The Guitar Channel

Favorite Releases of 2011

While pondering my favorite music releases of 2011, I was struck by two things; the abundance of originality and depth in the "my cup of tea" genre, and Geez Louise were there a lot of live albums this year. There were also some great DVDs, which is why I'm referring to this as a favorite "releases" list instead of an "album" list as I have in the past. So here they are - my favorite releases of 2011 in no particular order:

 

Abstract Logix Live! - The New Universe Music Festival 2010 (CD / DVD) [CD Review]

Amazing live CD and DVD releases chronicling the 2010 New Universe Music Festival. Includes great performances by John McLaughlin, Wayne Krantz, Alex Machacek, Jimmy Herring, and others. I was honored to help contribute to the DVD by conducting the backstage interviews which appear on disc 2.

Brett Garsed - Dark Matter [Review]

Fantastic writing and playing. Shows a stronger prog influence than Garsed’s earlier work. Bassist Ric Fierabracci make a big impact here as well.

Chris Taylor - Nocturnal [Review / Interview]

Taylor’s remarkable debut seamlessly blends modern jazz and electronica influences in one of the year’s most original and engaging releases. The all-star line up includes Ric Fierabracci, Steve Tavaglione, Dave Weckl, and other heavyweights.

Oz Noy - Twisted Blues Volume 1

Noy’s latest showcases his quirky originality and tones in a context that’s more bluesy than his previous work. Love the writing on this one.

The Aristocrats [Guthrie Govan Interview]

Killer heavy fusion album with Guthrie Govan on guitar, Bryan Beller on bass, and Marco Minnemann on drums. A great platform for Govan’s overall talents.

Derek Sherinian - Oceana

Awesome prog-fusion disc that may be Sherinian’s best solo release yet. Has a throwback 70s Jeff Beck vibe at times. Guests include Steve Lukather, Tony MacAlpine, and Joe Bonamassa.

Allen Hinds - Monkeys and Slides

Great writing and lines from one of the west coast’s coolest fusion guitarists. Includes two burning live tracks. Features Jimmy Johnson, Jeff Babko, and Dennis Hamm among others.

Bryan Beller - Wednesday Night Live

Killer live disc featuring a single set recorded at the Baked Potato, plus two additional tracks from other performances. Includes great contributions from Mike Keneally.

Other favorites from 2011:

Gerald Gradwohl Group - ABQ Live and Raw
Jeff Richman & Chatterbox - The Line Up [Interview]
Bryan Baker, Bob van Luijt & Sebastiaan Cornelissen - 011 Amsterdam
John Escreet - The Age We Live In
Johnny Hiland - All Fired Up
CAB - Live on Sunset
Human Element
Gannin Arnold - Five World Class Drummers DVD
Rudder - Live at Rockwell Music Hall NYC DVD (Not one note of guitar on this, but the band and DVD are super cool.)

See Also:

Favorite Albums of 2010
Favorite Albums of 2009
Favorite Albums of 2008
Favorite Albums of 2007
Favorite Albums of 2006

The Aristocrats (Guthrie Govan, Bryan Beller, Marco Minnemann) to Headline Wesest 7 Benefit Concert at the Roxy on March 4

PRESS RELEASE

BOSTON (November 22, 2011) – Rock/fusion supergroup The Aristocrats, comprised of guitarist Guthrie Govan (Asia/GPS, Dizzee Rascal, The Young Punx), bassist Bryan Beller (Steve Vai, Dethklok, Mike Keneally), and Marco Minnemann (Adrian Belew, Steven Wilson, UKZ, Necrophagist) will headline an all-star lineup for WesFest 7: A Concert to Benefit the Wes Wehmiller Endowed Scholarship at Berklee College Of Music at The Roxy in Los Angeles on Sunday, March 4, 2012. The event is sponsored by Gallien-Krueger Amplification, Mike Lull Custom Basses, D’Addario Strings, and DW Drums.

“The Aristocrats are an especially appropriate headliner for WesFest 7,” said Peter Gordon, director of the Berklee Center in Los Angeles. “not just because they recently played The Berklee Performance Center in Boston and connected with the student body there, but because Bryan Beller – a longstanding part of the WesFest organization and close friend of Wes – is a member of the band. Plus, Guthrie and Marco are unbelievable players, and many of tomorrow’s great musicians are studying their playing styles right now.”

The scholarship fund honors Wes Wehmiller (1971-2005), a Berklee graduate (’92) and highly accomplished bassist, athlete and photographer who died of thyroid cancer in January 2005. Established by his family and friends, the Wes Wehmiller Endowed Scholarship is awarded annually to a continuing student at Berklee who best exemplifies the excellence and grace Wehmiller showed as a bassist and as a human being. The WesFest concert series is the centerpiece of an annual fundraising drive for the scholarship fund, and that fund is projected this year to top $100,000 in total monies raised since its inception in 2006.

Formed unexpectedly after a wildly enthusiastic response to a single performance at The Anaheim Bass Bash during the Winter NAMM show in January 2011, WesFest 7′s headliner The Aristocrats were cleverly dubbed instrumental rock/fusion’s “rowdy new democracy” by Guitar Player Magazine in a recent cover story on guitarist Guthrie Govan. Their self-titled debut album – featuring three compositions from each band member – contains a uniquely explosive band chemistry, translating each individual’s well-known virtuosity into an aggressive, melodic, and sometimes even cheeky group dynamic in which anything goes. The resulting record became a melting pot of their respective influences, ranging from ’70s fusion (Return To Forever) to prog (King Crimson, UK) to instrumental rock (Vai, Satriani) to groove metal (Rage Against The Machine) to just plain absurdity (Frank Zappa). The Aristocrats garnered rave reviews worldwide (“…deserves to be in your record collection between [Jeff Beck’s] Blow by Blow, [Mahavishu Orchestra’s] Birds of Fire, and [Steve Vai’s] Passion & Warfare” – Guitar Extreme [FR]), and became one of the hottest and most lauded fusion releases of 2011. The internationally-minded Aristocrats are hitting Los Angeles just before launching a tour of the U.K., Western Europe, and the Middle East in March of 2012. Find out more at www.the-aristocrats-band.com.

The event will feature four additional acts: The Casualties Of Jazz, a jazz organ trio that exclusively plays Black Sabbath material, featuring keyboardist Matt Rohde (Jane’s Addiction, Christina Aguilera, Roger Daltrey, Kelly Clarkson), bassist Chris Golden (Carly Simon, Mick Fleetwood, Engelbert Humperdinck), and drummer Jimmy Paxson (Alanis Morrissette, Rod Stewart, Steve Vai, Ronnie Montrose); the WesFest All-Stars, featuring the music of previous WesFest performers Mike Keneally (Frank Zappa, Joe Satriani), Joe Brooks, Jackie Daum, and Colin Keenan; and Danny Mo and the Exciters, featuring Wehmiller’s Berklee bass professor and close friend Danny Morris, as well as 2011 Wehmiller Scholarship award winner Hayley Jane Batt and legendary drummer John “JR” Robinson.

From 1997 through 2001, Wehmiller toured worldwide with the multi-platinum pop band Duran Duran, and appeared on many TV shows with them as well, including The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Today Show, VH-1’s Storytellers, and Hard Rock Live. He performed with Missing Persons and several other L.A. based bands, and his work appears on numerous recordings produced in the L.A. area and in Vancouver. He gained endorsement deals with SWR bass amplification systems and La Bella Strings.

WesFest 7 advance tickets are available through March 2 for $35 per pair of tickets or $20 per single ticket.

All tickets are $30 each at the door. Ticket orders and donations will be accepted via check or credit card.

Complete ordering instructions and procedures can be found online at: http://www.weswehmiller.net/wesfest/wesfest7.

For any questions about ordering tickets or donating to the fundraising drive, please contact Peter Gordon at 818.380.3041 or pgordon@berklee.edu. For additional biographical information on Wes Wehmiller, and more information on the WesFest concert series, as well as new details about WesFest 7 as they become available, please visit the official Wes Wehmiller Tribute Website at www.weswehmiller.net.

Berklee College of Music was founded on the revolutionary principle that the best way to prepare students for careers in music was through the study and practice of contemporary music. For over 60 years, the college has evolved constantly to reflect the state of the art of music and the music business. With over a dozen performance and nonperformance majors, a diverse and talented student body representing over 70 countries, and a music industry “who’s who” of alumni, Berklee is the world’s premier learning lab for the music of today – and tomorrow.

Guitar Player Article on Marco Minnemann's Normalizer 2 Project

Barry Cleveland has a cool article in the October 2011 issue of Guitar Player on drummer Marco Minnemann's Normalizer 2 project. The project involves various composers who've written their own music over the same 52 minute Minnemann drum solo. Cleveland profiles the Normalizer 2 recordings of Mike Keneally, Alex Machacek (Review), John Czajkowski, Trey Gunn, Jason Sadites, and Phi Yaan-Zek. Check out streaming samples of the albums on Guitar Player's website.

 

Mike Keneally and Bryan Beller - October 2011 West Coast Tour Dates

Mike Keneally and Bryan Beller will be taking their bands on a west coast tour this October. See below for the current list of dates and venues.

Wednesday, October 12
The Mike Keneally Band
with The Bryan Beller Band
and Steve Uccello
at Don Quixote's International Music Hall
6275 California 9
Felton, CA 95018-9710
(831) 335-2800
Steve Uccello: 7:30
Bryan Beller Band: 7:50
Mike Keneally Band: 8:50
Admission: $20

Thursday, October 13
The Mike Keneally Band
with The Bryan Beller Band
and The Travis Larson Band
at Biscuits & Blues
401 Mason St.
San Francisco, CA 94102
Travis Larson: 8:00
Bryan Beller: 8:50
Mike Keneally: 10:00
Admission: $20

Saturday, October 15
The Mike Keneally Band
with The Bryan Beller Band
at Humbrew's
celebrating the 15th Anniversary of The Arcata Eye
856 10th St.
Arcata, CA 95521
707.826.BREW
Doors: 8:00
Bryan Beller Band: 9:00
Mike Keneally Band: 10:00
Admission: $20

Monday, October 17
The Mike Keneally Band
with The Bryan Beller Band
at Mt. Tabor Pub
4811 Southeast Hawthorne Boulevard
Portland, OR 97215-3251
(503) 360-1450
Doors: 8:00
Bryan Beller Band: 8:45
Mike Keneally Band: 9:45
Admission: $20, $18 in advance

Tuesday, October 18
The Mike Keneally Band
with The Bryan Beller Band
at The Rendezvous' Jewelbox Theater
2322 2nd Ave.
Seattle, WA 98121
(206) 441-5823
Showtime: 8:00
Admission: $20

Friday, October 21
The Mike Keneally Band
with The Bryan Beller Band
at The Baked Potato
3787 Cahuenga Blvd. West
Studio City, CA 91604
(818) 980-1615
Showtime: 9:30
Admission $20

Sunday, October 23
The Mike Keneally Band
with special guest The Bryan Beller Band
at The Lark Barn
Anaheim, CA
**special house concert-style show!**
Suggested donation: $20 (includes amazing BBQ and soft drinks)
To reserve seats and for more info,
e-mail BLARK at BESTPC dot COM

via bryanbeller.com

 

Favorite Albums of 2010

Looking back over this past year, I really believe 2010 has been the most incredible year in music I've ever experienced. It's certainly been the best year I've seen since I started The Guitar Channel in 2004. On one hand, I've never witnessed as much amazing live music as I have this year. There were the great Winter NAMM gigs (such as OHM w/ Mike Kenneally, Alex Machacek w/ Ric Fierabracci, the Bombastic Meatbats, and more), awesome Chicago gigs by Mike Stern, Allan Holdsworth, and others, and of course the festivals - starting with the incredible Baked Potato 40th Anniversary Jazz Festival in May, the legend-packed Crossroads Guitar Festival in June, and the capper: the amazing New Universe Music Festival last month.

Then of course, there were the great albums of 2010. And there were a lot of them. Here are my favorite albums that were released this year, in no particular order.

Alex Machacek featuring Marco Minnemann - 24 Tales (Review)

A remarkable disc featuring music Machacek composed over a 52-minute Minnemann drum solo.

Michael Landau, Robben Ford, Jimmy Haslip, Gary Novak - Renegade Creation (Review)

Awesome blues rock super group that brings together guitar legends Landau and Ford. Killer playing; amazing guitar tones.

Ray Riendeau - Atmospheres

This one came out of nowhere and really grabbed me. Great collection of fusion tunes with a killer guest list that includes Alex Machacek, Jeff Kollman, Greg Koch, Nat Janoff, and many others.

Lenny White - Anomaly

Fantastic old-school jazz rock album from the legendary drummer. Includes guests Jimmy Herring and David Gilmore.

Prashant Aswani - Sonically Speaking (Review)

Tasty, melodic instrumental rock disc with killer playing and writing. Includes guests Brett Garsed and Rob Caggiano.

Bombastic Meatbats featuring Chad Smith - More Meat

Awesome throwback fusion with great grooves. Features Jeff Kollman on guitar.

Charlie Hunter - Public Domain

This may seem like an out-of-left-field choice, but I can't get enough of this album. Features Hunter playing solo versions of old public domain classics chosen by his grandfather.

Other favorites from 2010:

Kirk Fletcher - My Turn
John McLaughlin - To The One (Review)
John Czajkowski and Marco Minnemann - West ZooOpolis
Steve Lukather - All's Well That Ends Well
Tetsuo Sakurai - Vital World (Review)
Ranjit Barot - Bada Boom
Michael Dolce - Everything Til Now
Jeff Richman - Like That (Interview)

See Also:

Favorite Albums of 2009
Favorite Albums of 2008
Favorite Albums of 2007
Favorite Albums of 2006

Mike Keneally Discusses "Evidence of Humanity" with All About Jazz

Matt Warnock has a great interview up with Mike Keneally over at All About Jazz regarding his new album Evidence of Humanity. EOH is Keneally's contribution to drummer Marco Minnemann's Normalizer 2 project.

All About Jazz Interview: Mike Keneally: Behind the Creative Mind

Mike Keneally and Marco Minnemann's "Evidence of Humanity" Now Available

Evidence of Humanity - Mike Keneally's contribution to drummer Marco Minnemann's Normalizer 2 project - is now complete and available for purchase. This release also includes a DVD featuring an interview and improv jam. Amazon lists the release date as Sept 28th, but the 2-disc set can be purchased right now from Mike Keneally's website. Below is the album write-up from keneally.com

"One bright morning, world-renowned drummer Marco Minnemann settled down behind the DW kit in his secluded hideaway, punched the record button, and proceeded to pound out an astounding 52-minute improvised solo. When it was finished, he christened it Normalizer 2 and offered it as a sort of gift to a handful of his favorite guitarists, hoping that they would each add their own signature madness to the mix.

Mike Keneally was someone Marco hoped would dig the idea. In the throes of recording his intense and complex Scambot 1 opus, Mike leapt at Marco's offer— the creation of Evidence of Humanity would be a joyous, freewheeling counterpoint to his meticulous work on Scambot. "A fun ride," Mike would recall. (Of course, Marco recorded his own fantastic version, too, available at marcominnemann.com.)

The ecstatic result is two of the world's foremost musicians improvising together, but not at the same time. It's a record unlike any other that Mike has recorded (but probably closest to Nonkertompf, his indefinable, mostly instrumental 1999 solo extravaganza). Evidence of Humanity seems to have a life of its own, mutating and maturing with each listen.

Accompanying the Evidence of Humanity CD is a DVD containing a tasty reimagining of the original concept. This time, Mike and Marco got together in real time and vaulted into the ether for another 52-minute musical improvisation, a feat that was videotaped for your pleasure. The DVD also includes an insightful conversation between the two kindred musical spirits, shot in the back seat of a car hurtling toward the Southern California desert's dilapidated Salton Sea."

Evidence of Humanity's songs:

• Respect?
• Evidence of Humanity
• Three People Run Naked Through School
• Tooth and Cold Stone Pew
• Now
• Bastards Into Battle
• You, And Your Problems
• Bad Friday
• Rough Time At The Hotel
• Whoa
• Kaa
• Clown Removal
• Forgive and Remember
• Apex Music
• Our Collective Wisdom To Date
• Trying
• A Place to Stay For The Night

Evidence of Humanity DVD's selections:

• Elements of a Manatee – live duo improv (54:54)
• A Conversation with Mike and Marco (39:59)

Greg Howe to perform in Russia with Marco Minnemann and Bryan Beller

On September 24th & 25th, Greg Howe will be performing at the Primorye Regional Philharmonic Hall in Vladivostok, Russia with drummer Marco Minnemann and Bassist Bryan Beller. The setlist will consist of a few of each player's tunes.

Minnemann has played with both Howe (in Eddie Jobson's U-Z Project) and Beller (in KMB with Mike Keneally), but all three players have never performed together as far as I know. These should be some cool gigs!

John Czajkowski's "West ZooOpolis" featuring Marco Minnemann to be released May 18th

This just in - guitarist John Czajkowski's West ZooOpolis album (his contribution to drummer Marco Minnemann's Normalizer 2 project) has a May 18th release date. Like the other albums born out of this project, West ZooOpolis features music composed over a 52 minute Minnemann drum solo. Czajkowski gave me a copy of this album a while back, and I can tell you it's a fantastic piece of music; highly textured with a wide variety of guitar tones and mood shifts. Head over to Abstract Logix to hear a sampler MP3.

Other albums featuring music composed over this same Minnemann drum solo include:

Alex Machacek - 24 Tales

Trey Gunn - Modulator

Marco Minnemann - Normalizer 2

Mike Keneally - Evidence of Humanity

Trey Gunn's "Modulator" featuring Marco Minnemann to be released May 18th

Touch guitarist Trey Gunn (King Crimson, UKZ) will release a new album entitled Modulator on May 18th, which features music Gunn composed over a 52 minute Marco Minnemann drum solo. Minnemann provided the solo to several musicians to compose their own music over for a massive project entitled Normalizer 2. The results are now being released as stand-alone albums by the various composers. So far, two of these albums are currently available; Alex Machacek's 24 Tales, and Minnemann's own take, simply entitled Normalizer 2. Other versions currently in the pipeline include Mike Keneally's Evidence of Humanity, and John Czajkowski's West ZooOpolis (which I have an advance copy of; great stuff). It will be very interesting to compare and contrast what these often radically different musicians have done with the exact same drum solo.

Mike Keneally Talks About Normalizer 2

Guitar Player has an interview up with Mike Keneally where he discusses his involvement with drummer Marco Minnemann's Normalizer 2 project.

Guitar Player - Mike Keneally Talks About Normalizer 2: Evidence of Humanity

Mike Keneally, Kofi Baker and Pag - Live at Alva's 1/17/10

Here's a video from one of the best shows I saw during NAMM week. This is Kofi Baker's Tribute to Cream (Mike Keneally - guitar, Kofi Baker - drums, and 'Pag' - bass) playing "Sunshine of your Love" and "Manic Depression" at Alva's Showroom on Jan 17th, 2010.