The Doppler Effect

The Doppler Effect - Ground Zero - 1995 - Firenze Duomo Records

This album is just simply excellent. The only thing that surpasses the truly amazing instrumental rock performances of Doppler on Guitar, Atma Anur on Drums and Jason Muscat on Bass is the compositions themselves.12 great tracks-my favorites are Self-Portrait, Radio, Illuminations, Yana's Song and Tempest. Doppler is able to articulate lines like Jeff Beck, yet his solos absolutely scream like Vai and Satriani. This album is just too cool. Atmar Anur is an extremely powerful drummer and he actually drives the entire album-he's got great timing and chops out the Wazoo.This is quite simply one of the best and most surprising instrumental rock albums I heard in the 90's. – from ***** The Doppler Effect is an Awesome Phenomena, October 15, 2005 By & © Chase Freedom "F.Grau" (Redwood City,CA USA) © 1996-2013, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates http://www.amazon.com/Ground-Zero-Doppler-Effect/product-reviews/B000001U0I/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1

Not to be confused with the US Rock & Roll band, the Doppler Affect, this is a rare instrumental shred guitar album from Doug Doppler and his band, The Doppler Effect released by Firenze Duomo Records in 1995. Doug Doppler is another great guitarist who is “flying under the radar” for a few years now. He should be known globally, but he has said “keep in mind that we all have gifts and callings. The greatest part of this is finding out who you are and what your giftings and callings are. No two of us are the same, but I do know that regardless of how well you do or don't play, I know that we all get about the same amount of pleasure from the instrument. Don't forget that it is about making music. The money and business only have a tendency to get in the way of that. So, to any of you out there who are home shredders, enjoy the control you have in your environment. The music business is about business not music, and when you get to create music for the sake of music, you are every bit as close to it as I am, so please don't forget to enjoy the gift that you have been given”. Obviously Doug is more concerned with playing and writing real music for the pure love of it, and not just for the dollars. Musicians like Doug Doppler deserve better. Read an in-depth interview with him @ http://www.guitar9.com/interview91.html and watch out for future releases [All tracks @ 320 Kbps: File size = 107 Mb]

TRACKS

1 Self Portrait 4:28
2 The Black M5 4:40
3 Ground Zero 3:52
4 Radio 3:36
5 Beast of Burden 3:58
6 Illuminations 3:28
7 Guitar Talk 4:19
8 Valley of the Moon 4:46
9 Object to be Destroyed 3:31
10 Yana's Song 3:46
11 Tempest 3:10
12 Trading Blazes 4:56

All tracks composed by Doug Doppler except Track 5 by Jagger & Richards

MUSICIANS

Doug Doppler - Guitar
Jason Muscat - Bass
Amir Zitro - Fretless Bass on "Yana's Song"
Marc Paley - Keyboards
Atma Anur – Drums

INTERVIEW WITH DOUG DOPPLER

Q. Doug, why was there a great silence after your beautiful solo CD, Ground Zero released in 1995?

A. That is a long time isn't it. First of all, I have always loved both instrumental and vocal music equally, and my attention has shifted from one to the other from time to time. I had the poor fortune of releasing Ground Zero (we ran the label out of my bedroom) at precisely the moment when Grunge was breaking. The record actually charted in the U.S. and stayed on the Gavin Rocks top 50 for six weeks consecutively. Had it not been for the timing we probably would have been picked up by a "Major" if for no other purpose than a tax write off. I got a P&D (press and distribution) in Japan and sold a couple thousand copies over there as well. The good news is that I had a lot of fun, and most importantly I learned one heck of a lot about the business by doing myself and with the help of my now ex-wife. In Einstone, we purposely made the decision to not solicit the "Majors" until 2001. Instead we began to craft what we feel is an intelligent course of action. What started out as our demo (with the full intention that we would have long since shopped it to the majors) has now become our first disc. We in turn have spent a lot of time fine tuning our live show in preparation for what we are about to do - a ton of shows. We will be playing in December a total of 7 times at a number of the San Francisco Bay Area's most respected venues. We are lucky in that Hayley, Atma and I are reasonably well known here for our various bands and projects, so we have been very lucky in terms of response from the talent buyers at the various venues. We also put together a somewhat flashy package that gets delivered to each club in a Priority Mail box. Having run a small label, I was always amazed at how poorly artists chose to present their work. I got one package I swear was wrapped in a brown paper bag with a stamp on it. Take yourself seriously and at least people won't snicker if you don't look like they do. Our whole strategy is to become successful on a regional level so in turn we can demonstrate to the major labels that we have what it takes and in turn their job will be to do what we have done but on a larger scale. The band is very commercial, image oriented, and most importantly very dance oriented. We have a lot to offer without a hint of selling out. We all love pop music and crafting a catchy hook laden groove. The key for us is that everything has to be in an odd meter, but feel completely round. Since we recorded "Space Lounge" we decided to take the dance element of our repertoire and really focus on how we can build our set into an odd-metered dance fest by grooving the backbeat extra hard. We have added a lot of dance sections similar to an extended dance mix to provide our audiences a thorough opportunity to get their dance yayas out.

Q. Tell me about your project... a new band called Einstone , possibly a band for the new millennium?

A. We are lucky in that we have fallen into something quite original - a blessing or the kiss of death depending on how you see it. The idea of having an odd-metered dance band let alone pop band is something that most musicians would not entertain until they heard it. Hayley has a fantastic voice and is blessed with a completely intuitive ability to both write and sing in odd meters. The fashion model looks don't hurt either, but she wouldn't be in the band if she couldn't turn it on both in the studio and on stage. Atma is best known for his work with Shrapnel artists like Richie Kotzen and Tony MacAlpine. What many people don't know is that he is an exceptional writer and has both a great singing and Dance Hall style scat voice. His arrangement skills are off the hook and when it comes to the fat backbeat groove he is the king, especially in odd-meters. Our next disc will be more demonstrative of our latest departure from where we have come as a band. Less playing more grooving, but still enough guitar (both distorted and lead) to make a guitar nut happy. Most of the tones I use are distorted neck position sounds that I clean up by backing off on the volume control. I am using Line6 amps (I have two heads and one combo for smaller venues) and love the ability to jump from the fat Rectifier tone to a really rich clean chorus sound which is becoming a bigger part of our sound for some of the Reggae/Ska influenced breakdowns in some of the songs. We just reworked "If We Share Our Hearts" and I am going to be using a lot of the clean sound on that. There are hints of Calypso in another song that we just finished called "Another Pyramid" that mainly switches back between 7 and 6 and "oddly" enough is super danceable. The breakdown section goes to the aforementioned clean tone. There have been way too many bands who have beaten the Ska groove into the ground, so it is understand that in the band you will NEVER hear me doing the traditional upbeat rhythm pattern. Instead I create a harmonic bed on top of which Atma often goes into his Dance Hall rap.

Q. In my opinion, your career is very amazing! You are a former student of Joe Satriani (and have a strange story in that respect?), a masterpiece solo album printed in 1995, designer of DiMarzio's website and your photo appears in the Ibanez catalog... your name is synonymous of a legend!

A. Seems like you did a little background research. To that I get to add I have been surrounded by a sea of successful musicians, and for whatever reason real commercial success has eluded me to this point, although I am not the least bit bitter. I feel we have a vision and our goal is to share that with the world. We feel that the "Euros" as I affectionately call my European friends will particularly like the band because of our diversity. They love Shaggy and Dance Pop music and we bring a bit of both to the table but with a lot of guitar in the mix! We are grateful for bands like Korn who have blended rock and rap allowing the kids here in the States to broaden their ears. Korn really broke new ground that I think will be very helpful for bands like Einstone in terms of diversity in approach. Per the whole career thing, in many ways I am grateful not to have been too well known for big hair, pointy boots, and too many notes. There are a lot of guys who will never live that down and as an end result will have a heck of a time with their careers. Our whole strategy in this band is do the work, get the result. We live it and I in turn teach it to my students. In regard to "Satch", when I came back from GIT in L.A. Joe asked me to teach at the studio I still occupy in Berkeley while he went out on the road with (yes really) the Greg Kihn Band. When he came back we alternated teaching days and then when "Surfing" hit he split and I stayed. One of the highlights of our relationship was playing with him at the Bill Graham Memorial in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park in front of 250,000 people. Other bands that day included the first reunion of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young; Journey; Tracy Chapman and numerous others. My ex snapped a photo which I keep by my bed. It is good to keep both the path of the past and the present in mind as you move through life. It will provide balance as you chart your course.

Q. What do you think about the lastest guitar trend...incorporating techno with guitar?

A. Satriani is one of the first in this genre and now you are another guitarist with these same ideas... We actually haven't gotten to that phase yet, but I predict that at perhaps a second major label release (if we are so lucky) we will go there. We aren't in that space - yet. I have had some ideas bouncing around my head for about a year since my last trip to Paris and Brussels. I always have music come to me when I am traveling and I can still hum the piece that came to me by the train station in Brussels that my some day be the intro for our live show. No synths, but that huge crashing dance vibe, of course all in odd-meters. We have a song "Every Time" that is more of a disco vibe that will most likely make it to our next self-produced disc that will give a hint of the breadth we have in approaching dance and pop music. We never want to be labeled as this or that. In fact the band changes so much from month to month as we discover more about who we are and where we are going we have decided to use this time to release a self-produced disc every 3 months or so. In this fashion we can chart our growth and give local press something else to write about. I love to redefine myself and the band is deeply committed to exploring and discovering who we are going to be, not just how we are going to be successful.

Q. Since your sound is great, will it be possible to see Einstone on MTV in the near future?

A. We are working very hard (7 shows this month) to fine tune our act so that when the right opportunity avails to showcase for the major labels, we will be ready according to our standards. Rushing is bad, working towards a goal with a rapid pace is a completely different thing so long as when you get to the door you have enough gusto left to either knock it down or a least give it a good kick to say hello. Getting to the door is the easy part, being ready to pass through it is the key. We know we are on to something and we know the band has a certain image that is modern. We believe that when the time is right we will know it and then we will be ready to realize what really lies ahead. In the mean time we have a concise plan in process for the local model of a national/international success. If we can't do it here, then most likely a major could not pull it off either. So we will do the work and presumably get the result, whatever that may be. We are very fortunate to be here in the San Francisco Bay Area. There are a couple of "mini-scenes" all of which we are part of in some way, often for very different reasons. There is a small suburb called Concord where there is a really budding hard rock scene with bands like 3rd Rail; The Blue; Doomfinger; and Sytematic (Lars of Metallica signed them to his label). I have a connection in that scene as a teacher so people are eager to check out my band. In San Francisco, there is a "South of Market St" scene which we are a part of simply because at one point or another Atma has played with all of the best musicians. The upscale .com crowd here in S.F. goes to see Hayley's cover band Superbooty and we are integrating them into our fanbase. If all goes as planned all of these areas will overlap into one and we will have the numbers to demonstrate to the labels that we can get the job done. Selling 3,000 CDs, bringing 200+ people to each show, and getting great local press is the goal, and we, are doing the work. That by the way is the unspoken formula for how a local act gets both the attention and the deal from a major label. The right manager can speed that process up, but always be careful who you sign on. Never burn anyone and make sure that you partner up with the right people. It can be painful if you don't - I've seen it happen way too many times to those around me. Once again, thanks... best, doppler ! [Interview with Doug Doppler © Matt Cafissi © 2003 by GuitarChef - All rights reserved http://digilander.libero.it/guitarchef/interviews_5.htm

MORE ABOUT DOUG DOPPLER / THE DOPPLER EFFECT

The "top gun" guitarist, hand selected to take over Joe Satriani's teaching business in Berkeley, CA, Doppler is also Lionized in Japan for his release "Ground Zero" (also featuring Atma and JM). In "E" Doppler is a core songwriter and also provides most of the harmony vocals heard on "Space Lounge". The DOPPLER EFFECT is led by guitarist Doug Doppler and features Atma Anur on drums and Jason Muscat on bass. Ground Zero, their twelve song all-instrumental record is scheduled for a February 28, 1995 release date on the San Francisco based indie Firenze Duomo Records. Doug Doppler is one of the privileged few fortunate enough to have studied with guitar guru Joe Satriani. In the August 1992 issue of Guitar for the Practicing Musician, Satriani had this to say about his former pupil, "I've had a lot of students who've thrilled me in lots of ways.Ever since he walked to take his first lesson, Doug Doppler has had a great guitar sound. It's uncanny."Satriani was not the only Bay Area rock star impressed with Doug's playing. While Kirk Hammet was still in Exodus (shortly before joining Metallica), the two had a chance meeting at San Francisco's now defunct Mabuhay Gardens night club. Upon hearing Doug play, Kirk asked where he learned all the crazy stuff he was doing. Doug told him about this incredible teacher in Berkeley, and the rest is history.The night he returned to San Francisco after graduating from GIT, Doug surprised his former teacher by coming to see him play with the Greg Kihn Band. Backstage, Joe told Doug that the band was going out on the road, and asked him to take over his teaching duties until the end of the tour. After the tour ended the two alternated teaching days until Satch went out on the "Surfing" tour, and abdicated his teaching spot to Doug for good.Right around the same time, San Francisco guitar legend Neal Schon was putting together the Schon Guitar Company.After hearing a tape of Doug's playing, Neal invited him to demonstrate for Schon Guitars at the NAMM shows in Anaheim and Chicago. Neal had this to say about Doug's guitarmanship, "I've heard the best, and he's right up there -- soulful."After the Jeff Beck/Stevie Ray Vaughn concert just before Christmas 1989, Doug came home to an urgent message to call Satriani, no matter what the hour. Doug Doppler's Issue Thinking that he wanted to talk about the concert, Doug got quite a surprise when Joe said he was considering adding a second guitarist to his band for the "Flying" tour. Doug would have two weeks to memorize all of Satriani's material before his audition. After intense preparation, the competition didn't stand a chance. Doug rehearsed with the band for three days before Satriani made his final decision not to add a second guitarist for the tour. This however was not to be the last time the two would play together.Figuring this was a good time for a change, Doug moved to Los Angeles, where he became a member of GIT's visiting faculty. He was also one of ten finalists chosen from thousands of applicants to play at West LA Music's guitarist of the year competition (sponsored by Marshall, BAM, and Music Plus).Deciding he'd had enough smog (and traffic), Doug returned to the Bay Area and hooked up with keyboardist Marc Paley. Together they started The DOPPLER EFFECT and were soon joined by master drummer Atma Anur (of Shrapnel records fame) and bassist Jason Muscat.Just before the first DOPPLER EFFECT show (opening for Stu Hamm), Doug got another call from Satriani. There was a memorial concert being planned to eulogize the untimely death of promoter Bill Graham, and Joe asked Doug to join him on rhythm guitar. On a bright sunny day in Golden Gate Park, Joe Satriani and Friends played in front of 250,000 people. After the show Doug took a limo back to Joe's house, and then drove to Berkeley to teach his students like any other day.Over the next year, The DOPPLER EFFECT became a Saturday night headliner on the local club circuit. Doug was also offered a spot on Guitar for the Practicing Musician's house label (which he declined). In 1993, The DOPPLER EFFECT stopped playing live so Doug could concentrate on working in his eight track studio writing new material. In the spring of 1994, The DOPPLER EFFECT began recording "Ground Zero" at Sausalito's Studio D Recording with Producer/Engineer Joel Jaffe at the helm. Guitarist extraordinaire and fellow Satriani student Alex Skolnick had this to say after hearing the album, "Doug's playing combines instrumental prowess with a strong sense of melody. 'Ground Zero' will be a must own for fans of instrumental rock." : EINSTONE (Doppler's new incredible band):- Einstone is the original odd-metered pop band with a flavor of Dance Hall scat. Fueled by some of the Bay Area's top working musicians, what makes this band so unique is the songwriting. Complementing a killer live show fronted by the "fetching" Hayley, "E" blends catchy lyrics, Dance Hall scat provided by the gorgeous Atma Anur, and grooving rhythms, all set to an odd-metered dance back beat. © 2003 by GuitarChef - All rights reserved http://digilander.libero.it/guitarchef/top_guitarist.htm

Richie Kotzen

Richie Kotzen - Instrumental Collection: The Shrapnel Years - 2006 - Shrapnel

Guitar virtuoso Richie Kotzen burst onto the heavy metal scene as a teenager with a lightning-fast guitar technique. After recording three albums for the Shrapnel label -- including his 1989 self-titled debut, the following year's Fever Dream, and 1991's Electric Joy -- he was recruited into the party-metal group Poison to replace C.C. DeVille, who was forced out of the band due to his substance abuse problems. Kotzen recorded 1993's Native Tongue with the group, and the album showcased his shredding style as well as his blues-based influences. However, Kotzen left the band to return to his solo career, which included collaborations with fellow guitar hero Greg Howe. By the end of the '90s, Kotzen was also working with the latest lineup of Mr. Big, as well as the fusion group Vertú. In 1999 he released Bi-Polar Blues and the following year saw the domestic release of three albums -- Something to Say, Wave of Emotion, and What Is... -- which were previously available only in Japan. Slow and Change arrived in 2003, followed by Get Up in 2004 and Acoustic Cuts the following year. His first compilation, Instrumental Collection: The Shrapnel Years, was released in the summer of 2006, with the all-new Into the Black arriving later that fall. © Heather Phares © 2013 AllMusic, a division of All Media Network, LLC. | All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/artist/richie-kotzen-mn0000852081/biography

During the '80s, Shrapnel dominated the shredder guitar market with prodigies that seemingly had cartilage removed from their joints in order to play 128th-note guitar solos in the blink of an eye with samurai-like precision. One of those ambitious young axegrinders was Richie Kotzen, who would later show up in Poison. This collection of his tenure in Shrapnel presents two phases: the hard-rocking years when guitar acrobatics were at the forefront of compositions (1989-1997), and the more melodic and composition-friendly albums of the 2000s. The first four tracks find Kotzen competently backed by the amazing combo of Stu Hamm on bass and Journey drummer Steve Smith, and pretty much set the tone for the first half of the disc with over the top antics and musicianship shadowing the mother of all shredders, Steve Vai. Things wind down a little bit, but Kotzen's abilities only mature and grow stronger as time goes by. This is a great overview of the accomplishments of one of guitar metal's unsung heroes. © Rob Theakston © 2013 AllMusic, a division of All Media Network, LLC. | All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/album/release/instrumental-collection-the-shrapnel-years-mr0001433938

If you are a Richie Kotzen fan, you will already have all these tracks in your collection. There are no new tracks on this album. The album is composed entirely of thirteen instrumental tracks. If you are not familiar with this great and underrated guitarist, this album serves as a good introduction to the man’s great talent. Listen to Richie’s great “Fever Dream” album [All tracks @ 320 Kbps: File size = 114 Mb]

TRACKS

1 Squeeze Play 4:38
2 Strut It 4:10
3 Unsafe At Any Speed 3:14
4 Cryptic Script 3:55
5 B Funk 4:19
6 Acid Lips 4:45
7 Hot Rails 3:35
8 Slow Blues 4:21
9 Pulse 6:20
10 Dose 5:58
11 The Answer 1:19
12 Conflicted 2:11
13 Unity (Jazz Bee Bop Instrumental) 2:43

All tracks composed by Richie Kotzen

MUSICIANS

Richie Kotzen - Electric Guitar, Bass Guitar, Wurlitzer Piano, Keyboards
Danny Thompson - Bass on "B Funk", "Acid Lips", "Hot Rails", "Slow Blues"
Stuart Hamm - Bass on "Squeeze Play", "Strut It", "Unsafe At Any Speed", "Cryptic Script"
Jeff Berlin - Bass on "Pulse" & "Dose"
Steve Smith - Drums on "Squeeze Play", "Strut It", "Unsafe At Any Speed", "Cryptic Script"
Atma Anur - Drums on "B Funk", "Acid Lips", "Hot Rails", "Slow Blues"
Gregg Bissonette - Drums on "Pulse" & "Dose"

Altered

Altered - Graphic - 2005 - Flitcraftmusic

This is some GREAT progressive jazz/fusion music. It is obvious that both the guitarist and bass player have some major music theory knowledge, and it is applied tastefully and intelligently on this release. I don't know anything about this band ... I saw them somewhere on another CD website, looked them up here on Amazon, listened to some of the music samples, and went ahead & bought the download .mp3 disc (CHEAP!!). I know they are a trio -- other than that, your guess is as good as mine. The compositions are hip and don't stay in one place too long. Great grooves, with superlative bass and drum parts, and nice interplay within the band. This is trio jazz about as well as it can be composed and performed. All the players have quality, well-defined tones; the production is clear and unintrusive. The styles of the music vary from song to song, with the band sounding like Tribal Tech at it's best one moment and maybe a Larry Carlton- (at his loosest!) or a Kevin Eubanks-type jazz the next. (... And throw in a bit of Jones - McGill - DeCarlo textures for good measure!!) This is an absolutely superb release ... it's a shame that hardly anyone has heard of these guys. Since you are reading this, at least YOU have heard of them now -- so, by all means, BUY THIS DISC and groove on it!!!! – from ***** Best Trio Ever?? ..., July 11, 2010 By & © John Mcguire "Guitar Villain" (O'Brien, FL) © 1996-2013, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates http://www.amazon.com/Graphic-Altered/product-reviews/B000CA8E38/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1

Well structured, aggressive instrumental electric fusion with a jagged edge and brilliantly played by Altered, the L.A. based instrumental power trio. The band have been compared to artists like Tribal Tech and Allan Holdsworth. Altered will never be as famous as either of these artists, but the musicianship is excellent and this band deserve a bigger audience. The original “Graphic” album was/is on sale at Amazon for an insane $109.68. You can download the album from cdbaby.com for $9.99, and I would urge you to do so. Music downloading and uploading will always be a controversial subject…..depriving the artist of income, etc, etc. The reality is that so many people are just not aware of these bands and with more promotion, these albums WOULD be bought. Read John McGuire’s article from Amazon.com. This guy’s opinion reflects what is happening in the music business. Far too many great artists are constantly “flying under the radar” into obscurity because no one hears them. This has always been the Number 1 objective of A.O.O.F.C, i.e, to promote the lesser known artists and most definitely not to deprive them of income. I myself have bought around 90% of the albums on this blog, and I know for a fact that many other music lovers have also bought these albums when they realise just what they are missing. “Graphic” is HR by A.O.O.F.C. Check out Altered’s s/t album and listen to the band’s “Angular” album on this blog. Support real music [All tracks @ 320 Kbps: File size = 100 Mb]

TRACKS

1 Graphic 5:41
2 Bug 6:01
3 Digging Out 7:29
4 Two Weeks From Everywhere 3:51
5 Percolate 2:38
6 Dr. James 7:18
7 Reunion 10:38

Exact composers not known, but band members usually write original music individually and collectively

BAND

Jeff Miley - Guitar
John Flitcraft - Bass
Steve Holmes - Drums

A LITTLE ABOUT ALTERED

Guitarist, Jeff Miley received his B.M. in music performance from Cal State Northridge in 1988. Notable features in the music press include: Gendai Guitar Magazine (Japan), Jazzwise (U.K.), and Guitar Player Magazine (featured as the Spotlight Award Winner). Jeff focuses his energy everyday into performing, writing, producing, and recording original music. As a B.I.T. graduate and former B.I.T. instructor, bassist John Flitcraft has 15+ years of experience playing and recording jazz, funk, rock, and theater music. Also a Berklee College of Music alumnus, he has been teaching Bass since 1988. Since moving to LA in '93, drummer Steve Holmes has played with Lee Ritenour, Dorian Cheah, Tony DoRosario, and recorded with Celine Dion, Jenifer Paige, Nidia Rojas and Gary Dourdan. His well received instructional video Shed Some Light is now available worldwide from Hal Leonard. He is currently freelancing in the LA area. He endorses Zildjian Cymbals. - http://alteredjazz.com/

Altered

Altered - Angular - 2008 - Flitcraftmusic

Guitarist, Jeff Miley received his B.M. in music performance from Cal State Northridge in 1988. Notable features in the music press include: Gendai Guitar Magazine (Japan), Jazzwise (U.K.), and Guitar Player Magazine (featured as the Spotlight Award Winner). Jeff focuses his energy everyday into performing, writing, producing, and recording original music. As a B.I.T. graduate and former B.I.T. instructor, bassist John Flitcraft has 15+ years of experience playing and recording jazz, funk, rock, and theater music. Also a Berklee College of Music alumnus, he has been teaching Bass since 1988. Since moving to LA in '93, drummer Steve Holmes has played with Lee Ritenour, Dorian Cheah, Tony DoRosario, and recorded with Celine Dion, Jenifer Paige, Nidia Rojas and Gary Dourdan. His well received instructional video Shed Some Light is now available worldwide from Hal Leonard. He is currently freelancing in the LA area. He endorses Zildjian Cymbals. - http://alteredjazz.com/

If you’re bored with bland smooth jazz and/or fusion bands using exaggerated displays of musical histrionics just to achieve not very original “fusion” sounds, then give this L.A. based instrumental power trio’s “Angular” album a listen. This is very well played, original, impressive and aggressive jazz fusion. This band (Not to be confused with the Memphis-based band of the same name) will never be as popular as artists like If, Nucleus, Steve Khan, and many more, but it is still good jazz fusion and worthy of a bigger audience. Too many good bands are “flying under the radar”, releasing good albums which often remain in virtual obscurity. In May 2009, Modern Drummer Magazine stated that "On Angular, the tasty guitar, bass, and drums trio known as Altered serves up a powerful compositional blend of instrumental electric fusion with a jagged edge - nothing smooth about this collection." If you like Tribal Tech and Allan Holdsworth, this album may take your fancy and it’s definitely a very good introduction to jazz fusion. Check out the band’s s/t and “Graphic” albums. BTW Has anybody seen One Direction’s movie? You have?! What the *uc* are you doing on this blog?! (lol)!! [All tracks @ 320 Kbps: File size = 79.4 Mb]

TRACKS / COMPOSERS

1 Mr. Burns - Flitcraft 2:07
2 Mocktave - Jeff Miley 3:49
3 Angular - Flitcraft 4:13
4 What’s That Smell? - James Miley 4:38
5 The Voices In My Head Are Never Wrong - Flitcraft 1:26
6 You Heard Me - Steve Holmes 1:27
7 In The Mode - James Miley 4:46
8 Get Go - Jeff Miley 4:42
9 Winter Sun - James Miley & Jeff Miley 7:26

MUSICIANS

John Flitcraft - Bass
Jeff Miley - Guitar
Steve Holmes - Drums, Percussion
Brian Kilgore - Percussion on Track 9

El Grupo

El Grupo - Live - 2005 - El Grupo Records

"El Grupo Live” was released as a 1,000 unit limited edition CD on sale only at El Grupo's European shows in November 2005. The albums were sold on a “first come-first served” basis at the venues before and after shows. The album is not just a Steve Lukather guitar spectacular. The album features five extended rock and fusion tracks that allow all the group members ample time to demonstrate their individual talents. The album is full of humour, atmosphere and great vibes, not to mention the supreme musicianship from these four rock and fusion greats. Tracks 1 & 2 were recorded live on July 8th 2005 in Krefeld Germany by B&R Medientechnik for WDR2. Tracks 3,4 & 5 were recorded live on August 5th & 6th at The Baked Potato, Los Angeles, CA. This album is HR by A.O.O.F.C and is not easy to find. Grab it while you can! [All tracks @ 320 Kbps: File size = 156 Mb]

TRACKS / COMPOSERS

1 Dismemberment - Lenny Castro, David Garfield 15:21
2 I'm Buzzed - Michael Landau 16:52
3 Birdland - Joe Zawinul 9:45
4 Little Wing - Jimi Hendrix 10:14
5 Led Boots - Max Middleton 13:28

BAND

Steve Lukather - Guitar, Vocals
Oskar Cartaya - Bass
Steve Weingart - Keyboards
Joey Heredia - Drums, Percussion, Chant

ABOUT ALBUM

It is always a privilege to review a CD which is not on general release. It is an even greater privilege to witness an exceptional album being mixed by consummate professionals. On a recent trip to Los Angeles, I was invited to join Steve Lukather and Oskar Cartaya at Bob Bradshaw’s north Hollywood studio as they deliberated the nuances of performances recorded at shows in Krefeld, Germany and the Baked Potato in Los Angeles. This limited-edition CD perfectly captures the genial ambience and jamming brilliance of four of Los Angeles jazz club favourites on stunning form during Steve Lukather & El Grupo’s Summer Tour 2005. With over 65 minutes of the finest moments from those shows, this CD offers fans a special opportunity to enjoy high-quality and professionally mixed live performances without compromise. For those fortunate enough to acquire a copy of “El Grupo Live”, this is a gem that surely compares with the quality of Luke & Larry Carlton’s Grammy Award winning “No Substitutions”. With a collective discography which traverses a massive array of international artists and a spectrum of musical cultures, and a determination to stretch beyond the boundaries of formulaic studio sessions, the four friends challenge themselves and their audiences with extemporisation that makes many of us laugh with incredulity. Not only does the set-list often change from show to show but each and every performance is entirely unique. El Grupo’s club gigs set the standard for improvisation; their hard rocking fusion of jazz, funk and latino grooves never cease to astonish those of us who have seen a number of their shows. The truth is that any one of the takes which Bob Bradshaw recorded would have thrilled listeners. Unlike the production-drenched perfection of studio albums, this CD is completely unadulterated but for the splicing necessary to condense parts of a live performance to a single CD. Tasteful yet fiery licks abound, and as the tour flyer promised, fun is evident in large portions. Featuring Lukather on guitar and vocals, Steve Weingart on keyboards, Oskar Cartaya on bass and Joey Heredia on drums & percussion, this collection features “Dismemberment”, I’m Buzzed”,“Birdland”,“Little Wing” and “Led Boots”. The results of the diversity of the band’s respective musical backgrounds is compelling; from an intricate passage of solo guitar to a latino party rumba, and from heavy funk to Heavy Weather, this collection is a totally honest representation of the performances on the night. As I sit writing this with the El Grupo Live CD playing, I’m reminded of the great times I had at the European Summer Tour shows, partying along with Lukather’s passionately loyal fans who supported their musical hero with an open mind and keen ears for musical excellence. The CD will exclusively be available for purchase at the forthcoming Steve Lukather & El Grupo shows in November 2005. There are currently no plans for this album to be issued on general release, either online or in record stores. To be sold on a first come-first served basis at the venues before and after shows, El Grupo hope to be able to sign and personalise as many CD’s as possible after each gig. With a 16 show tour kicking off in New York City on 29 October 2005 before a further 3 week trip around more of Europe’s premier jazz clubs, the set list will undoubtedly be revamped to incorporate tunes from Lukather’s festive season album, “Santamental”. From [EL GRUPO LIVE CD - Exclusive Preview] © Will Minting, October 2005 © http://www.musicmeter.nl/album/32593

Mörglbl Trio

Mörglbl Trio - Live At Martyrs, Chicago, IL. (May 20th 2009) - 2009 - Unoff.

Mörglbl's leader Christophe Godin was born in 1968 in Annecy in eastern France. He teaches a guitar class at school "ETM" (Switzerland). He is the author of many guitar articles for a variety of well-known guitar magazines, and has made some instruction DVD's. In 1997, together with Ivan Rougny and Jean-Pierre Frelézeau, Chistophe formed the "Mörglbl Trio". The band's combination of wild jazz, funk and metal have made them a very popular band in Europe, and Mörglbl have received many rave reviews in leading European music magazines. Although he may not be a household name, Christophe Godin is on a par with many of the elite guitarists of our time like Steve Vai, Mattias Eklundh, Ron Thal, Allan Holdsworth, and Yngwie Malmsteen. He makes no secret of the huge influence that some of these guitarists have had on him. Today, Christophe is one of the most in-demand session musicians in Europe. His style has been described as "a mixture of destructive metal, a great sense of humour and excellent technique". In a nutshell, Mörglbl's music is hard-hitting crunch metal/jazz fusion played with a Zappa-esque humour. In fact, the music is often reminiscent of Zappa, Vai and Holdsworth and often more inventive! In April and May 2009, Mörglbl played around 24 US gigs. This one at Martyrs’, Chicago is regarded as one of their best concerts along with a gig the band played the previous year at NEARfest music festival Bethlehem, PA USA when the trio got a standing ovation and a double encore. If you like original instrumental metal/jazz fusion with plenty of extraordinary guitar soloing then you may like this great band. SQ is not bad considering the type of recording. Buy the band's "Grötesk" music, and support real music. Check this blog for more info on Mörglbl [All tracks @ 320 Kbps: File size = 124 Mb]

TRACKS

1 Intro 00:44
2 Tale Of Thibault – Streets 10:02
3 Tapas Nocturne 5:33
4 Monster 6:00
5 Pied De Biche 10:13
6 Crowd & Banter 1:05
7 22 oz. 6:14
8 Morglb & Circus 4:24
9 Crowd & Banter 00:52
10 Little Man 5:15
11 Crowd & Banter 1:04
12 Myspace Book 4:44

Music usually composed by Godin, Rougny, Ouzoulias, and Frelézeau individually and collectively

BAND

Christophe Godin - Guitar
Ivan Rougny - Bass
Aurélien Ouzoulias - Drums

ABOUT MÖRGLBL aka MÖRGLBL TRIO

MÖRGLBL, also known as MÖRGLBL TRIO, is one of the bands/projects by guitarist Christophe Godin (other two projects being CHRISTOPHE GODIN'S METAL KARTOON and 2G). MÖRGLBL is a French band (from Annecy), founded in 1997 (or 1996, according to lasercd.com). Godin decided to form an instrumental fusion rock band - he describes band's music as 'power-jazz-metal instrumental music' - along with Jean Pierre Frelezeau (drums) and Ivan Rougny (bass). In 1997, MÖRGLBL's first cd named "Ze Mörglbl Trio!!" was released and received good reactions from the French press. The band toured intensively in France, placing Christophe as one of France's top guitar players. In 1999, the band's second album "Bienvenue à Mörglbl Land" was released. After this release, they disbanded in 2002 - Godin was doing various projects in that period, but the band re-united in 2005, this time with Aurélien Ouzoulias on drums, and they released their third album, "Grotesk" in 2007.The band is playing an unique fusion of jazz and metal; although jazz-metal as a form was not unknown before, their fusion of styles is perfectly balanced and one of the kind, forcing a listener to question him/herself what actually defines each of the musical styles that MÖRGLBL uses as a part of their style. The music is leaving quite a lot of space for improvisations, and it's enjoyable and RECOMMENDED for anyone who's interested in eclecticism varying from jazz-rock shredding guru such is HOLDSWORTH to the 'post-trash' metal of PANTERA style, with a solid amount of furious PRIMUS thrown in. © Moris Mateljan, 2008 (sources compiled from the band's MySpace page, Godin's web site, and lasercd.com) © Prog Archives, All rights reserved http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=4038

ABOUT CHRISTOPHE GODIN (WIKI)

Christophe Godin (born 1968) is a French guitarist and singer, notable for his work with the famous French bands Metal Kartoon, Gnô and Mörglbl. Godin plays a variety of styles, including heavy metal, jazz fusion, blues and more. Christophe Godin was born in Annecy, France. He has toured with some famous musicians, like Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal (Guns N' Roses), Andy Timmons (Danger Danger), Mattias Eklundh (Freak Kitchen), Kiko Loureiro (Angra). Mörglbl shared the stage with Liquid Tension Experiment (3/5 of Dream Theater plus Tony Levin on bass) at US biggest indoor prog festival, NEARfest in 2008 for the festival's 10th anniversary. He also played with Paul Gilbert (Mr. Big), Frank Gambale (Chick Corea), Jennifer Batten (Michael Jackson). Godin is known for his sense of humour, virtuosic guitar skills, energetic performances and overall wacky personality. These traits can be best observed in one of his live performances, where he does both the vocals and guitar parts in the Jimi Hendrix classic "Little Wing". Instead of playing the chords as they would normally be played, Godin played the arpeggiated versions of those chords using the sweep picking technique, all the while singing in time with his playing. Christophe Godin began his musical journey as a local guitar hero in several bands which, unfortunately, never left any trace. In 1995, with Temple, Christophe played on an album that was properly distributed in France and received a wave of positive reviews. In 1996, he took part on Guitare Attitudes, a compilation featuring French guitarists, that allowed him to regularly appear on the French TV show Nulle Part Ailleurs (Canal +) as a guest guitarist. In 1997, he created, along with Ivan Rougny and Jean-Pierre Frelézeau, the Mörglbl Trio !! and released two albums ("The Mörglbl Trio !!" in 1998 and "Bienvenue à Mörglbl Land" in 1999). With this band, the doors to international distribution finally opened. In the meantime, Christophe, who's been a teacher at the E.T.M. of Geneva, Switzerland, since 1994 acquired a solid pedagogue reputation with the release of an instructional video (Heavy metal : les techniques) and the multitude of articles he wrote for dozens of guitar magazines. He became a regular guest at the M.A.I. of Nancy, France, and runs master-classes in the whole country. In 2001, he created Gnô, with Gabriel Vegh (bass/vocals) and Peter Puke (drums/vocals), and released "Trash Deluxe". Gnô was on tour intensively throughout France until 2003. Finally, simultaneously with his duo with Pierrejean Gaucher (the 2G, playing Frank Zappa covers alongside their original material), Christophe, for the first time, formed his solo project under the name Christophe Godin's Metal Kartoon, which includes two violinists/pianists/singers, one bass player/singer, one drummer/pianist/singer and Christophe Godin. The band tours since 2004, and the album is released in the fall of 2005. All the ingredients that made the career of the guitarist what it is are to be found on this record: humour, virtuosity, and a mix of jazz, funk and metal. Godin was voted fifth best international guitarist by Guitar Parts magazine.

Pete Thorn

Pete Thorn - Guitar Nerd - 2011 - Audio & Video Labs, Inc./Pete Thorn

"Guitar Nerd" is virtuoso guitarist Pete Thorn’s first all instrumental guitar album which is an eclectic mix of dynamic rock and often complex melodic compositions. Pete said that his main objective in recording this album “was to make a great sounding instrumental rock guitar record, with no compromises artistically or stylistically. I didn’t worry about what is “cool” or “not cool.” I just played a bit of everything that I like to play! In short, “Guitar Nerd” is a true reflection of me - I am (and always will be) a guitar nerd!” The album was written and produced by Pete. Other artists appearing on Guitar Nerd include Jon Button (Roger Daltry, Robben Ford), Jorgen Carlsson (Gov’t Mule) on bass and Blair Sinta (Melissa Etheridge), Toss Panos (Michael Landau, Steve Lukather, John Scofield, Larry Carlton), and Dorian Crozier on drums. Pete has performed to millions of fans worldwide and his popular YouTube channel is full of great tips for aspiring guitarists. “Guitar Nerd” has been described as “Killer instrumental rock guitar for the 21st century.....”. Don’t ignore artists like Pete Thorn. Like so many great guitarists out there, he is “flying under the radar” and may never be heard on mainstream media. Similar to guitarists like Andy Timmons, Pete is a tremendous guitarist, but he lets the melody and the vibe of his music take precedence over the often monotonous and boring flashy guitar solos that so many guitarists get embroiled in. Watch out for future releases from this guy [All tracks @ 320 Kbps: File size = 82.3 Mb]

TRACKS

1. Revenge Of The Nerd 4:31
2. Perplexed 3:29
3. Into The Ether 3:57
4. Homage 3:09
5. Monster Movie 3:23
6. Velvet Fist 3:39
7. 10th Street 3:21
8. Paid By The Note 3:37
9. Promise 1:40
10. Big Mistake 5:08

All music composed by Pete Thorn

MUSICIANS

Pete Thorn - Guitar
Jon Button, Jorgen Carlsson, Steve Stevens - Bass
Blair Sinta, Dorian Crozier, Toss Panos - Drums

BIO

While prolific guitar sideman Pete Thorn may refer to himself as a “guitar nerd” – his resume proves he’s anything but. His effortless, dynamic playing have landed him onstage alongside such legendary artists as Don Henley, Chris Cornell and Melissa Etheridge among others -- and his debut solo CD Guitar Nerd garnered critical praise and landed on CD Baby’s top seling albums list. In his late teens, the ambitious Edmonton native packed up his guitars and moved South of the (Canadian) border to attend Los Angeles’ famed Musician’s Institute. After graduation, he joined the LA-based band Surreal McCoys who signed with Sony Music Japan. While Surreal McCoys didn’t last, it was Thorn’s experience working with the band’s lead singer Frank Simes (who also worked with Don Henley, Mick Jagger, Warren Zevon and Stevie Nicks among others) that allowed the talented newcomer to make valuable inroads in the Los Angeles music industry that would pay off long-term. In 1997, Thorn joined Sparkler (Giant Records) and also worked Ami, Kevin Gilbert, and Laura Harding. From 1999-2001, he toured extensively throughout the US, Canada and Europe with several different artists including: Adam Cohen (Columbia Records); Blinker the Star (Dreamworks Records) and Evan and Jaron (Columbia Records) before joining Pop/Rock outfit Snapdragon (Straightline/Atlantic) and releasing The Family Jewels. 2001 found Thorn touring with singer/songwriter John Ondrasik’s Five For Fighting (Aware Records) and the following year, he joined Canadian Alternative Rock band Forty Foot Echo whose self-titled debut album featured the singles “Brand New Day” which was featured in the Disney film Freaky Friday and “Save Me” which was a Top 10 Rock Radio hit in Canada. Adding even more credits to his resume, Thorn toured and recorded with Grammy™-winning, Columbia Records’ artist Robi Draco Rosa and in 2006 he toured with multi-platinum-selling singer/songwriter Jewel. In addition, he and wrote and recorded tracks with Punk Rock diva Courtney Love – of which, several songs ended up on the 2010 Hole album, Nobody’s Daughter. Next, the ultra-busy axman joined ex-Soundgarden/Audioslave vocalist Chris Cornell’s solo band and toured extensively in the US, Canada, Europe, Australia, and South America, in support of Carry On and Scream albums. After which, in 2009, he joined Eagles’ founder, Don Henley’s band. Presently, Thorn tours with Henley and singer/songwriter/activist Melissa Etheridge. Taking a break from sideman duties, in 2011, Thorn opted to step to the forefront and released his first solo album Guitar Nerd -- an instrumental guitar album with 10 tracks that showcase every sonic arrow in Thorn’s impressive quiver of guitar styles, sounds and techniques. On the lead track, “Revenge of the Nerd,” Thorn infuses the Blues/Rock song with a sonic smorgasbord of precise playing, hammering, Wah-wah pedal, distortion, fast-tapping and melodic lines full of shreddy goodness. While on “Into the Ether,” Thorn showcases a clean, straightforward Stratocaster sound that emphasizes his dynamic finger-picking, beautiful arpeggios, David Gilmour-esque glissandos and an atmospheric sound that can only be described as effortless. Thorn’s musical range further extends on tracks like “Monster Movie” which features Punk-tinged, gritty Rock guitar solos and riffs that bring out the air guitar player in all of us. Channeling his inner gear nerd, Thorn has taken to demonstrating guitar gear and accessories on his wildly popular Youtube channel which has so far garnered more than 3 million hits – proving there’s a lot of “guitar nerds” out there. But if a lifelong, unabashed passion for playing guitar in all its styles and permutations with some of the best artists in the world qualifies as “nerd” status…? Then Pete Thorn is, indeed, a fabulous guitar nerd. Peter endorses: Suhr Guitars and Amps, EVH gear, Taylor Guitars, Ernie Ball strings, Fractal Audio, Glab, Musicomlab and MXR/Dunlop © http://www.peterthorn.com/fr_home.cfm

The Mörglbl Trio (Mörglbl Related)

The Mörglbl Trio - The Mörglbl Trio - 1998 - IHL

Do you think it's possible to have virtuosic technique, be able to write wonderful tunes, and at the same time not to take yourself too seriously? Apparently, this absurd combination of the rarest of qualities is possible, as demonstrated with staggering off-hand brilliance by the two-disk reissue of the first two Morglbl's albums under the title Toons Tunes from the Past. A range of styles from heavy metal to jazz, and intentions from gleeful tongue-in-cheek mockery of contemporary music to outer space experimentation makes this French trio a multi-layered, utterly unique band with its chemistry so complex, but at the same time so fetching that it stands side by side with the best work of Frank Zappa, the Mahavishnu Orchestra, Steve Vai, Weather Report, and all others who over the last four decades have thought of music as a source for joy, adventure, fun, and experimentation. Morglbl's debut record "The Morglbl Trio" first released in 1998, is the first disk of this release, and from the beginning introduces us to the non-linear universe where styles, genres, and traditions unite in a bizarre and captivating Mardi Gras of musical eclectism. Its first track "The Tale of Thibault" layers raucous heavy metal guitar over Alan Parsons-inspired spaced-out ostinato arpeggios before trailing off into prog rock a la Yes and jazz fusion guitar extrapolations. And at this point we get the first glimpse of guitarist Christophe Godin's awe-inspiring pyrotechnics which he delivers as naturally as all living things breathe. He is one of those virtuosos who makes it look easy, but while his technique is at times so effortless it becomes unnoticeable, his range and invention stand out in all their splendour, showing a first-rage composer as well as a dazzling player, proving yet again that you can't have great guitar leads without great songs. And Godin is a master of both. With too many ideas emerging simultaneously to allow the band to stick to one formula, the rest of the album is a head-spinning journey through an astonishing variety of modern genres. There is "It Bello de Notte", an ephemeral acoustic guitar Latin tune, which would have bordered on mysticism if not for its delicate, barely-there irony; there are further experiments in marrying heavy metal to jazz; there are unashamedly retro eerie tunes inspired by Eighties pop; balls-to-the-wall hooky rock riffs that wouldn't have sounded out of place on an AC/DC record; and fierce heavy metal numbers that hit out with bona fide fire, laser-sharp and passionate. Overall, the first disk is a wonderfully catchy, gimmicky record, freed from all constraints - a stunning debut for a band that knows all modern styles back to front, fluent in them all, somehow managing to unite them under one entertaining, witty paradigm. © http://www.sonicbids.com/2/EPK/?epk_id=144904#!press

"The Mörglbl Trio” is the great French 'power-jazz-metal instrumental music' trio Mörglbl's first album and was released privately. Later, the trio became known as just Mörglbl. This band have created some fantastic, mostly instrumental, guitar-orientated rock music which has been described as progressive fusion full of contrasts, often played with humour and dynamic energy, and instrumental music played with a rhythmic complexity, blending hard rock, a certain amount of jazz improvisation and a slight Latin touch. Sonicbids.com asks, “What could you call a power trio that veers seamlessly between shredding peaks, jazzy moods and fat funky grooves? Morglbl, of course! Often compared to Primus meeting Steve Vai, Morglbl hits like a heavyweight jab and makes you laugh while you bleed! Morglbl - the punch you don't see coming!” The hugely talented guitarist, Christophe Godin is not a household name in the jazz rock/fusion world but his playing is wonderful. All Mörglbl’s music is HR by A.O.O.F.C. Give the band’s brilliant “Grotesk” album a listen and check out the band’s “Jazz for the Deaf” album on this blog. If you like this album and are finding it difficult to purchase the band’s albums, please contact this blog. N:B: In 2008, this album was released on a double CD set along with the trio’s “Bienvenue A Mörglbl Land” album [All tracks @ 320 Kbps: File size = 130 Mb]

TRACKS

1. Links 1:33
2. The Tale Of Thibault 4:54
3. Streets And Traps 4:48
4. Inside Power 5:28
5. Il Bello Di Notte 4:31
6. Les Mécanismes Du Temps 5:50
7. Travels 6:42
8. Mexico 00:19
9. Lieutenant Colombin 5:33
10. Strictement Confidentiel 6:32
11. Monishkolio 00:14
12. The Principles Of Life 4:26
13. Friends 7:51

All music composed by Godin, Rougny, & Frelezeau

BAND

Christophe Godin - Guitar
Ivan Rougny - Bass
Jean-Pierre Frelezeau - Drums

ABOUT MÖRGLBL aka MÖRGLBL TRIO

MÖRGLBL, also known as MÖRGLBL TRIO, is one of the bands/projects by guitarist Christophe Godin (other two projects being CHRISTOPHE GODIN'S METAL KARTOON and 2G). MÖRGLBL is a French band (from Annecy), founded in 1997 (or 1996, according to lasercd.com). Godin decided to form an instrumental fusion rock band - he describes band's music as 'power-jazz-metal instrumental music' - along with Jean Pierre Frelezeau (drums) and Ivan Rougny (bass). In 1997, MÖRGLBL's first cd named "Ze Mörglbl Trio!!" was released and received good reactions from the French press. The band toured intensively in France, placing Christophe as one of France's top guitar players. In 1999, the band's second album "Bienvenue à Mörglbl Land" was released. After this release, they disbanded in 2002 - Godin was doing various projects in that period, but the band re-united in 2005, this time with Aurélien Ouzoulias on drums, and they released their third album, "Grotesk" in 2007.The band is playing an unique fusion of jazz and metal; although jazz-metal as a form was not unknown before, their fusion of styles is perfectly balanced and one of the kind, forcing a listener to question him/herself what actually defines each of the musical styles that MÖRGLBL uses as a part of their style. The music is leaving quite a lot of space for improvisations, and it's enjoyable and RECOMMENDED for anyone who's interested in eclecticism varying from jazz-rock shredding guru such is HOLDSWORTH to the 'post-trash' metal of PANTERA style, with a solid amount of furious PRIMUS thrown in. © Moris Mateljan, 2008 (sources compiled from the band's MySpace page, Godin's web site, and lasercd.com) © Prog Archives, All rights reserved http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=4038

ABOUT CHRISTOPHE GODIN (WIKI)

Christophe Godin (born 1968) is a French guitarist and singer, notable for his work with the famous French bands Metal Kartoon, Gnô and Mörglbl. Godin plays a variety of styles, including heavy metal, jazz fusion, blues and more. Christophe Godin was born in Annecy, France. He has toured with some famous musicians, like Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal (Guns N' Roses), Andy Timmons (Danger Danger), Mattias Eklundh (Freak Kitchen), Kiko Loureiro (Angra). Mörglbl shared the stage with Liquid Tension Experiment (3/5 of Dream Theater plus Tony Levin on bass) at US biggest indoor prog festival, NEARfest in 2008 for the festival's 10th anniversary. He also played with Paul Gilbert (Mr. Big), Frank Gambale (Chick Corea), Jennifer Batten (Michael Jackson). Godin is known for his sense of humour, virtuosic guitar skills, energetic performances and overall wacky personality. These traits can be best observed in one of his live performances, where he does both the vocals and guitar parts in the Jimi Hendrix classic "Little Wing". Instead of playing the chords as they would normally be played, Godin played the arpeggiated versions of those chords using the sweep picking technique, all the while singing in time with his playing. Christophe Godin began his musical journey as a local guitar hero in several bands which, unfortunately, never left any trace. In 1995, with Temple, Christophe played on an album that was properly distributed in France and received a wave of positive reviews. In 1996, he took part on Guitare Attitudes, a compilation featuring French guitarists, that allowed him to regularly appear on the French TV show Nulle Part Ailleurs (Canal +) as a guest guitarist. In 1997, he created, along with Ivan Rougny and Jean-Pierre Frelézeau, the Mörglbl Trio !! and released two albums ("The Mörglbl Trio !!" in 1998 and "Bienvenue à Mörglbl Land" in 1999). With this band, the doors to international distribution finally opened. In the meantime, Christophe, who's been a teacher at the E.T.M. of Geneva, Switzerland, since 1994 acquired a solid pedagogue reputation with the release of an instructional video (Heavy metal : les techniques) and the multitude of articles he wrote for dozens of guitar magazines. He became a regular guest at the M.A.I. of Nancy, France, and runs master-classes in the whole country. In 2001, he created Gnô, with Gabriel Vegh (bass/vocals) and Peter Puke (drums/vocals), and released "Trash Deluxe". Gnô was on tour intensively throughout France until 2003. Finally, simultaneously with his duo with Pierrejean Gaucher (the 2G, playing Frank Zappa covers alongside their original material), Christophe, for the first time, formed his solo project under the name Christophe Godin's Metal Kartoon, which includes two violinists/pianists/singers, one bass player/singer, one drummer/pianist/singer and Christophe Godin. The band tours since 2004, and the album is released in the fall of 2005. All the ingredients that made the career of the guitarist what it is are to be found on this record: humour, virtuosity, and a mix of jazz, funk and metal. Godin was voted fifth best international guitarist by Guitar Parts magazine.

Mörglbl

Mörglbl - Jazz For The Deaf - 2009 - Laser's Edge

Ahh, those silly French. I still don't even know how to pronounce the name of this band correctly, but Morglbl (yes, that is the correct spelling) are one hell of a talented trio! Their latest CD, Jazz For The Deaf (The Laser's Edge Records) is a 12 track CD full of musical chops and a lot of goofy, off beat fun. Morglbl features the talents of guitarist Christophe Godin, bassist Ivan Rougny and new drummer Aurelien Ouzoulias, and the all instrumental Jazz For The Deaf will totally find a home with fans of Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, King's X, Frank Zappa and Primus. Guitarist Christophe Godin has the ability to channel a Vai or a Holdsworth in songs while never actual stealing from them. His linear phasing is uncanny but it never feels like he's copying anyone, which is a hard feat to pull off. Morglbl's 4th CD, Jazz For The Deaf is quite a heavier release than their previous CD's and new hard hitting drummer, Aurelien Ouzoulias is a large reason for this. Part Fusion, part Metal, Morglbl have a killer CD here and finding a bad track among this lot is a hard thing to do. Highlight tracks like "Borderline", "Jazz For Deaf People" and "Hell's Ball's" all showcase a great sense of humor as well as technical brilliance. Quirky changes and break downs are simply a lot of fun to listen to and actually made me smile and laugh out loud at times. These guys are just an awesome band. The strange name aside, Morglbl are a fun band to listen to and the combination of humor and musical wizardry is brilliant. Guitarist Christophe Godin is a stellar player and for shred guitar fans out there, he IS a player to check out. You won't be disappointed. For fans of American bands like Dub Trio and Bolt, Morglbl have that same offbeat wackiness with an even a higher level of superb musicianship. Jazz For The Deaf is a great, fun record that you will find yourself spinning over and over. I know that I did. Great guitar tone, great playing and a nice clean production, no clunkers on this one. This is a winner! I thoroughly enjoyed it. - Added: August 20th 2009, Review by & © Butch Jones: Score ***** © 2004 Sea Of Tranquility http://www.seaoftranquility.org/reviews.php?op=showcontent&id=8116

Imagine taking the eccentric sounding band Primus and an accomplished guitar shredder such as Steve Vai or Joe Satriani, and locking them together in a room to see what kind of mad experiments they could conjure up. This might give you an idea of the template that French instrumental trio Mörglbl is working off of as they unleash their latest effort Jazz For The Deaf. While I generally find most instrumental records of this nature tend to lean more towards lengthy excursions of guitar wankery I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised with the results here. The group has put together a solid album that, while it does feature a heaping display of musical chops, it more importantly also has well constructed songs designed to keep the listener engaged for the full hour long ride. Make no mistake about it guitarist Christophe Godin is the main focal point here as his blazingly articulate solos on "Myspacebook", The Bleach Boy" and "Jazz For Deaf People" make up a large portion of the band's sound. However, that being said the funky and muscular rhythm section of bassist Ivan Rougny and drummer Aurélian Ouzoulias should not be overlooked as their meaty backbone provides the solid foundation necessary for Godin's extended forays. The duo isn't content with simply backing him up as they are focused on accompanying him for the ride, making Jazz For The Deaf a true team effort in every sense of the word. The ever changing atmospherics on songs like "The Monster Within Me", "Stoner de Brest" and "Hell's Balls", not to mention the subtle doses of humor injected into some of these song titles, make for serious music but with a with pleasantly lighthearted feel to it as well. If you've never heard of these guys but enjoy instrumental music with stunning musicianship then I'd have to say Jazz For The Deaf is really no-brainer. You need to add this one to your collection. (originally reviewed for www.classicrockrevisited.com) Posted by & © Ryan Sparks, SoT Staff Writer on 2010-02-09 21:24:02 My Score: **** I/2 © 2004 Sea Of Tranquility http://www.seaoftranquility.org/reviews.php?op=showcontent&id=8116

It isn't hard to see how Mörglbl came up with the humorous title Jäzz for the Deaf for this album; combining jazz with hard rock, the French power trio (Christophe Godin on electric guitar, Ivan Rougny on electric bass, and Aurélien Ouzoulias on drums) doesn't hesitate to crank up the decibels. One can think of Mörglbl's approach as Scott Henderson & Tribal Tech by way of the instrumental hard rock shredders (Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Randy Coven) with hints of Primus' eccentricity and angularity (although Mörglbl, unlike the vocal-oriented Primus, are strictly instrumentalists). Godin's guitar crunching can be quite metallic, which isn't to say that Jäzz for the Deaf is full-fledged heavy metal or alternative metal. There can be a fine line between metal and hard rock, of course; considering the way that Van Halen, Mötley Crüe, AC/DC, and so many others have been a part of both metal and hard rock, it isn't surprising that the terms heavy metal and hard rock have often been used interchangeably. But Jäzz for the Deaf's influences are really more hard rock than outright metal; nonetheless, there is no question that this 2009 release rocks aggressively hard, and Mörglbl combine that high-volume aggression with plenty of nuance and jazz complexity. No one would mistake this 61-minute CD for straight-ahead bop, but it would be a mistake to say that Mörglbl are strictly rock instrumentalists. Godin improvises in a way that shows an appreciation of both jazz guitarists and hard rock shredders, and Ouzoulias sounds like the sort of drummer who could happily listen to Alex Van Halen one minute and Tony Williams or Jack DeJohnette the next. Although fusion (as opposed to smooth jazz) isn't as plentiful in the 21st century as it was in the 1970s, quality fusion can still be found if one knows where to look for it -- and quality fusion can definitely be found on Jäzz for the Deaf. © Alex Henderson © 2013 AllMusic, a division of All Media Network, LLC. | All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/album/jazz-for-the-deaf-mw0000819922

Jazz For The Deaf is an absolutely killer collection of instrumentals fronted by guitar-god-in-waiting Christophe Godin. Remember the name. What’s Mörglbl like? It’s progressive rock with a heavy guitar edge but always with a strong melodic foundation. “22 Oz” sounds like Robin Trower and Steve Vai guesting on King Crimson’s Red. Ivan Rougny’s elastic bass makes the slippery “Borderline” veer back and forth between Tony Levin and Les Claypool. Drummer Aurélien Ouzoulias has a punchy and crisp attack that cements every mix. Savage, twisted and beautiful instrumental rock music with a sense of humor. by & © TW on NOVEMBER 2, 2009 © http://classicrockmusicblog.com/what-im-listening-to/morglbl-jazz-deaf/

Mörglbl’s music is HR by A.O.O.F.C. Give the band’s “The Morglbl Trio !!” and brilliant “Grotesk” albums a listen. If you like this album and are finding it difficult to purchase the band’s albums, please contact this blog. [All tracks @ 320 Kbps: File size = 145 Mb]

TRACKS

1. Mörglbl Circus 4:21
2. 22 Oz 5:50
3. Borderline 5:12
4. Myspacebook 4:23
5. Stoner de Brest 5:22
6. Bleach Boy 4:28
7. Monster Within Me 5:26
8. Jäzz for Deaf People 5:59
9. Point d'Org 5:13
10. Hell's Balls 4:47
11. Untold Stories 5:37
12. My Little Man 5:02

All music composed by Godin, Rougny, & Ouzoulias except “Point d'Org” by Godin, Rougny, Ouzoulias, & Garcia and “My Little Man” by Godin

BAND

Christophe Godin - Guitar
Ivan Rougny - Bass
Aurélien Ouzoulias - Drums

ABOUT MÖRGLBL aka MÖRGLBL TRIO

MÖRGLBL, also known as MÖRGLBL TRIO, is one of the bands/projects by guitarist Christophe Godin (other two projects being CHRISTOPHE GODIN'S METAL KARTOON and 2G). MÖRGLBL is a French band (from Annecy), founded in 1997 (or 1996, according to lasercd.com). Godin decided to form an instrumental fusion rock band - he describes band's music as 'power-jazz-metal instrumental music' - along with Jean Pierre Frelezeau (drums) and Ivan Rougny (bass). In 1997, MÖRGLBL's first cd named "Ze Mörglbl Trio!!" was released and received good reactions from the French press. The band toured intensively in France, placing Christophe as one of France's top guitar players. In 1999, the band's second album "Bienvenue à Mörglbl Land" was released. After this release, they disbanded in 2002 - Godin was doing various projects in that period, but the band re-united in 2005, this time with Aurélien Ouzoulias on drums, and they released their third album, "Grotesk" in 2007.The band is playing an unique fusion of jazz and metal; although jazz-metal as a form was not unknown before, their fusion of styles is perfectly balanced and one of the kind, forcing a listener to question him/herself what actually defines each of the musical styles that MÖRGLBL uses as a part of their style. The music is leaving quite a lot of space for improvisations, and it's enjoyable and RECOMMENDED for anyone who's interested in eclecticism varying from jazz-rock shredding guru such is HOLDSWORTH to the 'post-trash' metal of PANTERA style, with a solid amount of furious PRIMUS thrown in. © Moris Mateljan, 2008 (sources compiled from the band's MySpace page, Godin's web site, and lasercd.com) © Prog Archives, All rights reserved http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=4038

ABOUT CHRISTOPHE GODIN (WIKI)

Christophe Godin (born 1968) is a French guitarist and singer, notable for his work with the famous French bands Metal Kartoon, Gnô and Mörglbl. Godin plays a variety of styles, including heavy metal, jazz fusion, blues and more. Christophe Godin was born in Annecy, France. He has toured with some famous musicians, like Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal (Guns N' Roses), Andy Timmons (Danger Danger), Mattias Eklundh (Freak Kitchen), Kiko Loureiro (Angra). Mörglbl shared the stage with Liquid Tension Experiment (3/5 of Dream Theater plus Tony Levin on bass) at US biggest indoor prog festival, NEARfest in 2008 for the festival's 10th anniversary. He also played with Paul Gilbert (Mr. Big), Frank Gambale (Chick Corea), Jennifer Batten (Michael Jackson). Godin is known for his sense of humour, virtuosic guitar skills, energetic performances and overall wacky personality. These traits can be best observed in one of his live performances, where he does both the vocals and guitar parts in the Jimi Hendrix classic "Little Wing". Instead of playing the chords as they would normally be played, Godin played the arpeggiated versions of those chords using the sweep picking technique, all the while singing in time with his playing. Christophe Godin began his musical journey as a local guitar hero in several bands which, unfortunately, never left any trace. In 1995, with Temple, Christophe played on an album that was properly distributed in France and received a wave of positive reviews. In 1996, he took part on Guitare Attitudes, a compilation featuring French guitarists, that allowed him to regularly appear on the French TV show Nulle Part Ailleurs (Canal +) as a guest guitarist. In 1997, he created, along with Ivan Rougny and Jean-Pierre Frelézeau, the Mörglbl Trio !! and released two albums ("The Mörglbl Trio !!" in 1998 and "Bienvenue à Mörglbl Land" in 1999). With this band, the doors to international distribution finally opened. In the meantime, Christophe, who's been a teacher at the E.T.M. of Geneva, Switzerland, since 1994 acquired a solid pedagogue reputation with the release of an instructional video (Heavy metal : les techniques) and the multitude of articles he wrote for dozens of guitar magazines. He became a regular guest at the M.A.I. of Nancy, France, and runs master-classes in the whole country. In 2001, he created Gnô, with Gabriel Vegh (bass/vocals) and Peter Puke (drums/vocals), and released "Trash Deluxe". Gnô was on tour intensively throughout France until 2003. Finally, simultaneously with his duo with Pierrejean Gaucher (the 2G, playing Frank Zappa covers alongside their original material), Christophe, for the first time, formed his solo project under the name Christophe Godin's Metal Kartoon, which includes two violinists/pianists/singers, one bass player/singer, one drummer/pianist/singer and Christophe Godin. The band tours since 2004, and the album is released in the fall of 2005. All the ingredients that made the career of the guitarist what it is are to be found on this record: humour, virtuosity, and a mix of jazz, funk and metal. Godin was voted fifth best international guitarist by Guitar Parts magazine.

Jing Chi

Jing Chi - Live! - 2003 - Tone Center

Jing Chi are a part-time fusion supergroup which occasionally get together to tour and record. The band normally features legendary guitarist Robben Ford on guitar, the Yellowjackets' Jimmy Haslip on bass, and the brilliant, veteran session drummer Vinnie Colaiuta. Their first album appeared in 2002 and was followed by a live album the next year. In 2004, the band released “3D”. “Live” was recorded live at Yoshi's, Jack London Square, Oakland, Ca. on 12th, 13th and 14th December and includes guest appearances by keyboard player Otmaro Ruiz and Marc Russo on alto. There is also an album released called “Live At Yoshi’s” which is the same as the album posted here. The musicianship here is brilliant from five masters of fusion. Although this is a great album, Jing Chi’s s/t album and “3D” album are arguably more fusion orientated and dynamic. [All tracks @ 320 Kbps: File size = 153 Mb]

TRACKS / COMPOSERS

1 That Road - R.Ford 7:04
2 Going Nowhere - R.Ford 8:22
3 The Hong Kong Incident - R.Ford, J.Haslip 10:28
4 Stan Key - V.Colaiuta, R.Ford, J.Haslip 8:17
5 What Goes Around - O.Ruiz 6:34
6 Crazy House - V.Colaiuta, R.Ford, J.Haslip 7:06
7 Cold Irons Bound - Bob Dylan 6:45
8 Blues MD - V.Colaiuta, R.Ford, J.Haslip, O.Ruiz 14:38

BAND

Robben Ford - Guitar: Vocals on Tracks 2, 7
Jimmy Haslip - Bass
Otmaro Ruiz - Keyboards
Vinnie Colaiuta - Drums
Marc Russo - Alto Saxophone on Track 8

Marcus Bonfanti

Marcus Bonfanti - Hard Times - 2008 - The Guitar Label

For those who like there blues dirty, then you won't be disappointed...As debut albums go, this is a mighty fine piece of work...Old blues men from the Mississippi delta would sell their soul to the Devil to make music like this. - themusiccritic.co.uk

If there's a gap between Seasick Steve and Jack Johnson, Bonfanti is the person to plug it - Independent On Sunday, March 29th, 2009

The way Bonfanti plays his blues, with energy and passion, is a credit to him...Hard Times may have to swim in a big pond but it shows no sign of drowning. - Maverick, April 2009

There are not many people who can capture the raw spirit of the blues. So it comes as a bit of a surprise when the debut album from Londoner Marcus Bonfanti drops through the door, as capturing the spirit is exactly what he has done. In a previous life, Bonfanti was guitarist for the abysmal chart topper Sandi Thom, but we wont hold that against him. Now he is signed to Scottish independent, The Guitar label, home to legendary Jazz guitarist Martin Taylor. The album mixes acoustic and electric blues which owes a debt to the likes of John Lee Hooker and Robert Johnson. One thing that links the whole album together is Bonfanti's rasping whisky soaked vocals, which are hair raising throughout. For those who like there blues dirty, then you won't be disappointed. Opener Diamonds In The Rust, a slide driven workout and ode to bad love and the title track, the best track on the album, are as dirty as they come. Up there with them is Knock Me Down with it's clap along chorus. The album has its mellower moments with the countrified Waitin' For My Love and When You Come Home. The acoustic The Girl I Knew is a great finger style piece and a highlight of the album, while Judgement Day shows a slightly popier side to his songwriting. As debut albums go, this is a mighty fine piece of work. The production is perfectly suited to bringing out the warmth of Bonfanti's formidable guitar skills and we are sure that this will be the start of a successful career. Old blues men from the Mississippi delta would sell their soul to the Devil to make music like this. (4/5) © 2011 The Music Critic Sunday, 28 June 2009 http://www.themusiccritic.co.uk/2009/06/marcus-bonfanti-hard-times.html

I don't think Britain has ever had so many great blues artists as it has now. All producing great live shows and cracking CD's, full of original material and playing to such high standards.When it comes to the yearly best blues album you don't need anymore to look at the USA because the best is here.To this review and here is an artist of incredible talent, certainly an original who plays stunning guitar but possesses an amazing voice.Saw him live this week, and if you get half a chance get and see him because he sures creates a storm,and his every audience shouts out for more, plus incredible reviews.This his first of two amazing albums so far with a third coming before too long is a perfect showcase for what he's like live,ten songs all self written from rockin' blues to more gentle acoustic playing, he also plays a very mean dose of slide.He is so strong on hard hitting rhythm piling in solid but never overplayed solos.Live he does a simply awesome version of Prof.Longhair's 'Mardi Gras' which I've never heard played on guitar before and hope he gets around to recording soon. Here we get 'Hard Times' so popular live, a brilliant song opens the set 'Diamonds In The Rust' which kicks off in great style.You may not know the songs but little things don't matter this album will grow and grow on you, if you love the blues,if you like rhythms and great guitar playing,not your usual Strat stuff because he uses a Gibson electric resonator guitar, which creates much of his original sound.This is an exceptional debut album from a very exceptional talent indeed, he deserves to be up there with the very best, he looks the part and plays like it as well.GREAT STUFF – from ***** REMEMBER THE NAME...MARCUS BONFANTI. 20 July 2011 By & © pete clack TOP 500 REVIEWER © 1996-2013, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hard-Times-Marcus-Bonfanti/dp/B001KER8MS

Marcus Bonfanti was born and raised in a small flat in North London to an English mother and an Italian father. He was a relatively late starter with the guitar, and only began playing at 16 y.o. He is no stranger to live performing and spends most of his time touring. He normally plays 3 sets a night, 6 nights a week in bars and clubs around Britain. He has worked as a sideman for musicians that include PP Arnold, Joe Lewis Walker, Jimmy Carl Black, Hamish Stewart, Paddy Milner, Earl Thomas, and Findlay Brown, as well as touring and opening for artists like Chuck Berry, Robert Cray, Jack Bruce, Paul Jones, John Mayall, The Yardbirds, Walter Trout, Ian Siegal, Philip Sayce, Robert Cray, and Sonny Landreth. “Hard Times”, his debut album received much great critical acclaim and deservedly so. This is an album of beautiful soul, folk and blues and is HR by A.O.O.F.C. Marcus is a hugely talented songwriter and multi-instrumentalist and a badly needed voice in today’s folk and blues scene. Buy Marcus great “What Good Am I To You?” album and check out Lotte Mullan’s (who sings on this album) “Plain Jane” album. There are many other artists out there not getting their just rewards. Check out albums by The Nimmo Brothers, and Kyla Brox. Please support real music [All tracks @ 224 Kbps: File size = 59.8 Mb]

TRACKS 

1. Diamonds in the Rust (5:02)
2. Not Meant for This World (4:10)
3. Hard Times (3:40)
4. Now I'm Gone (is Your Life Better?) (3:36)
5. Teach the Preacher (3:16)
6. Judgement Day (3:07)
7. Knock Me Down (3:05)
8. The Girl I Knew (3:55)
9. When You Come Home (4:06)
10. Waitin' for My Life (3:41)

All songs composed by Marcus Bonfanti

MUSICIANS

Marcus Bonfanti - Gibson Electric Resonator Guitar, Fender Telecaster, Electric & Acoustic Bass, Ukulele, Percussion, Harmonica, Tambourine, Shaker, Spoons, Stomp Box, Cajon, Cardboard Box, Pedals
Lotte Mullan - Additional Vocals on Tracks 2,5,10

MORE ABOUT MARCUS

Marcus Bonfanti’s like all of us. Some days he wins, some days he doesn’t. But to a songwriter with a half-full glass, that means there’s always plenty of subject matter for songs. His second album (‘What Good Am I To You’) is full of the highs and lows we all know, referencing a cool range of influences from Tony Joe White to Led Zeppelin. But ultimately it’s his own style. ‘What Good Am I To You’ is the sound of the North London blues. 27-year-old Marcus was born and raised in London to an English mother and a “dangerously Italian” father. Inheriting his dad’s work ethic, he shared an appetite for musical discovery with a younger brother who’s also in the business, as a respected bass player. Marcus, self-taught as a guitarist, has already packed plenty in, from LIPA (the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts) to top level session work, from school days as a trumpet player to learning licks in his bedroom to the strains of ‘Black Dog.’ With confirmed appearances at this years Glastonbury, Maryport, Downpatrick and Carlisle festivals, as well as playing the prestigious South By South West festival in March, Bonfanti is fast building a reputation as one of the most exciting acts on the UK live circuit with a fierce show either with band or solo. Having learnt his trade playing 3 sets a night, 6 nights a week, he is no stranger to live performing and it shows. Together with his 3 piece band, featuring Scott Wiber (Bass) and Alex Reeves (Drums), they’ve been playing shows up and down the country throughout 2010 to promote the release of ‘What Good Am I To You’ his follow up to the acclaimed debut ‘Hard Times’. Bonfanti knows that comparisons are customary at this point, but he sometimes finds them more amusing than accurate. “Someone called me the lovechild of Tom Waits and Van Morrison once,” he laughs. “I quite like that one.” He admits that ‘What Good Am I To You’ does bear some American hallmarks, and after all he did write some of it there. “But there’s something British about it that I can never quite put my finger on. It’s rooted in blues, that’s my favourite genre of music to play and listen to. But I don’t think the end product sounds like a traditional blues record, in fact I know it doesn’t. I listen to a lot of other music, country, soul, bluegrass, jazz, some quite heavy rock stuff as well, and I think it all feeds in.” “I’d like the record just to sound like me,” he says, “so when I hear it I go ‘Yeah, that’s the sum of all the parts.’ MAY 2010 © 2013 | The Gig Cartel http://www.thegigcartel.com/artists/profile:295

Jay Gordon

Jay Gordon - Broadcasting The Blues - 1996 - Blue Ace Records

Electric blues guitarist Jay Gordon recorded a series of albums for Blue Ace that inspired comparisons to such legendary guitarists as Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Beginning with Blues Infested (1994), Gordon won much praise from the blues community. Each successive album became increasingly successful -- Broadcasting the Blues Live (1996), Electric Redemption (1998), and so on -- and the guitarist soon found himself being compared to some of the most legendary guitarists to ever play electric blues. In 2000, Gordon collaborated with Phillip Walker on the Jaywalkin album for Blue Ace, yet another accomplishment for the celebrated guitarist. Furthermore, in addition to his guitar playing, Gordon also produces and sings on many of his own recordings. © Jason Birchmeier © 2013 Rovi Corp | All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/artist/jay-gordon-mn0000220727/biography

Gordon grew up in Chicago, the center of the blues world. Throughout his career, Jay Gordon has become famous for his slashing guitar solos, his passionate vocals, and his dedication to the blues. While his inspirations have included Buddy Guy, Johnny Winter, Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan, he does not sound like any of his predecessors and has long had his own distinctive voice. Never interested in merely recreating the past, Jay has moved the blues forward to the 21st century, infusing the music with the fire and power of rock while carving out his own place in the music world. Gordon has recorded 14 CDs, headlined his own European tours and gained a worldwide reputation. He was one of 50 guitarists picked by Eric Clapton (who was very impressed after hearing one of Jay's CDs) to perform at the 2004 Crossroads Guitar Festival. Jay has played and opened up for many famous artist, such as, Johnny Winter, Eric Clapton, ZZ Top, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Paul Rogers, and Bad Co., 38 Special, BB King, Def Leopard, Buddy Guy, Albert Collins, Montgomery Gentry and many more. Jay also played to 250,000 screaming fans at Sturgis, S.D. several times. HIS SONGS ARE ON TOUCH TUNES JUKE BOXES, ACROSS THE USA. Jay Gordon has been featured on nationally syndicated radio program, Blues Deluxe. "Jay Gordon and his band are one of our favorite ways to rock the blues!" said Dave Johnson, host of BLUES DELUXE - which is heard weekly on over 100 stations across the U.S. with a two million-plus listenership. Jay's music is also featured on Electric Blues Radio, and many other stations worldwide. Jay Gordon the legendary blues rock guitarist was one of the Judges at the 2010 and again 2011 Guitar Center's "King of the Blues contest." Jay also recorded with the Texas Guitar legend Phillip Walker. Jay Gordon received the REAL BLUES ANNUAL AWARD, Canada for Best Blues/Rock Guitarist 2001, 2003 and 2006. Jay won best Blues Band award at the 2007 Annual South Bay Music Awards. At the 2009 Annual South Bay Music Awards Jay won Guitarist of the year. His signature song “Fire & Brimstone Boogie" was one of the hits of the evening. 2012 Grammy® Nominee 2012 The 22nd Annual Los Angeles Music Awards. Jay Gordon was presented his Nomination for "Americana, Blues, Roots Artist of the Year" from Al Bowman Saturday Night March 10, 2012 at the Hollywood, CA. House of Blues. Jay and his band Blues Venom have also been Nominated for "Rock Album of the Year and Show Case Artist." 2012 Jay won the LAMA Award for Show Case Artist of the Year. 2012 Jay also received the LAMA Producers Choice Award for Guitarist of the year. 2012 His bassist Sharon Butcher received the LAMA Producers Choice Award for Bassist of the year. She also won the 2009 Annual South Bay Music Awards for Bassist of the year. Jay had two featured songs ( Black Top Alley and Stringstalkin) in a major motion picture “My Brother's War” produced by James Brolin. Jay co-wrote with Keven Kern and played on the first three episodes of “Nightmare on Elm Street” the TV series. Jay’s songs are used by A&E reality show, “Parking Wars 2008 and 2009 seasons. “Fire & Brimstone Boogie” on episode 21, "Driving Me Wild" on episode 26 & 29, "My Heart Is Heavy" on episode 34 and "Lost In Time" on episode 35. Al Bowman, the founder of the Los Angeles Music Awards said, "You are truly the single best guitarist in LA, maybe the US. Few play like you Jay". © http://bluesvenom.com/Jay%20Gordon.htm

From the opening line of Track 1: "Well,my home is in the delta",you'll be spellbound by the power of this CD !. Music's raw - guitar,bass and drums and gutsy vocals. Covering Blues standards and 2 originals,this album will appeal to blues and metal guitar fans. Power of the music matches those blues standards by Led Zepplin like : "You Shook Me", "I Can't Quit You Baby", "Black Country Woman" (LZ original). This music needs to be played LOUD and it feels as though Jay is right in front of you with thumping bass drum kicking you in the face. Tracks 1 to 5 are super charged - need to be listened to be understood or believed. Track 6 - solo guitar work. Track 7 - bass drum kick not prominent as in Tracks 1-5. For raw power,this beats SRV,Hendrix,Malmsteen - so you'd better be ready for what's coming your way. Jay Gordon understands dynamics well - his guitar licks come in at the right time,pickin at times and loud and raw at others,all well and timely paced... – from ***** Play it Loud !!!!!, April 8, 2002 By & © Rock And Roll (Russia) © 1996-2013, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates http://www.amazon.com/Broadcasting-Blues-Live-Jay-Gordon/product-reviews/B000005X05/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1

Jay Gordon is yet another of those phenomenally gifted guitarists, singer/songwriters who for some unknown reason flies just below the collective radars of many mainstream music fans. His explosive playing has drawn comparisons to all past heavyweights of the blues and rock world. But, even though he demonstrates the influences of most great blues/rock guitarists, his work bears little similarity to those before him. While his music is difficult to describe in a few words, let me try by saying that he plays with the intensity of Walter Trout, Frank Zappa or Alvin Lee, the raw passion of Johnny Winter or Hound Dog Taylor, and does it all with the precision of the world’s finest Swiss watch. His work is unpredictable, impossible to categorize, and chaotic. It is also brilliant. If Fender ever decided to build an assault rifle, Jay Gordon would be offered the first Artists model. ©Tom Branson - www.bluesrockers.ws

Tom Branson of bluesrockers.ws said that “Jay Gordon is yet another of those phenomenally gifted guitarists, singer/songwriters who for some unknown reason flies just below the collective radars of many mainstream music fans”. Perhaps the relative obscurity of Jay Gordon’s music relates to the word “mainstream”. You will seldom, if ever hear musicians like Jay Gordon on mainstream music TV and radio. Real music lovers know the kind of “music” to be found there. This is a great live album. The blues will never die with great bluesmen like the Charlotte, Carolina born Jay Gordon around. Jay plays pure raw electric blues with a passion that’s rare these days. Tracks 1-5 are taken from a 1990 live radio broadcast at KCSB Studios in Santa Barbra, CA. Track 6 was recorded in 1990 and is a tribute to the late, great SRV. Track 7 was recorded in 1995 in Lucilles, Universal City, LA on November 11th, 1995. This album of mostly blues classics is HR by A.O.O.F.C. Buy Jay’s outstanding “Electric Redemption” album and support genuine blues rock. [All tracks @ 320 Kbps: File size = 149 Mb]

TRACKS / COMPOSERS

1 Delta Row – Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon 8:34
2 Hoochie Coochie Man/Big Boss Man – Willie Dixon/Al Smith, Luther Dixon 11:59
3 Sky Is Cryin’ – E.James, M.Levy, C.Lewis 8:22
4 Leave My Little Girl Alone – Buddy Guy 9:14
5 Voodoo Boogie/Dust My Broom – Jay Gordon/Elmore James 4:45
6 Blues Infested – Jay Gordon 6:25
7 Stop Breakin’ Down – Buddy Guy 11:01

MUSICIANS

Jay Gordon - Electric & Slide Guitar, Vocals
Russ Greene - Bass Guitar
Will Donovan - Drums
Butch Azevedo - Drums on Track 7