Blogging » Guitars, blues, rock, jazz and the music biz
I’ve been playing the guitar for a long time. Started when I was about 16 or so, played for 15-20 years, even played weekly in a band, gigged out once or twice, jamming more for fun than gigging. Then put the guitar down for about 15 years until I turned the big 50, plunked down a little under $2K and bought a new electric, a PRS Custom 24.
Playing guitar again was revelatory for me. Pure unadulterated enjoyment. Not sure why I put the guitar down, but it will not happen again. Keeps me happy, young, sane.
Jake Hertzog
This time around, I eased back into playing, took a lesson, bought some stomp boxes. But rather soon, I determined I’d be serious about re-learning guitar. Now, for the past two years or so, I’ve been studying blues and rock weekly with an awesome guitarist and teacher, Jake Hertzog. And it’s sinking in, slowly, but surely.
Okay, the punch line of this post… After about 100 lessons, countless hours playing to music and along with jam tracks, my teacher and friends encouraged me to seek out a band.
As a devotee of social media, expert, consultant, yada yada yada, I found a site called BandMix and posted my profile. It’s a site for musicians to post profiles and seek out like-minded players for a band or whatever. I messaged one of the bands in my neighborhood, ‘seeking guitarist,’ and last week went to a rehearsal studio for a meet up and try out!
We jammed. Truly fun. Played Franklin’s Tower, Black Magic Woman, Whole Lotta Love, Black Dog, Leaving Trunk. And I was able to pick up the gist of each song. We met over classic blues rock, and we all got along well, both musically and socially… so OMG, I’m in a band!
Unless you have lived in a bubble, you’ve heard of Van Halen’s reunion. First it was the stealth reunion concert at small club Cafe Wha in New York City, which was the announcement that frontman, singer David Lee Roth was uniting with Eddie Van Halen once again. Then the single relase of Tattoo, and next the album, A Different Kind of Truth released this February 7th. Video clip.
Eddie Van Halen & David Lee Roth, Pictured in the 'old days' and at Cafe Wha NYC 2012
Much talked about, much anticipated, and now it is here with reviews and a #2 Billboard slot. A bit controversial, too, likely a good things for sales. Some love it, some hate it, some are in the middle. Heavy metal rock is not my bag, but EVH is a genius guitar player. Worth the price of admission on this release. What about the web and print press? Here’s a sampling of reviews.
Van Halen A Different Kind of Truth
This review is positive, calling it a “frequently thrilling return. These songs crackle, fizz and bulge with priapic exuberance.” I mean, c’mon, how often do writers get to use ‘priapic?” Guardian.co.uk
LATimes.com’s Pop & Hiss blog has an intriguing spin on the release, working to fit the music into one of three categories:
“Now the dilemma isn’t just, should you spend money on the CD ($14.99 list price) or a digital copy (also — frustratingly — $14.99). It’s also, how much are you willing to commit to buying in? Will a few dropped bucks on a handful of the best individual tracks suffice? Or will “A Different Kind of Truth” be the perfect Spotify streaming album, not good enough to pay hard money for but worth a mouse-click when you’ve got a spare few minutes? Or should you just ask your computery friend to Sendspace you a pirated copy?”
The writer goes on to fit A Different Kind of Truth as “a perfect rock record for the pick-and-choose era.” Damning with faint praise? Actually, he likes half the album, I guess — “half of the record rises to the level of the band’s glory days is a testament to the ingredients that made up Van Halen circa ’84, and ‘Truth‘ is a confirmation that this band wasn’t a fluke.” The L.A. Times Music Blog.
Shawn Hammond, editor-in-chief of Premier Guitar magazine, had a more critical slant on the release and the guitar player.
“Truth’s most memorable moments are dizzying technical displays during solos and breakdowns. These parts have a lot of verve—you can really tell Ed, bass-playing son Wolfgang, and Alex are stoked to finally be kicking out new jams—but even the admittedly raging solos and breakdowns are usually bookended by verses and choruses that feel like a cleverly crafted mélange of riffs from past albums and the aforementioned bootlegs and demos. (For example, the beginning of the “As Is” solo sounds exactly like the first tapping section of “Eruption,” and there are numerous examples of the same old ascending tremolo-picked licks we’ve heard a zillion times over). There’s also a fair amount of wah-pedal work that often sounds very Satriani-like. That’s no slam on Satch, but that’s not what I want my EVH to sound like.”
Hammond does praise some of EVH’s playing, as here: “The wild, spiraling rotary-speaker tones on “Bullethead” provide one of the album’s rare, death-defying thrill rides.” All in all the writer finds A Different Kind of Truth a mixed bag.
Regardless of the reviews, ya gotta love the #2 slot on Billboard, 187K sold in first week. Take this Twitter poll and let me know whether you thought A Different Kind of Truth is a Like or a Fail.
More on the PRS Experience event at Rudy’s Music in Soho, NYC. In addition to seeing the great band with Davy Knowles and David Grissom play two fine blues tunes, we were treated to a 15-minute guitar clinic on tone from great artist and session player David Grissom.
Grissom started by turning off his stompboxs. He was using a new PRS amp modded by master amp-maker Doug Sewell. (Doug was also at the event modding amps behind the counter.)
PRS amp maker Doug Sewell
Using his sweet signature PRS DGT guitar, he demonstrated how he had a great crunchy rhythm tone and a clear tone without turning on a pedal and using the volume knob only. Next he ran through using his two main efx boxes, an Xotic EP Booster and a Fulltone Plimsoul. Effectively, the booster gives him a warm and fat but not too heavy overdriven tone. Switching from the Xotic to the Plimsoul gives Grissom’s guitar the high-gain overdrive channel.
All in all, he demo’s what he called his four channels, two without pedals, then adding one pedal, and lastly switching booster pedals. Someone asked what it sounded like with all pedals on, and by using both booster and overdrive together, he got a deep, rocking tone for his extra fifth channel. Grissom had this to say, “Tone is in your hands… When I have tone like this, I can play what I hear.”
Last November, several months ago, I went to Rudy’s Music in Soho to check out the PRS Experience traveling show. They came to the store and took it over for the day. Paul Reed Smith, the designer who turbo charged the electric guitar with his boutique designs and luthier work in the ’70s, came with an entire team of PRS staffers and a demo band with two headliners, Davy Knowles and David Grissom. As well as acoustic maestro Tony McManus.
Tony McManus at Rudy's Music, NYC
David Grissom & Paul Reed Smith
I’m a fan of Davy’s music and thought it would be cool to meet him and the man, Paul Reed Smith, himself. Additionally, Rudy’s Music is a great store, love the staff and Rudy.
The group Paul brought was tight, they jammed on two songs allowing Davy Knowles and David Grissom and demo guitarist Mike Ault to open up on long solos. The bass player and drummer laid it down, and the three guitars made for nice comping and great soloing. So glad I happened to go to this event and that my iPhone could capture such nice sounding video while perched on my knee. I’ll post more on this event, as I have a great story to share about guitar modifications and PRS factory.
Pianist Michael Wolff and drummer Mike Clark put together a truly stellar lineup of musicians for the launch of their new band Wolff Clark Expedition at The Jazz Standard in NYC last night. Even though, full disclosure, I’m friends with the band, I have trouble not viewing last night as one of the best jazz shows I’ve seen or heard in years — a mix of kick-ass music, intricate jazz and funkified, rip-snorting jams.
Michael Wolff
Wolff, a veteran of Cannonball Adderly and Cal Tjader’s bands, showed his musicianship and emcee chops (from his days as musical director of The Arsenio Hall Show), directing the band and chatting with the audience, tossing off one-liners with aplomb. His playing sparkled with intensity and shimmered with soaring solos.
Mike Clark
Mike Clark, a jazzy post-bop stickman who also recorded with Herbie Hancock’s Headhunters, laid down a killer swing foundation for the band to coalesce around. His rapport with bassist James Genus, was rock steady yet delicately nuanced, feather touch, tighter than tight.
James Genus
Genus’s bass work on the upright is a sight to behold, eyes closed, mouth moving, he drives and pulses the music, weaving sudden changes in feel and time in lockstep with Clark’s drumming.
Lenny Pickett
The set started off with a ripping version of Cole Porter’s What Is This Thing Called Love, Wolff’s arrangement wove the unshakeable rhythm section with his exuberant piano work and the sinuous melodies of the two saxophonists, the great Lenny Pickett on tenor, and the excellent Steve Wilson on alto. Lenny soloed first, blowing the sonic roof off; Wilson’s fiery alto solo highlighted their contrasting yet complimentary styles, making it hard to believe they had never played together before.
The quintet format with dual sax work supplementing the trio works to make the music intricate but entirely accessible. The improvisation was spot on, Wolff’s solos percussively and tunefully shone, Pickett and Wilson soared and drove each other upwards, Clark spewed syncopated and silky stickwork, and Genus gave us grooving, intense, melodic, inside and outside soloing.
Steve Wilson
The club was crowded and buzzing, the audience digging each song, grokking each shift in style and tone. The Cole Porter tune, showing off killer solos; a funky, jazzy, soulful version of Come Together; a luscious original, Ballad Noir, starring a balletic, breathy, beautiful solo from Mr. Pickett; Harbour Island, a jazzer written by Wolff; and closed out with Loft Funk, an incredible mix of funk, jazz, and improvising penned by Mike Clark.
The set list showed the mettle and flair that the Wolff Clark Expedition are bringing to the jazz scene: standards blended with original songs and covers of contemporary classics, all in a high-energy, pulsating, groove-heavy style. The set delivered in spades: the audience left talking about it, and the staff at The Jazz Standard labeled the set one of the best shows they’d seen there.
Photos courtesy of David Sokol, copyright 2012.
My great friend, Michael Wolff, the jazz pianist not the biz exec, has formed a new band with the awesome drummer Mike Clark, oft-called the most sampled drummer in hip-hop and famous for his work in Herbie Hancock’s Headhunters. Michael W. is an alum of Cal Tjader, Cannonball Adderley, and was also the musical director for the Arsenio Hall Show. They are both seriously excellent musicians and good guys, too, IMHO. LOL.
I’m going to their show tomorrow night at The Jazz Standard in NYC ($20 show, purchase tickets here), should be a blast. This past week, I’ve been helping out Michael and Mike, building the band page on Facebook, using twitter and some other tools for research and outreach. Fun stuff. More to come on the subject of promoting bands via social media.
