Posted September 15, 2009 at 9:15 pm | One comment
As I walked out of the festival grounds the thought struck me that I’d just seen something special. I missed Muddy Waters and Stevie Ray Vaughn, the two blues musicians I would most like to have seen live, but I had now seen Kenny Wayne Shepherd in his prime. And it was a show I would remember.
I’d heard Kenny in 1996 at San Francisco’s Fillmore Auditorium when he was 19 years old and remember thinking he was pretty good for a kid. But, this time he had matured as a guitar player and showman and I found him mesmerizing. Part of it was his appearance – in command of the stage and somewhat surly. Yet when he talked to the crowd he sounded polite and appreciative. With a white scarf wrapped around his neck he reminded me of a 1970’s guitar god. Kenny played four different Stratocasters, swapping them out every few songs. Maybe because he’s so partial to Strats, Fender named an Artist Series signature model after him!
Posted in: Blues, Concert Reviews, Reviews
Posted August 25, 2009 at 5:25 pm | No comments
Pat Martino Unstrung documents the physical and psychological struggles faced by the legendary jazz guitarist before and after undergoing brain surgery in 1980 that resulted in the removal of more than half of his left temporal lobe. The film focuses mainly on the neurological aspects of Martino’s condition, both before and after surgery, with added snippets of music and concert footage spread throughout the documentary.
Posted in: DVD Reviews, Jazz, Jazz Reviews, Reviews
Posted August 20, 2009 at 7:06 am | No comments
When I first became interested in solo jazz guitar in the early ’80s there was one name that stood out above the rest: Joe Pass. Joe had recorded more solo jazz guitar albums than anyone and with his special talent he kept the music inventive and engaging. With Norman Granz promoting him and issuing his Virtuoso series on Pablo records beginning in 1973, Pass raised the bar for all jazz guitarists that followed.
Posted in: Jazz, Jazz Reviews, Reviews
Posted July 20, 2009 at 5:14 pm | No comments
The pentatonic scale is often the first scale guitarists learn when they begin to explore the realms of blues, rock and jazz improvisation. Though most guitarists learn the basic fingerings of this oft-used scale, maybe in different keys and positions across the neck, few players delve deep into the scale’s vast harmonic and melodic possibilities. Whereas rock and blues players such as Stevie Ray Vaughn, Jimmy Hendrix and Jimmy Page made careers by using common application of the pentatonic, and its closely related cousin the blues scale, during their improvised solos and riffs, jazz musicians such as Pat Metheny, John Scofield and Mike Stern have applied their knowledge of modern harmony to the pentatonic scale, greatly expanding the array of sounds and tonal colors that this scale can produce. In his book Jazz Guitar Soloing Concepts: A Pentatonic Modal Approach to Improvisation, Dr. Ronald S. Lemos dives into the modern world of the pentatonic scale and presents an exhaustive volume detailing the many harmonic and melodic variations this commonly used scale can produce.
Posted in: Instructional Book Reviews, Jazz, Reviews
Posted December 23, 2008 at 8:05 pm | No comments
I was going to write the next series about a non-guitar related art piece but I changed my mind. About a year ago I was commissioned to build a guitar for a client. When I first accepted the order I wasn’t going to be starting it for awhile so we left the details hanging. As the start date got closer, the client asked about making it an art piece. For me this is the best of all worlds, mix my two great passions, guitars and visual art!
Posted in: Gear Reviews, Guitars and Gear, Reviews
Posted August 23, 2008 at 8:38 pm | No comments
It seems like I’m always starting these columns off by apologizing for it being so long since my last installment, so I figure why change now! Sorry, it’s been so freakin’ long! Okay, now I feel better. I actually finished Number One back in January of this year. Since then I’ve been working my old-man-tail off building the rest of the first batch of P-1s, which I just finished shipping in July. Then I went full bore filling guitar stand orders and a couple of other art commissions that have been outstanding for the past year-ish. WHEW! It’s been a hell of a couple of years!
Posted in: Gear Reviews, Guitars and Gear, Reviews
Posted January 2, 2008 at 8:35 pm | No comments
My apologies for so much time passing since my last installment, but I felt I really needed to concentrate on getting these first guitars done. I am way past my initial time estimates for all of my clients and I’m feeling extremely guilty about it. I’d really like to start out by thanking all of them for their kind support and patience this first year of my new guitar venture. Thanks guys!
Posted in: Gear Reviews, Guitars and Gear, Reviews
Posted September 10, 2007 at 8:30 pm | No comments
A lot has happened since the last time I wrote. The biggest bummer was while I was carving the back shape into the neck for 001 an 1¼” long by 3/16” wide black/green stain on the visible side of 001’s neck appeared… ain’t that a bitch! After all the time, energy and dollars committed to the beautiful neck of 001 this stain shows up… neck lost!
Posted in: Gear Reviews, Guitars and Gear, Reviews
Posted June 3, 2007 at 8:28 pm | No comments
This time I’ll show you some of the work involved with the building of Number One’s neck. A lot of folks think it’s pretty much as easy as sticking some frets into a piece of Maple… well it’s not quite that simple… at least on the P-1. I’ll be breaking the neck building into at least 2-3 different Functional Art articles, because there is just so much to cover. In fact, there are tons more steps than what I’m outlining here, but if I keep taking the time to document this build, instead of building it, I think I’m going to be upsetting my very patient client, Mr. Eddie James.
Posted in: Gear Reviews, Guitars and Gear, Reviews
Posted April 23, 2007 at 8:24 pm | No comments
As I mentioned in this column last year, I decided to build some guitars again. After many years away from the guitar business, I got the “jones” again, and designed my newest guitar, The P-1. Over the next several months I thought that I would take you through the journey of building serial number 001, which was ordered by Mr. Eddie James (thanks Eddie!).
Posted in: Gear Reviews, Guitars and Gear, Reviews
