The Guitar Channel

All About Jazz review - Return to Forever in Cleveland

C. Andrew Hovan has written a great review of Return to Forever's June 24th show in Cleveland for All About Jazz.

All About Jazz: Return to Forever in Cleveland

New Stevie Wonder Tribute includes Greg Howe, Kiko Loureiro, and others

Guitarist Vernon Neilly has produced a new album entitled Vernon Neilly & Friends - A Tribute to Stevie Wonder. The album features guitarists Greg Howe and Kiko Loureiro, among others, playing Stevie Wonder's biggest hits. Check out Vernon Neilly's site for sound samples, and links to purchase the disc.

Greg Howe "Sound Proof" reviews

I'm currently working on a review of Greg Howe's new album Sound Proof (hint - it's awesome). Meanwhile, here are couple of well-written reviews that have popped up on the web:

Smokey Mountain News: Guitar virtuoso finds his sound

Modern Guitars Magazine review: Greg Howe - Sound Proof

 

Steve Lukather interview for Modern Guitars Magazine

Modern Guitars Magazine has posted a great interview with Steve Lukather. Conducted my Matt Baamonde, the interview covers Luke's gear, his new album, and more.

Modern Guitars Magazine: Steve Lukather Interview

Great NEARFest wrap-up

Marlin David May has posted a great wrap-up of the recently completed NEARFest progressive rock festival on the website UNCONVENTIONAUT. The latest NEARFest took place from June 20-22 in Bethlehem, PA, and included such acts as Liquid Tension Experiment, Peter Hammill, Fish, Synergy, and many others.

UNCONVENTIONAUT: NEARFest X - The Aftermath

Problem with pictures on the site

Friends,
I'm having a picture problem with the site. If you click on a pic to see it full-size, the resulting pop-up window is the wrong size for larger pics. It's no longer resizing on it's own to accommodate the full picture. I'm not sure how long this has been going on, but I think it's a recent problem (though the problem is occurring on old pics as well). I've altered the last couple of posts to allow scroll bars at least, but that's not something I want to keep doing. Plus it looks crummy. I'll throw up another post when the problem is fixed.

Rich

Chris Poland talks technique in new videos

Musicplayer.com has posted some great Chris Poland videos on their "Live From..." site. Poland discusses many aspects of his style including vibrato and double-stops. Here are the links to each vid:

http://livefrom.musicplayer.com/clip.aspx?key=D231D3B7EF86CA9E

http://livefrom.musicplayer.com/clip.aspx?key=CFA3B9131C434978

http://livefrom.musicplayer.com/clip.aspx?key=7C962397A6050BD3

http://livefrom.musicplayer.com/clip.aspx?key=5780600FCE7C1234

http://livefrom.musicplayer.com/clip.aspx?key=192FBEDB86D1B078

http://livefrom.musicplayer.com/clip.aspx?key=91448527E857A857

These videos are embeddable, but I didn't want to stack that many players in one post. Enjoy!

Review: Liquid Tension Experiment - Chicago, IL 6/25/08

Liquid Tension Experiment
Park West
Chicago, IL
June 25th, 2008

When you go to a concert to see a band you really enjoy, your hope of course is that everyone plays great, and they play your favorite songs, right? Just meeting that simple criteria would have most concert goers leaving the venue with a smile. However, every once in a while, if you're lucky, you'll get to witness a live performance that goes beyond your hopes and expectations; something unique and special. A one-of-kind gig, the likes of which may never happen again. Such was the case when I saw Liquid Tension Experiment on Wednesday, June 25th at the Park West in Chicago. Had the show gone off without a hitch, I'm sure I still would have loved it, and would have been raving about it afterwards. There was a hitch however - a big one. But that hitch turned out to be the catalyst that pushed this already amazing show into that category of "unique and special." More on the hitch later - first some background.
 
Liquid Tension Experiment is one of the great modern-day progressive rock super groups. Featuring John Petrucci on guitar, Mike Portnoy on drums, Jordan Rudess on keyboards, and Tony Levin on bass and Chapman Stick, the group recorded two excellent albums in the late 90s; Liquid Tension Experiment (1998 - Magna Carta), and Liquid Tension Experiment 2 (1999 - Magna Carta). Petrucci, Portnoy, and Rudess are members of the prog-metal band Dream Theater (though Rudess was not yet in that band when LTE first formed), and Levin is a prog-rock legend who has played and recorded with King Crimson, Peter Gabriel, and countless others. Last year, a third recording was released under the name Liquid Trio Experiment entitled Spontaneous Combustion (Magna Carta). This album features completely improvised jams that Portnoy, Rudess, and Levin recorded during the making of the second Liquid Tension Experiment album in late 1998, after Petrucci had to leave the sessions early to be with his wife who had gone into labor. The band played some gigs in 1998 and 1999, but that was it. It seemed like this great prog-rock project had come and gone.

Then, late last year it was announced that LTE were reforming to play the NEARFest Progressive Rock Festival in Bethlehem, PA in June of 2008. I live near Chicago, and was considering driving out to Pennsylvania to see this can't-miss performance. Turns out I didn't have to. The group decided to book some more dates, and turn the NEARFest show into the first gig of a short 10th Anniversary reunion tour. Luckily for me, the third stop on this tour was the Park West in Chicago, IL.

When I arrived about 30 minutes before the doors opened, my heart sank - the line was already around the corner and halfway down the block. Would I be able to get a good spot once inside? No problem; despite the huge line I still ended up pretty close to the stage. Shortly after 7:30pm, "Flight of the Valkyries" starts playing over the PA as video screens slowly drop on either side of the stage. When the band finally walked out, the crowd went insane. Their opening song was "Acid Rain" - one of my favorites. Petrucci uses a seven string for this song, making it extra-heavy. Levin had the Chapman Stick, and was fascinating to watch right from the start. Rudess' rig consisted of a single keyboard - a Roland Fantom G8. It was mounted on a rotating platform of sorts, and he would often spin around to face a different direction. I actually thought he was a little buried in the mix from where I was standing, but I could still hear him. Petrucci's solo in this first tune was incredible. He's one of the few players who's alternate-picking speed rivals that of the late Shawn Lane, in my opinion. When the first song ended, the crowd again went bananas. The band also played "Kindred Spirits" - a strong riff-based tune, "Biaxident" - a piano-heavy piece that featured some great work on the keys by Rudess, and "Freedom of Speech" - a song that starts out quite low-key and melodic, before building into some uber-heavy James Bondesque riffs. Levin used a regular 5-string bass on a couple of these tunes. Petrucci and Rudess also played the duet "State of Grace" while Levin sat in front of his amp and snapped a few pictures.

Group improvisation is one of this band's strong points. Both of their albums include long improvised pieces, and the Liquid Trio Experiment songs were entirely improvised in the studio. The band's first foray into this area during the show were some long jams leading into "Another Dimension," the highlight of which was Levin's Stick playing. The amount of music he can create on that instrument is amazing.

On to the hitch I mentioned earlier. Maybe an hour into the show, after the band finished "Universal Mind," it was obvious something was wrong with Rudess' keyboard. He spent a couple of minutes trying to fix the problem, before finally saying something to Portnoy and leaving the stage. Portnoy, in his comical showman way, told the crowd one of the things this band loves to do is improvise, even when they don't plan on it such as when the keyboard rig goes down. He informed us that the rest of group were going to jam awhile until they got the thumbs-up from Rudess that the keyboard was good to go. Well guess what... that thumbs-up never came. The trio of Levin, Petrucci, and Portnoy spent the next hour improvising through a wide range of grooves and moods. Blues, heavy riffs, atmospheric stuff, crazy experimental stuff, you name it. I'd say if anyone was the leader here, it was Levin. Oftentimes it would be his riff or groove that would start the jam, then Portnoy and Petrucci would build on it and change it's direction. It was a fascinating thing to see. Group improv is something normally associated with jazz or fusion, or "jam-band" groups like Phish or Umphrey's McGee. To hear it done in a heavy prog -rock context by players of this caliber was remarkable. Levin used both the Stick and his bass during these jams; and even whipped out his famous miniature finger drumsticks (known as "funk fingers") a few times to attack the bass strings. Petrucci was very impressive during these jams. Yes, he did a ton of shredding, but he also displayed some great blues and jazzy chops during certain sections. He also had a keen sense of when to back down and throw in some clean chordal stuff. Occasionally, Portnoy would chat with the crowd to make sure we were all still on-board (everyone was). He mentioned at one point that he hoped someone was bootlegging this, since this could be their next album. Rudess came back out a few times to check some things on the keyboard, but it was no use. He was out of the picture completely, or so it seemed. There came a point where Portnoy said they could only play for another ten minutes. The show had already lasted about 2 hours by this time. So they launched into what would apparently be their final jam. Had the show ended that way, it would have been seen by all in attendance as an amazing gig, I'm sure. But a few minutes later, something happened that pushed the evening even further over the edge. Rudess walked out and went right up to  Petrucci while he was shredding his brains out. He said a few words to him then asked if he could play his guitar. Petrucci took off his guitar, handed it to Rudess, and watched as Rudess - who moments before was the fallen band member - became the hero who stole the show. Rudess stood right at the front of the stage and wailed. The crowd went cock-eyed stinking nuts. Everyone was screaming their heads off as a sea of cell phone cameras were thrust into the air to capture this rare moment. Levin then handed his bass to Petrucci and picked up his Stick. Now I'm watching Liquid Tension Experiment with Jordan Rudess on guitar, John Petrucci on bass, Tony Levin on Chapman Stick, and Mike Portnoy on drums. What a amazingly cool thing to see. After awhile, the instruments changed hands again with Portnoy taking over the bass while Charlie Benante from Anthrax (apparently there to take in the show) played drums, Petrucci played guitar once again, and Levin played the Stick.

When all this incredible music came to an end, more than 2 hours after it began, Portnoy said a few words to thank the crowd then handed the mic to Rudess who explained his keyboard situation. Apparently, the Roland had freaked out, and every fourth key was playing up about a half-step. He was unable to fix the problem, so he had called Roland in Japan while he was backstage, and they were stumped too! The audience cheered when he mentioned there was a high-profile meeting taking place in Japan at that very moment to figure out what was wrong with his keyboard. I'm sure Rudess was none-too-happy when his keyboard freaked out, and I certainly would have liked to hear him play more that night, but I have to call it like I see it - it was a blessing in disguise.

I was looking forward to hearing "Paradigm Shift" (a popular LTE song which I'm sure they would have played), and the prog version of "Rhapsody in Blue" they had arranged for this tour. Was I disappointed that I didn't get to hear those songs? Not at all. What I got to see and hear instead was so cool, the stuff they weren't able to get to didn't matter. This unforgettable gig turned out to be a very special treat for those lucky enough to attend. I've read that the show they played two days later in Downey, California was filmed for a possible DVD release. If and when that DVD comes out, it will be at the top of my most-wanted list. 

View my photo album of pics from this show.

Check out the official websites of Tony Levin and Jordan Rudess for some great pics and road diaries from this reunion tour.

Rich

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Review: Gustavo Assis-Brasil - Hybrid Picking Exercises - Single Note Permutations (Book)

In 2005, jazz guitarist Gustavo Assis-Brasil released Hybrid Picking For Guitar (review) - a fantastic instructional book covering the technique and implementation of hybrid-picking. Now Assis-Brasil has released a new book entitled Hybrid Picking Exercises - Single Note Permutations. As Assis-Brasil notes in the foreword, if you already own Hybrid Picking For Guitar, this new book can be viewed as supplemental material, though it certainly stands on it's own as well. Whereas Hybrid Picking For Guitar was loaded with eighth note and triplet lines designed to help develop your hybrid-picking technique, Hybrid Picking Exercises - Single Note Permutations, as the title suggests, is strictly an exercise book. It's practice patterns are based on simple 4-note finger shapes, as opposed to actual lines. Assis-Brasil did include some pure hybrid-picking exercises in the previous book, but he takes the idea a giant step further here.

The book is broken down into two sections; Short Exercises and Extended Exercises. The Short Exercises section contains 32 separate exercise patterns for each possible permutation of the 4 fret hand fingers (1-2-3-4, 2-1-3-4, etc). Each exercise spans two to four strings (often skipping a string or two in the process), and includes a combination of picked notes, plucked notes, and hammer-ons or pull-offs. The Extended Exercises section takes those same patterns and moves them up, down, and across the fretboard. At 178 pages, it's a massive amount of practice material, entirely geared towards developing finger independence for both hands.

The whole idea of this book is to get your fingers moving in ways they have not moved before, and it does this quite well. As a guitarist I can tell you, when you make up your own practice patterns, there is a natural yet unconscious tendency to use fingerings and shapes that you already have a good grasp of. Breaking out of that routine can be tough. On one hand, extrapolating on patterns you already play well is a great idea; you'll get more mileage out of a given lick. However, unless you spend a certain amount of practice time on patterns that are outside your comfort zone - patterns that feel downright awkward when you first approach them - you'll be slow to develop good finger independence. For this reason, I enjoy discovering patterns that are totally different from what I normally play or practice. If new, awkward-feeling patterns are what you're looking for also, you'll find plenty of them in Single Note Permutations.

To me, the hybrid-picking style falls under the larger category of "Legato." Better finger independence is something any guitarist can benefit from, but it's an absolute must if you are an aspiring legato-style player. The legato approach (as exemplified by players such as Assis-Brasil, or Allan Holdsworth, or Brett Garsed) lends itself to more free-form sounding lines. Granted, they may not actually be free-form, but if you have the kind of finger independence that the great legato stylists have, you can make it seem that way by relying less on stacked, symmetrical patterns, and more on your own spur-of-the-moment inspiration. Having said that, playing some of the Single Note Permutations exercises with strict alternate picking yielded a great workout for me as well.

Some educators argue that all of your technique should be learned from practicing real music (transcribed lines, etc), and that generic finger exercises will do you a disservice. A valid point, certainly. However, there is still plenty of musical benefit to be had from Single Note Permutations, even though it's exercises are not based on real scales. I found that by taking these exercise patterns and plugging them into actual scale shapes, all sorts of cool lines can be generated. Plus, I'm sure I was able to get the lines down quicker this way (as opposed to starting with the line first), since the contours of the pattern I intended to use were already committed to my muscle-memory before I tackled the line.

Most guitarists have practiced the age-old four-note-per-string left hand permutations to develop finger independence at one point or another (1-2-3-4, 4-1-2-3, blah-blah-blah-blah, etc). By taking those same patterns, and spreading them across multiple strings with hybrid-picking, the exercises in Single Note Permutations will give you a much better workout than the standard four-note-per-string patterns can. Plus, how much musical benefit can you really extract from those old exercises? The permutations in this book easily translate into real lines, which makes it a source of both technical exercise, and musical inspiration.

Rich

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Upcoming Virgil Donati live dates

Here are some upcoming gigs of interest featuring drummer Virgil Donati. The gigs with CAB will feature some songs from their upcoming album Theatre de Marionettes. No word yet on a release date for this album, but I'm definitely looking forward to it.

CAB (featuring Tony MacAlpine - guitar, Bunny Brunel - bass, and Otmaro Ruis - keys)
June 29 - Anthology, San Diego
July 11&12 - Baked Potato, Los Angeles

Virgil Donati Band (featuring Alex Machacek - guitar, Rufus Philpot - bass, and Matt Rhode - keys)
July 5th- Baked Potato, Los Angeles

Virgil Donati & Brett Garsed
India July 25 - Aug 9 (to be confirmed)

Chris Poland practice studio interview

Chris Poland gives InnerViewWorld a tour of his practice studio. Also includes some great footage of Poland's band OHM tearing it up at The Baked Potato.

Jimmy Herring solo album to be released Oct 21st

A release date and title have been announced for guitarist Jimmy Herring's upcoming solo album. The album will be called Lifeboat, and is being released October 21st through Abstract Logix Records. Joining Herring on the album are Oteil Burbridge on bass, Jeff Sipe on Drums, and Kofi Burbridge on keyboards. Guests include Derek Trucks on guitar, Greg Osby on sax, Ike Stubblefield on organ, Bryan Lopes on sax, and Bobby Lee Rodgers on banjo.

Liquid Tension Experiment - Another Dimension 6/23/08

I'll be seeing Liquid Tension Experiment (John Petrucci - guitar, Mike Portnoy - drums, Jordan Rudess - keys, Tony Levin - Chapman Stick) tonight when their 10 year reunion tour comes through Chicago. A few videos from their first couple of reunion shows have popped up on the interwebs. This one is "Another Dimension" from their 6/23/08 show at B.B. King's Blues Club & Grill in New York. I wish the audio was better, but it's a cool vid nonetheless. Check out Levin playing the Stick... awesome stuff. I don't even know if he's playing any regular bass on this tour. Guess I'll find out tonight. Also, Levin and Rudess have started tour diaries on their sites. Check them out.

Greg Howe video interview

Guitarist-TV has just released this new video interview with Greg Howe. Howe's new album Sound Proof was officially released today.

Listen to Greg Howe's June 20th WCSB radio interview

Here is the audio from Greg Howe's June 20th radio interview with Randy Allar on the WCSB Jazz/Fusion Show.

New OHM album to be released Aug 26th

NEWSFLASH: A release date has been announced for the upcoming OHM album Circus of Sound. The album will be released through Tone Center Records on August 26th. Can't wait to get my hands on this one.