay - How did they come up with that ! ) and, to be honest, it seems rather easy to find LPs of this Dutch piano player. I'm glad it is a real jazz recording without a bunch of strings - used in those days to popularize Jazz for the General Public. He was very popular in the 1960s up to 1980s and as a kid I remember him as a skilled piano player. In fact, as a kid, Louis van Dyke and Pim Jacobs where piano players that played jazz. And jazz fascinated me !! Louis van Dyke is not a pure jazz musician. Like so many musicans he couldn't find a living in playing jazz music only, so he accompanied great artistst like Astrud Gilberto, Coretta KIng, Salena Jones, Liesbeth List, Ann Burton and Herman van Veen. He became famous as the accompanist of Ramses Shaffy, a popular singer in the Netherlands. He often played duets with other piano players like Pim Jacobs, Daniel Wayenberg, Jules De Corte and Pieter van Vollenhoven, the jazz-piano-playing husband of Princess Margriet, the sister of our queen Beatrix. I found a recent fragment in which you can hear Louis van Dijk plays a blues dedicated to Mr. Pieter van Vollenhoven, his duo-partner in their piano duets, labeled as Gevleugelde Vrienden. (A vleugel is the Dutch word for a grand-piano) [from the great KEEP (IT) SWINGING blog @ http://keepswinging.blogspot.com/ Check it out!

Rob Wasserman, Craig Erickson, T Lavitz, Jeff Sipe

2012-01-16T15:33:00.001+01:00

Rob Wasserman, Craig Erickson, T Lavitz, Jeff Sipe - Cosmic Farm - 2005 - Tone Center

This ad hoc instrumental quartet is a supergroup of sorts. Comprised of immensely talented jazz and jazz fusion veterans (bassist Rob Wasserman, drummer Jeff Sipe, and T Lavitz on keyboards) it is spearheaded by guitarist Craig Erickson. He writes all the material, takes the most solos, acts as producer, and put the project together. Although released in 2005, it's a knowing throwback to the jazz-rock fusion of '70s acts such as Jeff Beck, John Scofield, Return to Forever, Allan Holdsworth, Dixie Dregs (of which Lavitz was a member), and any number of similar acts that generally favored instrumental dexterity over the compositional and melodic. It's a solid, incredibly well played album that suffers mostly from a lack of identity; basically, this could be music from any of the above artists or dozens of others. That's not a terrible thing, and surely any fan of the genre would be thrilled with adding this tasty, always professional outing to their collection. These guys have amazing chops, yet the songs lack a strong melodic presence. It's more than just a bunch of jamming, but not much, and there remains a sense that the foursome is simply working a groove without creating something unique. Guest Paul Hanson on bassoon twists the formula slightly on a few selections but his contributions are too subtle to make an impact. The driving funk of "Forecast" gives bassist Wasserman a chance to showboat -- one of the few -- on a song with a bit of a recurring motif. Erickson shreds with the best of them yet there is little distinguishable about his guitar playing and he takes the spotlight too often, leaving the others as talented backup to his fret dancing. There is something rather charming in the retro-ness of the concept since there aren't many jazz fusion albums being released in the mid-'00s. Still, with musicians of this world-class caliber, the final product is run of the mill for the genre. © Hal Horowitz © 2012 Rovi Corporation. All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/album/cosmic-farm-r743813/review

Not a hugely original jazz fusion album, but originality is not always the main ingredient of a great album. Craig Erickson said of this album, "We only spent a minimal amount of time to rehearse and record, going for a "raw play like you feel in the moment" vibe...Like the days when there were no stylistic boundary rules, just the freedom to be yourself and have a little fun jamming". So obviously this album was never intended to be a masterpiece of jazz rock fusion. There is some hugely impressive instrumental work here, and it's always great to hear these masters of their instruments doing their stuff. Listen to Rob Wasserman's "Duets" album, Jazz Is Dead's "Great Sky River" album featuring Jeff Sipe, "T Lavitz and the Bad Habitz" album, and Craig Erickson's "Force Majeure" album, and Paul Hanson's "Astro Boy Blues" album. Check out albums by guitarists Larry Coryell, Wayne Krantz and Mike Stern. Their music is not always inspiring or original but their mastery of the guitar is truly amazing and they can all play some jaw dropping stuff. [All tracks @ 320 Kbps: File size = 110 Mb]

TRACKS

1 Steel Rider
2 Attitude Cat
3 Heavenly Love
4 Space Rooster
5 The Fine Scenery
6 Interstellar Interlude
7 Strange Train
8 Jupiter East
9 Forecast
10 Jupiter West

Tracks 1,2,3,4,5,7,9 composed by Craig Erickson: Tracks 6,8,10 composed by Craig Erickson, Paul Hanson, Rob Wasserman

MUSICIANS

Craig Erickson - Guitar
Rob Wasserman - 6-string Electric Upright Bass
T Lavitz - Keyboards
Jeff Sipe - Drums
Paul Hanson - Bassoon on Tracks 6,7,8,10

Domenic Troiano

2012-01-15T18:44:00.002+01:00

Domenic Troiano - Domenic Troiano - 1972 - Mercury

The solo debut from guitarist Domenic Troiano came at a time when he was releasing two albums with the James Gang. Charlotte Dillon's biography on the All Media Guide states that this album was initiated prior to his joining the James Gang and completed during that phase of his career. There's a definite Steely Dan feel to the proceedings, especially on "Let Me Go Back," and the first of two compositions co-written with James Gang vocalist Roy Kenner, "Try." The rhythm section for Lou Reed's classic Rock 'n' Roll Animal album, drummer Penti Glan and bassist John Prakash, appear here a year before they would cut the historic live album with guitar heroes Steve Hunter and Dick Wagner. The musicianship is superb, with a loose and funky feel, and the album looks expensive as well. A gatefold with band photos and interesting design, Mercury was no doubt serious about their artist. This was a year before that same label would release Bachman-Turner Overdrive, whose guitarist Troiano would later replace in the Guess Who. This album is distinctive, though, as it shows Troiano in an interesting light and identifies his versatility. Clichés like "The Writings on the Wall" and "Is There No Rest for the Weary" become songs, and the music is more suited to Delaney & Bonnie than the James Gang or the Guess Who. In fact, the elements here do not really show up on his work with Burton Cummings' final two '70s Guess Who LPs, Flavours and Power in the Music, which gives an indication of Troiano's ability to adapt. From the Delaney & Bonnie meets Steely Dan style so prevalent on tracks like "Let Me Go Back" and "I Just Lost a Friend," Troiano concludes the album with an about-face, nine minutes and 40 seconds of "Repossession Blues." It makes for a well-rounded debut by a journeyman who has never really gotten his due. Maybe the bands he played with wanted formula, because allowed to stretch out, the Domenic Troiano album is quite enjoyable and has lots to offer. It's also important to note the co-production work by James Gang producer Keith Olsen came at a time when Olsen was engineering Dr. John for Jerry Wexler. That seems to have had an influence on this project. © Joe Viglione © 2012 Rovi Corporation. All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/album/domenic-troiano-r51512/review

The late Canadian guitar icon, Domenic Troiano was a gifted, world-class guitarist and band leader. He formed the bands Mandala and Bush in 1970. He helped create the "Toronto Sound" in the 60′s and 70′s. In his career he replaced the Band's Robbie Robertson while Robbie was playing with Ronnie Hawkins. He also replaced the James Gang band's guitarist Joe Walsh and replaced Randy Bachman in the The Guess Who. Domenic played with many great artists including Joe Cocker, Donald Fagen, Diana Ross, David Clayton-Thomas, Etta James, and also produced albums for for other artists. He was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1996. Domenic recorded this album in 1972, when he was still a member of the James Gang band. Unlike the James Gang albums, this album is full of relaxed, down-to-earth R&B and soul with a jazz touch. The rhythm section plays sharp and heavy, and Domenic lays down some terrific heavy guitar riffs and great solos. "I'm sure the heavenly jam sessions with Lenny Breau and Jimi Hendrix are taken to a new level, now that Dom has arrived." - Randy Bachman, guitarist, songwriter, performer and producer. Try and listen to Domenic's 1973 "Tricky" album. [All tracks @ 192 Kbps: File size = 54.8 Mb] Although SQ is adequate, maybe somebody out there could rip the original album at a higher bitrate?

STEELY DAN TRIVIA: Domenic played with Donald Fagen on Diana Ross' "Ross" album and also on Eye To Eye's "Shakespeare Stole My Baby" album, both albums produced by the great Gary Katz

TRACKS

A1 The Writings On The Wall 2:41
A2 The Answer 5:56
A3 Let Me Go Back 3:46
A4 I Just Lost A Friend 3:21
A5 Try 2:39

B1 The Wear And The Tear On My Mind 2:49
B2 Is There No Rest For The Weary 2:47
B3 Hi Again 4:02
B4 356 Sammon Ave. 1:15
B5 Repossession Blues 9:40

All songs composed by Domenic Troiano except "Try" and "Hi Again" by Domenic Troiano & Roy Kenner

MUSICIANS

Domenic Troiano - Guitar, Lead Vocals
Red Rhodes - Steel Guitar
Prakash John - Bass, Backing Vocals
Hugh Sullivan - Piano, Organ
William Smith - Organ, Backing Vocals
Penti Glenn - Drums
Tessie Calderone - Percussion, Congas
Roy Kenner - Percussion, Vocals
Bunk Gardner, Jay Cantrelli - Tenor Saxophone
Lonnie Shetter - Baritone Saxophone, Clarinet
Buzz Gardner - Trumpet
Shawn Jackson - Backing Vocals

BIO

Singer, songwriter, and famed guitarist Domenic Troiano is probably best known for the time he served as a member of the famed rock group, the Guess Who. Over more than three long decades in the music world, Troiano did a lot of other work with different bands, blues style and rock, including the James Gang, the original Bush, and Mandala. He later composed tunes for both film and television. He even completed several solo albums in the '70s, earning himself a spot in the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. Some of the solo numbers Troiano recorded so long ago, became available on CD just before the new millennium rolled around, proving that many fans still hold interest in his music. Domenic Troiano was born in 1946 in Modugno, Italy. When he was little more than a baby, his family picked up and moved to Toronto, Canada. He was raised with a love for music, both rhythm & blues and good ol' rock & roll. When he was in his mid-teens, his desire to learn to play the guitar resulted in him teaching himself. Maybe that's why his style became so much his own and was later imitated by many other artists. One of the early influences on Troiano was a guitarist by the name of Robbie Robertson. In a twist of fate, Troiano started his professional career by replacing Robertson in a band that performed with Ronnie Hawkins, a fellow Canadian singer. Troiano worked with the band for less than a year, then moved on to other groups. One of those early bands was Five Rogues, which changed its name to Mandala. It was with Mandala in 1967 that Troiano made his first recordings and began to climb the ladder to fame. Some of that fame started from negative press, complaints from parents about the group's corrupt music style, the way the guys dressed, and even the length of their hair. Of course, the more parents complained, the more their teens loved Mandala and its music. When Mandala came to an end around 1969, Troiano and some of the other members pulled together to start a new group, Bush. ABC/Dunhill singed the band and sent it on tour with major groups at the time like Three Dog Night. After a short life, Bush met a quick end, but never one to give up, Troiano went solo. In 1972, before he could finish an album of his own, he was called in to join the James Gang, replacing Joe Walsh. For the next year, Troiano recorded with the group, but continued to work solo also, completing not one, but two solo albums, a self-titled one in 1972, and then Tricky in 1973. Both albums were released under the Mercury Records label. During that same time, he recorded two other albums with the James Gang, writing a number of the songs himself. 1974 and 1975 found Troiano serving as a member of the Guess Who. After that group folded too, he took some time working on his own again, trying his skills at a little funk and some jazz. Two years later he was under contract once more, this time with Capitol Records, where he finished a third solo album, Burning at the Stake, and then a forth offering, Jokes on Me. It was followed in 1979 by Fret Fever, Troiano's last solo album. In the early '80s, Troiano was back with a band, this one called Black Market. The group released one independent recording in 1981. When success didn't come to Black Market, Troiano walked. He soon turned his attention to composing for films and television, and doing session work for other artists in the '90s. Domenic Troiano passed away May 25, 2005 after a long battle with cancer. © Charlotte Dillon © 2012 Rovi Corporation. All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/artist/domenic-troiano-p21137/biography

MORE

Domenic (Michaele Antonio) Troiano. Guitarist, composer, singer, b Mondugno, Italy, 17 Jan 1946, d 25 May 2005 at Toronto. Troiano became a naturalized Canadian in 1955 and was raised in Toronto. He began playing guitar at 15 and became one of Canada's premier rock guitarists during the late 1960s and the 1970s. He began his career with Robbie Lane and the Disciples but moved on to replace Robbie Robertson as lead guitarist with Ronnie Hawkins. He then became a member of the popular Toronto rhythm and blues band the Five Rogues (1964-9); the band shortened their name to the Rogues, which then evolved into Mandala (1966-9). Mandala presented a more soulful style with vocalist George Olliver (replaced in 1966 by Roy Kenner), organist Josef Chirowski (replaced in 1966 by Hugh O'Sullivan), bass guitarist Don Elliott and drummer Whitey (Pentii) Glann. Mandala toured widely in the US, released Soul Crusade (1968, Atlantic) and enjoyed hits such as 'Opportunity' (1967) and 'Love-itis' (1968). In 1970, Troiano and some of the members from Mandala, including Kenner, Glann and the bass guitarist Prakash John, established Bush, a blues-influenced rock band, based in Arizona. Although Bush worked together for less than two years, they released an album (Bush, 1970) and toured extensively through the US with Steppenwolf and Three Dog Night. Troiano then replaced Joe Walsh and began playing with the US band the James Gang (1974-5); the Gang recorded the albums Straight Shooter (1972) and Passin Thru (1972). From there he joined the Guess Who (1974), co-writing and playing on the two albums Flavours (1974) and Power in the Music (1975). In the late 1970s he formed the Domenic Troiano Band 1977-9 in Toronto, once again working with Roy Kenner. In 1980 Trojano formed Black Market with Bob Wilson and Paul DeLong, and released Changing of the Guard (1981, El Mocambo Records) before turning exclusively to studio work as a composer, producer and guitarist with his independent production company Black Market. In 1984 he began writing themes and incidental music for TV, including the CBS series Night Heat, Diamonds, and Hot Shots, CBC's Airwaves, and NBC's True Blue. Troiano collaborated with many other musicians including Diana Ross, Joe Cocker, Donald Fagen, David Clayton-Thomas, Etta James, Jean-Michel Jarre, James Cotton and Long John Baldry. He also produced albums by Shawne Jackson, Moe Koffman and Kilowatt. He produced for David Gibson and John Rutledge on his own independent label. His songs, such as 'Writing on the Wall' and 'I Can Hear You Calling' from the 1970s, have been recorded by Three Dog Night, Skylark, and John Rutledge, among others. He received three Gemini award nominations for his television work, and his song "Just as Bad as You" was honoured by SOCAN. Troiano received a nomination for Producer of the Year at the Juno Awards for Fret Fever (1980) and was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1996. - from The Canadian Encyclopedia © 2012 http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/emc/domenic-troiano

Lester Quitzau

2012-01-13T18:12:00.003+01:00

Lester Quitzau - The Same Light - 2009 - Poetical License

"Lester Quitzau's music has the rustic appeal of artists such as Van Morrison and Robbie Robertson, and I find myself appreciating The Same Light even more with repeated listens." - Chip Withrow, Muses Muse

"Quitzau's ... soft but subtly textured voice draws the listener in, and whether he's tackling a Lightnin' Hopkins-style blues("Find My Way Home") or a Bill Frisell-flavoured meditation ("Ferris Wheel"), his less-is-more guitar textures are even more eloquent ... very lovely." - Alexander Varty, Georgia Straight

"Listening to Edmonton expat Lester Quitzau’s latest, you get the sense that there’s nowhere the Juno Award winning roots artist would rather be than at his West Coast home, tending his little corner of earth and making music. Quitzau weaves the two together, offering them up as a panacea for the ills of the world and the loneliness of the road. Two gentle instrumentals, “These Blues” and “Ferris Wheel,” highlight Quitzau’s considerable skill on the acoustic guitar, while “Shape Shifter” plugs in and gives a taste of Quitzau’s blusier origins. Quitzau’s wife Mae Moore (with whom he collaborated on 2004’s Oh My!) is also present, offering her songwriting abilities on “The Only Cure” and lending her beautiful voice to backing vocals on “Let It Shine.” The album wraps with a cover of Pete Seeger’s “To My Old Brown Earth,” bringing it all back to the importance of having a little piece of ground. V " © Scott Harris www.vueweekly.com

I am always amazed at people who do not like gifts of music because, hey, music is one of the best things in the world and when it's free, what's not to like. So when my friend Terry Currier at Portland, Oregon's Music Millennium handed me a copy of Lester Quitzau's The Same Light and I flinched, I was surprised. Me, the guy who eats and sleeps music, flinching at free music? Maybe in an alternate universe. I graciously accepted it and a few other CDs and tucked them under my arm, but the visit was fast and furious and I left without hearing what Terry said about the album, something I was to regret. I do remember he said I'd like it and he is seldom wrong, but Terry is a bit like myself in that he likes most everything, so as far as I knew Quitzau was another of the myriad of blues guitarists or singer/songwriters struggling to be heard but not necessarily within my wavelength. I took it home and stacked it with the others on the corner of the desk and forgot about it for a few weeks. Make that a few months. Oh, I listened. I just didn't listen seriously. Well, I'm listening seriously now and what I'm hearing is damn impressive. There is a calm to Quitzau which takes me back to the early days of solo Eric Clapton and the softer sounds of Mick Taylor, both with a side of mellow. No doubt, Quitzau could amp out some crankin' rock 'n' roll. The guitar is like an extension of his arm, he plays it so well. But that is not his purpose and, just a guess, not his style. Lester Quitzau, unless I miss my guess, is about peace and love and, yes, you can laugh if you want, but he is no caricature. He believes. You can hear it and even feel it in his music. His music. It is definitely his music--- even the somber To My Old Brown Earth, written by Pete Seeger and presented here as a hymn to--- what? Nature? God? It could be either or both. Listening to Quitzau sing, his phrasing delicate and in places tentative, gives one a sense of Nature as Person. This kind of love is what the spiritual feel toward Mother Earth. This kind of love is why we call it Mother Earth in the first place. Ferris Wheel is a delight of steel pan and acoustic guitar. No, it is not island music. It is beautiful music, the guitars (acoustic and electric) trading melody with the steel pan drum in just the right amounts. Laid back, soft, the song is a soft breeze on a sunny afternoon. Wurlitzer piano and superbly arranged brass push The Only Cure to the heights. I mean, is there anything more beautiful than a perfectly played Wurlitzer in a ballad? Not when it's done right. And that brass--- this is background brass, organ-like in depth and a perfect backdrop for some exquisite electric blues licks from Quitzau. That's right, this is blues, my friends, and not just blues but blues from the heart and soul. This could easily have been Clapton at his peak, but it is old Lester, giving us a bone. Quitzau throws in a funk-jam piece to lighten things up a bit, Shape Shifter riding on the rhythm train. At just over six minutes, it could go on forever as far as I'm concerned, the hammond organ and various guitars trading licks when not creating a chorus of instrumental jazz fusion. Very impressive indeed. There is more, but going over every track would sound a bit redundant. They are all good and some downright excellent, Quitsau and co-producer and fellow musician Jody Baker pulling out all the stops. They have an ear, these two, and their choices (both in songs and in the studio) are solid. Lester Quitzau lists four other CDs on the jacket and I can only guess as to why I haven't heard of him. He lives in the wilds of the Canadian Pacific Northwest, grows and eats organic food and plays music. Many might say that he looks like the typical hippie and that might be true, depending upon one's definition. When I was young, I thought that might be a route for myself as well, but life got in the way and I lost my virginity to the military-industrial complex and never looked back. Maybe that's why I get what Quitzau's doing. I sure hear what he's doing and let me tell you, it's worth a trip to his website to check him out. If you like it half as much as do I, you'll end up a fan, too. That's Quitzau (kwit-saw)-comma-Lester. Acoustic & Electric. Soulful, Folk, Blues & Roots Music. I dig it. Also available at Amazon.com, along with a string of other of Lester's fine albums. © Frank O. Gutch Jr. © http://www.rockandreprise.net/quitzau.html

On The Same Light, Lester Quitzau stakes out a landscape where West Coast Folk meets sixties California rock, where tinges of Ben Harper blend with funky steeldrum worldbeat en route to jazz-inflected explorations of Bill Frisell territory, all tied together with a ribbon of deepest blues. The result is a vibrant musical statement of where the Juno Award-winner finds himself today in his tireless journey of creative and personal evolution - a journey that has flowed from blues-drenched bar bands to solo performance to partnerships with the award-winning roots trio Tri-Continental and the internationally acclaimed Mae Moore. Today Lester Quitzau's unique vocals and compositions find him at the forefront of the increasingly celebrated Canadian singer/songwriter tradition, while his improvisational skills as a guitarist see him welcomed on festival stages worldwide. But the common thread throughout The Same Light is this: his uncommon songwriting craftsmanship and the urgent clarity of his message: 'Our current path needs to change for this planet and for the better of all.' - from Album Description © 1995-2010 TOWER.COM INC http://www.tower.com/same-light-lester-quitzau-cd/wapi/113195204

An album of beautifully crafted songs tinged with jazz, blues, soul, soft rock, and roots, and HR by A.O.O.F.C. Buy Lester's "A Big Love" album and support great music [All tracks @ 256 Kbps: File size = 82.4 Mb]

TRACKS

1. In Your Arms Again (4:16)
2. The Only Cure (7:15)
3. These Blues (5:45)
4. Find My Way Home (3:53)
5. Ferris Wheel (5:10)
6. Let It Shine (3:55)
7. Shape Shifter (6:04)
8. To My Old Brown Earth (4:25)
9. Free Frogs (Bonus Track) (3:11) N.B: This "secret track" contains 1 minute of silence and 2 minutes of frog noises", is totally unnecessary, and adds nothing to the quality of the album

All songs composed by Lester Quitzau except "The Only Cure" by Mae Moore, "Shape Shifter" by Lester Quitzau, Rick May, Joby Baker and "To My Old Brown Earth" by Pete Seeger

MUSICIANS

Lester Quitzau - Electric & Acoustic Guitar, Slide Guitar, Dobro, Steel Drums, Percussion, Harmony, Vocals
Joby Baker - Electric & Acoustic Bass, Hammond Organ, Wurlitzer, Piano, Drums, Steel Drums, Percussion, Shaker, Tambourine, Vocals, Background Vocals
Rick May - Acoustic Bass
Brooke Maxwell - Tenor Sax
Alfons Fear - Trumpet
Nick Lariviere - Trombone
Mae Moore - Background Vocals

BIO

One of the best things to happen to Canadian music in the past ten years has been the combination of circumstances that led to Lester Quitzau’s finding a Gulf Island sanctuary to engage and sustain his soul- a home and place of grounding that has empowered him to offer the world one of the most unique and highly charged musical statements of recent years. While this refers specifically to The Same Light, his latest CD, it is every bit as much about who he is as a human being. Lester really does find fulfilment in gathering a hen’s fresh eggs, and he really does have musical roots so deep he can craft a musical cloth that quilts together ringing peals of West African-sounding guitar with the feel of free-form jazz, threaded through with unmistakable strands of gutbucket blues, yet all interwoven with lyrics and songs of love and spirit that display more mastery and a deeper vision with each passing year. Touchstones along the route that brought the Juno-Award-winner to where he stands today include his work with fellow Tri-Continentals, Bill Bourne and Madagascar Slim, and his collaboration with Mae Moore. But the story really starts with his Edmonton childhood, an older brother, the all-important family stereo, and what Louis Armstrong used to refer to as “big ears”- a deep and insatiable curiosity about just how those cool sounds got themselves into those 12” slices of black vinyl…. and what it might take to one day make those sounds himself. The rest was just a matter of time. It was the sixties. Edmonton was a solidly blue-collar town, and rock and roll was its musical lifeblood. There was a guitar already in the house (his mom’s acoustic), his older brother turned him on to the likes of Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple, and by the time he was 15 Lester was rocking out on his own electric guitar. Before long his “big ears” discovered the same blues roots that had influenced Zeppelin and the other Brit rockers. Edmonton’s Ambassador Hotel booked the cream of Chicago blues and Lester heard them all- John Lee Hooker, James Cotton, Jimmy Rogers- as well as great Canadian acts like Downchild, Dutch Mason, and David Wilcox. At that same time Lester hooked up with fellow Canadian snowboarding pioneer Ken Achenbach, got heavily into the then-emerging sport and was dividing his time between the smoky blues bars of Edmonton and the pristine air of the Rockies, where he emerged as one of Canada’s genuine snowboarding pioneers. His skills as a competitor not only merited him team sponsorship, he even placed fifth in the premier international event of the 1985 season, on a board without steel edges. Pursuing both, music and snowboarding proved difficult, so Lester choose music and by the late 80’s was performing with a rocking blues trio called The Slipping Lizards. The Lizards were popular in Edmonton, but the hard-partying lifestyle that seemed to come with that popularity wore thin. The band soon split and Lester continued with a band called The Yard Dogs. The Yard Dogs were blues players too, but their approach was subtler, and offered Lester an opportunity to mature musically with the crucial addition of a spiritual dimension. Their bass player, Farley Scott, was especially influential- Lester likens his mentorship to that of a Zen Master. In 1993 Lester left Edmonton’s urban blues/rock scene behind and relocated to British Columbia’s West Kootenay region, only to return to Edmonton shortly thereafter to continue his music apprenticeship. His first album, Keep On Walking, was released later that year. Elemental (stripped-down, funky) and all-acoustic in its approach to the blues, its return to basics mirrored the return to simpler values he was learning to embody in his own lifestyle. It was followed by A Big Love in 1996, an album that initially surprised listeners expecting a second instalment of Keep On Walking’s straight-ahead acoustic blues. What they got instead was practically a 180-degree departure- where the first CD celebrated the traditional, the new one was mostly electric. And although the music was still blues-based, the album embraced experimentation and the wealth of possibilities an artist with Lester’s talents could offer. The arrangements were multi-layered and often lush- effectively supporting and showcasing his arrival at a stronger and more confident level of songwriting. His audience grew with the release of A Big Love, as did his stature among critics, resulting in his first Juno Award nomination. Over the next five years Lester was discovered by an ever-widening international audience, primarily through his year-in, year-out touring on the folk/roots (and jazz and blues) festival circuits. The Lester Quitzau Band (Andy Graffiti, Brett Miles, Chris Byrne, Rob Vause, and Jason Cairns) set out in 1996 in support of A Big Love, and for the first time he experienced the enthusiasm and respect of discerning European audiences. But wherever he toured, as a band leader, as a solo artist, or with his Very Electric Trio (Lyle Molzan and Greg Johnson), his reputation expanded as his roots within the world music community deepened. Two particularly significant results of that growth process were: his partnering with Bill Bourne and Madagascar Slim to form Tri-Continental, one of the biggest acts on today’s world music stage (and the source of his first Juno Award win), and his magical meeting, collaboration with, and marriage to celebrated singer/songwriter Mae Moore in 2002. The first years of this decade produced a flurry of CD releases. The first of them, So Here We Are, (“An absolutely stellar record”, Cathy Inis, CKUA radio network). Still bluesy (don’t bother trying to find a nastier, more fundamentals-drenched version of “Rollin’ and Tumblin’”- you won’t- anywhere), it still managed to balance that mastery of basics with a striking display of maturing writing and musical chops. Like A Big Love, the album got great reviews and sold well (including through its European distribution). Oh My, his collaboration with Mae Moore, was released in 2003 and met with similar success (including a West Coast Music Awards nomination). It clearly occupies a special space in Lester’s heart, and not just for romantic reasons or the obvious strengths such a partnership could draw from. "That album was cool for both of us because it challenged us in new ways - for me to stretch out more as a vocalist, and for Mae to expand what she was willing to explore as a guitarist.” With Tri-Continental also releasing four successful albums over the same period, it’s not surprising that by 2006 it was time to step back and take a well-earned breath. It’s dizzying simply trying to sort out the routes and combinations of personnel Lester toured with between 2001 and 2006. They include destinations from Victoria to the Czech Republic, and alternate between Tri-Continental tours, tours with Mae, the Very Electric Trio, Lester solo, Lester’s band- you get the picture…. So Lester did take a bit of a breath, and it has stretched out for nearly three years now- a time in which Lester and Mae have finally been able to live their dream of a committed and sustainability-based relationship with their Gulf Island homestead. There is a different rhythm in his life today, slower, more reflective, but certainly no less musical at its heart. This is the music that finds such powerful expression in The Same Light, his newest CD, released early in 2009. It’s a culmination of his years spent re-connecting with the land, but it’s also a reflection of some serious musical wood-shedding and soul searching done over that same period. The CD flows naturally from blues to ballads to truly inventive jazz improvisations. It is hard to imagine a more perfect summing-up of who Lester Quitzau is today. © lester quitzau 2008 http://www.lesterq.com/bio/bio

Bad Dog U

2012-01-12T13:47:00.001+01:00

Bad Dog U - Bad Dog U - 2004 - Blu Jazz

"Ernie Denov brings real jazz chops to his more visable rock work; on the other hand, he uses the pulsar energy of rock to light up his jazz gigs (including his frequent appearances with the popular pan-latin band, Chevere). Denov plays with a tough, beveled tone and can bend a note with the best of them; at times he brings to mind those classic albums of instrumental rock recorded by Jeff Beck in the mid 70s (no small praise)." - Neil Tesser; jazz critic for Playboy Magazine

BAD DOG U is an electric instrumental quartet that plays a unique hybrid of progressive rock and jazz fusion with an uncharacteristically high regard for melodic content. Although the music covers a wide range of thought and emotion, the overall message conveyed is one of optimism. Seamlessly shifting from tightly arranged ensemble work to interactive improvisation, each composition tells a story laced with dramatic plot twists, conflict and resolution, and a touch of irony. BAD DOG U has been a cult favorite of the Chicago area for over fifteen years, and this is their long awaited debut recording. Guitarist Ernie Denov, BAD DOG U's founding father has been active in the Chicago music scene for over two decades. He has recorded or performed live with Richard Marx, Liquid Soul, Airto Moreira, Dave Valentin, Paul Wertico, Howard Levy, Victor Bailey, Darryl Jones, Sheila Jordan, Ira Sullivan, Von Freeman, Terry Callier, Kimo Williams, Gary Sinese's Lt. Dan Band and dozens of other bands and artists that you will never hear about. - from Album Notes © http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/baddogu

Bad Dog U is a jazz-fusion/progressive rock band fronted by guitarist Ernie Denov, who have been toiling around the Chicago music scene for nearly two decades, finally releasing their self-titled debut in 2004. the CD is a very classy and professional sounding recording that will easily appeal to fans of fusion groups such as Chick Corea's Return to Forever & The Elektric Band, Dixie Dregs, Tribal Tech, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Jeff Beck, Helmet of Gnats, and even some of the Japenese fusion bands such as Kenso and Side Steps. Featuring Denov's tasty guitar work and the nimble keyboard playing of Rick Snyder, the band is cemented by the rock solid grooves of drummer Rick Vitek and bassist Dave Farley. Together, Bad Dog U have created a formidable debut that has much to recommend. Most of the songs here are fairly long and very melodic, with lots of room for improvisation yet always remaining within the framework of the song. Take "Prodigal" for instance, a sophisticated jazz piece highlighted by extensive solo forays by Snyder's synth and Denov's Larry Carlton-inspired guitar. There's majestic pieces like "Olderwisersadder" (Denov gets some searing Jeff Beck sounding leads in on this one), funky burners as on "Recess", flat out aggressive fusion romps like "Skyscrapers", and proggier styles as heard on "It Wasn't Easy" or "Fancy Mixed Nuts". Regardless of the tune, there is always an undercurrent of jazz going on here, and never is a song reliant on chops. Melody, melody, and more melody is the key here folks. So, if you dig stylish modern-day fusion with a proggy edge, then you can't go wrong with this debut from Bad Dog U. Follow the link below for purchasing information. You'll be glad you did! Added: February 26th 2005 Reviewer Pete Pardo & © Pete Pardo Score: **** © 2004 Sea Of Tranquility http://www.seaoftranquility.org/reviews.php?op=showcontent&id=2113

Bad Dog U is a popular Chicago based instrumental jazz rock/fusion band formed around 1986. The band plays progressive rock/jazz fusion with good melodic content and their influences include King Crimson, The Mahavishnu Orchestra, Tribal Tech, Chick Corea, Genesis, Yes, The Dregs, Bill Bruford, Allan Holdsworth and Jeff Beck. The band have opened for several top bands including The Steve Morse Band. This self titled album is really good, challenging, and inventive jazz fusion with some terrific guitar work from Ernie Denov. Watch out for more releases for this band, and support real music [All tracks @ 224 Kbps: File size = 101 Mb]

TRACKS

1 It (Wasn't Easy) 5:28
2 Prodigal 7:39
3 Olderwisersadder 7:25
4 A Cure for Schizophrenia 7:00
5 Recess 8:29
6 Romance 8:16
7 Skyscrapers 4:02
8 Fancy Mixed Nuts 9:06
9 The Wandering Truth 5:10

Tracks 1,3,4,7,8,9 composed by Ernie Denov: Tracks 2,5,6 composed by Rick Snyder

BAND

Ernie Denov - Guitars
Dave Farley - Bass Guitar
Rick Snyder - Keyboards
Rick Vitek - Drums

John Mayall

2012-01-12T00:09:00.001+01:00

John Mayall - Stormy Monday - 1994 - Spectrum

An obscure compilation album from John Mayall featuring session and live tracks recorded between 1966 and 1972. The album features appearances by Eric Clapton, Peter Green, Jack Bruce, Aynsley Dunbar, and more. Terrific stuff, and a testament to John Mayall's legendary status as one of the world's greatest Bluesmen. The album is VHR by A.O.O.F.C. Listen to John's classic "Crusade" and "The Turning Point" albums, and search this blog for related releases [Tracks @ 192-320 Kbps: File size = 73.4 Mb]

TRACKS / RECORDING DETAILS

1 Oh, Pretty Woman - Date Performance: 1967-07-00 3:40
2 Sitting In The Rain - Recorded during the "A Hard Road" sessions: Date Performance: 1966-10-11 2:56
3 Long Gone Midnight - Recorded between August 26-28,1968 at Decca's West Hampstead Studios: Date Performance: 1968-08-000 3:27
4 No Reply - Date Performance: 1968-04-00 3:09
5 Hartley Quits - Recorded at Decca Studios, West Hampstead, London: Date Performance: 1968-04-00 2:55
6 Jenny - Recorded at Decca's West Hampstead Studios: Date Performance: 1967-12-04 4:36
7 Room To Move - Recorded live at the Fillmore East, New York: Date Performance: 1969-07-12 4:59
8 Stormy Monday [Live] - (Billed as "They Call It Stormy Monday"): Date Performance: 1966-03-17 4:23
9 Don't Pick A Flower - Date Performance: 1970 3:53
10 Thinking Of My Woman - Date Performance: 1970 2:32
11 Don't Waste My Time - Date Performance: 1970 3:10
12 Plan Your Revolution - Date Performance: 1970 2:38
13 Took The Car - Recorded at Larrabee Studio's, Los Angeles: Date Performance: 1970-07-00 4:00
14 Moving On [Live] - (Billed as "Time's Moving On"): Recorded live at the Whiskey A Go-Go, Los Angeles: Date Performance: 1972-07-00 4:26

Track 1 by A.C. "Moolah" Williams: Track 5 by Mick Taylor: Track 8 by T-Bone Walker: Tracks 2,3,6,7,10,12,13,14 by John Mayall: Track 4 by John Mayall/Mick Taylor: Track 9 by John Mayall/Jon Mark: Track 11 by John Mayall/Steve Thompson

MUSICIANS

John Mayall - Guitar, 12-String Guitar, Slide Guitar, Harmonica, Piano, Organ, Keyboards, Tambourine, Vocals
Eric (Patrick) Clapton, Peter Green, Freddy Robinson, Mick Taylor, Harvey Mandel, Jon Mark - Guitar
John McVie, Larry Taylor, Victor Gaskin, Stephen Thompson, Tony Reeves - Bass
Aynsley Dunbar, Colin Allen, Jon Hiseman, Keef Hartley, Jack Bruce (John Symon Asher), Hughie Flint - Drums
Dick Heckstall-Smith, Rip Kant, Chris Mercer, Clifford Solomon, Ernie Watts, Fred Jackson - Saxophone
Charles Owen, Johnny Almond - Saxophone, Flute
Blue Mitchell, Henry Lowther - Trumpet
Don (Sugarcane) Harris - Violin

BIO

As the elder statesman of British blues, it is John Mayall's lot to be more renowned as a bandleader and mentor than as a performer in his own right. Throughout the '60s, his band, the Bluesbreakers, acted as a finishing school for the leading British blues-rock musicians of the era. Guitarists Eric Clapton, Peter Green, and Mick Taylor joined his band in a remarkable succession in the mid-'60s, honing their chops with Mayall before going on to join Cream, Fleetwood Mac, and the Rolling Stones, respectively. John McVie and Mick Fleetwood, Jack Bruce, Aynsley Dunbar, Dick Heckstall-Smith, Andy Fraser (of Free), John Almond, and Jon Mark also played and recorded with Mayall for varying lengths of times in the '60s. Mayall's personnel has tended to overshadow his own considerable abilities. Only an adequate singer, the multi-instrumentalist was adept in bringing out the best in his younger charges (Mayall himself was in his thirties by the time the Bluesbreakers began to make a name for themselves). Doing his best to provide a context in which they could play Chicago-style electric blues, Mayall was never complacent, writing most of his own material (which ranged from good to humdrum), revamping his lineup with unnerving regularity, and constantly experimenting within his basic blues format. Some of these experiments (with jazz-rock and an album on which he played all the instruments except drums) were forgettable; others, like his foray into acoustic music in the late '60s, were quite successful. Mayall's output has caught some flak from critics for paling next to the real African-American deal, but much of his vintage work -- if weeded out selectively -- is quite strong; especially his legendary 1966 LP with Eric Clapton, which both launched Clapton into stardom and kick-started the blues boom into full gear in England. When Clapton joined the Bluesbreakers in 1965, Mayall had already been recording for a year, and been performing professionally long before that. Originally based in Manchester, Mayall moved to London in 1963 on the advice of British blues godfather Alexis Korner, who thought a living could be made playing the blues in the bigger city. Tracing a path through his various lineups of the '60s is a daunting task. At least 15 different editions of the Bluesbreakers were in existence from January 1963 through mid-1970. Some notable musicians (like guitarist Davy Graham, Mick Fleetwood, and Jack Bruce) passed through for little more than a cup of coffee; Mayall's longest-running employee, bassist John McVie, lasted about four years. The Bluesbreakers, like Fairport Convention or the Fall, was more a concept than an ongoing core. Mayall, too, had the reputation of being a difficult and demanding employer, willing to give musicians their walking papers as his music evolved, although he also imparted invaluable schooling to them while the associations lasted. Mayall recorded his debut single in early 1964; he made his first album, a live affair, near the end of the year. At this point the Bluesbreakers had a more pronounced R&B influence than would be exhibited on their most famous recordings, somewhat in the mold of younger combos like the Animals and Rolling Stones, but the Bluesbreakers would take a turn for the purer with the recruitment of Eric Clapton in the spring of 1965. Clapton had left the Yardbirds in order to play straight blues, and the Bluesbreakers allowed him that freedom (or stuck to well-defined restrictions, depending upon your viewpoint). Clapton began to inspire reverent acclaim as one of Britain's top virtuosos, as reflected in the famous "Clapton is God" graffiti that appeared in London in the mid-'60s. In professional terms, though, 1965 wasn't the best of times for the group, which had been dropped by Decca. Clapton even left the group for a few months for an odd trip to Greece, leaving Mayall to straggle on with various fill-ins, including Peter Green. Clapton did return in late 1965, around the time an excellent blues-rock single, "I'm Your Witchdoctor" (with searing sustain-laden guitar riffs), was issued on Immediate. By early 1966, the band was back on Decca, and recorded its landmark Bluesbreakers LP. This was the album that, with its clean, loud, authoritative licks, firmly established Clapton as a guitar hero, on both reverent covers of tunes by the likes of Otis Rush and Freddie King and decent originals by Mayall himself. The record was also an unexpected commercial success, making the Top Ten in Britain. From that point on, in fact, Mayall became one of the first rock musicians to depend primarily upon the LP market; he recorded plenty of singles throughout the '60s, but none of them came close to becoming a hit. Clapton left the Bluesbreakers in mid-1966 to form Cream with Jack Bruce, who had played with Mayall briefly in late 1965. Mayall turned quickly to Peter Green, who managed the difficult feat of stepping into Clapton's shoes and gaining respect as a player of roughly equal imagination and virtuosity, although his style was quite distinctly his own. Green recorded one LP with Mayall, A Hard Road, and several singles, sometimes writing material and taking some respectable lead vocals. Green's talents, like those of Clapton, were too large to be confined by sideman status, and in mid-1967 he left to form a successful band of his own, Fleetwood Mac. Mayall then enlisted 19-year-old Mick Taylor; remarkably, despite the consecutive departures of two star guitarists, Mayall maintained a high level of popularity. The late '60s were also a time of considerable experimentation for the Bluesbreakers, which moved into a form of blues-jazz-rock fusion with the addition of a horn section, and then a retreat into mellower, acoustic-oriented music. Mick Taylor, the last of the famous triumvirate of Mayall-bred guitar heroes, left in mid-1969 to join the Rolling Stones. Yet in a way Mayall was thriving more than ever, as the U.S. market, which had been barely aware of him in the Clapton era, was beginning to open up for his music. In fact, at the end of the 1960s, Mayall moved to Los Angeles. Released in 1969, The Turning Point, a live, all-acoustic affair, was a commercial and artistic high point. In America at least, Mayall continued to be pretty popular in the early '70s. His band was no more stable than ever; at various points some American musicians flitted in and out of the Bluesbreakers, including Harvey Mandel, Canned Heat bassist Larry Taylor, and Don "Sugarcane" Harris. Although he's released numerous albums since and remained a prodigiously busy and reasonably popular live act, his post-1970 output generally hasn't matched the quality of his '60s work. Following collaborations with an unholy number of guest celebrities, in the early '80s he re-teamed with a couple of his more renowned vets, John McVie and Mick Taylor, for a tour, which was chronicled by Great American Music's Blues Express, released in 2010. It's the '60s albums that you want, though there's little doubt that Mayall has over the past decades done a great deal to popularize the blues all over the globe, whether or not the music has meant much on record. © Richie Unterberger © 2012 Rovi Corporation. All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/artist/john-mayall-p4860/biography

Roger Chapman & The Shortlist

2012-01-10T12:39:00.002+01:00

Roger Chapman &The Shortlist - Rollin' & Tumblin' - 2001 - Mystic

“After a career spanning 30 years, Roger Chapman’s fiery stage presence remains undimmed. He still struts and frets, wringing every syllable from a multicoloured repertoire of rock, soul and ballads. His astounding voice rips through the lyrics, devastating the unsuspecting listener with raw emotion. The sheer power and commitment of his delivery is a revelation to audiences brought up on a diet of blandness and mediocrity. Chappo is both a legend of rock past and a pioneer of rock present, and the story is still very much unfolding…” [From Roger’s Public Relations Dept.]

Roger Chapman is a British rock legend, best known for for his spectacular stage presence and amazing powerful vibrato vocals, who played with the hugely talented and original British band, Family, (who called it a day in the early 70’s). During their seven year lifespan, Family had achieved an almost unequalled standard of musical output and musicianship. Arguably, at least four of their eight albums can be regarded as rock classics. Family were regarded by critics, and by the public in general, as one of Britain's finest rock bands. John Peel, the late, great BBC Radio 1 DJ, once said that he'd travel any distance to see Chapman perform. Sadly, by the late seventies, Roger had practically disappeared from the music scene.The mechanics of the music business, e.g, glam rock, the dawn of punk, new wave, and romanticism, dictated the demise of many great rock and progressive rock bands, who had dominated the music scene, (especially in Britain), for so long. That is not to say that these new genres did not produce some great bands. However, the musical scene at this time did not suit Roger Chapman's style of music, and never one to bow to commercialism, Chapman went to Germany in the early eighties where he still spends most of his time, and is regarded as a cult figure there. He has also received well deserved Artist of the Year and Lifetime Achievement Awards from the German people. "Rollin' & Tumblin'" was recorded live by Roger and his band the Shortlist at The Borderline, London & Hell, Norway in August 2000. The album includes three previously unreleased tracks: "18 Wheels...& a Crowbar", "Downtown Train", and "Big River". A couple of old Family favourites, "No Mules Fool", and "Burlesque" are covered as well as Lomax & Leadbelly's old country standard "Goodnight Irene". Roger was never one for convention, and has always done his own thing in music with complete disregard for commercialism. Buy his brilliant 1979 album, "Chappo." It is also a musical education to listen to Family's "Music in a Doll's House," "Bandstand," and "Fearless " albums. Search this blog for related releases [All tracks @ 320 Kbps: File Size = 138 Mb]

TRACKS / COMPOSERS

1 No Mules Fool - Roger Chapman, John Whitney 3:37
2 A Stone Unturned - Roger Chapman 4:59
3 A Kid Called Mac & A Cat Called Kokomo - Roger Chapman 4:02
4 Kiss My Soul - Roger Chapman, John Whitney 5:28
5 Downbound Train - Berry 6:43
6 Big River - Johnny Cash 4:51
7 Burlesque - Roger Chapman, John Whitney 4:52
8 Shank (Shadow on the Wall) - Oldfield 4:06
9 18 Wheels... & A Crowbar - Mead, Wilson 5:42
10 X-Town - Chapman, Simpson 4:56
11 Jesus & The Devil - Chapman, Hinkley 7:16
12 Goodnight Irene - John A. Lomax, Huddie Ledbetter 4:43

BAND

Roger Chapman - Vocals, Harmonica, Percussion
Steve Simpson - Electric & Slide Guitar, Electric & 12 String Acoustic Mandolin, Fiddle, Backing Vocals
Gary Twigg - Bass Guitar, Percussion
Ian Gibbons - Piano, Keyboards, Accordion, Backing Vocals
Geoff Dunn - Drums, Percussion
Mark Feltham - Harmonica on Track 12

BIO

Roger Chapman is best known for his barbed-wire voice, used to front British '70s rock acts Family and Streetwalkers. He began a long-awaited solo career in 1978 that led to over a dozen full-length releases. Never heard of them? It's not surprising: album-wise, he camped out in Germany for 20 years. His first album and tour got high praise in his British homeland, but critics cut into him soon after. When the hassle-free German market beckoned, Chapman began to focus his subsequent work there, where he had become a musical hero, "the working-class artist." Chapman split with his longtime writing partner, Charlie Whitney, after the breakup of Streetwalkers in 1977. He surrounded himself with ace session musicians to cut a debut solo effort, Chappo. It was an album of strong rock that catered to the singer and not the musicians. An appearance on Germany's Rockpalast TV show and the ensuing hit single, "Let's Spend the Night Together," gave Chapman the shot of success he needed, so he set up operations in Germany. Live in Hamburg was a reassuring second album, demonstrating the live energy of this experienced yet stage-crazed performer. Studio albums over the next few years blended straight power rock with funk, R&B, and soul, all topped with Chapman's characteristic vocal style. In the 1981 German Music Awards, Chapman was voted Best Singer, and his Hyenas Only Laugh for Fun won an award. Chapman and his backing band, the Shortlist, released two alter-ego albums in the early '80s as the Riff Burglars. These releases honored roots and classic rock by artists like Chuck Berry, Willie Dixon, and Leiber & Stoller. A lead vocal on Mike Oldfield's 1983 hit "Shadow on the Wall" also added to Chapman's diverse repertoire. Chapman's mid-'80s foray into polished studio sounds did not fare well with his audience. When his extended partnership with guitarist Geoff Whitehorn ran its course, Chapman returned to pure rock form with 1989's Walking the Cat, which featured Alvin Lee and old friend Bob Tench. Two compilations filled a silent period in the mid '90s, but 1996's Kiss My Soul was a comeback for the guy who had never gone away. It even got attention and a pressing in Chapman's British homeland, where he often toured despite the lack of domestic releases. This was followed by 1998's A Turn Unstoned? and the two-CD Anthology; the next year saw re-releases of Chappo and Mail Order Magic. Moth to a Flame was issued in early 2001. A number of live and archival releases followed in the early 2000s, and a new studio album, One More Time for Peace, was released in 2007. In 2009 Chapman announced that he would be retiring from live performances, and his final appearance dates were subsequently announced, culminating in several festival sets in the U.K. and Germany planned for August 2010. © Patrick Little © 2012 Rovi Corporation. All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/artist/roger-chapman-p16393/biography

The J. Derrickson Project

2012-01-09T00:42:00.001+01:00

The J. Derrickson Project - The Blues In Me - 2010 - The J Derrickson Project

Known for playing a broad mixture of styles during his live performances, James Derrickson (aka: The J. Derrickson Project) realized that he had a fast growing love for the Blues, in particular. While playing bass in a three piece Blues band for 3 years back around 2000, he took his first stab at composing Blues tunes, and quickly recognized that it came fairly easy for him. After releasing two R&B CD's in 2003 and 2007, James decided the time was right to fulfill a dream of composing and recording an all-original Blues album. A year-and-a-half making, “The Blues In Me" was recently released and has garnered tremendous critical acclaim and airplay. “The Blues In Me" is a collection of various bluesy feels that lyrically, cover an emotional range from happy, sad, sarcastic, and uplifting, to just plain old fun! The opening song. “That Ain't Enough" is a rhythm guitar-driven R&B/Blues groove, that at live shows, has instantly provoked head-bobbing from the first note. “Let Me Be" is the CD's “down and dirty “ blues track. It boasts an emotionally charged guitar, supported by a tasty piano and heavy bass line, featuring Allen Oliver on keys. The title tune “ Blues In Me" musically conjures thoughts of New Orleans and featured Lee Thornton and Rick Berandini on keys and harmonica, respectively. Lyrically, along with “A Little Time" , it goes to explain the emotions that James experiences when playing, as well as listening to the Blues. “Ain't That A Shame" and “After 'While" feature the unbelievably talented 19 year old saxophonist Jacob Veloo who, as a testament to his skills, is currently a student at Berklee College Of Music in Boston. “Cab, Bartender," jokingly hailed as his “public service song" originally appeared on James' first CD, “Strange Mood." It has been Derrickson's most popular song to play live. Thus, wanting to make it more bluesy, to improve the overall track, and to give it more exposure, James decided to re-record it for this project. Born in Danville, Illinois, Jim began playing music at the age of eight, playing violin in school and bass with neighborhood musician friends. After graduating high school, he would spend the next twelve years performing with numerous local cover bands, all over the central United States. But, needing to take another step forward, Jim decided to take some time off of the stage and concentrate on writing some of his own material. After moving to Salt Lake City in 1990, the urge to perform again was too strong. So he did some duo work, and joined a six piece dance band. But, not feeling totally satisfied, Jim decided solo would be the way to do all the things he wanted, musically. And with today's technology (drum machines, sequencers, etc.) he knew that he could cover most of the missing elements of a full band. The results; a sound that is enjoyable to listen to, very danceable, and appealing to those with a wide variety of musical taste. Don't forget to check www.jimmysongs.com for “The Blues In Me" fall/winter tour from the J. Derrickson Project. - FROM & © SOURCE: CREATIVITY IN MUSIC, Published: 2010-09-07 © 2011 All About Jazz and/or contributing writer/visual artist. All rights reserved http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/news.php?id=64692

"From east coast to west coast, and parts in between", this is a very good all original traditional style soul blues/R&B album from James Derrickson, and very enjoyable. An album full of class with musicianship of the highest standard, and HR by A.O.O.F.C. Buy The J. Derrickson Project's great "Strange Mood" album [All tracks @ 160 Kbps: File size = 68.6 Mb]

TRACKS

1. That Ain't Enough
2. Let Me Be
3. I Should've Known
4. The Blues In Me
5. Ain't That a Shame
6. You're Gonna Miss Me
7. These Times
8. A Little Time
9. Can't Let the Blues Get Me Down
10. After 'While
11. I've Got To Know
12. Chi-Town Blues
13. Cab, Bartender [Reprise]

All songs composed by James Derrickson

MUSICIANS

James Derrickson - Guitar, Bass, Drum Machines, Sequencer, Vocals
Allen Oliver - Keyboards on Tracks 2 & 6
Lee Thornton - Keyboards on Tracks 4 & 12
Roger Bird - Keyboards on Track 9
Jacob Veloo - Alto Saxophone on Tracks 5 & 10
Kristi Davis - Street Corner Cab Whistle on Track 13
Rick Berardini - Harmonica on Track 4

ABOUT JAMES DERRICKSON

James Derrickson [Vocals ~ Guitar ~ Bass] Born : Danville, Illinois: Current Home : Salt Lake City, Utah: Soul, blues, jazz, gospel, country, rock, classical: At some point within his 35 year musical career, Jim has touched on, and gained an appreciation for all of these different styles. And that tends to bring on one of his biggest compliments. Jim’s audiences always enjoy the fact that he is able to perform such a diverse song list, with an honest enjoyment for each and every song, no matter what the style. And, regardless of how many different types are played, his own added “personal touch” tends to bring a certain continuity to a song list of many different feelings. Born in Danville, Illinois, Jim began playing music at the age of eight, playing violin in school and bass with neighborhood musician friends. After graduating high school, he would spend the next twelve years performing with numerous local cover bands, all over the central United States. But, needing to take another step forward, Jim decided to take some time off of the stage and concentrate on writing some of his own material. After moving to Salt Lake City in 1990, the urge to perform again was too strong. So he did some duo work, and joined a six piece dance band. But, not feeling totally satisfied, Jim decided solo would be the way to do all the things he wanted, musically. And with today’s technology (drum machines, sequencers, etc.) he knew that he could cover most of the missing elements of a full band. The results; a sound that is enjoyable to listen to, very danceable, and appealing to those with a wide variety of musical taste. © http://www.jimmysongs.com/bio.html

Alex Ehrsam

2012-01-07T23:47:00.001+01:00

Alex Ehrsam - P.U.L.S.E. - 2010 - Shredguy Records

Shredguy Records introduces French guitarist Alex Ehrsam to guitar fanatics around the world with P.U.L.S.E. This ten track, all-instrumental release proves that fusion is still in fashion. Searing guitar and funk/fusion grooves abound. The album is driven along by the funky grooves supplied by the quality rhythm section of Anh-Quàn Lê on bass, and Olivier Wilhelm on drums! Alex handles all guitars tracks (except on Morning Cigarette rhythm played by Thomas Gutherlé). Alex’s weapon of choice is the Stratocaster, a perfect machine for his rapid fire riffs and funky rythmn grooves. This platter cooks from start to finish with quality composition, performance and engineering. A funk/fusion extravaganza that is never boring or tedious. Despite intense and furious fusion motifs, there are a lot of dynamics as well, melodic sections within songs or the totally atmospheric ballad Time Sensitive. The soloing is to me most reminiscent of the funkier side of Greg Howe, obviously a huge influence, and perhaps something between Gambale and Henderson with also a touch of Mike Stern. This is a must have for those keen on instrumental guitar with serious chops funkiness and melody. Next to Mike Abdow, this is my favourite Shredguy release thus far. For more information about Alex Ehrsam alexehrsam.fr Rating – 85% - Review by & © Mike Blackburn © http://virtuosityone.com/2011/04/27/alex-ehrsam-p-u-l-s-e/

Despite being on the Shredguy label, the album is not all about "shredding". There are relatively few metal and/or mega-heavy riffs. "P.U.L.S.E." is primarily a great instrumental guitar dominated jazz rock album full of original instrumental fusion ideas, funky grooves, and unusual jazz chordal structures. Alex is a brilliant technical player and builds a bridge between instrumental jazz, and modern shredding guitar. Alex said in a 2008 interview that "I really don't care if I'm being associated with this or that guitar heavyweight. I know my influences, I try not to copy them, I know where I want to go musically speaking, and I don't care about remarks or bad reviews. I just play the way I feel, some like it, some don't, life goes on". If you like artists like Greg Howe, Scott Henderson, Joe Satriani, and Prashant Aswani you may enjoy this album. Listen to Alex's "djaz_dtox" album [All tracks @ 320 Kbps: File size = 109 Mb]

TRACKS

1. Proximity Triggered (4:52)
2. Hollow Input (5:24)
3. Short Notice (4:01)
4. Round Trip (4:55)
5. Lush (5:39)
6. Time Sensitive (4:20)
7. Heat Signature (4:55)
8. Smooth Operator (4:56)
9. Side Step (4:20)
10. Morning Cigarette (4:50)

All tracks composed by Alex Ehrsam

MUSICIANS

Alex Ehrsam - Lead Guitar, Rhythm Guitar
Thomas Gutherlé - Rhythm Guitar on "Morning Cigarette"
Ahn-Quan Le - Bass
Oliver Wilhelm - Drums

REVIEW

Before I start waffling, I have a great perspective for this album as I've never heard it and don't know the artist on it.I know of the artist and know his influences Coltrane, Greg Howe, Prashant Aswani, Scott Hendersonthese are big boots to fill but is that not true for all our influences? I ask myself what boxes does a fusion shred album need to tick, and I answer with this list ; Timing ,groove ,tension, release, interaction , phrasing, tones, motifs , solo's and technical proficiency (not a must for fusion but as its got shred in the album genre) and a little strangeness is always a good thing. (This album did ticks those boxes) I also remind myself this album is live and a quartet comprising of;
Alex Ehrsam on Lead Guitar, Olivier Wilhem on Drums, Anh-Quàn on bass Thomas Gutehrlé on rhythm Guitar TRACK 1 "Proximity Triggered" Great , on the outset this has had some studio mastering to tech it up slightly , but it retains its live feel its definitely "Guitar on a Platter" stuff. The tonefull lead guitar take center stange and reacts to a composition rather than just changes which is great. Proximity takes an interesting turn into another mode to use a pun , its timbre changes and line after line the lead guitar shows its got all the stuff needed to do its business and do it well . The guitar goes for it but it still keeps in the confines of a composition and not a tangent of chaos (thank heavens) Great track. TRACK 2 "Hollow Input" This has a different vibe, totally away from the last some great analogue synths in there or filter fx , this is groove town means meaningfull sloucher, theres plenty for the guitar shredder to enjoy in soloing skills and great chord movements outlined well. TRACK 3 "Short Notice" Heavier number now and this track has that odd time, older fusion vibe, with a much more modern and up to date guitar virtuosity , nice hooky riffs . I get the vibe that this CD has been made to feel older , like a custom shop would do a guitar to seem older , this has that feel. The whole guitar trip gets mad at times but that is what your after isn't it? , its even got a Zappa touch to it too. TRACK 4 "Round Trip" Hold on whats this worth then?, Holdsworth pun there as the progression has that vibe. I think I'll stick to the song and leave the comedy , hey I think its the reverb that gives it that aged feel , there is either a real plate £18,000 or a great rack £5000 or an amazing vst £500 lol .There are some very Chick, Lee Retinour vibes here too. Nice changes sir TRACK 5 "Lush" Layed back , sensual sexy guitar (not porn and no theres no wah) . Nice thick tone and very clever hybrid work on the fretboard , I think only a guitarist would have spotted that (geek that I am). This is a great behind the beat and gibson SG sound , 80 's rock fusion is alive and well. Alex uses very subtle additives and brings on the the verb during some of the fast and high register guitar , then its gone giving the guitar tones a change of timbre, this is great fx use, There is no doubt that Alex can play the guitar and to a high standard and he sure doesn't hold it back either . TRACK 6 "Time Sensitive" Great intro , very cool use of delays and taps also the bass takes a great place in the first part of this track, its a great composition and has an interesting tonal atmospheric feel If floyd did fusion they would do it like this track ;) , cool fake end then swings in again to give it a real uplift to the ending. TRACK 7 "Heat Signature" All that mellowness was short lived , here come the freaks , its a freaky one this , now the fusion is really filtering into the room, I have a sneaky Henderson feel to this , the groove is good and the crunchy guitar thats playing it is just the right sound. I like that the album has had not additions post live take that are out of place or un-do-able live. TRACK 8 "Smooth Operator" The groove train is in the station and its mode-ville all the way , I think there is some Vai in there somewhere I'm sure , the change in tempos and timing makes the live aspect of this album evident. Although there is alot of notes flying by, its not out of place to the the albums vibe as a whole. TRACK 9 "Side Step" I like the groove ,twisted Bebop metal funk lol , the riffin and the twisted timing , nice , ahh a drum solo , I did wonder if Alex would use the drummer more, As in all the tracks Alex puts a little refrain and adds something a little different , this is for the shred lover be assured . TRACK 10 "Morning Cigarette" Damn I had been ok with giving up smoking until this songs title reminded me of that (I wont go there) . A chesty cough is a better reminder anyway back to the music. This good bye track is a bit like ahhhhh , much like the morning cigarette, I do like the way Alex is using the volume swell and his phrasing is very hard and aggressive. The Henderson influence I think is very evident as its fusion , shred , blues . Summary: Fusion, shred, blues sums this mans guitar on a platter album up. But to say that there's a massive amount of work gone into the composing and practicing to make this great albums tracks run so smoothly live. I would not buy this if jazz fusion is your cup of tea but you not into shred (not that anyone here would not be ) as the shredding may not be your thing and theres plenty of it. If long lines and "No Holds Barred" guitar work is your bag, then this bad boy will be an ideal gift to yourself, because...... "your worth it" Purists stay away theres not alot of acoustics here , its a rock album , fusion rock is the name of the game . There was some drum parts and some great bass parts that stood out but I'de like to have heard more from the obviose talent in the room. There is an older sound to P.U.L.S.E and modern guitar. I dont want to rate the CD in of 5 but its ranking at high numbers for virtuosity , high for composition . It lets itself down just a little in the production and mastering but 4 out of 5 is still not bad . Its not bad do not get me wrong but I think I'de not be doing my job right SK by not being honest and If I said it hit the same standards as albums that have has buckets of money thrown at it. Yes I'd be lying but having said that lets not forget it is a live album. If I heard this album live in a bar or club I'de be stoked and buzzing ,and as i said "there's nothing on it that would make it un-do-able live". I'd definately be totally blown away by Alex and buy the album. Thats one thing about the Cd, it has been into the studio but its not had nothing put onto it that couldnt be done live , I know i just repeated myself but it needed saying , I've heard people put samples and parts and harmonies that make it impossible to re-create , this is out of the box what it say's on the tin . OPEN HERE -FUSION SHRED ROCK INSIDE The album is available all over the place amazon , guitar nine , just google it or head to shredguy records. - from SK TRACK BY TRACK REVIEW BY & © MARK THOMPSON © http://www.shredknowledge.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=934:pulse-by-alex-ersham-and-shredguy-records&catid=162:artist-spotlight&Itemid=312

ABOUT ALEX

Hi, my name is Alex Ehrsam & I’m a guitar player from France. My debut album "djaz_dtox" blends instrumental fusion ideas, jazz chordal structures & funky grooves. It was well received in the instrumental guitar musical fields (check magazines' reviews below, thx). I’ve been playing guitar for the last thirteen years. I grew up in a musical environment listening to a lot of jazz & rag-time, discovering Miles & Coltrane, their universe & their vision of music... Since graduating from Music Academy International (Nancy, France) in december 2003, I’ve been trying to cut into basic guitar chops to create arpegiated approaches, developing a jazz feel through a specific choice of notes & yet sticking to a heavy rock sound. I’m mostly using mixolydian, dorian, altered, blues modes & a lot of chromatic tricks, through hybrid techniques combining legato, sweep & finger picking…..I also worked on building a smooth nu-jazz ambience in my music. “Elevator Shaft” is one of the tracks dedicated to this amazing musical movement. Dig it. I eventually had the chance to gather 3 musicians, patient, accurate & passionate to play my tunes live, hence giving a true shape to my music. Olivier Wilhelm on drums, Anh-Quàn Lê on fretless bass & Thomas Gutehrlé on guitar. We started playing gigs along 2009, we are poanning a Mini Tour for 2011. The 2d album is mixed, mastered & done. It will be available Ocober 2010 on the US label ShredGuy Records. No programming at all on that gig, only real live musicians this time. Wait & see. I am currently teaching guitar in several schools in the Montpellier area (South of France).© 2010 eMinor Inc ).© http://www.reverbnation.com/alexehrsam#!/page_object/page_object_bio/artist_1056640

Marty Grebb

2012-01-06T01:09:00.001+01:00

Marty Grebb - Smooth Sailin' - 1999 - Telarc

Born on 2nd September 1946, in Chicago, Illinois, USA into a musical family, in which were several professional musicians, Grebb learned to play keyboards, guitar and saxophones. He became a session musician and in the 60s and 70s played with various groups, including the Buckinghams and the Fabulous Rhinestones, and he also backed Paul Butterfield and Mike Bloomfield. He continued his session work through succeeding decades, working with artists such as Rosanne Cash, Rick Danko, Levon Helm, Willie Nelson, Stevie Nicks, Otis Rush and Leon Russell. In particular, he attracted attention for his contributions to records by Bonnie Raitt and Maria Muldaur. Raitt appeared as a guest on Grebb’s 1999 debut Smooth Sailin’, as did Taj Mahal and Steve Cropper. Grebb also appeared on Telarc compilation albums such as Blues For A Rotten Afternoon, Meet Me Where They Play The Blues and Telarc’s Got The Blues

Smooth Sailin' is the debut release by multi-instrumentalist Marty Grebb. Back in the mid-'60s, Grebb was a founding member of the pop band the Buckinghams, and was also a backup musician who played with the Dells, Bonnie Raitt, Etta James, and Willie Nelson, to name a few. On his Telarc debut, Grebb plays piano, B-3, a bevy of saxophones, and guitar, and also handles lead vocals. He surrounds himself with high-profile guests, including Raitt, Taj Mahal, Steve Cropper, Amos Garrett, and Rick Braun. The 13 tunes are all originals by Grebb or are co-written by him, and range from horn-saturated soul-blues, lazy New Orleans grooves, and gospel-funk to smooth radio-ready contemporary blues. © Al Campbell © 2012 Rovi Corporation. All Rights Reserved. http://www.allmusic.com/album/smooth-sailin-r430628

A great album full of catchy R&B songs, all written or co-written by Marty, with a full sound and strong rhythms. Includes many great musicians including members of Little Feat, Bonnie Raitt, Doyle Bramhall II, Amos Garrett, Taj Mahal, Lenny Castro and many more. Buy Marty Grebb's great "High Steppin'" album [All tracks @ 160 Kbps: File size = 71 Mb]

TRACKS / COMPOSERS

1 Smooth Sailin' - Marty Grebb 5:39
2 High Wire Walker - Marty Grebb, John Castleberry 4:42
3 Soul Mate - Marty Grebb 4:10
4 Mississippi Muddy Water - Marty Grebb 5:31
5 Hen House - Marty Grebb, Taj Mahal 3:39
6 On the Lookout - Marty Grebb 4:23
7 The Real Thing - Marty Grebb, Jerry Lynn Williams 4:27
8 A Godsend - Marty Grebb, Walt Richmond 4:39
9 Bad Blood - Marty Grebb, Mike Finnigan 4:41
10 Sweet Girl - Marty Grebb 3:29
11 Heaven on Earth - Marty Grebb 4:51
12 Memphis Shuffle - Marty Grebb, Daniel Moore 3:43
13 Love and Shelter - Marty Grebb, Jerry Lynn Williams 3:11

MUSICIANS

Marty Grebb - Guitar, B3, Piano, Tenor, Alto & Baritone Saxophone, Clavinet, lead vocals
Doyle Bramhall II, Steve Cropper, Amos Garrett, B.B Chung King, Taj Mahal, Bonnie Raitt, Johnny Lee Schell, Fred Tackett, Rick Vito, Dave Widow, Jon Woodhead - Guitar
Larry Fulcher, Bob Glaub, Hutch Hutchinson, Gerald Johnson, Reggie McBride - Bass
Walt Richmond - Piano
Bill Payne - Wurlitzer Piano, Strings
Richie Hayward, Jim Keltner, Denny Seiwell, Mario Calire, Alvino Bennett, Tony Braunagel - Drums
James Gadson - Drums, Vocals
Lenny Castro, Arno Lucas - Percussion
Jim Calire, Joe Sublett, Harry Grebb - Saxophone
Rick Braun, Darrell Leonard - Trumpet
Bonnie Raitt, Jackie Gouchee Farris, Maxine Willard Waters, Valerie Pinkston, Ivan Neville, Rick Nelson, Taj Mahal, Gerald Johnson, Teresa James, Anna Grebb, Renée Geyer, Mike Finnigan, Taneka Beard, Chris Bolton, James Gadson - Vocals