« May 2007 | Main | July 2007 »
Bassist Jonas Hellborg will release his latest album Art Metal on Sept 18th. This project includes guitarist Mattias IA Eklundh, keyboardist Jens Johansson, drummer Anders Johansson, and Indian percussionist V. Selvaganesh. This mixture of Eastern and Western styles should make for a very interesting album.
Kudos to Truth In Shredding for spotting this: All Out Guitar has a great interview posted with Paul Gilbert. This is one of the most in-depth Gilbert interviews I've seen in some time.
FYI - I will be participating in the radio "Day Of Silence" tomorrow June 26th. Most major internet radio stream hosts (including Pandora, Live365, Yahoo!, and others) will be shutting down their radio streams tomorrow in protest of the recent CRB ruling regarding internet radio royalty rates. For information on this protest, and the current state of the CRB situation in general, check out the Radio And Internet Newsletter.
Rich
Scott Henderson has posted the following dates for his European summer tour:
July 19 - ISOLA D'ELBA (Italy) SUGAR REEF
July 20 - CECINA (LI) (Italy) VILLA GUERRAZZI
July 21 - ATRI (TE) (Italy) ATRI BLUES FESTIVAL
July 22 - TREVI (PG) (Italy)
July 25 - MALBORGHETTO (UD) (Italy)
July 27 - ARENDAL (Norway) CANAL STREET FESTIVAL
July 28 - PONTINIA (Italy) PONTINIA BLUES FESTIVAL
July 29 - CAPO D'ORLANDO (Italy) Capo D'Orlando Blues Festival
Also, from August 1st thru August 5th at SIRACUSA (Sicily, Italy), Henderson will be doing a 2 hour guitar clinic each day, with a jam concert on August 3rd with guitarists Carl Verheyen and Guthrie Govan (!).
Here's a clip of Greg Howe from a clinic he did in Russia a couple of years ago. I have this entire clinic as an .avi, but this is the first embeddable flash clip I've seen from it.
Len Davis interviewed guitarist Brett Garsed recently for the Bitches Brew radio show. Garsed discusses the new Uncle Moe's Space Ranch album Moe's Town. The show will air on June 26th on the Australian radio station PBSFM 106.7. You can listen live through the PBSFM website, but Davis has his other audio interviews posted on his website, so I suspect you'll be able to hear it there eventually.
My review of the upcoming Jeff Beck guitar tribute Freeway Jam - To Beck And Beck has been published at Modern Guitars Magazine. This is the latest guitar tribute CD produced by Jeff Richman for Tone Center Records, and features Steve Morse, John Scofield, Eric Johnson, Adam Rogers, Mike Stern, Warren Haynes, Chris Duarte, Greg Howe, Walter Trout, and Richman himself on guitars.
Review: Freeway Jam - To Beck And Back
UPDATE 6/30/07: I've republished my review below
The latest guitar tribute album from Tone Center Records (part of the Shrapnel Label Group) is an homage to Jeff Beck entitled Freeway Jam - To Beck And Back. The label's previous guitar-centric tribute albums honored John Coltrane, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Miles Davis, Steely Dan, and Carlos Santana. As with the previous tribute CDs, producer/arranger Jeff Richman has assembled a fine collection of diverse guitarists for this album. The featured soloists this time around are Steve Morse, John Scofield, Eric Johnson, Adam Rogers, Mike Stern, Warren Haynes, Chris Duarte, Greg Howe, Walter Trout, and Richman himself. The album also includes Vinnie Colaiuta and Simon Phillips on drums, Stu Hamm on bass, and Mitchel Forman on keyboards. Richman plays rhythm guitar on all the tracks, and plays lead on "El Becko".
After leaving the Yardbirds, Jeff Beck took a decidedly different path than his fellow British Guitar Gods, Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page. Beck was at the forefront of the burgeoning jazz fusion movement of the 1970s, which makes him a perfect subject for one of Richman's tribute projects. While this disc includes songs from Beck's entire career, the bulk of the songs come from his landmark '70s fusion albums.
Richman's bold arrangements are as compelling as the great guitarists featured on these tributes. The opening track, "Freeway Jam" is a perfect example. Steve Morse takes the lead-guitar reins for this one, and while he's played this song countless times in live jam situations, he's never played it quite like this. As Richman has done many times, there are chord changes in his arrangement here that do not appear in the original song. When you hear it, there's no doubt you're listening to a version of the jazz fusion standard. But it sounds like a new song that honors the original; not just Steve Morse jamming on "Freeway Jam". The solo is vintage Morse as well; lots of tumbling alternate-picked runs and aggressive blues licks.
Eric Johnson's appearance on "Beck's Bolero" is his best Tone Center tribute performance yet. He just seems to fit in better here than he ever has before (Johnson also appeared on the John Coltrane, Miles Davis, and Carlos Santana tributes). This is largely due to the fact that this sounds like an Eric Johnson song, given Richman's radical re-arrangement of the original. Johnson gives an dynamic, energetic performance with a great tone.
Another standout track is "Led Boots" featuring jazzer Adam Rogers. Most versions you hear of "Led Boots" are pretty heavy (see El Grupo, Greg Howe & Richie Kotzen, etc). Here, the Max Middleton-composed classic is given a slightly lighter treatment, but is still beefy enough to keep the energy of the original riff intact. Rogers' tone has a nice snappy-crunch to it that gives him lots of definition for his faster runs; it reminded me of Allan Holdsworth's tone on the old Soft Machine "Bundles" album. I always enjoy hearing how a given player approaches a "modal jam"; that is to say, a solo section that's centered on a single key center or vamp. I love what Rogers does with this one. He mixes short, punchy phrases with hip outside lines to always keep you interested. The song ends with some nice chord changes that Rogers navigates with ease.
Richman takes a solo turn himself on "El Becko". This is arguably the best solo spot he's had on any of the tribute albums he's produced. His cool intervallic licks sounds great on this high-energy tune.
Greg Howe appears on "Blue Wind", and is a natural choice for this song. He really digs into the groove, and plays some strong bluesy phrases over the changes. There's plenty of Howe's trademark legato runs thrown in as well. Other great performances include John Scofield's jazz-funk take on the Yardbirds song "Over Under Sideways Down", Warren Haynes' great slide work on "The Pump", and Walter Trout's burning rendition of "Brush With The Blues".
This is certainly one of Richman's strongest tribute projects yet. There are many great performances by the featured guitarists, and the songs themselves are all fresh, inventive takes on the originals. Well worth picking up.
Freeway Jam - To Beck And Back (Tone Center)
Track Listing and featured guitar soloists:
1. Freeway Jam (featuring Steve Morse)
2. Over Under Sideways Down (featuring John Scofield)
3. Beck's Bolero (featuring Eric Johnson)
4. Led Boots (featuring Adam Rogers)
5. El Becko (featuring Jeff Richman)
6. Diamond Dust (featuring Mike Stern)
7. The Pump (featuring Warren Haynes)
8. Behind The Veil (featuring Chris Duarte)
9. Blue Wind (featuring Greg Howe)
10. Brush With The Blues (featuring Walter Trout)
Saw this on Abstract Logix: Sony will release "The Essential John McLaughlin" on June 26. This 2-CD set includes highlights from the jazz guitar legend's entire career. This looks like a great release, I'll definitely be picking this one up.
Prog/metal/fusion supergroup The Devil's Slingshot will be touring Europe in Oct/Nov in support of a new studio album they are working on. The band features Tony MacAlpine on guitar, Billy Sheehan on bass, and Virgil Donati on drums. The confirmed dates are listed below. NOTE: There are more dates for this tour listed on Virgil Donati's website, but I'm not sure if they are all confirmed.
Oct. 04 - NL Boerderij, Zoetermeer
Oct. 05 - NL Podium, Hardenberg
Oct. 31 - CZ Rock Café, Prague
Nov. 01 - HUN A38, Budapest
Nov. 08 - IT Fillmore, Cortemaggiore
Nov. 09 - IT Stazione Birra, Rome
Nov. 10 - A Planet Music, Vienna
Nov. 11 - A Bluesiana Rock Café, Velden
Nov. 12 - D Tante Ju, Dresden
Nov. 13 - D Downtown, Hamburg
Nov. 14 - D Zeche, Bochum
Nov. 16 - NL Plato, Helmond
Nov. 17 - NL Waerdse Tempel, Heerhugowaard
Nov. 18 - BE Spirit of '66, Verviers
Just found a great clip of Brett Garsed playing "Hey Tee Bone" from his 5/11/07 show at Tone Merchants. This is the second clip from this show that Tone Merchants has posted on their My Space page. I originally embedded it in this post, but it's a MySpace video, and it auto-starts the clip when you load it. I hate that. Anyway, the link is below. Ric Fierabracci is on bass, Joel Taylor is on drums. Great stuff!
Brett Garsed video - "Hey Tee Bone" Live 5/11/07 Tone Merchants
The Guitar Channel radio stream will be down for a few days while I'm out of town. I'll start it back up on Monday.
Rich
My review of the Scott Henderson "Collection" album is up at Modern Guitars Magazine. Check it out!
Review: Scott Henderson - "Collection"
UPDATE 6/22/07: I've republished my review below.
Collection contains an assortment of songs from the Tone Center Records catalog that feature fusion guitar great Scott Henderson. This is essentially a label "sampler", and shouldn't be viewed as a "Best Of" or "Greatest Hits" retrospective. Since it only covers material that is available on Tone Center, it only covers the last nine or so years of Henderson's long career.
And what a career it has been - In addition to his solo albums and prestigious sideman stints (Chick Corea, Joe Zawinul, etc), Henderson and bassist Gary Willis fronted Tribal Tech - arguably the most groundbreaking, adventurous jazz fusion band of the last 25 years. Tribal Tech effectively dissolved following their 2000 album Rocket Science, but their body of work holds the same importance to the genre as Weather Report or Return To Forever. Part of what made Tribal Tech stand out was Henderson's guitar work. A gifted improviser, his great strength has always been his ability to mix aggressive hard blues phrasing with a rich bop vocabulary. And no one plays jazz with a true rock tone the way Henderson does.
Having said that, Collection is a bit of a mixed bag. There's some great tracks here, but some curious choices too.
"Lola Fay", "Lady P", and "Hillbilly In The Band" come from Henderson's Well To The Bone album. I'm sure "Lola Fay" and "Lady P" (both vocal tracks) were chosen for the great, bluesy guitar playing they most definitely have. But the songs themselves don't do much for me. "Hillbilly In The Band", however, is an uptempo, country-inspired instrumental that is fun from start to finish. This is also one of those "curious choices" though. The live version of this song (from Henderson's aptly titled Live album from 2004) is superior to the studio version, in my opinion, and would have been a better choice.
"Snake Soda" and "Nairobe Express" were recorded with the band Vital Tech Tones; Henderson's collaboration with bassist Victor Wooten and drummer Steve Smith. These are two of the best songs in this collection. Henderson positively rips on both of these tunes. Vital Tech Tones recorded two great albums, Vital Tech Tones (1998), and VTT2 (2000). Both are well worth checking out.
There are two tracks here from Henderson's aforementioned 2004 live album; "Slidin'" and "Sultan's Boogie". "Slidin'" is jazz blues song that has some of Henderson's hippest playing on the album. Originally recorded as "Slidin' Into Charlisa" on Tribal Tech's 1992 release Illicit, this live trio version is more of a guitar-driven tune than the original. Henderson's trademark whammy-bar accents are everywhere on this track, and his solo during the uptempo midsection is peppered with cool jazz lines. "Sultan's Boogie" is a heavier, Arabian-influenced track with a cool vibe that's different from anything else on the album.
The Tribal Tech tracks in this collection are culled from the band's final two recordings - Thick (1999) and Rocket Science (2000). Both of these albums consist of completely improvised material (though the tracks were edited later, with some overdubs added as well). The band entered the studio and just jammed, with no preparation whatsoever. For me, the results from this approach were mixed. There are some wonderful tunes on Thick and Rocket Science, but there are some I could do without as well. Fortunately, two of the best tunes from those sessions are included here. "Space Camel" is trippy funk piece with some great melodies by keyboardist Scott Kinsey, and the deep-grooving "Thick" is an awesome jam with some great wah-wah soloing by Henderson.
If you're not familiar with Scott Henderson, Collection is a decent place to start, but you won't hear the whole picture. Henderson can play over chord changes with more authority than just about any guitarist I've heard. However, we only get hints of his heavy jazz side on this release. Pairing this CD with a great Tribal Tech album such as Illicit, or their "Best Of" collection, Primal Tracks, will give you a better idea of what Scott Henderson can do.
Collection Track Listing
1. Lola Fay
2. Space Camel
3. Lady P
4. Sultan's Boogie
5. Song Holy Hall
6. Clinic Troll
7. Hillbilly In The Band
8. Slidin'
9. Snake Soda
10. Thick
11. Nairobe Express
The Australian prog rock/metal news site Ozprog.com has an interview up with keyboardist Derek Sherinian and drummer Virgil Donati. They discuss their new Planet X album "Quantum", which features Allan Holdsworth and Brett Garsed on guitars.
The Brazilian online guitar magazine Guitar Clinic has a new interview posted with Greg Howe. He discusses his early musical development, some upcoming projects, and more.
Paul Giibert - Silence Followed by a Deafening Roar
Allan Holdsworth - Live at The Baked Potato 1/18/08
The Jazz Ministry - Live at The Baked Potato 1/17/08
Gustavo Assis-Brasil - Hybrid Picking for Guitar (Book)
John McLaughlin and S. Ganesh Vinayakram - The Gateway to Rhythm DVD
Paul Gilbert: Silence Followed by a Deafening Roar
Gilbert's second all-instrumental album. Great writing, slick production, scary shredding.
Toto: Falling in Between Live DVD
Lots of excellent Steve Lukather footage. Includes interview with all the band members.
Steve Stevens: Memory Crash
Great prog-like instrumentals from the long-time Billy Idol guitarist. Also features "Day Of The Eagle" with dUg Pinnick on vocals.
Dig Trio
Great jazz fusion album featuring hybrid-picker Gustavo Assis-Brasil. Available as an MP3 download.
Alex Machacek, Jeff Sipe, Matthew Garrison: Improvision
Incredible writing and playing. A remarkable album.
Uncle Moe's Space Ranch: Moe's Town
Incredible "new" fusion from guitarists Brett Garsed & T.J. Helmerich. Very fresh and highly original.
