Robert J

From Fleck's website: Trio! is a brand new group featuring French violin legend Jean Luc Ponty, bass superstar Stanley Clarke, and Béla. They are putting together a repertoire of new music, and are at least as curious as you are about what it will sound like! It's gonna be fun and a brand new experience. Look for Trio! shows throughout the US and Europe this summer. You might want to hold on to that pessimism Joe.

The Toronto Jazz festival is having Bela Fleck playing as a trio which includes Stanley Clarke and Jean Luc Ponty. Has anyone heard this configuration? They don't start their tour until June. First gig is in Burlington, VT. Just want a heads up as to whether or not it will be a wank-athon. Thanks.

That was his selection. We told him that it may be very very bright for the swatch he chose but....

Hey thanks for all the replies. Mr Kirn - been awhile! The good looks comes from his mother, believe me. That's funny you guys can spot a G chord like that. He's doing some real tunes like Linkin Park "In the End" and some rap tune that does "the "Crazy Train" riff - got me to introduce him to Randy Rhodes. There's one cool book he uses called "You're in the Band" (Willis Music) kind of an Abersold for Rock that really works well. He's already starting to talk like a rocker. After one of his lessons he said to me: "have you heard of this guitarist called Jerry Garcia?" He heard some story about Jerry damaging his finger (?) and was excited. Soon he'll be into my vast LP collection for guitar... I hope. Zappa, Steve Vai, Jeff Beck, Al Di Meola, Yardbirds, Zep, Sabbath, etc etc etc. Wait for the jazz though. Anyhow - just happy he's so into it and progressing so well. His younger sister (7) takes piano, and though she's got a great ear, can play "Louie Louie" chords in a few keys and can improv on a pentatonic scale, she needs me to be there when she practices. I (sadly or proudly) have done nothing for my son. He just practices, maybe asks me a couple of things, but figures it all out himself. He has a cousin who is 14 and plays drums. In fact she has a Roland - V drum kit so they can jam. The place where he takes his lessons has a "Band Chops" course, where in addition to private lessons, you get 1 hour a week to work in a band setting, with a pro teacher to work on repertoire, ensemble playing, recording, etc. We'll see.

I just saw that dumb ad on TV last night where they're "introducing" Coke with Lime as a brand new concept. None of those bozo's ever had a rum and Coke?

amp

This relates to an earlier post where I asked for info about Randall amps. Thanks everyone. For my son's 11th birthday we promised to allow him to go electric. He's really been coming along with close to 3 years private study. His man axe is a Baby Taylor. So with some of his birthday and paper route money, plus a top off from his parents, he's now a proud owner of an electric guitar and amp. The guitar is a Godin Detour, new in the Godin line. A step up from the SD - it's a double cutaway solid-body and has 2 humbucker pickups. I thought they were Seymour Duncan, but I could be wrong. I know SD makes them for Godin. The amp is amazing for its price. 30 watts of really clean sound. Plus the built in OD and effects. It also has a pedal switch, CD ins, an effects return and a headphone out. Of course my son is thrilled. He’s upped the daily practice from 20 minutes to around an hour. And hearing feedback emanating from the hands of one of my offsprings has been a lifelong dream. I think his rap fascination will feel some tension from the other stuff he does in his lesson. But he’s a good kid, I put up with the rap he plays (on CD), and we try to identify any guitar lines or melodies (if there is one) on songs he likes. I got a bit of a deal on these from the music store I used to work at.

Looks like the set design from 2001: A Space Odyssey! Ad copy we'll never see again: served by our stewardesses in their pretty new outfits

There's a blues guitarist called James “T-Model” Ford who records for Fat Possum. He started playing guitar at 58. He's now 81.

In parts of Northern Canada you get the 8-track thrown in as well.

Saw the Triplets of Belleville with my wife and kids on the weekend on DVD. Was the most original animated film I've seen in a long time. And it was done with virtually no dialogue. I will probably buy it for the collection.

While doing some, ah, um.. research I came across this nifty etymology of drink (and a magazine I never heard of as well). Will serve me well in my writing (when the well runs dry, that is). http://www.moderndrunkardmagazine.com/issu...on_the_cuff.htm

Anyone have an advance listen? AAJ reviewed it. In opposition to many critics - I liked "Melody at Night, With You", even if it sounded like George Shearing at times Be interesting to hear the longer live format piano solo. I like the idea of how he incorporates themes from previous parts of the improv. Still begs the question of how much is truly spontaneous.

Found some stuff on this guy's site. His own transcriptions and from others. For all instruments. http://www.lucaspickford.com/trans.htm

A better question is: Shoes on, or off? When I pracice at home my piano is on hardwood and I try to keep it clean for my better half. But I realize that when barefoot I don't play as well. I think because I like to kick the beat on the floor or the piano itself when I am with a band or performing solo. Though I am a terrible dancer. Eyes usually open, but glazed. Closed on stage when the lights are blinding.

Some small independant recordings for not-very-much-money-but-kind-of-fun things: keys for a funk band, pop band, jazz fusion band, accompanying a few vain and misguided jazz vocalists, etc. No illusions here. Also, now that I recall: electro-acoustic recording for the CBC, soundtrack for education video for large art gallery, 13 episode sound-track for a kid's detective show on YTV, boogie-piano for a book show on TVO.

ST. LOUIS (AP) - Johnnie Johnson, a rock 'n' roll pioneer who teamed with Chuck Berry for hits like "Roll Over Beethoven" and "No Particular Place to Go," died Wednesday. He was 80. Johnson, a native of Fairmont, W.Va., died at his St. Louis home. The cause of death was not immediately known, said publicist Margo Lewis. He had been hospitalized a month ago with pneumonia and was on dialysis for a kidney ailment, said John May, a friend and fellow musician. Johnson performed as recently as two weeks ago and was planning to teach a music class in the coming weeks in Fairmont, May said. "He left the indelible imprint of his sound," May said. "He was able to transition through any musical style because he just loved to play music." Johnson has been called the "founding father of rock 'n' roll," though he was never a household name, known mostly as Berry's piano player and collaborator. Still, he was inducted into Cleveland's Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame in 2001 in the "sidemen" category. Johnson was given an honorary doctorate in music degree from Fairmont State College, now Fairmont State University, in 2002. Johnson began playing piano at 4. He moved from West Virginia to Chicago after World War II, where he played jazz and blues in clubs. He moved to St. Louis in the early 1950s, forming his own R&B band, the Johnnie Johnson Trio. When a band member became ill on New Year's Eve 1952, Johnson hired Berry to fill in. The two began a long collaboration on songs that defined early rock 'n' roll -- "Sweet Little Sixteen," "No Particular Place to Go," "Roll Over Beethoven." Johnson often composed the music on piano, then Berry converted it to guitar and wrote the lyrics. Berry's "Johnny B. Goode" was a tribute to Johnson. Berry was on a plane returning from a visit to Europe on Wednesday and unavailable for comment, a spokeswoman said. Several top musicians credited Johnson's influence on their careers, and over the years he recorded and performed with Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, John Lee Hooker and Bo Diddley, among others. The 1987 rock documentary "Hail! Hail! Rock and Roll" was in part a tribute to Berry and Johnson. Johnson and Berry parted ways in the early 1970s, and in 2000, Johnson sued Berry, seeking a share of royalties and proper credit for what Johnson said were more than 50 songs the men composed together. A federal judge dismissed the lawsuit in 2002, ruling that too many years had passed since the disputed songs were written. The lawsuit contended that Berry took advantage of Johnson's alcoholism, misleading him into believing that only Berry was entitled to own the copyrights "and reap the monetary benefits." Johnson is survived by his wife and children. Funeral arrangements were incomplete.

Holy smokes - these master classes are great! I hope Hank Jones lives forever.

That's what the song sounds like with too much muggles.

The one word that bugs me in Toronto jazz radio, and it must be a Canadian-ization of a British pronunciation (Bev, back me up here - the CBC has been trying to be the BBC forever) is the word that describes someone who plays the saxophone. Not every dj does it, but just enough to bug me. Now even the young college dj's have taken it on. It gets pronounced as "sax-aww-fonist". Always thought it too high-brow, having grown up on Detroit jazz dj's. "That was sax-aww-fonist Lee Konitz..." My argument is, why don't these same people descibe someone who plays the vibes, in the same way? I have yet to hear "vibe-raww-fonist".

Dmitry and his lovely wife last year on a visit to NY. We saw Randy Weston at the Jazz Standard. Ted O'Reilly, though we've never had a face to face conversation. I went to numerous jazz concerts in Toronto he hosted or recorded. I feel I meet Weizen every-time my I quaff 2 or more Schneider-Weisses

I found this in their archives. I used to religiously listen to this John Schaefer show all the time in university, via Detroit public radio. He turned me on to a ton of avant garde that I only read about. I never would have known what Philip Glass, John Adams, Rhys Chatham, Steve Reich etc etc sounded like. Expanded my musical universe immensely. I see the station has archived a few of the shows. http://www.wnyc.org/music/articles/30718