This 2 CD set was recorded November 20 and 21, 2010, in Raleigh, NC. Headlining the festival was John McLaughlin, with his current band The 4th Dimension. He was joined on the program by the Jimmy Herring Band, Wayne Krantz, Lenny White’s Group, Ranjit Barot, Alex Machacek, and Human Element.
John Scofield is a fellow guitarist whose recordings I am always pleased to see hit my mailbox for review. His albums are always interesting and varied musically. There is no doubt that Scofield not only enjoys many genres, and he is more than capable of proving quality music in them as well.
I finally got to see Metallica play after the 18 years it has been since Metallica’s last show in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Rock The Hill, the all day festival, had rain for most of the day during the openers spots, but just before Metallica hit the stage the sky showed the colors of a great evening to come. The all-day event featured Prince Edward Island’s Death Valley Driver, Matt Mays, Protest The Hero, Seether and Coheed and Cambria. who all delivered great performances.
As I’ve already detailed, the festival grounds for Dave Matthews Band Caravan in Chicago left a lot to be desired, including not having to dig wood chips out of my shoes every two minutes. Other complaints were transportation, food and beverage prices (although that’s a constant for every festival ever), sound bleeding, and scheduling, but the lineup is most definitely not on that list.
As I’ve explained in the past, when it comes to gear, I’m very much of the “No Expenses Spared” camp. This is what we do; it’s our passion and our life – you wouldn’t see Monet working with Crayola or Gordan Ramsay serving up KFC in one of his dishes would you? I’m not going to waste your time telling you about every little piece of gear I get sent unless it’s something that REALLY catches my ears and I’m happy to use night after night.
Milwaukee’s Summerfest is huge. So big it has 11 stages. So gigantic it runs for 11 days. So gargantuan that it is (and Guinness World Records confirms) the world’s largest music festival. Not America’s largest, the entire world. To cover such an event is a challenge, especially considering GI photographer Faraz Chaudry and I could only make two of the eleven festival days, but in those two days we caught a hell of a lot of kick-ass music. While some acts, like the Wildbirds and Me Talk Pretty, disappointed, plenty of others picked up their slack and gave great performances.
Listening to a new Jazz artist can move me and reinforce my love of jazz, but some artists leave me a little cold, like a jazz love gone bad. When Dida Pelled’s CD arrived in the mail, I plopped it into my CD player and gave it a spin. The album has a charm to it that offers up some easy on the ears vocals tied to laid back phrasing and relaxed atmospherics.
This third installment in the multi-billion dollar Transformers franchise is definitely the charm. Leaving behind the convoluted storyline that derailed the series’ second film, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Director Michael Bay and Executive Producer Steven Spielberg are once again at the helm of this third film. Only now, they pull out all the stops with a mind-blowing, thrill-ride of a film.
Nothing like some down home on the bajou rock to keep things cooking on a hot swampy night at Northern Virginia’s open air venue, the Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts in Vienna where Creedence Clearwater Revisited played hit after hit of their former self, Creedence Clearwater Revival. The Revisited cast of performers includes two of the original CCR members, Doug “Cosmo” Clifford (drums) and bassist, Stuart Cook. So, you got the beat and the bass backbone from the ‘60s and ‘70s harnessed to Kurt Griffey on lead guitar, Steve Gunner stationed at his Korg Triton keyboard and the CCR lead vocals by John Tristao, who’s got the grit and the timbre to make the rafters shake.
There are few genres of jazz that are more imposing and intimidating to guitarists than Bebop. It is fast, full of intensity, requires a thorough knowledge of one’s instrument and a deep understanding of the vocabulary used by the great Bebopers, both past and present. While many Bebop learning methods tend to uphold the genre’s complicated reputation, there are others that do a great job of breaking down this amazing music. Making it easy to understand and learn for players of all experience levels, tastes and backgrounds.
