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Sunday May 29, 2005 10:18 AM
Last weekend I completing recording music I wrote for the website promoting the screenplay "Modus Operandi". My brother James is the author of the screenplay. The platform for the recording was my Roland XP-60 synth/sequencer. I am pleased (but not totally satisfied) with the music I produced (the piece is a 2-minute 10-second loop on the website). Music can always be further refined to be more expressive and I already hear changes I'd make in the "M.O." piece. I would like to do a lot more soundtrack work. Since my song "Cal's Pals" has been used as a soundtrack in three separate projects, I think there's reason for me to be optimistic about this!
Thursday May 5, 2005 8:42 AM
So Brian and Justin have been in the band for two years now. And some of the tunes we four (John and I round out the quartet) play we've been playing for more than a year. During last night's gig at Cato's Ale House we found some new dimensions in those tunes. It was a lot of fun. We appreciate the support and enthusiasm shown last night by the Cato's staff and the crowd.
Thursday April 7, 2005 9:01 AM
Cato's Ale House in Oakland advertises a good time and they provide one. We all (Michael Pinkham guesting on drums, Justin, John, and I) enjoyed playing to the packed House last night. Thanks from us to the Cato's staff for their hospitality, to the crowd for the warm welcome, and to friends Dave and Christin who were on hand to lend support.
Monday April 4, 2005 12:21 PM
Thanks to Jojo at Borders Santana Row for her assistance yesterday in getting us set up to play. Thanks to family and friends who came out to hear us, and for the audience's encouragement.
Sunday March 20, 2005 10:33 PM
Tonight's Park Chalet gig (from 5 to 8) brought out my friends Ned and Laura and some of their friends too. Great to see everyone. I also enjoyed talking with the drummer from Chicago who decided to come into and check out the Chalet when he saw Brian loading in his cymbals before we played. The band played from our customary setlist of the past year except we're starting to add new tunes regularly. Tonight we played a "rehearsed" version of Herbie Hancock's "Maiden Voyage" for the first time. We'll be back at Park Chalet on April 10th, looking forward to it. We'll probably play outside if the weather's warm enough.
Tuesday January 18, 2005 4:00 PM
At our gig two nights ago (a trio gig with Aaron Germain on bass, John, myself) at The Chieftain; here in the city we played some Jobim, one original, some Miles, and a good selection of our current setlist. The people gave us a warm response, we enjoyed the set very much. Tasty Guinness after playing too.
Thursday May 5, 2005 8:48 AM
Currently in a month-long break from school and nearly complete in my work for the 3rd annual Oakland Day of Percussion I'm gearing up to compose and move with the band in some new directions. Very exciting. The results should be audible in public this summer.
Tuesday January 18, 2005 4:07 PM
I'm working on music for the Echo Beach album. I'll be writing at least one ballad and two "non-ballads" yet to be defined.
Last Monday (the 10th, Max Roach's birthday) the band assembled at Deep Wave Studio in Ocean Beach to start rehearsing tunes for the album, that is, tunes we've never played in the past.
A pleasant surprise this week came from my brother who asked me to write a two-minute soundtrack loop for the website promoting his latest screenplay. The story is in the noir / horror / mystery vein and this will be a very enjoyable challenge. I have about six weeks to write and record the music before the website is ready for it so I'm going to start work on it this week.
Sunday February 20, 2005 9:22 AM
Sharon and I had a great time at John's birthday gathering at The Beach Chalet last night. I'm excited for John as he's headed to NYC this week to play guitar behind Bay Area singer Inka at the Bitter End (one of the great clubs in The Village) as part of the ongoing music series, Chick Singer Night. I only wish I'd taken my camera last night!
Thursday May 19, 2005 12:45 PM
Audacious in conception and wonderful in execution, that's my reaction on my first viewing of the White Stripes' "The Hardest Button To Button". And here is the earlier White Stripes classic video, "Fell In Love With A Girl"
Thursday May 12, 2005 8:43 PM
Here is a clip of drummer Chico Hamilton and band playing Paul Weller's "Bull-Rush", a great song. I like this arrangement a lot, almost as much as I like Weller's own.
Monday May 2, 2005 11:18 AM
Yahoo radio has the Scott Amendola Band's "Cry" album online which is a great listen.
Thursday April 21, 2005 5:10 PM
A fantastic segue is
The Cranberries' "Zombie" .... into ....
The Art of Noise's "Ode To A D.J. (Interlude 2 A Mark Gamble Mix)".
Thanks to my Launch station for that one.
Thursday March 10, 2005 6:03 PM
An iPod playlist I made earlier this week, played in my travels the last couple of days, turning out to be
one of my favorites - ever:
Tuesday March 1, 2005 3:39 PM
Launch Radio played Charles Mingus's "Fables of Faubus Part 1" from a live
show in Stuttgart. Kinda noisy recording, suitable to the piece, thoroughly enjoyable. Launch also plays
cuts from a 1973 live album "Caetano & Chico: Juntos E Ao Vivo" by Caetano Veloso and "Chico" -- raucous
audience(s), raucous fuzzed guitars intermittently, unexpected twists and turns in the music. Lots of fun.
17-feb-05 4:26 PM
Launch Radio on Yahoo! is a service I've come to appreciate in the past couple of
years. I've rated thousands of artists and songs (my category as a rater is "Fanatic". Ok, then!).
So mostly I get streamed songs and artists that I like or would be interested to hear as new music.
Today I enjoyed
...among other tracks. You can hear my Launch radio station at this URL
Tuesday June 7, 2005 11:23 PM
Below is a picture of the wonderful band Plainsong. This picture was shot in their early days as a group (in the early '70s) and I found the picture on the website of band member Andy Roberts. The band at this time included Iain Matthews, Bob Ronga and Dave Richards. In my opinion, Plainsong has consistently been home to some of the best music of Iain Matthews's career and in his case, in a career of exceptionally moving music, that is saying something special. Andy and Iain have found ways to continue the Plainsong magic going for 30 years. Are you a fan of Richard Thompson who hasn't experienced Plainsong? You must check out their music.
Friday, June 3, 2005 6:13 PM
Your Help is Needed -- The Pride of Oakland Drum and Bugle Corps currently does not own horns, and an opportunity has just come up to purchase used horns from another corps. Oakland youth and the Oakland community will be served by donations to the Horn Purchase Fund. You can make a major difference in a young person's life. If you wish to assist please contact me at my email address. Thank you very much.
Tuesday May 24, 2005 4:09 PM
Sunday May 22, 2005 12:11 PM
Brian Wilson witnesses the closest thing to a statue in Southern California honoring his musical skills, in Hawthorne on Friday May 20th. Photo from the LA Times.
Thursday 12-May-2005 7:28 PM
Here's a picture of some musical warriors I admire and enjoy: Cheap Trick and Les Paul
meet up at the CES show last January. The band and Les are all looking real good these days. I hope to catch
CT live again before too long. The three shows I've seen of theirs have all been fantastic. The first one
was at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in the Student Union in the '70s and I couldn't hear for a week after that one,
but it was worth it. Last show I saw was here in San Fran in the late '90s at The Warfield and people up near the front
threw drinks at the band which cheated the audience out of at least one encore. The band deserves respect for
what they do and what they've done. Oh, almost forgot the Bun E. Carlos drumset clinic at PASIC 2003. That was
a magnificent journey down "Drum Style Lane" from Dave Clark to Ringo to the Big Bands. Oh, yeah!!!
Monday May 2, 2005 11:20 AM
Micky Dolenz has a radio show (in New York). Let the boy rock and roll and you're gonna have good radio I predict. He's been on the air for four months so something's going well.
Thursday April 21, 2005 8:57 AM
Musicians in mid-flight: some great photos posted and up for votes at Jazzhouse.org
Thursday April 14, 2005 5:30 PM
Local (SF) musician Bryan Harrison puts a lot of thought, consideration and care into his website and blog. I just came across them today and I'm glad that I did.
April 13, 2005 11:27 AM
Here is an interview with Gail
Zappa about Frank Zappa, as conducted in 2002 by Pamela Des Barres (herself a witness to some of the interesting
history of the LA music scene to say the least).
End of an era for rock 'n' roll piano: Johnnie Johnson has passed away. One of Chuck Berry's bits of genius was putting Johnson's piano into his sound. One of Johnnie's bits of genius was recognizing Chuck's talent in the early '50s before Chuck made his name in music.
Wednesday March 16, 2005 4:41 PM
Check out the DVD Release by Rhino of the Ramones' End of the Century movie.
Monday March 14, 2005 6:48 PM
I've just experienced as music-packed a trio of days as anyone could wish for I think. On Saturday I was in Fresno to co-host the Central California Day of Percussion. Burning performances, a sold- out evening concert. So good to hear Ed Shaughnessy teach, and to hear him play with Fresno State's Jazz Band "A" was like time travel back to the Carson Tonight Show. So good to meet the percussionists and enthusiasts who attended Saturday. Then last night, Justin of Echo Beach joined Sharon and me in the audience for Roy Haynes's 80th Birthday Jam (it wasn't called a "jam" but it was that). Roy's jamming partners were Gary Burton, Christian McBride, Chick Corea, Nicholas Payton, and Joshua Redman. There was some outstanding music going on. I'd not had the pleasure of hearing Roy play live before and I hope I can catch him again soon. Then just this afternoon Echo Beach played a set at the SF Veterans Hospital on behalf of Bread and Roses. A warm welcome as we returned to our gig form together.
Friday February 25, 2005 3:22 PM
There's an excellent interview with Pat Metheny published in today's New York Times. It's a chance for him to comment on how he perceives the structure of music (regardless of genre) and reaffirms Pat's independence from the thought process of placing a label on music. Pat and the PMG have been receiving great reviews of their live shows in support of The Way Up CD. The San Jose Mercury News has a phone interview story with Pat in today's edition, in advance of PMG dates in the Bay Area next week. Unfortunately it contains some errors -- it calls Pat a Kansas City native (he was not born there), and dates "This Is Not America" in 1997 when that track with David Bowie was recorded more than a decade earlier. But the story has some illuminating anecdotes about the recording of The Way Up. Pat continues to raise the bar for himself and the PMG, an inspiring example of musical thought and execution.
Friday February 25, 2005 3:42 PM
Two weeks from tomorrow I'll be co-hosting the 14th Annual Central California Day of Percussion. We've got Ed Shaughnessy, the San Diego State University Percussion Ensemble, Mamady "Wadaba" Kourouma and Keio Ogawa, Rick Kvistad, the Fresno State University Jazz Band "A", We Got The Beat, and more. It's gonna be great as always. And on Saturday May 7th in Oakland we're cooking up the 3rd Annual Oakland Day of Percussion with Steve Smith (and band), The San Francisco Renegades Drum and Bugle Corps, Tabla Rasa with Jim Santi Owen, Eddie Marshall, Somei Yoshino Taiko Ensemble, the Sacramento State University Percussion Ensemble, and more. Oh, yeah! Bring on the percussion!
Last night at the San Francisco Ballet (performing "Giselle"), the timpani, triangle, bass drum and cymbals were playing key parts in the mix. I was lucky enough to be seated in the north end of the balcony, looking right at the percussion section (north end of the orchestra pit). "Giselle" by the way is a kind of a combination of "Oklahoma" and "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and would probably be enjoyed by fans of either style of dancing. Some wonderful dancing throughout.
Tuesday January 18, 2005 4:12 PM
In the Days of Percussion department (events which I produce and co-produce) we have booked Ed Shaughnessy for Fresno State on March 12.
Wednesday 13-Apr-2005 1:44 PM
Conductor James Levine provided an insightful
interview on today's Charlie Rose show on KQED TV. James Carville was on the same show. I wish my head of
hair resembled Levine's more than it resembles Carville's. As for intellect, I'd be delighted to have
the wattage of either man although Carville often torpedoes his intellect by having his mouth get a few
yards down the field ahead of his mind IMHO.
Tuesday March 1, 2005 3:42 PM
Comcast's On-Demand service has available a video of Paul Weller's tune
"Wishing On A Star". It's an unfortunate choice of material when Weller has so many stronger songs in his
catalog -- like virtually any studio or live recording from the "Heavy Soul" period. Just my opinion --
with this kind of exposure available to American TV audiences it's really a shame Weller doesn't have a video
available on Comcast that'll just blow people away. The Barenaked Ladies on the other hand are represented by "One Week"
on video on Comcast On Demand and could it get much better? I don't think so!
Sunday, February 13, 2005 7:44 PM
I'm not going to watch The Grammys tonight now that I've previewed the winners and some pictures
on the New York Times website. Congratulations to the Bay Area's Green Day for winning Rock Album
of the Year for American Idiot.
Here are some of the good pix I found at nytimes.com.
to the Echo Beach Band website .. echobeachband.com
