The Guitar Channel

Allan Holdsworth photos - Live at Alva's 1/17/09

I was lucky enough to see Allan Holdsworth play at Alva's in San Pedro CA during my NAMM trip. I attended the show with Souvik Dutta from Abstract Logix, his charming wife, and his good friend Powa who does all the artwork for the the ABLX label. We had a great time hanging out, and saw an awesome show. Holdsworth was great as usual, though outside after the gig he said he played terrible. Sound familiar?  Side note - I asked Holdsworth after the show if he knew when his new albums would be released. He said no, but he would likely finish them after his bands upcoming trip to Japan. Anyway, check out the few pics I took of this great show.

Allan Holdsworth photo gallery - Live at Alva's  1/17/09

John McLaughlin and 4th Dimension Live DVD on the way

Abstract Logix is announcing that it will be releasing a DVD of the live performance of John McLaughlin’s and his fusion-filled 4th Dimension band filmed in Belgrade during the group’s last European tour. The official street date for the DVD will be sometime in April. However, the DVD will be available for sale to those that attend the upcoming U.S. concert tour of the Five Peace Band which features guitarist McLaughlin, keyboard player Chick Corea, bassist Christian McBride, saxophonist Kenny Garrett and Vinnie Colaiuta and Brian Blade trading drumming duties on various legs of the tour.

Jimmy Herring Guitar World video

Here's a cool video for Guitar World where Jimmy Herring discusses the diminished concepts that inspired his song "Scapegoat Blues."

NAMM Show: Day Three (plus photos)

Saturday was my longest and last day at the NAMM show. I played some great guitars, and met some great musicians including John Czajkowski from Hectic Watermelon, and keyboardist T Lavitz. I also saw two awesome performances at the Eminence Speakers booth - Chris Poland and Pag from OHM, followed by Greg Howe. Later that night, I saw Allan Holdsworth play at Alva's (I'll post about that in more detail tomorrow). Overall, it was an awesome trip, but it feels great to be home. I've been busy since coming back; I just finished uploading and organizing my pics. Check them out:

Winter 2009 NAMM show photo album

See also: my photos from last year's NAMM show

Jimmy Herring 2009 tour

Guitarist Jimmy Herring will be leading his own band on a Spring/Summer tour this year in support of his excellent solo debut, Lifeboat. The Jimmy Herring Band will include Jeff Sipe on Drums, Oteil Burbridge on Bass, Scott Kinsey on Keyboards (!), and Greg Osby on Sax. Exact dates have not yet been announced, but the band will tour from April 24 through May 9, then again for an full month of performances in June. Souvik from Abstract Logix informed me during NAMM that there are about 13 dates booked so far. I'll post date and location details as they become available.

Back home

Just a quick note to say I'm back home after my amazing NAMM trip. Later tonight, I'll put up a post about day three at the show, a photo gallery of NAMM pics, and a post about the Holdsworth show I attended on Saturday night (Wow!). Stay tuned friends...

Greg Howe photos - Live at Tone Merchants 1/16/09

So what did I do last night after a great day at NAMM? I saw Greg Howe perform at Tone Merchants in Orange CA, thats what. What a fantastic gig this was! Dave Weiner opened the show by playing some original tunes over backing tracks, and special guest Jennifer Batten joined Howe's band for the encore. Amazing stuff. For me, seeing great gigs like this is part of what makes a NAMM trip so special. Check out my photo gallery of this incredible show:

Greg Howe Photo Gallery - Live at Tone Merchants 1/16/09

NAMM Show: Day two

I had an amazing second day at NAMM. I took tons of photos, and test drove some great guitars, but the thing I'll remember most about yesterday was all the cool people I met. Early in the day, I bumped into Beth Marlis. Beth is currently the VP of Education for Musicians Institute, but some 17 years ago, she was my private on-on-one instructor at GIT. What a neat experience to chat with this person I hadn't seen in so many years. Beth was super-nice. It made me want to check out the school again; it sounds like they are doing some great things there these days.

A while later, I met up with Souvik Dutta from Abstract Logix. I've worked with Souvik remotely for several years now, but have only met him in person once before. While hanging with Souvik, I got to meet and hang out with some heavy-hitters such as Matthew Garrison, Jonas Hellborg, T.M. Stevens, and Scott Kinsey. Souvik, Garrison, and I also went to see Allan Holdsworth at the Yorkville booth where he was signing autographs. We were like three giddy groupies waiting to see the master. Allan was really cool. When I mentioned I would be seeing him at Alva's the following day, he said "You shouldn't have told me; I'm going to be nervous now." That's Holdsworth for you - "I suck. I'm terrible." Sure Allan, whatever you say.

At the end of the day, Souvik and I saw Mike Keneally, Marco Minnemann, and Bryan Beller (aka KMB) perform at the Fender Booth. What a great show. Their material is really intense, in a Zappa-meets-prog sort of way. Great stuff. Keneally is a mad man. I also saw Greg Howe at Tone Merchants last night, but I want to give that it's own post.

Today will be my last day at the show, and it's going to be a busy one. There are TONS of big name players performing and signing autographs at the show today, and I'm going to try to catch as much as I can. Then later tonight, I'll be seeing Holdsworth at Alva's in San Pedro with Souvik and I believe Alex Machacek. Stay tuned...

Wayne Krantz to record for Abstract Logix

Laurie beat me to the post, but I heard about this recently and was asked to keep it under wraps. Wayne Krantz has signed with Abstract Logix, and will record his first studio album in 13 years this coming March. His band for this album will include Keith Carlock on drums, and Tim Lefebvre on bass. This is a huge feather for Abstract Logix's cap, which has quickly become one of the most important labels in jazz fusion.

Hello from the NAMM show!

I didn't think I was going to the NAMM show this year. Then, at the last minute, an opportunity to go popped up, so I decided, why not? I spent a few hours at the show today, and will be there again tomorrow and Saturday. I didn't have much time to prepare for this trip, and I didn't put together a NAMM event guide like I did last year. So far, the show seems a but tamer than it was last year, but then again it's only day one. At one point today, I was walking down an aisle when I heard someone call my name. Huh.. what? I turn around, and it's Prashant Aswani. I interviewed Prashant last year for Modern Guitars Magazine, and we've kept in touch. We had a great chat; he has some very cool projects coming up. About an hour later, I saw him rip it up at the Digitech booth. Great guy.

One of the great things about NAMM is the assortment of awesome gigs that take place around town. The problem with that, however, is you can't see them all, so you have to make some tough choices. I had planned on seeing OHM last night at the Baked Potato, but my plane got in too late. So that choice was made for me I guess. Tomorrow night, I'm seeing Greg Howe at Tone Merchants, and I'm seeing Allan Holdsworth on Saturday at Alva's. The shows I won't be able to get to include Frank Gambale at the Baked Potato, the Paul Gilbert Ibanez Anniversary show with Racer X, and the OHM/George Lynch double bill at Tone Merchants. Ouch. But what am I gonna do, I can't see everything. I saw three gigs at the Baked Potato on my last trip, now it looks like I won't get up there at all.

I've been taking pics and videos, and will continue to do so over the two days. I don't know if I'll be uploading anything before I get home though. That's it for today, I'll try to post something again tomorrow.

Rich

Steve Morse to play with Kansas once more

On Feb 7th, Kansas will be playing a special 35th anniversary show in Topeka which will be filmed for a DVD release entitled There's No Place Like Home. Steve Morse will be among the guests to perform with the band for this unique event. Morse was a member of Kansas back in the late '80s, during which he appeared on the Power, and In The Spirit of Things albums. Morse re-joined the band briefly in 1991 for some live dates.

PRESS RELEASE: Kansas to return to Kansas!

Jimmy Herring Band to play the Wakarusa Music & Camping Festival

The Jimmy Herring Band will be among the impressive lineup of groups playing the Wakarusa Music & Camping Festival this year. The festival runs June 4-7 at Mulberry Mountain in Ozark, Arkansas. This is the first Herring gig I've seen announced since the release of his fantastic solo disc Lifeboat, though a spring/summer tour is currently being booked.