Guitarist Vernon Neilly has produced a new album entitled Vernon Neilly & Friends - A Tribute to Stevie Wonder. The album features guitarists Greg Howe and Kiko Loureiro, among others, playing Stevie Wonder's biggest hits. Check out Vernon Neilly's site for sound samples, and links to purchase the disc.
A release date and title have been announced for guitarist Jimmy Herring's upcoming solo album. The album will be called Lifeboat, and is being released October 21st through Abstract Logix Records. Joining Herring on the album are Oteil Burbridge on bass, Jeff Sipe on Drums, and Kofi Burbridge on keyboards. Guests include Derek Trucks on guitar, Greg Osby on sax, Ike Stubblefield on organ, Bryan Lopes on sax, and Bobby Lee Rodgers on banjo.
NEWSFLASH: A release date has been announced for the upcoming OHM album Circus of Sound. The album will be released through Tone Center Records on August 26th. Can't wait to get my hands on this one.
Hybrid-picking master Gustavo Assis-Brasil is releasing a new live DVD/CD set tomorrow entitled In Concert. This combo set is an Abstract Logix exclusive. I've had this for a couple of weeks now and can tell you it's a beautifully filmed show (which took place in Brazil in 2007) where Gustavo is in top form. The behind the scenes feature is great also. I like that a CD of the performance is included as well; it's a nice touch that I wish we'd see more often. Check it out.
Oh noes!! Laurie Monk from Truth In Shredding received a message that the planned Silence Followed By A Deafening Roar instructional DVD from Paul Gilbert has been cancelled. Indeed, the CDJapan page where the DVD could be pre-ordered has been taken down. Hopefully this is not a permanent situation, and it will be released eventually... stay tuned.
UPDATE: According to commenter Dan below, Gilbert has said this is not cancelled, just delayed. Thanks Dan!
Jeff Kollman's heavy fusion trio Cosmosquad has reveled the cover art for their upcoming DVD Lights... Camera... Squad!, and have announced it will be coming soon. From what I understand, the DVD shoot took place at Musicians Institute in Hollywood in 2007. No release date has been given yet, but I'll post the details when they become available.
Of all the bands guitarist Michael Landau has had over the years, his mid-'90s rock trio The Raging Honkies was one of my favorites. The band's two long out-of-print releases, We are the Best Band and Boner, have recently been re-released, and are available through Abstract Logix. Check out these discs folks; you will not be disappointed.
Purchase The Raging Honkies: We are the Best Band
Purchase The Raging Honkies: Boner
CDJapan has a listing for a Paul Gilbert Silence Followed by a Deafening Roar instructional DVD, with what appears to be a bonus DVD entitled Shred Annex. It's a region 2 DVD (Japan, Europe, Middle East, and South Africa only) with a release date of 6/25/08. Gilbert's previous instructional DVD for Get Out of My Yard eventually had a US release, so I imagine this one will also.
Paul Gilbert/Silence Followed By A Deafening Roar Guitar Instructional DVD And Shred Annex DVD
Greg Howe has posted a song from his upcoming album Sound Proof on his MySpace page. It's a cool instrumental cover of the funk classic "Tell Me Something Good." The highly anticipated Sound Proof will be released on June 24th.
Prashant Aswani has produced two new George Lynch instructional videos for Hal Leonard; Wicked Riffs and Scary Licks. No info on release dates yet, but I'll post them when they become available. Look for Aswani's new album Time sometime this summer.
Slide-guitar master Sonny Landreth's new album From the Reach will be released May 20th. Special guests include guitarists Robben Ford, Eric Clapton, Eric Johnson, Mark Knopfler, and Vince Gill. Dr. John and Jimmy Buffet also make appearances.
The Yellowjackets have teamed up with guitarist Mike Stern for a new album entitled Lifecycle. Release date is May 20th. The band will be touring with Stern in the US and Europe later this year.
According to Greg Howe's site admin, Howe's new album has a release date of June 24th. I'll post more details as they become available.
Greek flamenco/rock guitarist Ioannis Anastassakis has announced his upcoming electric CD will feature a guest appearance by Brett Garsed.
FYI - Garsed can also be heard on the new Doug Ross and Chris Buck albums (Holdsworth appears on the Buck album as well).
Gustavo Assis-Brasil has a new book on hybrid picking on the way. Hybrid Picking Exercises: Single Note Permutations will be released on April 15th. You can pre-order now through Gustavo's website.
See also: my review of Gustavo's previous book Hybrid Picking for Guitar.
Gustavo Assis-Brasil - Hybrid Picking Exercises - Single Note Permutations (Book)
Return to Forever - Chicago, IL 6/20/08
John McLaughlin - Floating Point
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
Greg Howe: Sound Proof
Howe's latest is fantastic. Great grooves and awesome jazzy shredding.
John McLaughlin: Floating Point
Western jazz-fusion played by eastern musicians. One of McLaughlin's most inspired studio albums in years.
John McLaughlin: Meeting of the Minds - The Making of Floating Point (DVD)
Awesome, insightful studio footage chronicling the making of McLaughlin's latest album Floating Point.
Paul Gilbert: Silence Followed by a Deafening Roar
Gilbert's second all-instrumental album. Great writing, slick production, scary shredding.
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.
