Posted January 30, 2010 at 6:36 pm | No comments
For his latest release with Telarc Records, bluesman Otis Taylor has enlisted an all-star cast of jazz musicians. Pentatonic Wars and Love Songs features Taylor on vocals, acoustic guitar, and banjo, Jason Moran on piano, Ron Miles on cornet, Tarus Mateen on bass, and Nasheet Waits on drums. Aside from this core of musicians, Taylor has incorporated a slew of various instruments not commonly associated with blues music including African drums, violin, and cello. Otis’s daughter Cassie Taylor also provides vocals and bass on multiple tracks.
Posted in: Blues, Blues Reviews, Reviews
Posted January 24, 2010 at 12:29 pm | 2 comments
Allan Holdsworth has long been known as one of the most exciting and technically facile jazz-fusion guitarists in the world.
Posted in: Guitar Lessons, Jazz, jazz guitar lessons
Posted January 20, 2010 at 12:24 pm | No comments
Croatian guitarist Ivan Mihaljević officially hits the international guitar scene with the release of his CD Sandcastle. Joined by band mates Majkl Jagunic (bass) and Craig Devine (drums), Sandcastle is a solid collection of guitar rock that will send many guitarists back to the woodshed to reprioritize their practicing.
Posted in: Instrumental Reviews, Metal, Metal Reviews, Reviews
Posted January 19, 2010 at 6:54 am | No comments
In this instalment I’ll present the five shapes required for the most extreme uses of the pentatonic scale. The lesson will provide you with the techniques you need to create long, flowing pentatonic lines in a fluid, legato fashion.
Posted in: Guitar Lessons, Metal, shred guitar lessons
Posted January 13, 2010 at 1:21 pm | No comments
This article is intended to be an extension of the ideas we looked at in the two-hand tapping article (see link below), but also to help you use the techniques you already know in a more creative manner. Bidexteral tapping is a term I credit to Derryl Gabel for creating. It’s a technique, which as the name suggests, involves using fingers on both hands to execute fluid tapping ideas. You can find tapping of this nature a lot in the work of Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal, and in the chorus to “Sevens” by Guthrie Govan, to name a few examples.
Posted in: Guitar Lessons, Metal, shred guitar lessons
Posted January 13, 2010 at 11:38 am | 3 comments
Australian guitar aficianado, Tommy Emmanuel, must be one of the hardest working and most likable musicians on the planet. His touring schedule of over 300 concerts a year, strikes awe in many of his fellow musicians and his infectious personality brightens up even the most dismal of days.
Posted in: Fingerstyle, Fingerstyle Interviews, Instrumental Interviews, Interviews
Posted January 12, 2010 at 5:56 pm | No comments
Cheat the Gallows is the fourth release by rock band Bigelf since their debut in 1991, though it’s their first on Linda Perry’s Custard Records. Cheat the Gallows is the answer to those music lover’s that are looking for something fresh and original, trying to escape much of modern music’s mundane monotony. How’s that for literal alliteration?
Posted in: Prog Rock, Reviews
Posted January 11, 2010 at 7:58 pm | 3 comments
Hello, and welcome to the first in a series of lessons I’ll be writing for Guitar International Magazine. It is a real pleasure to write for the site, and I hope you will enjoy reading and spreading the word as much as I will enjoy sharing some of the concepts I have learned or come up with over the years.
Posted in: Guitar Lessons, shred guitar lessons
Posted January 11, 2010 at 1:00 pm | No comments
There are so many good things about the self-titled debut record from the band OHMphrey. First, just thinking about the incredible quality of musicianship that could come from taking three members from Chicago’s jam-band Umphrey’s McGee and two members from Chris Poland’s OHM and blending them into a musical compound is overwhelming and almost unbearable. All too often when members from various bands decide to get together to collaborate on a side project, regardless and sometimes adversely measurable by the individuals’ virtuosity, the outcome is mediocre at best. To remain politically correct, no examples of this will be given, however, one wouldn’t have to think too hard or even perhaps search their CD or MP3 stock to find several releases that fit into this category. This is absolutely not the case with OHMphrey.
Posted in: Instrumental Reviews, Jam Band, Prog Rock Reviews, Reviews
Posted January 5, 2010 at 11:36 am | No comments
My Very Life is a collection of original compositions by Brazilian native Paulinho Garcia which reflect the wide-range of musical styles found in Brazil.
Posted in: Jazz, Jazz Reviews, Reviews
