roger4554

I live out in the boonies and satellite is my only practical means of Internet access. Cable, DSL and wireless aren't available in my area and dial-up at 14.4 baud is completely out of the question. A major disadvantage of satellite is that there are restrictions on my bandwidth usage. My connect speed will be halved if I exceed my monthly allotment so I have to monitor my usage very carefully. For that reason I refrain from downloading utube videos, entire CDs, or even the latest updates for MS Office and that's why I need to purchase your music on CDs.

I got my “alive & kickin’” CD in the mail last week and got a chance to play it last night. Excellent! When I opened the package I was expecting to see all new tunes like maybe “Shake Yo’ Thing” or whatever it is “Yo” gots that comes next after “Stomp Yo’ Feets” and “Clap Yo’Hands. Instead I was surprised (but not disappointed) to see eight of the nine tunes were ones that I already had on your three previous CDs. As I listened to the tracks I noticed how different they were from the original recordings. One of my ways of spending an enjoyable evening is to fix myself a Jim Beam and water, put on my headphones and play those three CDs one after the other. Over time every lick and every chop has become ingrained in my head. But hearing these new versions confirmed what I had noticed from your live performances, that those old tunes keep evolving and maturing. Even the three selections from your most recent CD “Groovadelphia” had a fresh take. Although “Groovadelphia” was a very successful CD and did well on the charts, I hope that “alive & kickin’” does even better and that new audiences will come to discover and enjoy those old classics that your fans have known and loved all along. Kudos guys… well done!

Thanks for the info, guys. GregN - congrats on your 1000th post!

I'm interested in finding out how you all make digital recordings nowadays. I want to record a few tunes of my new band so I can download them to my PC and burn some demo CDs for inclusion in my publicity kits. I want something fairly simple and don't want to get into a whole lot of expensive professional studio gear, separate mics on each player, or anything like that. I checked out the music department at Best Buy (gawd - sounded like CG) and they recommended a hand-held Zoom HR-4 with dual built-in mics for around $300. It records to a 512 mb memory chip, comes with software and connects to the PC with a USB cable. In the audio showroom I found a recorder the same size as the components in my entertainment center and sells for a little over $300. It records to audio CD-Rs or CD-RWs and has the standard red and white jacks on the back, L-R for input and L-R for output. I assume i would need some sort of mixer for input. I'm looking for any feedback, suggestions or recommendations you care to offer. Alternatively, if I were to get a digital video-cam, is there any way to rip the audio portion of a DVD and save it in mp3 or wav format? Thanks.

Congrats on all the great reviews coming in for Groovadelphia - they are very well deserved. I have a question for you regarding one of the tunes on the CD. 32 bars into "If Not Now, When?" the guitar comes in and then there's this cool Earl Klugh-ish effect. It's also repeated toward the end. What's doing that - guitar or keyboard? Sure is awesome.

Who played tenor sax on "The Christmas Song?"

I just checked out the Gary Burton/Keith Jarrett version on Amazon.com and I like your version better... much better.

Kudos on your performance at The Small Planet Sunday. I really dug a tune that I had never heard you play before, the title had something to do with Vietnam. Extremely cool - hope it gets on your next CD. I also enjoyed the Christmas carol you slipped into Pumpkin Pie. It fit perfectly. Brought a smile.

I just watched the videos of "Back At The Chicken Shack" and "Bleeker" from the 2006 Detroit International Jazz Fest in the Gear section and noticed something strange. The speaker (or whatever that piece of equipment is) to the left of Joe and behind Randy is really shaking big time. Does Joe tap his foot that hard that it can make such a big piece of equipment wobble like that?

First off, as to your entry of 11/2/08 you wrote: The only drag was that time ran out before I could feature our drummer Vanderlai, very accomplished at Brazilian music, to set up and lead Samba de Orfeu... The first time I heard that tune was on the LP "Jazz Impressions of Black Orpheus" by the Vince Guaraldi Trio and was impressed by the drumming of Colin Bailey. Although that album dated back to the 60s, CB is a monster player and still playing in the San Francisco area. But back to the topic at hand, I would like to add two of my pet peeves: 1. Don't criticize the other musicians in the band. It's my band, not yours, and I hired them because I like the way they play. 2. Act your age on the bandstand. I should not have to reprimand you for belching into your microphone while playing at an upscale restaurant/lounge. For Pete's sake, it's like running a day care sometimes.

There could be a number of different explanations for what you're hearing. The first is that the drummer may have used brushes on all the tunes, but not necessarily used them all the way through each tune. If he started out with brushes an a particular track, changed to sticks in the middle and then changed back to brushes at the end, the liner notes could still be considered to be correct. It's kind of like saying a drum shell is 5-ply maple when all that's required to make that claim is that the 1st, 3rd and 5th ply be maple. The second possibility is that he's actually playing with brushes and the sound engineer in the studio performed a little bit of his magic on on the sound to produce a particular effect. Then, of course, there's the possibility that the person who wrote the liner notes was wrong. It wouldn't be the first time.

Congrats guys! You're getting a dime? Apiece? Man, I'm so broke I can't even pay attention. I remember hearing organissimo for the first time in Flint back in '02 at a benefit for my good friend and mentor Joe Freyre. And now, six years later, you're better than ever and have a #1 disc on CMJ. In eight more years I expect you will all be rich and famous. Until then I'll just enjoy hearing you around the Lansing area whenever I can. I'm looking forward to seeing you at the Small Planet again on December 14th. And be sure to bring someone to man the door and collect the cover or you might not get that dime.