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Is the Guitar Solo dead

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Is the guitar solo really dead? Good question.

Once a intricate portion of any rock song, it seems to have skipped a musical generation of today’s Top 40 scene. To some listeners, if you play one you are dating yourself. The bands today, if you can call some of them that, seem to think that they take up too much precious air time. What the hell are they thinking/smoking?

Depending on your musical upbringing, you might now be praying for a musical messiah! Remember when Disco was at the height of musical fashion and you were of the Rock & Roll ilk? Everyone wanted to dig disco an early grave. Maybe we should entertain this train of thought for some todays bands?

Today’s musical style seems to be influenced by the alternative and the grunge scene of the 90’s. They seemed to have got the ball rolling on the decline of the guitar solo. They concentrated more on the means and lyrics of their songs. Let’s not even venture off into the dance or hip hop scene for the time being!

As for the general listening public of today, the intricate aspects of this lost art is well … lost! Should we also blame the bands themselves? Do they think it’s too hard to come up with new ideas to share with us OR is it the music industry stunting it’s grow? Why isn’t anyone out there using this tried and tested rock and roll tool? Ok, just maybe the hair bands of the 80’s went way over the top (or just plain showing off!) on this one, but lets try and rethink this one a bit shall we?

I think that the guitar solo’s of the 90’s and even todays’ bands, are not as singable as the fore fathers of the guitar solo intended them (knowingly or not) to be. Everyone in the world can hum along to the guitar solo in Hotel California, Stairway to Heaven and that ilk. So why can’t they do this now?

The public now seems more fixated on that little plastic guitar thingy called Guitar Hero. I honestly thought at first, this was a good thing, but the jury is still out on that one. They have these blistering solo’s in their play list from past guitar greats such as Van Halen or Jimi Hendrix on this toy. I for one am waiting for the next wave of guitar greats to be added to the collection! What’s your take on this one?

LONG LIVE THE GUITAR SOLO!!!

For the love of God, Keep on Jammin’




Cindy Blackman a modern women drummer

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Cindy Blackman is truly a modern day women drummer who should be admired for the many styles she plays.

Best known as the drummer for arena rocker Lenny Kravitz for 11 years, she seems to float effortlessly from one genre to another. Don’t let this fact make you think that he stifled her creative side for all those years!

She is originally from Ohio and possesses some rock solid jazz chops! Her imaginative drumming technique’s and writing ability are the reason why her album Music for the New Millennium is so well received by many lovers of music.

cindyblackman1.jpg While playing with some of the best in R & R (Mick Jagger, James Brown, Iggy Pop and Prince just to name a few) she sure seems to love it! I know would, wouldn’t you? Being a women and excelling very nicely on an instrument that traditionally is reserved for men, she holds her own!

Cindy Blackman has quite a few heavy hitters that she uses for guidance. Art Blakey (nice chops on that guy), Elvin Jones and everyone’s favorite John Bonham! with inspiration from these guys, it’s no wonder she solo’s like no other women we know.

She’s a lover of horns and singers. Her love of Charlie “Bird” Parker and Miles Davis is apparent on her new album. She has a liking for Dizzy Gillespie, John Coltrane (man that guy had a God given talent) and Wayne Shorter.

cindyblackman2.jpgThe singers she likes is Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald with a sprinkling of Johnny Hartman for good measure. The best in delivery is Billie holiday hands down! I couldn’t agree with her any more. Billie holiday was big part of her musical education and mine too!

As you know I’m a huge lover of John Mayer on guitar, but Billie Holiday is the women who just can’t be beat for emotion. Her phrasing is just like getting hit by a bus, and you wanna know what, I honestly got hit by one as a kid and boy can that change your outlook on life a bit. I picked up a cheap Billie Holiday CD somewhere and it all started to snowball from there. Besides, if I had 2 acts to see live (that I never got the chance to) Max Webster is 1st and she is 2nd!

So if you are in your favorite record store go and treat yourself to her new album! Heaven knows, I just might be onto something here folks!

Keep on Jammin’

Jeff Healey rest in peace

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I found this out this morning while making Midnights breakfast (she’s our new beautiful Labrador Retriever).

Wow, taking about being blown away! I think that I will always remember where I was and what I was doing when I found out of this great musical lose! I can still remember when I found out that Stevie Ray Vaughan had passed. I actually called my wife right after finding out.

Rock and jazz musician Jeff Healey died Sunday in a Toronto hospital after a battle with cancer, his publicist said. He was 41.

Healey lost his sight at age one as a result of Retinoblastoma, a rare form of retinal cancer.

Retinoblastoma, is a cancer that hits children younger than 5 years of age.

Healey had the great honour of playing with George Harrison doing one of Harrison’s songs called As my guitar gently weeps. He also played with other guitar gods such as B.B. King and Stevie Ray Vaughan. It was Stevie ray who actually brought Jeff into the greater world musical spotlight. Being in the 1988 movie called “Road House” didn’t hurt either!

I was in his club called Healey’s in Toronto and saw Saga’s second last show in Canada, the last one was in my home town of Brantford, with the lead singer Michael Sadler. Nice place to see a show, go check it out.

My wife and I are God parents to my cousin’s son and he is blind. This happened as a result of contracting a disease called Toxoplasmosis. He is a very outgoing little fire cracker and has a love for all genres of music. He has developed a great singing/rapping voice and has actually recorded some tunes at a local recording company.

My cousin and his son went to a event for the blind that Jeff Healey was at around 3 years ago. His dad thought that it would be a blast for his son to meet him, so they both went up to talk to him. When they met, our godson went silent, if you actually know this little guy, you would think that I was making all this all up because he’s never Silent! He knew who Jeff was and what he accomplished so maybe that is why he was nervous about meeting him.

So let’s keep Jeff and his family in our prayers.

Jeff Healey
1966 – 2008

Best Selling Album of all time turns 25

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It’s hard to believe, but Michael Jacksons Thriller album is now 25 years old. To celebrate the albums milestone a special 25th anniversary edition of the album hit stores in February.

I realize that most people either love or hate this guy, but I happen to be caught in the middle. His way of making music does get your attention. It seems to be passing the test of time and we all know that that is the true yard stick to measure success. Hell, the man-child even got the great Eddie Van Halen to play on this album.

Van Halen’s guitar style, referred to as Shred, comes at you like the heat of the sun on a cold winter’s day on “Beat it”! If the album’s style passes the Eddie test then there has to be something great and innovative about Micheal’s formula, to successful writing!

If you want to hear more about the album and hear what the King of Pop himself has to say about it watch this video.

The rebirth of Rock and Roll Heaven

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If you lived in Toronto during the 80’s you would remember a great bar called Rock and Roll Heaven at Bloor and Young. Ohhh the memories of seeing bands and meeting people in this place! My old band Pylis even played there.

rrheaventicket.JPG

I can recall one night going there and watching Robin Trower playing with his band and met a very old friend who played in a fellow 80’s band in Brantford called Vigilants.

Robin Trower’s sound was the sound of Rocking Roll heaven during that time so check out this video to get a little taste of what it was like.

Recently Rocking Roll Heaven has had it’s rebirth in Toronto at it’s new location. I love the venue that they took over from and the outside patio is quite nice as well.

On their site they have a good schedule of who is playing and they also have a acoustic jam sessions on Sundays from 2-6 PM, I hope to do a few sets there some weekend soon!

I hope that they rekindle the feel of the old place and I wish them well.

Keep on Jammin’

Ball Media Productions

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This is a company that is owned and run by an old guitarist buddy that I use to play with way back in the day. His name is John Ball and what a success story his is.

John and I always played together but not in the same band. We hung around the same circle of friends and musicians and to make a long story short, we had different playing styles that never really over lapped. He gravitated to the harder speed metal sort of arrangements while I was under a more Progressive Rock, Jazz and to a lesser extent Pop genre.

My sister and John were closer in age and they both were in the same grade at St. John’s College. Boy did both of them get themselves into a little bit of trouble as kids during those years! Then again, I was no angel either.

His company is called Ball Media Productions and he had his humble beginnings in our home town of Brantford, Ontario. He at first started his empire with a recording studio in the basement of a well known Brantford music studio called Music and Sound. Over the years he has branched of into different area’s as he sees fit.

Now his company has a jaw dropping amount of specialized services that can now compete with the big guys!

Ball Media includes Printing/Bindery, Packaging, Branding/Indentity, CD / DVD Replication, Graphic Design and Web/Multimedia plus video area’s of expertise. Take a look for yourself and if you do need his services for anything no matter how small, just tell him “Stickman” sent you!

I wish him well with all of his company’s future endeavors but I know that he doesn’t need it!

Keep on Jammin’ Johnnie!

My new fingernail experiment

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Well good readership, I have been going on for a while about fingernails. Let’s make things clear, I’m talking about the ones on my right hand only!

I envy people with finger nails that they could use as screw drivers! I just wish that there was a product that really made a difference on mine. The only thing that I found on line is the Guitarist Guide to Fingernails.

At work in the surgical area, there is a new finding that acrylic finger nails trap germs on them and that we are told not to use them. Ahhhhhhhh, but I need mine to play at the level that I am accustomed to. So, I have decided to go a different root this time. I am forgoing placing the regular acrylic tips on and just placing the hardener right on to the nails themselves. This totally eliminates the tips that are causing the problem.

In order to pull this off, I had to let my nails grow a bit longer then I would have them praying just to have a larger surface to work with. You know just in case things went south very quickly.

I am now back from my secret manicurists hide out and we’ve successfully applied the above mentioned hardener right onto the nails on my right hand. To the axe cave I go! I then picked up the axe and started to put my experiment to the test!

At first, I tried a bit of Bruce Cockburn’s If I had a Rocket Launcher and it was not that bad. I then began to adjust the length and shape of the nail to my specifications with my handy dandy file.

Now it was time for tougher challenge, playing Blackbird at warp speed! They are holding their own so far. Finally, the acoustic version of Neon from John Mayer, perfect!

Now let’s hope that it will continue this way!

Keep on Jammin’

Saga, 30th Anniversary Tour

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I was made aware of the Saga concert on the morning of the show.

Tony, God bless that guy, called me on Saturday morning and asked if we were going to see them that night. I had told him that I knew nothing of the show and hung up to get some tickets on-line.

My wife was not feeling up to going to the show so I naturally decided to contact my keyboardist friend Rick to drag him along.

The tickets were $20.00 Can. the seating was in general admission. We were one the first one’s there so we decided to stand beside the stage. We waited for a long time until Tony,the old keyboardist from Pylis and his beautiful wife Laurie to meet us there.

Last time we saw Saga live was around 2 years ago at the Hard Rock Cafe in downtown Toronto. That night we stood on the right side of the stage were Ian Crichton the guitarist traditionally played. Tony wanted us to be on Ian’s side of the stage so I could be amazed by his wizardry. At this point I was recovering from a heart problem and I thought that it was really nice of my old buddy to be thinking in this way!

This time I thought we should be on the keyboardist Jim Gilmour’s side because of Tony’s nice gesture the last time we saw the boys in the band.

We were around 15 feet, yes 15 feet away from him and it was wonderful vantage point to see the band from. Tony couldn’t have been happier.

Here is the set that they played that night!

Trust
That’s as far as I’ll go
Wind him up
Your not alone
The one
The Perfectionist
Conversations
Scratching the surface He did this solo and it was dedicated to a married couple that he knew.
The Flyer
The Perfectionist
The Runaway
See them smile
Compromise
Careful where you step
Don’t be late

Don’t be late is my favorite Saga of all time! It really was the best song that I have ever played then and now!!!

Encore
Humble stance
On the Loose

The end of a Rocking Roll/Progressive Rock era ladies and gentlemen.

Keep on Rockin’ Saga!

Canada’s band plain and simple – no debate needed

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Well ya know, men have this saying about women and here it is for all to ponder! “Women may not always be right …….but their never wrong!”

This statement certainly rings true for the many music aficionados that contemplate “who is/was” the finest Canadian Rock & Roll music of our time. We are the ones who still hold the torch high from the glory days gone by. And we pledge an undying allegiance to the band that is/was “truly Canadian”.

These guys helped convey the thoughts and dreams of a youthful country desperately looking for it’s identity! They held and cherished us as a mother would her child. They are “MAX WEBSTER“!!! Or for the more refined followers, THE TORONTO TONTOS. Ah those little Rascals!

While going up as a young lad in Brantford, I had seen some of the best bands of my time! Pink Floyd, Yes, The Band, The Rolling Stones, the Who but the only band not to reach those lofty heights are Max Webster.

maxwebster.jpg I’ve talked to a number of Canadian music aficionados who ramble off the bands that they have seen in action and the Mighty Max is among them. Even most passing acquaintances have told me that they have witnessed Canada’s premier band as matter of fact!!! This I much admit REALLY PISSES ME OFF!!!

Why not me God! What the purgatory did I do to deserve this cruel and un-Canadian punishment!

Keep on Jammin’

Rick Wakeman’s band is terribly talented

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Oh my GOD!!! The show left me literally in a state of incomunicato.

Not just because of R. Jackson’s generous gift of buying a ticket for me (which I WILL remember for the rest of my life!), but due to the pure talent of Rick Wakeman and his band mates.

The tour is called Rick Wakeman’s Grumpy Old Picture Show.

The caped keyboard crusader was at his all time best!

When they started to play the first song I thought that these guys were just a rinkie dinkie band of whoever that he put together at the last minute. A funny thing happened later on though, they started to morph into this MEGA BAND right before my very eyes!

The band consisted of Rick Wakeman and the English Rock Ensemble.

I only wish that you all were there to enjoy it as much as we did. Thanx again R. Jackson for the memories!

Keep on Jammin’

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