Sunday, August 31, 2014

East West Music Festival


2014 band schedule
























Check out Carl Cedermans superb photos from the 2013 event https://www.facebook.com/carl.cederman.3/media_set?set=a.574314905947936.1073741904.100001082962595&type=3
Thank You Carl!

East West Music Festival Music Lineup
2:00pm - 3:00pm - What Is This
3:15pm - 3:30pm- The Bogden girls acoustic
3:30pm - 4:30pm- Wakeless Abandon
Joe from Wakeless Abandon below.


4:30pm - 5:30pm- Cheshire Cat


6:30pm - 7:00pm- Steve Mineo acoustic
8:00pm - 9:00pm- U-People
9:00pm - 10:00pm- SkyWay
10:00pm -11:00pm- Space Ace


All guests are welcome to bring a tent and stay the night ...THIS WILL BE A FAMILY FRIENDLY EVENT! We have LOTS of space and a clean flushing outdoor bathroom! We'll have can jam, a horseshoe pit as well as some games with prizes for the little ones.

Tuesday, August 19, 2014

The Art of Bass Playing in a band

Being primarily a bassist I wanted to do a post about the role a competent bassist plays in an original or cover band.
Playing the bass is easily dismissed as being "easy" to play because the traditional bass has just 4 strings, but that is just a comparison to the guitar because a guitar has 6 strings.
The comparison is false because electric basses are available with any amount of strings these days, you can buy an 8 string bass and then you can legitimately say the guitar is easier to play because it only has 6 strings.
Below is a photo of a 12 string bass. This bass would indeed be harder to play than a 6 string guitar because the neck is wider than a guitar (and fretless!) a I'm sure tuning 12 bass strings would be a task in itself.
The reason 4 or 5 string basses' are so widely used is even an absolute beginner can pick up a 4 string bass and play rock and roll. The important thing to remember is the bass is not just played to support the root notes of the guitar. Don't let anyone (guitarist or vocalist) steer you wrong, the bass can support the rhythm of the drums, the root notes of the guitar while enhancing the vocals and the overall melody of the song all at the same time. The only limitations a bassist has are the ones that he/she puts on themselves.


Here are some important things I have learned through my experiences as a rock bassist...
along with a working bass and a good, loud rig a good bassist must have good technique, expert timing, awesome listening skills and the ability to play well within the context of a band setting, any bassist lacking in any of these skills will not get many gigs and the overall sound of the band he/she chooses will be lacking.

An amplified bass needs to move a lot of air, so a good, loud rig with plenty of headroom comes in handy when going thru a PA isn't an option.. You can always go thru the PA in a larger venue, so a loud stage volume isn't always necessary but it's nice to have plenty of headroom (volume) if you need to use it. Learning when to play louder and setting the tone controls correctly for each venue/room is an art in itself. If the bass is too loud it can take over a room and drown out the rest of the band. This is where good listening skills come in handy, it's ALWAYS better to be asked to turn up a little than to be told to turn down. A bassist who always plays too loud and isn't willing to turn down won't last long in any band.

Musical versatility is also required, being versatile will solidify your rep as a competent bassist. A good student of the bass will learn a good bass line can continually weave in and out of the melody, supporting the rhythm while adding harmonic melody to any song. Musical versatility is learned by listening to and appreciating any type of music you usually wouldn't listen to. Learning a couple of bass lines from this music is how you can truly become versatile as a bass player. This skill becomes very important when you attempt to play along with songs and cover them within a band context.

A good bassist is able to listen to the rest of the band, the most basic reason is the bassist should always be in the same key as the rest of the band, a wrong note by the bassist usually throws the band off and the listening audience as well. Knowing when to lay back in the pocket and where to move melodically up the neck will compliment the melody of any song. A good, musical ear will recognize certain points within a song where melodic fills will enhance the music and when to play certain notes to enhance the musical melody. A general rule is to lay back during the verse and play more to enhance the chorus or you can switch it completely around and lay back during the chorus and play more notes to enhance the vocals during the verse music. The most important thing is to creativity and having fun while playing.

Constantly supporting the rhythm is OK but this will result in a boring bass line and a bassist who never goes above the 9th fret or so. These type of players are usually stuck in the background and they go unnoticed until the singer introduces them to the crowd. A bassist who always adds fills can muddy up the melody to a song, there will be no foundation to fall back on and the bass will always be competing with the guitar and vocals for the melodic spotlight.

Most budding bass players usually start playing a laid back rhythmic style until they realize that so much more is possible with the instrument once they listen to a jazz bassist like Jaco Pastorius or full-out rock bass players like Geddy Lee or Billy Sheehan.

Here's a basic start-up plan for a bassist who wants to play rock and roll bass, listen to and learn some basic AC/DC, KISS and Aerosmith songs. The bassists' for these bands tend to play rooted eighth notes following the guitar very often, but if you listen closely, the bass will veer off the main guitar riff for a few bars, thus providing some extra melodic movement within the songs. It's important to recognize these subtle movements and learn how the notes interact with the guitar and vocals to create another artistic voicing with the bass.

After you've mastered and played some of these songs within a band context, you can then move on to listening to Jaco or Stanley Clarke to learn how to solo and move around the melody using more advanced playing techniques. Of course, to be a complete bass player it always helps to read music. Or you can just start playing jazz and learn rock and roll bass later. Either way, good, competent bass players are always in demand because everybody wants to sing or play guitar.

Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Lost in Franklinville


Recently made a return trip to Franklinville to change a flat tire on my van after playing a great private party filling in on bass for Steelhorse. All in all it was an rather unforgettable experience so I decided to write a blog piece about my day in Franklinville.
Beyond making sure that you bring all the music gear you need in preparation for an out of town trip, be sure to have a spare tire filled with air, a jack and a tire iron, in case you get a flat tire in the middle of nowhere ...out of cell phone range.
Here's where my tour story about Franklinville begins, after filling in for Steelhorse on bass I got a flat tire on the rocky trail down to the road. Not having a spare I had to leave my van in Franklinville and hitch a ride home with a couple of the guys from Steelhorse. Thank You for the ride home guys!
The next day, after calling 3 car parts stores, I learned that you can't just buy a rim for a tire, you have to special order them because car parts stores don't stock them and rims are very expensive.
I ended up calling a junkyard and bought a tire and rim for $50.
So after packing up my spare, a jack and a gas can full of gas my friend and I headed out to Franklinville to change my tire and return back home.
I brought my GPS and didn't bother printing out directions because my GPS got me to Franklinville on my initial trip.
Well my GPS was not fully charged and it died on the way out there, this was our first setback on the way out to Franklinville. After realizing we were lost my friend made a call and with some haphazard directions we were on our way... to getting lost again. After making a couple more calls and writing directions down we thought we were on our way...but being unfamiliar with Franklinville we got lost yet again. My friend and I decided to stop at a few houses to ask for directions, one of the locals finally helped us out and we finally ended up at our destination.
Changing a flat tire on a unlevel dirt road isn't easy. After my friend jacked up the van to change the flat he became overzealous and decided to take the flat tire off before the van was high enough to put the spare on. Well the jack was unlevel and after my friend pulled the flat tire off the jack fell forward and my van fell onto the ground, resting on the axle.
After jacking up the van for a second time the spare tire was on and we were ready to embark on our journey home.
After getting lost yet again we were pulled over by the police because apparently someone called the cops on us because we were "going door to door trying to sell something".
This is where my frustration peaked and I started to become frustrated because we were only trying to ask for directions and now we were being interrogated by a police officer...just great.
I was out of my vehicle when 2 more cop cars pulled up and unbelievably it started pouring rain!
I knew that the cops didn't believe our flat tire story so in my frustration I opened up my trunk and threw out the flat tire on the ground, well I almost got arrested for doing that. Supposedly I wasn't supposed to be "out of my vehicle" in the pouring rain during the traffic stop.
The first cop that pulled us over said we "scared the bejesus out of a couple of people" when we attempted to ask for directions, so after my friend and I conveyed to the police exactly what was going on, one of the cops led us out of Franklinville so we could follow the right path.
After all was said and done what was supposed to take a few hours turned into a all day affair out in Franklinville.

What did I learn from this journey?
1. Make sure to have a spare tire before traveling to a out of town.
2. Always be sure to Fully charge up my GPS!
3. Always print out directions to and from any out of town location, just in case.
4. If you're lost in Franklinville don't stop at any houses and attempt to ask for directions.






Wednesday, August 6, 2014

darling harbor - Buffalo NY


"Ladies and Gentlemen!"

darling harbor retro "truth in my lies" CD art ...


www.twitter.com/darling_harbor



"ladies & gentlemen" is a uptempo, alt. rock/pop song that is very melodic. ladies & gentlemen is the kind of song that will stick in your head after a couple of listens...if you let it...
Great upbeat opening song, the acoustic guitar and vocal performances are super spectacular.

"house of brass" is a smart, well written song. It's obvious to me that darling harbor know how to compose a great song, adding melodic elements to the music to make the songs interesting to the ear. Hey!..Great gang vocal performances and drum track.

"new providence" starts with a great guitar/egg shaker intro and a melancholy vocal. The drums move the tempo of the song up and down from mellow to strong and driving. Good vocal dynamics on this song.

Do you need a new, original local band to check out? Well, darling harbor has "the answers" to your musical longings. Great drum shuffle and bass guitar performance on this one. The melodic lyrics provide all "the answers" about darling harbor.

"getting better, getting there" continues in the same vein as "the answers"...mixing in a guitar solo for some super rock awesomeness...

"sons and daughters" closes this CD out with a bang...

I was quite impressed seeing the band live for the first time. Everyone in the band and everything sounded great together. I've seen the singer fronting a different band at babeville, and I must say darling harbor sounded much better than that band.

www.facebook.com/darlingharborband

Special thanks to Dan.

Sunday, August 3, 2014

Jimi Hendrix, The Bass Player?


Jimi Hendrix, The Bass Player?



Jimi Hendrix is perhaps best known for his blazing (literally blazing as evidenced by his '67 Monterey Pop Festival live performance) lead guitar playing and as his latest release "Valleys Of Neptune'" gains in popularity, his amazing talents are still being recognized and appreciated by every new generation of rock fan since his first appearance onto the music scene in the 60s.
Along with his amazing songwriting, guitar playing and singing, one of Jimi's lesser known talents was his amazing electric bass guitar playing, Jimi could also play the glockenspiel and the flute, amazingly enough, Jimi taught himself to play on all the instruments mentioned above.

He is also credited on several lesser know rock albums as an executive producer and as a guest performer, playing bass for the Buddy Miles penned track "Destruction Of Love" and produced Buddy's "Electric Church" solo album. Hendrix also played bass on an early, rare Crosby, Stills & Nash version of the Joni Mitchell penned song "Woodstock", which was written by Mitchell while she was stranded in a hotel room, not able to get to Woodstock where she was supposed to perform.

Hendrix, who preferred a right-handed Stratocaster flipped upside down and strung backwards, could also easily play a right-handed, standard strung up guitar and bass. This unique talent can be compared to a baseball player batting from the left and right side of home plate, as opposed to just the right or the left. This special talent was captured on an album, when Hendrix guest starred on Timothy Leary's rare, narrative/music album.

Not only did Jimi perform many a bass line on his own recordings but he also took hold of the instrument live on a couple of famous occasions, one of which included an amazing, fiery performance of "Red House" from 1967, in which Noel Redding and Jimi switched instruments at The Olympia in Paris, France.

Having played guitar full-time before his gig with Jimi, Redding was a great guitar player in his own right. So switching instruments was no problem went it came to the multi-talented Jimi Hendrix Experience.

Jimi owned a 1965 Fender Jazz Bass on which he performed many a legendary bass line on in the recording studio. Jimi's bass playing is not present on his 1st album but he recorded several bass lines on his "Axis: Bold As Love" album. Jimi can be heard playing bass on the "Bold As Love", "Spanish Castle Magic" & "She's So Fine" tracks.
Hendrix used his own 8-string Hagstrom bass guitar on the bass track of "Spanish Castle Magic", Hendrix added a uniqueness all his own to the track using the Octavia foot-pedal to enhance the recorded bass lines.

Hendrix also played the 4-string bass guitar on one of his most recognizable and widely known, recorded songs "All Along The Watchtower". A song in which Hendrix recorded because he was such a big fan of Bob Dylan's original version.

Dave Mason originally recorded the bass line on the track, after Redding and Hendrix had a dispute in the studio. Hendrix recorded a new bass line and then re-recorded the bass after "hearing it a bit differently". If you listen to just the bass on this track you can hear it jump out of the mix on several occasions.

Hendrix's iconic album "Electric Ladyland" which included "All Along The Watchtower" featured Hendrix playing bass on "Have You Ever Been (To Electric Ladyland)" & "And The Gods Made Love".

During the sessions for this record, Hendrix plucked the 4-string on 2 of Noel Redding's original songs "Dream" & "Touch You", which were never completed and included on the album.

These sessions also produced "My Friend" a rare, Stephen Stills penned song, on which Hendrix sang and played guitar and bass on. This rare recording surfaced after Hendrix passed on.

Not only does Hendrix's songwriting, singing & guitar playing continue to influence a new generation of fans every year, his bass playing is equally recognized as an important part of the Hendrix legacy and has influenced many a bassist in its own right. Who better to play the bass on some of Hendrix's most famous songs than Jimi himself. Who knew?






Experience Hendrix front and back cover featuring the "Official" First Rays Of The New Rising Sun CD release.


Hendrix Band of Gypsys CD Review

One of the Greatest Live Recording's of All Time

The Band Of Gypsys, first released in April of 1970, is one of Jimi Hendrix's most revered and impressive achievements of his brief , but memorable recording career. This CD was recorded on New Year's Eve of 1969/70 at the Fillmore East in New York City. The Band Of Gypsys was a newly formed trio featuring Jimi Hendrix on guitar, Buddy Miles on drums and Billy Cox on the bass. The Band Of Gypsys was the last official recording of Hendrix's career. Many have called The Band Of Gypsys CD the birthplace of funk. This isn't one of Hendrix's best-known albums but it still packs a musical punch.
This recording was released with a specific purpose in mind. Hendrix needed to fulfill a contractual obligation to a former manager of whom he had signed a recording contract with before he went off to London to begin his fabled career. The Jimi Hendrix Experience recordings sound polished and cleaned up compared to the raw, funky grooves of The Band Of Gypsys. Buddy Miles and Billy Cox combine their efforts to create phat, funky grooves perfect for Hendrix to play on top off and improvise through. Hendrix's playing doesnt carry these songs but tags along, slightly behind the beat to create some sexy, bouncy grooves. For fans of Hendrix, his playing on The Band Of Gypsys is a little different from his solo stuff, it provides interesting new sounds and textures to listen to. Buddy Miles provides some rather impressive vocals on this CD but the highlight is undoubtedly the song "Machine Gun". "Machine Gun" ranks along with "The Star Spangled Banner" as a innovative, inspiring and emotional electric guitar performance. "Machine Gun" is Hendrix's thought provoking statement of a nation at war, a war that the young generation of that time didn't support. "Machine Gun" is a soulful, solo guitar masterpiece created by a young Hendrix, it contains some terrifying, agonizing guitar sounds. One can close their eyes while listening to "Machine Gun" and picture a war-torn battlefield complete with the sounds of bombs and guns going off, along with the wounded cries of dying soldiers all around. All of the guitar sounds on The Band Of Gypsys were created by a primitive guitar/amp set-up by today's standards, but Hendrix most certainly had the loudest and most innovative equipment he could could get his hands on, along with a stock Fender Stratocaster.

The original vinyl release only had 6 songs, but there is a remastered double-disc CD set from the 4 shows, which contains all the best songs from the 4 shows and there is also a Band Of Gypsy DVD, which won a Grammy Award and is a must-see for any serious Jimi Hendrix/Band Of Gypsys fan.


Guitar World 1995 which covered the legal battle for Jimi Hendrix's music, which was won by Experience Hendrix, LLC, who represent Hendrix's family.


Guitar World Jimi Hendrix Tribute issue from 1985.








Jimi Hendrix "Atlanta Special" is a bootleg release I picked up awhile ago.

According to the book Jimi Hendrix: Experience The Music the first 3 songs are from the Berkeley, CA rehearshals from 5/30/70 and the rest of the songs are from The Atlanta Pop Festival 7/4/70.


Guitar World, 11/2000 Hendrix Tribute Issue.
Pete Townsend, Carlos Santana, Billy Cox, Eddie Kramer and Hendrixs' drummer Mitch Mitchell speak out about the life & times of Jimi Hendrix. Eddie Kramer & John McDermott discuss the making of the 1st Hendrix family produced 4-CD box set.

This CD came out in 2007, 40 years after Hendrixs' groundbreaking, performance at The Monterey Pop Festival in California. This is the show where Hendrix made his triumphant return to the U.S. after blowing away many an audience in the U.K. and after releasing his first album with the help of Chas Chandler of The Animals. I've always seen the front view of this famous shot in which Hendrix sacrificed his guitar for the audience, first burning it then smashing it in a feedback frenzy. I had never seen this photograph before this CD came out so after resisting for 3 yrs, I finally picked it up in 2010. This CD includes the intro by Brian Jones of Rolling Stones fame and the entire set that The Jimi Hendrix Experience performed during The Summer Of Love.



West Coast Seattle Boy, The Jimi Hendrix Anthology is the latest release from Experience Hendrix, LLC. This is a must have for any true Hendrix fan, not so much for the casual listener. The 1st CD contains rare recordings Hendrix played on for other artists' such as Little Richard and The Isley Brothers, think classic motown and funky R & B. The rest of the music is quite good, but some of the unreleased stuff is not so good, but interesting to listen to, as it provides some insight into the genius that was Jimi Hendrix. This is the 2nd Hendrix box set released by Experience Hendrix, LLC.

Here's a couple of classic pics when Jimi was in the army, Jimi found the time to play guitar while in the army as shown in the 2nd photo from '61.
Photos courtesy of the book "Becoming Jimi Hendrix" by Steven Roby & Brad Schreiber.




Above, Jimi playing with the King Kasuals from '62.
Below, Jimi playing as a sideman for Little Richard from '65.



Jimi Hendrix with "Others"

Jimi Hendrix Recorded and Performed with Many an Artist Before His Solo Career Exploded!

"I played with this little rhythm and blues group named Curtis Knight & The Squires. And I made a few records and arranged a few songs for him." Jimi Hendrix 1967. Jimi performed and recorded with many great artists' early in his career and later as his worldwide fame grew. Jimi was a session man for many of these recordings and his input was limited to guitar playing and not to singing. Many of the lead guitar parts and guitar solos were not Jimi's but the headliners. After Jimi attained worldwide fame many of these recordings were released as official recordings by Jimi Hendrix but indeed they were not.
Jimi's involvement with Lonnie Youngblood began in 1963, Jimi was hired to play guitar on some of Lonnie Youngblood's recordings. At that time, Youngblood was a well known saxophonist in Philadelphia and Jimi was glad to record with Lonnie. Jimi's unique style of playing soul, blues and rhythm and blues shines through on these recordings. Jimi recorded the songs "Goodbye, Bessie Mae", "Soulfood", "Let Me", "Go Go Shoes", "Sweet Thang", "Under The Table" and "Wipe The Sweat" with Lonnie Youngblood.

The Isley Brothers were in need of a guitarist in 1964 and as luck would have it, a friend of Ronnie Isley's named Tony Rice had seen Jimi perform at the Palm Cafe in New York City and recommended Jimi to Ronnie Isley which led to an audition. The Isley Brothers were impressed with Jimi's raw talent and Jimi was brought on to tour and record with the band in early 1964. Jimi recorded "Testify", "Move Over And Let Me Dance" & "Have You Ever Been Disappointed" with the Isley's. Jimi left The Isley Brothers in the summer of 1964 to seek new musical opportunities in Nashville. 3 of these songs can be found on the new Hendrix box set "West Coast Seattle Boy".

Jimi toured and recorded with Little Richard in 1965. Jimi only recorded a couple of songs with Little Richard. Jimi recorded "I Don't Know What You Got But It's Got Me" and "Dancing All Around The World" which was released as a single by Vee-Jay Records in November 1965. That single peaked on the Billboard charts at number 92. The single reached number 12 on the Billboard Rhythm & Blues chart. These songs can be found on "West Coast Seattle Boy" as well.

Jimi's association with the blonde bombshell Jayne Mansfield was brief but it resulted in a single which was released in July of 1967. The songs are "As The Clouds Drift By" & "Suey" and can be found on the Hendrix bottleg "Too Hot To Handle".

In October 1965 Jimi signed a 3-year recording contract with Ed Chalpin's record company PPX Recordings for a disgraceful 1% royalty rate which was a direct result of Jimi's naivete when it came to signing recording contracts. Chalpin was a shrewd business man and he saw a good opportunity to decieve Jimi and take advantage of his remarkable raw talent. This contract came back to haunt Jimi later in his career and the end result was a number of sub-standard studio and live recordings which resulted in a large amount of quasi-legal official releases and bootleg releases. Many of these recordings were altered, faked, edited and falsely identified as Jimi Hendrix recordings.

Later in his career Jimi played lead guitar with McGough & McGear on their single "So Much" & "Ex Art Student" which was produced by Paul McCartney. Jimi added percussion to the Fat Mattress song "How Can I Live?" on their August 1969 release. Jimi also played bass with Robert Wyatt on his song "Slow Walking Talk" from 1968 and on Timothy Leary's song "Live And Let Live" from April 1970. Jimi played guitar on 3 Eire Apparent songs "Rock 'N' Roll Band", "Yes I Need Someone" & "Let Me Stay" from March 1969. Jimi also played bass and guitar on the Lightnin' Rod recording "Doriella Du Fontaine" which was recorded in November 1969. Jimi plays some lead guitar on the self-titled Stephen Stills solo record, of Crosby, Stills & Nash fame, on the song "Old Times Good Times".

Visit http://www.jimihendrix.com/