The Guitar Channel

Favorite Albums of 2012

2012 was a tremendous year for progressive guitar music. Here are my favorite releases of the year, in no particular order.

 

Michael Landau - Organic Instrumentals

Landau's first instrumental album since 1990's Tales From The Bulge is one of my favorite guitar records in many years, let alone this one. Awesome tones, dynamic playing, deep writing. A must-have for serious guitar geeks.

Wayne Krantz - Howie 61

Krantz took a bold new step with this album, and the results are rich and engrossing. A fantastic production filled with heady writing, and an amazing lineup of musicians.

Jimmy Herring - Subject To Change Without Notice

Awesome follow-up to 2008's Lifeboat. Highly textured with killer playing and grooves.

Alex Machacek, Raphael Preuschl, Herbert Pirker - FAT

Adventurous and dynamic with a great variety of guitar tones. Further proof that Machacek is among the most forward-thinking modern jazz composers of his generation.

Kurt Rosenwinkel - Star of Jupiter

Can't get enough of this one. Uber-deep jazz record, filled with great writing and improvisation.

Chad Smith's Bombastic Meatbats - Live Meat And Potatoes

Funky, energetic live release with killer guitar work from Jeff Kollman. Nobody grooves like the Meatbats.

OHMPhrey - Posthaste

Stellar recording from the OHM-meets-Umphrey's McGee supergroup. Loaded with great riffs and playing. Everybody shines here, but the twin guitar attack of Chris Poland and Jake Cinninger is particularly awesome.

Scott Henderson, Jeff Berlin, Dennis Chambers - HBC

What a band. Killer disc packed with guitar-driven trio versions of fusion classics. Henderson is amazing as always.

Karizma - Perfect Harmony

A 3-disc smorgasbord from keyboardist/composer David Garfield's classic west coast jazz band. Features a who's-who of the genre's luminaries, including Michael Landau.

The Aristocrats - Boing, We'll Do It Live!

Amazing live CD/DVD release with insane playing and band interplay. Guthrie Govan's guitar work is both musical and mind-blowing.

Other favorites from 2012:

Prashant Aswani - Visions
Chris Poland, Frank Catalano, Sean O'Bryan Smith, Jim Gifford - Polcat
Tribal Tech - X
Tohpati Bertiga - Riot
John McLaughlin & the 4th Dimension - Now Here This
Paul Gilbert - Vibrato
Gary Husband - Dirty & Beautiful, Vol. 2
OHM - Tsunami Jams
Ed DeGenaro - Holiday In Madras
Flying Colors
Chad Wackerman - Dreams, Nightmares and Improvisations
Chris Buck - 3 Crows
Jason Sadites - Broken
Renegade Creation - Bullet
Led Zeppelin - Celebration Day
Van Halen - A Different Kind of Truth (Ed note: \m/)

See Also:

Favorite Albums of 2011
Favorite Albums of 2010
Favorite Albums of 2009
Favorite Albums of 2008
Favorite Albums of 2007
Favorite Albums of 2006

New OHMphrey Album "Posthaste" To Be Released April 10th

The new OHMphrey album, Posthaste, will be released April 10th 2012 on Magna Carta Records. OHMphrey features the combined jam-fusion forces of Chris Poland (guitar) and Robertino "Pag" Pagliari (bass) from OHM, and Jake Cinninger (guitar), Joel Cummins (keys), and Kris Myers (drums) from Umphrey's McGee. Check out their 2009 self-titled debut if you haven't already. See below for the Posthaste tracklisting.

OHMphrey - Posthaste

1. Devil's in the Details
2. The Sun Also Rises
3. Tom Bombadil
4. The River Runs
5. The Shoemaker's Back
6. Ramona's Car Wash
7. Reggaelic
8. Firestarter (Live Version)   
9. 20/20 (Live Version)

Chris Poland Live Dates with OHM, OHMphrey, Polcat

Several shows coming up on the west coast with Chris Poland's bands OHM, OHMphrey, and his latest project Polcat (Look for Polcat's debut album in 2012). See dates and locations below. Also, OHM will be calling in to Mark Torres' "Travel Tips for Atzlan" show on KPFK 90.7 FM in Los Angeles on November 26th.

Dec 1st, 2011  OHMphrey  Winston's - San Diego, CA

Dec 2nd, 2011  OHMphrey  Viper Room - Hollywood, CA  Cancelled

Dec 3rd, 2011  OHMphrey  Slim's - San Francisco, CA

Jan 20th, 2012  OHM & Polcat (Double Bill)  Alva's - San Pedro, CA

Jan 22nd, 2012  Polcat  Salvador's Jazz Suite - Los Angeles, CA 

Jan 24th, 2012  OHM & Polcat (Double Bill)  Baked Potato - Studio City, CA


The Lineups

OHM: Chris Poland - Guitar, Robertino "Pag" Pagliari - Bass, David Eagle - Drums

OHMphrey: Chris Poland - Guitar, Robertino "Pag" Pagliari - Bass, Jake Cinninger - Guitar, Joel Cummins - Keys, Kris Myers - Drums
   
Polcat: Chris Poland - Guitar, Frank Catalano - Tenor Saxophone, Sean O'Bryan Smith - Bass, Jim Gifford - Drums

Photos: OHMphrey - Live at Park West, Chicago IL 10/8/11

Saw OHMphrey at the Park West in Chicago last night (feat Chris Poland (guitar) and Robertino "Pag" Pagliari (bass) from OHM, and Jake Cinninger (guitar), Joel Cummins (keys), and Kris Myers (drums) from Umphrey's McGee). Killer show. Their new material is seriously grooving; can't wait for the new album to come out. See link below for a gallery of my pics.

Photos: OHMphrey - Live at Park West, Chicago IL 10/8/11

OHMphrey 2011 Midwest Tour Dates

OHMPhrey will be playing the following dates in the midwest this October. Featuring Chris Poland (guitar) and Robertino "Pag" Pagliari (bass) from OHM, and Jake Cinninger (guitar), Joel Cummins (keys), and Kris Myers (drums) from Umphrey's McGee, the fusion supergroup will be releasing a follow-up to their 2009 self-titled debut later this year.

October 5th Bell's - Kalamazoo, MI

October 6th Majestic Theatre - Madison, WI

October 7th Canopy Club - Urbana, IL

October 8th Park West - Chicago, IL

Video: OHMphrey - Live at the Baked Potato 6/10/11 "Someone Said You Were Dead"

OHMphrey playing "Someone Said You Were Dead" live at The Baked Potato on 6/10/11. With Chris Poland (guitar) and Robertino "Pag" Pagliari (bass) from OHM, and Jake Cinninger (guitar), Joel Cummins (keys), and Kris Myers (drums) from Umphrey's McGee.

OHMphrey to record new album in June

Great news! Jam/Fusion supergroup OHMphrey will head back into the studio this June to record a follow-up to their killer 2009 self-titled debut. The new album will be released later this year on Magna Carta Records. The band will also be performing at the Baked Potato in North Hollywood on June 10th. OHMphrey features Chris Poland (guitar) and Robertino "Pag" Pagliari (bass) from OHM, and Jake Cinninger (guitar), Joel Cummins (keys), and Kris Myers (drums) from Umphrey's McGee.

OHMPhrey Jam Cruise Interview

Cool interview with OHMPhrey from this year's Jam Cruise. OHMPhrey features Chris Poland and Robbie Pagliari from OHM, and Jake Cinninger, Joel Cummins and Kris Myers from Umphrey's McGee.

Favorite albums of 2009

With another year drawing to a close, the time has come once again to reflect back on all the great music that was released over the past 12 months. Here are my favorite albums of 2009, in no particular order.

 

Wayne Krantz - Krantz Carlock Lefebvre (Review)

An amazing guitar album. Incredible compositions and group improv.

 

Odd Meters - Uncommon Denominator (Review)

Addicting funky jazz from 8-string guitarist Jon Morrow and drummer/vibraphonist Shane Parreco.

 

Holdsworth Pasqua Haslip Wackerman - Blues for Tony

Live 2-disc set culled from the quartet's 2007 European tour. Holdsworth is searing throughout.

OHMphrey - OHMphrey

Cool jam project featuring members of OHM and Umphrey's McGee. Great guitar work from Chris Poland and Jake Cinninger.

 

Chad Smith's Bombastic Meatbats - Meet The Meatbats

Excellent throwback fusion. Features Jeff Kollman on guitar.

 

Steve Morse Band - Out Standing In Their Field

Finally a new SMB album! Great stuff.

 

Gerald Gradwohl Trio - Sally Beth Roe (Review)

Raw guitar-driven fusion at it's finest.

Other favorites from 2009:

Ed DeGenaro - Less Is Seldom More (Review)
Robby Ameen - Days In The Life
Jon Reshard - Jon Reshard
Oz Noy - Schizophrenic (Review)
Mike Stern - Big Neighborhood
Akira Jimbo - Jimbomba
Adam Nitti - Liminal
Liquid Tension Experiment - Live 2008 Box Set

Jake Cinninger Interview at Guitar International

Check out Matt Warnock's great interview with Umphrey's McGee guitarist Jake Cinninger at Guitar International. The main topic of discussion - OHMPhrey; Cinninger's recent side project that combines the mighty forces of Umphrey's McGee and OHM.

Jake Cinninger: OHMphrey, Umphrey’s and Beyond

Umphrey's McGee offers free prog-rock sampler

Umphrey's McGee is one of my favorite bands from the jam-band scene. The reason I dig these guys, is they often venture into prog and fusion territory; they don't dwell on modal-jams as some bands in the genre tend to do. I saw Umphrey's live in Chicago a couple of years ago and was blown away. Their new album Mantis is getting a lot of attention in the prog-rock community. As a token of their appreciation, the band has released a free prog "sampler" showcasing some of their more "proggy" moments onstage. Here's the info, straight from the horses mouth:

"In the two months since the release of Mantis, we've been overwhelmed with the attention and appreciation from the progressive rock community.  We admire the rich tradition that the community has, and the respect they have for many of the same artists that have had a lasting influence on us as well.  We've been privileged to share the stage with such heroes as Adrian Belew, Mike Keneally and Stanley Jordan in recent years

Our latest album "Mantis" has been touted as our most progressive
studio album, and we are very proud of how it turned out.  We were
glad to take the time and flesh out our compositional approach on
Mantis, and wound up with an album that stretched our songwriting and
playing to levels we hadn't been able to produce in the studio before.

While we enjoyed the experience of taking our time in the studio, much
of the Umphrey's McGee experience happens on-stage where we live 120+
nights a year.  The challenge of reproducing some of our demanding
compositions live while leaving room for both loose and structured
improvisation brings out the best in us, and we encourage you to come
and experience it with us.

We wanted to let you know that Jake, Kris and Joel have embarked on a
new project, OHMphrey (http://myspace.com/ohmphrey), with OHM's Chris
Poland and Robertino Pagliari.  This project is rooted in progressive
improvisation, and will release an album and support it with a few
west coast shows. Furthermore, another improvisational fusion side
project of ours, Kick the McGee, is thrilled to be teaming up with
Morglbl from France for a show in Chicago @ Martyrs' on 5/20.

As a token of our appreciation, we're offering a free digital sampler
of the "proggier" side of Umphrey's McGee to the progressive rock
community, though it's really a little bit of everything to help
provide context of the grander scheme of who we are as a band.  In
this sampler, you'll find a heavy-dose of prog-metal in Wizard Burial
Ground, while a slice of the improvisation and instrumental dexterity
that UM is well known for resides inside Higgins. An electric
re-working of Safety In Numbers' acoustic End of the Road is a band
favorite, and to give you a taste of some our our playing with special
guests you'll hear Adrian Belew lending his guitar to King Crimson's
Red and Mike Keneally stopping by for some extended on-stage antics
and guitar pyrotechnics on Ringo.  We’ve also included a bonus video
of “Out of Order” from our PBS Soundstage performance.

Umphrey's McGee - Prog Sampler track list
1) Rocker part II (10.28.08)
2) Wizard Burial Ground (12.30.08)
3) Higgins (12.29.07)
4) End of the Road (2.17.08)
5) Search 4 (2.12.08)
6) Red (3.17.07 with Adrian Belew)
7) The Fussy Dutchman (12.30.04)
8) Ringo (2.12.08 with Mike Keneally)

To download, visit: http://tinyurl.com/umsampler
This will deposit the FREE download in your basket from our download
site UMLive.net (run by Livedownloads.com).  Registration at
UMLive.net is free and required to complete the process. We'll keep
this posted for the next 2 weeks, until April 17th, so grab it while
it's hot.

To those who've checked out our albums and/or shows, and to those who
are helping spread the word (and we encourage you to spread this
around), we appreciate your support.  Thanks for your continued
interest in Umphrey's McGee, we hope to see you all on the road some
time soon!"