The Guitar Channel

Michael Landau interview at Classic Rock Newswire

Classic Rock Newswire has posted an interview with guitarist Michael Landau. Check it out...

10 Q's with Michael Landau

"Viva Carlos!" review at Modern Guitars Magazine

Modern Guitars Magazine has posted a review by Tom Watson of the Santana tribute album "Viva Carlos!".

Link

Yellowjackets with Robben Ford (1981) - Rush Hour

Here's some rare footage of the Yellowjackets from 1981 when Robben Ford was in the band.

NESPaul Nintendo guitar!

This guy took an old Nintendo and made a guitar out of it. Too cool!

Link

"The Michael Landau Group Live" review at Modern Guitars Magazine.

Tom Watson has reviewed Michael Landau's new live album for Modern Guitars Magazine. The review is well written and very in-depth.

Link

Museum Celebrates 75 Years of the Electric Guitar

From November 24, 2006, through January 21, 2007, the National Museum of Ireland will host an exhibit titled RockChic, The Life and Times of the Electric Guitar 1931 - 2006. The 1931 Rickenbacker "Frying Pan" (photo) will be one of the guitars on display. Electrics associated with Carlos Santana, Jimi Hendrix and Rory Gallagher will also be shown. The exhibit will also feature a number of guitars customized by contemporary artists using the instrument as a visual canvas that will be later auctioned for the benefit of charities selected by the artists.

via Modern Guitars Magazine

John McLaughlin interview tonight on Gagliarchives

Tonight at 10pm Eastern, John McLaughlin will be interviewed on Gagliarchives radio. He will be discussing his new album Industrial Zen. You can listen online through the Gagliarchives website.

Universal Music sues MySpace

I thought this warranted a rare tech-related post. According to the Wall Street Journal, Universal Music has sued MySpace for copyright infringement. This is huge. Before the Google/YouTube deal was announced, Universal threatened both YouTube and MySpace with lawsuits. Universal then signed a licensing agreement with Google/YouTube the day their 1.6 billion dollar deal was announced. My guess is this will end with a similar licensing deal between Universal and MySpace. Otherwise this will be a titanic legal battle. One of Universal's arguments is that MySpace is participating in their users copyright-violations, since they reformat the infringing video's users upload so they can be played back and shared with other users. Very interesting. This is one to keep your eye on. Here are some links:

Ars Technica
Techcrunch
CNET News

Tempe AZ show added to SMB/Dixie Dregs tour

The following show has been added to the January 2007 Steve Morse Band/Dixie Dregs tour:

Jan 21 - Marque Theatre  Tempe, AZ

Steve Morse Official Website

Review: Jazz Pistols - Live

After 3 studio albums, the German jazz-fusion trio Jazz Pistols have released their first live recording. "Jazz Pistols - live" was recorded in Germany on 2/5/05, and it really shows how dynamic this band can be. Jazz Pistols music ranges from lighter jazz fare to heavy fusion, sometimes within the same song.

Bassist Christopher Victor Kaiser, a Berklee grad, often uses tapping to add chords and double-stops to his parts, making the band sound bigger than just a three-piece. He employs the technique to great effect in this live setting. Guitarist Stephan Ivan Schafer is impressive on the album as well. He knows exactly how to build intensity in his solos, often reaching points where you think he's gonna fly off the rails. His fast-picked runs are always dropped in at just the right spot too.

Songs like "Yellow Fellow" and "Mystic Train" show off the trio's lighter side. These are hip tunes, but the band really shines on the heavier stuff.  "Take the brake" is one of the standout tracks of the album. This is a hard driving, odd-time fusion tune, with a great bass solo from Kaiser. "Moby Dick" is another heavier tune where the band sounds great. "Three On The Floor" is impressive as well, with drummer Thomas Lui Ludwig taking a nice solo.

There are three Weather Report covers on the album - "Palladium", "Birdland", and "Teen Town". The Jazz Pistols have recorded studio versions of all three of these songs in the past. Kaiser's bass work on "Palladium" is great. Very nice interplay between the band members on this tune as well. "Birdland" sounds pretty poppy, until Schafer closes it with a wild, unhinged solo. And "Teen Town" is the highlight of the album. This is a great, stretched-out version of the Jaco-penned classic, and Schafer has his best solo on the disc here. He throws in lots of hip lines, some nice sweep patterns, fast alternate-picked runs, the works. He even stomps on the wah-wah pedal at the end. This is the albums "kitchen sink" guitar solo, and it fits the tune perfectly.

Overall, the Jazz Pistols sound very impressive on this recording. This is a tight band that has a great, dynamic live presence.

http://www.jazz-pistols.de

Rich

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Jazz Ministry to play The Baked Potato with Michael Landau & Robben Ford

You lucky dogs in Southern California have a chance to see 2 guitar legends on the same stage, at the same time. The Jazz Ministry (Greg Mathieson - keys, Abe Laboriel, Jr. - drums, Abe Laboriel, Sr. - bass, Michael Landau - guitar) will be playing at the Baked Potato on 11/24 and 11/25, with special guest Robben Ford! If anyone reading this post gets to see this show, please leave a comment and tell us how it went.

Greg Mathieson upcoming shows
The Baked Potato

Alex Machacek updates

Guitarist Alex Machacek will be appearing on the Tony Palkovic Radio Show on KSPC 88.7 in Los Angeles today, 11/7 from 12-2pm Pacific. The show will be rebroadcast on Wed 11/8 from 4-6am. You can listen online from http://www.kspc.org. Alex will be discussing his latest album [SIC].

In other Machacek news, the Out Trio (Terry Bozzio - drums, Doug Lunn - bass, Machacek - guitar) will be playing several shows in Japan in January. The exact dates and venues of these and other upcoming shows are now posted on Machacek's website. There are also plan's to film the Japan shows for a DVD release (!)

Alex also began teaching at GIT in October, and will have an article in next month's Guitar Player magazine on chord voicings.

Review: Viva Carlos!

Jeff Richman does it again. After producing guitar tributes to John Coltrane, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Miles Davis, and Steely Dan, Richman serves up the  music of Carlos Santana for his latest project. "Viva Carlos!" (Tone Center) is probably the most interesting tribute Richman has produced so far. The rich Latin rhythms give this collection a completely different vibe than the previous tributes. As a result, the guest guitarists who appear on the album are playing in musical situations they don't normally explore. The backup band this time features Abe Laboriel - bass, Dave Weckl - drums, Luis Conte - percussion, Peter Wolf - keys, and Richman himself on rhythm guitar.

Most of the guest guitarists have appeared on past Richman tributes. Part of what makes this collection so interesting, however, are the new players Richman enlists this time around. Vinnie Moore makes his first appearance on a Richman tribute album, and hopefully it won't be his last. Moore's track "Se A Cabo" opens the album, and he sounds fantastic on this tune. Moore really brings the shred to this release; his crazy-fast legato runs and picking never sound out-of-place, and his aggressive vibrato and high-gain tone work very well here.

Another first-timer that really fits in well is Eric Gales on "Jingo". Gales' bluesy style and heavy tone make this the most powerful tune on the album. Gales sounds great navigating the new key changes provided by Richman's arrangement as well. What a great track.

Country/bluegrass legend Albert Lee appears on "Samba Pa Ti". When I first read that Lee would appear on this album, I thought he was an unusual choice for a Santana tribute. As great as Lee is, I didn't think he would fit in here. I was wrong. His crisp clean lines sound perfect on this tune.

Some Richman tribute veterans turn in nice performances as well - Mike Stern's hip lines and a fresh 7/4 arrangement from Richman breath new life into the classic "Oye Como Va".  Robben Ford sounds great on "Blues For Salvador"; he's the perfect choice for this song. One of the best performances on the album is by Frank Gambale on "Samba De Sausalito". His solo builds in intensity at it goes on, and he even throws in a classic Santana rapid-fire triplet lick for good measure. Eric Johnson plays well, if a bit tentatively, on "Aqua Marine". Richman himself takes a turn on "Europa", and plays some great lines. As is the case with many of the other performances here, he solos with a harmonic sophistication that outweighs what Santana himself might play.

Overall, this is another fine tribute project from Richman and the Tone Center label. Definitely worth picking up.

Rich

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G3 completes Latin American tour - Australian dates coming up

The G3 tour of Latin America is complete. This version of the G3 lineup included Joe Satriani, John Petrucci, and Eric Johnson. Here is a forum thread with a review (and pics) of the final show in Rio De Janeiro Brazil:

G3  - Rio De Janeiro 10/29 review

Next up for G3 is a short tour of Australia starting in late November. This time the lineup will be Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, and John Petrucci. Here are the dates:

Wed Nov 29th - Brisbane, Australia - Brisbane Convention Centre
Fri Dec 1st - Sydney, Australia - Hordern Pavillion
Sat Dec 2nd - Melbourne, Australia - Regent Theater
Sun Dec 3rd - Melbourne, Australia - Regent Theater
Wed Dec 6th - Adelaide, Australia - Entertainment Centre
Fri Dec 8th - Perth, Australia - Challenge Stadium 

Review: The Michael Landau Group Live

Guitarist Michael Landau has appeared on countless recordings. In addition to being a studio legend, he's fronted several great bands over the years (such as Burning Water, and the Raging Honkies). He rarely releases "solo" albums however, so when he does it's something to take note of. His latest album, "The Michael Landau Group Live" (Tone Center) is a mixture of vocal and instrumental tunes, and provides an excellent showcase for the variety of styles Landau likes to explore. The 2-disc set is arranged with the blues and heavier stuff up front on disc 1, with the jazzier pieces on disc 2. The songs were all recorded live at The Baked Potato in North Hollywood CA between 2004 and 2006. The other players appearing on the album are Jimmy Johnson and Chris Roy - bass; Toss Panos, Gary Novak, and Ronald Bruner Jr - drums; the always great Scott Kinsey - keys; and Chuck Kavooras - slide guitar (one track). This album is very similar in concept to Landau's last live album, "Live 2000", released in 2001. That album was also a collection of vocal and instrumental pieces, all recorded live at The Baked Potato. Each album has it's strengths, but overall this new release is a more cohesive set of music.

The opening track is a blistering version of "Worried Life Blues". Landau always sounds great is these hard blues settings, and he doesn't disappoint here. His solo is a mixture of wicked blues licks, and Landau's trademark herky-jerky phrasing. Another performance that really stands out is "Born in the Rain", which also appeared on the "Live 2000" album. Here Landau plays a real trippy solo with lots of horror movie-sounding tremolo picked motifs. Very intense performance.

Disc 2 is where we hear Landau's jazzier writing and playing. "The Mighty SB" is practically a straight-ahead tune, with Landau reeling in his wild-bluesy side in favor of a more introspective, flowing approach. The vocal ballad "Widow" is another disc 2 highlight. In general, the writing on these jazz tunes is very hip and sophisticated. It's a side of Landau we don't see too often. Great stuff.

Two of my personal favorite Landau vocal tunes are included in this release as well - "Good Friend" (originally recorded on Landau's "The Star Spangled Banner" album), and "Underwear" (originally recorded on the Raging Honkies album "Boner"). "Good Friend" is pretty faithful to the original, though it's stretched out and includes a nice keyboard solo from Kinsey. "Underwear", on the other hand, is played with a totally different groove than the original studio version. Here's it's done with a laid back half-time feel, whereas the studio version had a fast, driving groove. Another Raging Honkies song, "Why U Lie", received the same dialed-down treatment (with less effective results) on the "Live 2000" album.

If you're not familiar with Michael Landau, and you want to see what all the fuss is about, this is the album to get. It really shows off all the facets of his musicianship. Great playing and writing, awesome guitar tones, and his vocals are very strong. The "Live 2000" album is very worthwhile as well, but I think Landau has topped that live collection with this one.

Rich

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Hectic Watermelon CD release concert with Jerry Goodman

San Diego-based prog-fusion band Hectic Watermelon will be playing a CD release concert at San Diego State University on Dec 14th, with special guest Jerry Goodman on violin. Goodman played on Hectic Watermelon's recently released album "The Great American Road Trip". If you haven't heard this album yet, you'll definitely want to check it out. The writing is great - similar to the Dixie Dregs, only more progressive, and guitarist John Czajkowski is a great player.
You can pick up the album at these locations:

Abstract Logix
Abstrtact Logix Digital Downloads
Amazon
iTunes