Improvising in any context
Posted on Dec 28, 2009 in Featured, Improvising | Comments Off
The ability to improvise in any given situation be it musical, business, or personal is incredibly important. Learning how to work and improvise within a given framework is a key to being successful and applying the musical principles of improvisation have allowed me to be successful in my non-musical endeavors. The ability to improvise really means being able...
Read MoreGuitar and MIDI at Gryphon
Posted on Dec 28, 2009 in Featured, Thoughts | Comments Off
Musig Quarterly At our MuSIG meeting at Gryphon Stringed Instruments in Palo Alto, over 30 of us were treated to a fascinating and impressive presentation on guitar synthesizer controllers by Dimitri Vandellos and Warren Sirota. Versatile performing artist Mark Hanson, who teaches guitar at Gryphon, was our host and did a great job making sure that we had...
Read MoreThe Hairy Ape
Posted on Dec 7, 2009 in Thoughts | Comments Off
Many years ago I had the extreme fortune to work with one of Jazz music’s true legendary figures; Max Roach. Max was the composer for the live score to Eugene O’Neill’s ‘The Hairy Ape’. This production was done by the Berkeley Repertory Theater and was directed by George Ferencz. I’ve included a number of reviews from...
Read MoreMIDI Guitar
Posted on Dec 7, 2009 in Thoughts | Comments Off
Found an article published by the MUSIG Quarterly reviewing a guitar and MIDI demo I did with Warren Sirota at Gryphon Stringed Instruments in Palo Alto quite a while back. Guitar and MIDI at Gryphon The sad thing is that not a lot has changed regarding guitar controllers and the MIDI spec in general. When I get a chance I’ll review the latest controller...
Read MoreThe relevance of jazz
Posted on Dec 7, 2009 in Featured, Thoughts | Comments Off
Nice quote from Mr. Rollins. The Jazz Session » Sonny Rollins on the relevance of jazz. “I think that the relevance of jazz depends on what you think jazz is. For instance, if you think that jazz is a piano trio playing in a small nightclub — they’re good musicians, maybe have a girl singer — and you come in and there are people smoking and sitting at...
Read MoreAcoustic Freedom
Posted on Dec 7, 2009 in Thoughts | Comments Off
Just added a recent article that talks about the origins of the DGQ. Nice read. Acoustic Freedom I was honored to be mentioned as an innovator in the group.
Read MoreNew Music Page
Posted on Dec 7, 2009 in Thoughts | Comments Off
Added a few MP3 excerpts encoded several years ago. Still looking for a decent WordPress audio player. Solo Guitar Samples
Read MoreTo Start
Posted on Dec 7, 2009 in Improvising, Thoughts | Comments Off
I thought I’d post a few thoughts I had on improvisation a number of years ago as a start to my blog. The nature of improvisation 08/26/2003 I have often wondered why it’s so difficult for improvising musicians to convey in words what the act of improvisation is. As improvisers we may not know how to put into words what we are actually doing when...
Read MoreLA Times
Posted on Dec 7, 2009 in Reviews | Comments Off
Don Heckman Mandolinist David Grisman may finally have found the right group for the eccentric grab bag of styles he refers to as “Dawg” music. Appearing at the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano Thursday night, Grisman’s quartet managed to touch on ever thing from flamenco and bluegrass to jazz and jigs. And they did it style, flair, and...
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