by Karan Andrea
By Karan Andrea on
7/18/2012 10:19 AM
I know that lots of folks watch American Idol, and on the surface, the premise is a good one. Certainly there is a mass of untapped, talented singers across the country – any single one of whom could be a star if only given the chance. It hearkens back to the early days of rock ‘n’ roll where stories of instant, overnight success came from simply having a 45 played on the local radio station. Additionally, in this present world of auto-tuned, wanna-be pop stars, at least the Idol contestants have to show they can identify and duplicate correct pitch. Praise be!
|
by Karan Andrea
By Karan Andrea on
7/18/2012 10:16 AM
Hey… love ya, mean it, baby, be here all week, and-a one-a, and-a two-a… Agh! And then you wake up in a cold sweat, shaking from the dream that puts your lead singer home with the flu, and you having to cover the gig sounding like Larry the Lounge Lizard. Where does this idea that voice lessons are going to turn you into a Larry come from? I haven’t the foggiest, but I do think that the perception of what a voice lesson is has a lot to do with it.
|
by
By Barry Cleveland on
7/17/2012 10:32 AM
Van der Graaf Generator returned to the Montreal Jazz Festival on
June 3, 2012, performing at the 1,458-seat Théâtre Maisonneuve to a
packed house. In the interest of efficiency, here’s preexisting
introduction to VdGG from my April 2006 GP Artist feature on the band’s guitarist, keyboardist, vocalist, and lyricist Peter Hammill:
|
by
By Barry Cleveland on
7/16/2012 5:35 PM
Touring the U.S. for the first time since 1992, the mighty Tangerine Dream’s Electric Mandarine Tour
came to the Mountain Winery in Saratoga last Saturday. Beginning at
7:30, with the early evening sunlight still streaming onto the outdoor
stage, the first set spanned the transition into darkness, with
increasingly sophisticated lighting effects being introduced along the
way.
|
by
By Barry Cleveland on
7/6/2012 3:37 PM
Day three of the Montreal Guitar Show was spent mostly in the large
"acoustic" hall again, though I did double-back into the electric hall, and a few side halls.
|
by
By Barry Cleveland on
7/3/2012 11:30 AM
Day two of the Montreal Guitar Show was spent mostly in the large "acoustic" hall, though many electric and semi-electric archtops and other guitars were on display there in addition to the incredible acoustic instruments.
|
by
By Barry Cleveland on
7/3/2012 10:34 AM
Miles Smiles is,
of course, a seminal Miles Davis album released in 1967 featuring
Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, Wayne Shorter, and Tony Williams. (Carter
and Shorter both played at the Montreal Jazz Festival this week, as did
the Williams-inspired Spectrum Road.)
The Miles Smiles that performed Monday evening, however, is a collective
of stellar jazz musicians that celebrate Davis, while re-imagining his
music. The lineup last night was guitarist Larry Coryell, saxophonist
Bill Evans, bassist Darryl Jones, B-3 organist Joey DeFrancesco, drummer
Omar Hakim, and trumpet player Wallace Roney. Most of these guys played
with Davis at some point in his long career, and Roney was the trumpet
maestro's only protégé.
|