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26.2.14

Steve Smith and Vital Information


Steve Smith and Vital Information - Come On In - 2004 - Mascot/Tone Center

"Come On In features some of their finest music. This set, which crosses many musical boundaries, reveals Steve Smith's Vital Information to be one of the most underrated bands in modern jazz..." - Scott Yanow, All Music Guide

"Vital Information has evolved from a relentlessly rocking fusion outfit into a supple, funk-driven ensemble, far more attuned to the dynamics of acoustic jazz on their new recording, Come On In, expands upon its rootsy approach, building on the fierce funk and captivating New Orleans beats."- Andrew Gilbert, Down Beat

"Vital Information is one of improvised music's best-kept secrets, the tunes are adventurous and they always groove. The musicians shoot for, and achieve, real emotion rather than soulless fireworks." - Felix Contreras, JazzTimes
"Vital Information means business on their 11th album. Hard to believe this project started 21 years ago Smith is the perfect blend of virtuosity and taste, America's premier jazz/fusion export continues to get better with age." - Don Zulaica, Drum!

"Drummer Smith and this powerhouse band prove once again they are just about the best fusion band in music." - Bob Karlovits, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

"Vital Information is clearly moving towards the jazz side of the fusion equation... while the band is leaning towards cleaner, crisper behavior, there are plenty of chops to keep fusion fans happy... Come On In demonstrates the maturity that develops from a group of seasoned players who have been playing long enough to no longer have anything to prove. As much as the formidable skills of each musician are clear, Vital Information is becoming less and less about pure chops and more and more about establishing an identity." - John Kelman, AllAboutJazz.com

Steve Smith's Vital Information has evolved from being a fusion band into one that is closer to soul-jazz. He had led units under the Vital Information name for 21 years when he recorded Come On In, a tight quartet album featuring guitarist Frank Gambale (of Chick Corea's Elektric Band), keyboardist Tom Coster (who also plays accordion), and bassist Baron Browne. The music includes some grooves worthy of Joe Zawinul, straight-ahead sections, catchy themes, and plenty of funky rhythms that avoid being predictable, plus a heated up-tempo blues "A Little Something." Smith is mostly in the background, content to propel and inspire his sidemen into playing some of their finest music. This set, which crosses many musical boundaries, reveals Steve Smith's Vital Information to be one of the most underrated bands in modern jazz and serves as an excellent introduction to the group's music. © Scott Yanow © 2014 AllMusic, a division of All Media Network, LLC. | All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/album/come-on-in-mw0000169041

"Come On In" is the 11th release from the all-star soul/jazz/funk/fusion super group Steve Smith & Vital Information. The group features the incredible line-up of guitarist Frank Gambale (Chick Corea Elektric Band), keyboardist Tom Coster (Santana), bassist Baron Browne (Jean-Luc Ponty, Billy Cobham) and drummer Steve Smith (Journey, Steps Ahead). Included in the package are extensive liner notes by renown author Bill Milkowski, who writes, "Vital Information continues to hone its 'American music' direction while staking out some adventurous new territory. With this third VI recording to showcase this line-up, the listener is invited to a veritable banquet of sounds to satisfy a wide variety of tastes. From slamming funk and syncopated second line grooves to seriously swinging, uptempo B-3 burners, South Indian Carnatic inspired jams and sizzling fuzoid romps, these seasoned veterans cover a lot of bases on "Come On In" and do it all in such convincing fashion. © 1996-2013 Guitar Nine All Rights Reserved http://www.guitar9.com/comeonin.html

"Come On In" deservedly received rave reviews around the world. This is soul jazz fusion at it’s best. Steve Smith is backed by guitar maestro, Frank Gambale, bassist Baron Browne, and Tom Coster on keys. The album is HR by A.O.O.F.C. Check out album liner notes @ http://www.vitalinformation.com/store/comeliner.htm and read more @ http://www.vitalinformation.com/ Try and listen to Steve Smith and Vital Information’s “Live! One Great Night” CD/DVD [All tracks @ 320 Kbps: File size = 145 Mb]

TRACKS / COMPOSERS

1 Time Tunnel - Baron Browne / Tom Coster / Steve Smith 5:38
2 Come on In - Tom Coster 5:40
3 Beneath the Surface - Tom Coster / Frank Gambale / Steve Smith 2:06
4 Cat Walk - Baron Browne / Tom Coster / Frank Gambale / Steve Smith 6:05
5 Around the World - Baron Browne / Tom Coster / Frank Gambale / Steve Smith 9:35
6 Soho - Frank Gambale 6:25
7 A Little Something - Frank Gambale 8:22
8 From Naples to Heaven - Frank Gambale 4:08
9 Baton Rouge - Baron Browne / Tom Coster / Frank Gambale / Steve Smith 6:18
10 Fine Line - Tom Coster / Frank Gambale / Steve Smith 2:18
11 High Wire - Tom Coster / Frank Gambale 5:52

MUSICIANS

Frank Gambale - Guitar
Tom Coster - Hammond B-3 Organ, Fender Rhodes, Accordion
Baron Browne - Electric & Acoustic Bass
Steve Smith - Drums

BIO (WIKI)

Steve Smith and Vital Information is an American jazz-fusion group led by drummer Steve Smith. The core members of the original line-up of Vital Information — Steve Smith (drums), Tim Landers (bass) and Dave Wilczewski (sax) — met in 1971 during their high school years while playing together in the Bridgewater State College Big Band, a Boston area college band that also featured outstanding high school students, the band was under the direction of Vincent Gannon. By 1977 Smith was touring with Jean-Luc Ponty, Landers with Al Di Meola and Wilczewski with Freddie Hubbard. They met in Boston once a year for a “reunion” gig using various guitarists such as Dean Brown, Daryl Stuermer orBarry Finnerty to complete the band. From 1977–1982 the three principle band members wrote many compositions, played a number of gigs and developed the sound and concept that became the first edition of Vital Information. After Smith was in Journey for a few years he was able to secure a Columbia record deal for his first solo album. The group recorded Vital Information (1983), which featured Landers, Wilczewski and Smith along with guitarists Dean Brown and Mike Stern. The album was recorded in Warren, RI in January 1983 and released that summer. In September ‘83 the band toured the USA with the Dutch guitarist Eef Albers replacing Mike Stern, who was on the road with both Miles Davis and Jaco Pastorius. At the end of the tour the group returned to RI and recorded Orion (1984), their second album.After leaving Journey in 1985 Steve Smith continued on as the bandleader of Vital Information with Tim Landers and Dave Wilczewski eventually leaving the group to pursue their own careers. Landers is a successful studio musician in Los Angeles and Wilczewski moved to Stockholm, Sweden, where he was a key player in the European music scene until his untimely death on August 22, 2009. Tom Coster (keyboards), formerly of Santana, joined Vital Information in 1986 and first appeared on Global Beat (1987), which integrated hand percussion and steel drums into the direction of the music. Kai Eckhardt (bass), later with John McLaughlin, and Torsten de Winkel (guitar), later with the Pat Metheny Group, joined Vital Information in 1986 and 1987 for tours in the United States and Europe and appeared on and composed for the group's next album, Fiafiaga (1988), which generally continued with the Global Beat direction but added computer-based and funkier sounds to the stylistic mix. A more straight-ahead jazz version of the group, with Larry Grenadier (acoustic bass), Larry Schneider (sax), Tom Coster(keys), Frank Gambale (guitar), Steve Smith (drums), recorded Vitalive! (1990). The album has recently been re-mastered and rereleased. Jeff Andrews (bass) joined the band in the early 1990s recording Easier Done Than Said (1992) and Ray of Hope (1996). Vital Information re-invented themselves as a more organic groove-oriented band with the direction of Where We Come from(1998). Baron Browne (bass) joined the band in 1998, which further solidified their more funk-oriented approach. With the line-up of Smith (drums) Tom Coster (keys), Frank Gambale (guitar) and Browne (bass) they recorded Live Around the World(2000), Show ‘Em Where You Live (2001) and Live from Mars (2002). With the recording Come on in (2004) Smith started introducing Indian rhythms into the music. On Vitalization (2007) Vinny Valentino joined Vital Information on guitar and Smith featured himself on his recently developed konnakol chops along with integrating more Indian rhythms into the music. Live! One Great Night is Vital Information’s latest release and is the first of number of releases to commemorate their 30th Anniversary. Steve Smith has been recently been touring with a version of the band called “Vital Information NYC Edition” that features Valentino and Browne along with Mark Soskin on keyboards and Andy Fusco on alto sax. Fusco and Soskin are two musicians from Smith’s other bands Buddy’s Buddies and Jazz Legacy. With VI NYC Edition the band plays the classic Vital Information songs along with the music of Jazz Legacy and Buddy’s Buddies. In November 2012 VI NYC Edition recorded a live album and new studio album. The Vital Information NYC Edition recordings will be released in 2013 as part of the groups 30th Anniversary Celebration.

25.2.14

The New Mastersounds


The New Mastersounds - 102% - 2007 - One Note Records

It won't take long -- maybe ten seconds into the first cut -- to know that the Meters are a primary influence on the U.K.'s New Mastersounds. The opening title track is such a ringer for "Cissy Strut" that you may check your CD sleeve to see if the discs weren't accidentally swapped. As the album unwinds, though, the all-instrumental quartet reveals more of its own identity: a sort of acid jazz mixed with crisp early-'70s funk grabbed from New Orleans' finest. Certainly drummer Simon Allen has been practicing to his Zigaboo Modeliste records, and it's his attack that principally drives the sound. The interplay between organ and Eddie Roberts' guitar carries the melody, but this band's motor is powered by its formidable rhythm section. Despite the Meters fixation, the New Mastersounds marry a somewhat retro approach with a contemporary spin that makes this fusion perfect for Austin Powers lovers. There is no denying that these guys bring the Southern funk, but the mix of their Brit jazz sensibilities and chops fine-tuned for maximum danceability spins the music in a unique direction. There's also more than a little Booker T. & the MG's here, especially in guitarist Roberts' sparse, choppy leads that echo those of Steve Cropper. What's most impressive, though, is how the band locks together. No member hogs the spotlight as these 14 tightly arranged zingers, most of them hovering just over three minutes, trim off the fatty jam tendencies that often sink similar combos by concentrating on compressed licks that kick out of the speakers with terse precision. The group shifts into pseudo psychedelics on the closing "Paranoid (Is It Any Wonder?)" as Roberts approximates a Cream-era Clapton-styled distortion that doesn't entirely resonate but at least shows a willingness to experiment and push boundaries. A few stabs at a lounge style also come up rather short, but the snappy funk is never more than a track away. Guest reedman Rob Lavers adds some old Crusaders-type horn work on a few songs, assisting a band that's already as in the pocket as they come. © Hal Horowitz © 2014 AllMusic, a division of All Media Network, LLC. | All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/album/release/102-mr0001685730

The New Mastersounds are four chaps with some serious funk chops. Hailing from Leeds in the UK, they revel in the soulful music that has long been all the rage in Northern England. Having rightfully gained a reputation for out-Metering The Meters, their latest effort, 102% is another retro-fueled funkathon that sees the band expanding its range into previously unexplored territory. Of course, funk is still the bread and butter of this band, and 102% delivers a heavy diet of it. A serious groove is laid down in "33 (A Fine Year to Die)," with Bob Birch dropping in the perfect accents on his bubbling Hammond B-3. Pete Shand's nimble bassline locks in perfectly with Eddie Roberts’ greasy guitar to give "Give Me a Minute (Pt 2)" the nastiness it needs. And the title track delivers the killer Meters-like strut we’ve come to expect from The New Mastersounds. Similar sentiments are also echoed by the deep pocket of Return to Gijón which relies heavily upon Simon Allen’s pulsating backbeat to create an intoxicating rhythm that will have hips grinding and appendages flailing. Not content to stay stuck in the funk zone, 102% dips its toes into a couple of other related pools. On the prime soul jazz of "Carrot Juice," Roberts' ripping guitar would make Grant Green, Jr. blush, while Shand's nimble bass and Allen's superkinetic drums combine for a rock solid rhythm section. Toss in some hyperactive organ from Birch and you got yourself one of the best tracks on the album. The dance party continues with hip-shaking aplomb on Talk Is Cheap, a jazzy number that employs some excellent breakbeats and cool sax solos from guest Rob Lavers. Afrobeat filtered through a lens of Curtis Mayfield is on the docket as Hey Fela! pays tribute to Fela Kuti while sounding as if the tune belonged on the soundtrack to a 1970s blaxploitation film. The album concludes with two space-age, trippy numbers, L.A. Root Down (Dub Side of The Pier) and Paranoid (Is It Any Wonder?). The former is a chilled-out bopper that features Birch experimenting with off-kilter effects and figures on his Fender Rhodes, and the latter is an intense head-spinner that swirls with washes and plenty of weirdness. Most of the tracks on 102% are upbeat cuts with very danceable grooves, making this an excellent party album. Even the more experimental songs still have a familiar and addictive beat, and it’s on these numbers that The New Mastersounds set themselves apart from other bands. While many would be content to crank out discs full of mere retrofunk, The New Mastersounds are not interested in re-creating the past; rather they are taking vintage sounds and attitudes and merging them with modern ideas. The result is an addictive blend that has one foot in the past, one foot in the present, and both eyes on the future. © Brian Ferdman - Jambase.com - February 2007

Great heavy soul/acid jazz funk, with a retro psychedelic rock flavour from a great British soul funk band. Listen to TNM’ “Live at San Francisco” album [All tracks @ 320 Kbps: File size = 125 Mb]

TRACKS

1 102% 3:01
2 Witness 5:25
3 Carrot Juice 6:02
4 Thirty Three 3:15
5 Colorado Sun (Jesse's Backyard) 4:33
6 Give Me a Minute, Pt. 2 3:20
7 Rope-A-Dope 2:13
8 Hey Fela! 5:27
9 Bus Stop No. 5 3:16
10 Return to Gijón 3:21
11 Forgiveness 3:13
12 Talk Is Cheap 3:27
13 L.A. Root Down (Dub Side of the Pier) 2:50
14 Paranoid (Is It Any Wonder?) 6:09

All tracks composed by Bob Birch, Eddie Roberts, Pete Shand, and Simon Allen except “Give Me A Minute (Pt 2)” by Birch, Roberts, Shand, Allen, & C. Gutjahr, and “Witness” composed by Rodney Smith

MUSICIANS

Eddie Roberts – Guitar, Tambourine
Pete Shand - Bass Guitar
Bob Birch - Hammond Organ, Fender Rhodes
Simon Allen - Drums
Rob Lavers - Saxophone, Flute
Richard Formby - Tape Effects

BIO

One of the cornerstone acts of the U.K. retro-soul scene, the New Mastersounds play taut old-school instrumental funk with a contemporary energy and enthusiasm that has earned them rave reviews and led them to collaborate with a number of major acts in Britain and the United States. the New Mastersounds were formed in 1999 by guitarist Eddie Roberts, who was DJ'ing at a weekly club night in Leeds devoted to classic soul and funk. When the event moved to a new venue that covered two floors, Roberts saw the opportunity to add a live band to the mix, and he recruited drummer Simon Allen, who had previously played with Roberts in a band called the Mastersounds. With the addition of Pete Shand on bass and Bob Birch on piano and organ, the new act was complete and in tribute to their old group, Roberts and Allen dubbed the combo the New Mastersounds. It didn't take long for word about the New Mastersounds to spread, and in 2000 they released a pair of 7" singles on Blow It Hard Records drawn from early rehearsal tapes. In 2001, they recorded their first full-length album, Keb Darge Presents: The New Mastersounds, which was issued on Darge's Deep Funk label; the album earned enthusiastic reviews and top DJs such as Cut Chemist, Pete Rock, and DJ Shadow sampled their grooves. Their second LP, 2003's Be Yourself, included guest vocals from Corinne Bailey Rae, and following a third studio set, 2005's This Is What We Do, the band documented the sound of its fabled live sets on 2006's Live at La Cova, recorded at a club gig in Spain. In 2006, the New Mastersounds briefly expanded to a five-piece with the addition of Rob Lavers on sax and flute (a number of guest horn players have recorded and toured with the group over the years), but he parted ways with them in 2007, the same year Bob Birch left the lineup, making way for new keyboard man Joe Tatton. As the New Mastersounds toured clubs and festivals around the world, they continued to attract new fans, including American funk legends Art Neville of the Neville Brothers, Maceo Parker and Fred Wesley of James Brown's J.B.'s, and George Porter Jr. of the Meters, all of whom have jammed with the combo on-stage. In 2008, they collaborated with vocalist Dionne Charles on the album Plug & Play, and in 2009 they celebrated their tenth anniversary with the appropriately titled Ten Years On, which included guest spots from Grace Potter, Chip Wickham, and Skerik. Having established a strong fan base in the U.K., Europe, and Japan, in 2011 the New Mastersounds began looking to the United States; during a stay in Texas they cut the album Breaks from the Border, which featured vocals from the group members for the first time. © Mark Deming © 2014 AllMusic, a division of All Media Network, LLC. | All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-new-mastersounds-mn0000951908/biography

Richie Kotzen


Richie Kotzen - Electric Joy - 1991 - Shrapnel

Richie Kotzen's third solo album finds the virtuoso guitarist taking a more subdued route, shedding the overt pop metal-isms (not to mention the vocals) of Fever Dream in favor of clean toned, fusioinistic instrumentals. Although lacking the humor of his first album and the rock swagger of his second, Electric Joy showcases Kotzen's growth as a musician. While it may be his most impressive record to date, it's not necessarily the most fun. © Andy Hinds © 2014 AllMusic, a division of All Media Network, LLC. | All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/album/electric-joy-mw0000271053

Great instrumental blues based guitar music with a sprinkling of jazz, rock, funk, fusion, country, and bluegrass. Richie Kotzen is a guitar virtuoso, a master of improvisation , and his playing here is sparkling without using any overindulgent guitar pyrotechnics. HR by A.O.O.F.C. Listen to Richie’s “Bi Polar Blues” album [All tracks @ 320 Kbps: File size = 100 Mb]

TRACKS

1.B Funk 4:18
2.Electric Toy 5:01
3.Shufina 5:02
4.Acid Lips 4:45
5.Slow Blues 4:21
6.High Wire 5:41
7.Dr. Glee 4:11
8.Hot Rails 3:34
9.The Deece Song 5:13

All tracks composed by Richie Kotzen

MUSICIANS

Richie Kotzen - Guitar, Bass, Tubular Bell
Atma Anur - Drums, Percussion

24.2.14

Matt Bianco


Matt Bianco - Free Soul - Drive With Matt Bianco - 2009 - Victor (Japan)

In the 80's Matt Bianco was regarded as one of the best jazz-pop acts in Europe.
he compilation album here is a fabulous blend of mellow, urban and sophisticated acid jazz and Cuban rhythms. The tracks were originally recorded on Matt Bianco albums released between 1984 and 2002. You don't need to enjoy "dance music" to enjoy this album which is HR by A.O.O.F.C. Check out their classic jazz-pop album "Matt's Mood". For music in the same vein listen to "Everything but the Girl's "Home Movies" album. [All tracks @ 320 Kbps]

TRACKS / COMPOSERS

1. Half A Minute - Kito Poncioni / Mark Reilly / Danny White 3:47
2. Our Love - Mark Fisher / Mark Reilly 4:47
3. What A Fool Believes - Kenny Loggins / Michael McDonald 4:30
4. Venga - Mark Fisher / Mark Reilly / Jesus Bola / Diego Carrasco 3:56
5. Love Life - Mark Fisher / Mark Reilly 5:05
6. All In A Day - Mark Fisher / Mark Reilly 5:13
7. I Surrender - Mark Fisher / Mark Reilly 4:32
8. Could You Be? - Mark Fisher / Mark Reilly 4:32
9. The World Is A Ghetto - Papa Dee Allen / Harold Brown / B.B. Dickerson /Lonnie Jordan / C-harles Miller / Lee Oskar / Howard Scott 4:44
10. Buddy's Groove - Mark Fisher / Mark Reilly 4:56
11. Good Times - Mark Fisher / Mark Reilly 4:20
12. Dancing In The Street - Mark Fisher / Mark Reilly 3:52
13. More Than I Can Bear - Mark Reilly / Danny White 4:14
14. Yeh Yeh - Rodgers Grant / Jon Hendricks / Pat Patrick 3:22
15. Get Out Of Your Lazy Bed - Mark Reilly / Danny White 3:28
16. Echoes - Mark Fisher / Mark Reilly 3.58
17. Whose Side Are You On? - Mark Reilly / Danny White / Ross 3:23
18. Head Over Heels - Grant / Patrick / Hendrick 4:17

TRACK INFO

1. Half a Minute 3.46 [from WHOSE SIDE ARE YOU ON, 1984]
2. Our Love 4.49 [from ANOTHER TIME ANOTHER PLACE, 1993]
3. What a Fool Believes 4.33 [A/COLLECTION 1998 version] [originally on SAMBA IN YOUR CASA, 1991]
4. Venga 3.56 [from WORLD GO ROUND, 1997]
5. Love Life 5.08 [from GRAN VIA, 1995]
6. All in a Day 5.17 [from ECHOES, 2002]
7. I Surrender 4.32 [from WORLD GO ROUND, 1997]
8. Could You Be? 4.34 [from RICO, 2000]
9. The World Is a Ghetto 4.45 [from ANOTHER TIME ANOTHER PLACE, 1993]
10. Buddy`s Groove 4.58 [from coll-CD WAP BAM BOOGIE, 2006]
11. Good Times 4.20 [A/COLLECTION 1998 version] [originally on INDIGO, 1988]
12. Dancing in the Street 3.53 [A/COLLECTION 1998 version] [originally on MATT BIANCO, 1986]
13. More Than I Can Bear 4.01 [A/COLLECTION 1998 version] [originally on WHOSE SIDE ARE YOU ON, 1984]
14. Yeh! Yeh! 3.22 [A/COLLECTION 1998 version] [originally on MATT BIANCO, 1986]
15. Get Out of Your Lazy Bed 3.22 [from WHOSE SIDE ARE YOU ON, 1984]
16. Echoes 4.15 [from ECHOES, 2002]
17. Whose Side Are You On 3.22 [A/COLLECTION 1998 version] [originally on WHOSE SIDE ARE YOU ON, 1984]
18. Head over Heels 4.15 [from ANOTHER TIME ANOTHER PLACE, 1993] (Victor Entertainment Japan, VICP-64735)

BIO (WIKI)

Matt Bianco is a UK band that was formed in 1983. They are mainly known for their success in the mid-1980s and their jazz, Latin-flavoured music. Popular during the mid-1980s in continental Europe, Matt Bianco was part of the new jazz pop genre, that they shared with acts such as Working Week, Sade,Everything but the Girl, and The Style Council. The name suggests that Matt Bianco is a person, often assumed to be an alias for the main constant member and frontman, Mark Reilly, but Matt is in fact "a made up spy, a secret agent; we loved spy TV themes and film scores". Formed by Mark Reilly (vocals), Danny White (keyboards), and the late Kito Poncioni (bass) in 1982 from the remnants of the abandoned art pop group, Blue Rondo A La Turk, for their first album, Whose Side Are You On?, they hired then unknown Polish vocalist Basia Trzetrzelewska. Her vocal arrangements gave the album a jazzy dimension. Mixmaster Phil Harding applied what would become his signature style to the recordings. Hits like "Get Out of Your Lazy Bed" and "Half a Minute," which Basia would feature live throughout her solo career, turned Matt Bianco into one of the biggest acts of Europe in 1984. Basia and Danny White, who subsequently formed a romantic relationship, left the group soon after the first album to pursue a very successful international solo career for Basia with Sony on the Epic label. They maintained their working relationship with Phil Harding until 1990, he continued to work with Matt Bianco as well. Reilly found two new musical partners: Jenny Evans became the new female singer for Matt Bianco, contributing mainly backing vocals, and lead vocals on two album tracks, and ex-Wham and Second Image keyboarder and session musician Mark Fisher became White's successor as songwriter and producer, and the band's keyboard player. This line-up recorded the (self-titled) Matt Bianco album. With the addition of Mark Fisher the sound changed considerably. Fisher, a keyboardist, composer and studio wizard, contributed a more contemporary sound, compared to that of the early Matt Bianco. The use of synthesizers increased notably: Yamaha's DX-7 can be heard providing the slap bass in most songs, but the choice of noted studio musicians remained consistent with Ronnie Ross being the most prominent example. After the first album with the new line-up, they took a 13-piece band on to a European tour, that saw them perform in front of an audience of more than 250,000 attendees in total. In 1984 they appeared on the BBC TV morning show Saturday Superstore and were infamously subjected to a brief torrent of four-lettered abuse during a fan 'phone-in', which could not be cut as the show was live. Jenny Evans left the group shortly after the recording of the group's self-titled album and was not replaced. Matt Bianco was now a household name in Europe, and Warner Brothers sought to market them in the United States. They hired Gloria Estefan's husband and producer Emilio Estefan to produce a few songs, and recorded their third album, Indigo, with the Estefan productions being chosen as singles. 1988's "Don't Blame it on That Girl" and "Good Times" only made a moderate impact. "Wap-Bam-Boogie", an album track originally on the B-side of the first single, which did well on the dance charts, and pushed the joint single release up to Number 11 on the UK Singles Chart, making it Matt Bianco's most successful single. Their first Greatest Hits album, entitled The Best of Matt Bianco, collecting their greatest hits from 1983 to 1990, was released in 1990. Another studio album was released in 1991 by Warner Brothers, the fractured Samba in Your Casa, the fourth long-playing by the group. Reilly and Fisher then split from their record company and went freelance. From then on, they recorded their albums in their own studios, and then offered them to independent distributors worldwide. They scored contracts with ZYX Music and Intercord in Europe, and Victor Entertainment in Asia, but failed to sign on with another major label. The next albums did not sell well in Europe, but they created a loyal fan base in Japan and the rest of Asia. The albums Another Time Another Place, Gran Via, World Go Round, A/Collection (not a greatest hits album, but more of a compilation album, compiling a number of remakes of Matt Bianco's stand-out album tracks plus remixes of a few of their hits), Rico, and Echoes sold well enough for a comfortable lifestyle in the South-East of England. After twenty years recording and touring, the two split amicably. Initiated by a mutual friend, Basia and Danny White joined with Mark Reilly to reform the "original" Matt Bianco, in 2003, signing to the Emarcy label. In 2004, Matt Bianco released the album Matt's Mood (the name is from one of their most popular early instrumental tracks), which featured well-crafted adult contemporary/jazz numbers, in the spirit of their first album. This was accompanied by an extensive PR exercise, giving the album plenty of airtime. The following year, they embarked on a world tour, which included stops in the UK, Japan, and the United States. After the success of Matt's Mood, Basia and White left Matt Bianco again to reinvigorate the Basia brand. Reilly reunited with Fisher, and Matt Bianco were back as a duo. Three compilation albums were marketed between 2005 and 2008, including The Best of Matt Bianco - Volume 2, containing many of the Asian tracks, which were so far only available in Germany for European fans, and the re-release of the original 1990 The Best of Matt Bianco, featuring their European hits from 1983 to 1990. In May 2009 Fisher and Reilly released their first album as a duo for eight years in Europe, the UK and Japan. With HiFi Bossanova the band secured a recording contract with Edel Music in Europe and continued their cooperation with JVC-Victor in Japan which in November 2012 bore fruit again with the release of their latest album Hideaway.

23.2.14

Frank Gambale


Frank Gambale - Live! - 1989 - Wombat

"Live!" features some long instrumental guitar tracks by super Aussie guitarist Frank Gambale, recorded live at the Baked Potato on Sunday, August 21, 1988. Frank recorded this album immediately after a long tour with Chick Corea and the Elektric Band and his chops were flying. Definitely need to strap in with a seat belt while listening to this one. It features Kei Akagi on keyboards, Steve Tavaglione on sax and electronic wing, Joe Heredia on drums, and Steve Kershisnik on bass guitar. "Live!" showcases Gambale's talent on recordings which are unabashed, unabridged total blasting with no concern for commerciality or airplay. As it should be. © 1996-2013 Guitar Nine All Rights Reserved

The great guitar maestro from Canberra, Australia, Frank Gambale (born 22 December 1958) is a master of fusion guitar. He has released many great solo albums and played with greats like Jean-Luc Ponty, Chick Corea, Allan Holdsworth, Brett Garsed and Shawn Lane. He has been a member of various bands, including Vital Information and GHS. Frank is comparable to Larry Carlton, in that they are both into the acoustic, the smooth jazz, and the rock and jazz fusion side of music, but when the occasion arises they can shred and burn like the best. This album leans more towards the rock/jazz fusion side. The tracks were recorded live at The Baked Potato, Studio City, Los Angeles on Sunday, August 21st, 1988, and the musicianship is dynamic. Paul Kohler of Allmusic.com said that "You can't live without this intense live guitar album with over 64 minutes of blazing guitar virtuosity". The album is VHR by A.O.O.F.C. Check out Frank's "Absolutely Live: in Poland" album, Gambale, Donati, Fierabracci's "Made In Australia" album and Gambale & Colonna's "Imagery Suite" album. If you want to hear Frank at his killer jazz rock/fusion best, listen to his amazing "Resident Alien Live Bootlegs" album. Buy Frank's "Coming To Your Senses" album and support great jazz fusion [All tracks @ 160 Kbps: File size = 71.8 Mb]

STEELY DAN TRIVIA: Frank Gambale played electric guitar on The Dan's "FM" track. Ann Wickstrom of vintageguitar.com has said that Frank is "a Steely Dan freak! He can sit down at the piano and sing all the lyrics to almost every Steely Dan song!"

TRACKS

1 Credit Reference Blues 13:13
2 Fe Fi Fo Funk 9:58
3 Spending Sunday With You 8:56
4 A Touch of Brazil 16:12
5 Spike's Song 6:23
6 The Natives Are Restless 10:02

All tracks composed by Frank Gambale

MUSICIANS

Frank Gambale - Electric & Acoustic Guitar
Steve Kershisnik - Bass
Kei Akagi - Keyboards
Joe Heredia - Drums
Steve Tavaglione - Saxophone, Electric Wind Instrument

FRANK GAMBALE BIO

Frank began playing guitar at age 7 in Canberra, Australia where he was born and raised. He was influenced by the blues playing of Jimi Hendrix , John Mayall / Eric Clapton, and Grateful Dead's Jerry Garcia and the music of the Beatles just to name a few. In his mid-teens he discovered Steely Dan, The Brecker Brothers and Chick Corea, which pointed him in a jazzy direction. When he was 15 years old in 1974, influenced and inspired by the improvisations of Chick Corea and Michael Brecker, began developing his Sweep Picking Technique which today is considered a standard technique which didn't exist, or was thought to be an impossible pursuit before Gambale proved otherwise. The Sweep Picking Technique is a landmark in the history of guitar and Frank Gambale is the undisputed Master of Sweep Picking. In 1982 at 23 he decided to leave his home to study at the Guitar Institute of Technology (GIT) in Hollywood. He graduated with the highest honor, Student of the Year and was offered a teaching position which he kept for 4 years. During his year as a student, he was constantly bombarded with questions and curiosities from other students marvelling at how he was playing the guitar because no-one had ever seen the guitar played this way. His Sweep Picking Technique was already developed to a very high level and as a result of the constant question by fellow students and instructors, he penned his first book called "Speed Picking" ( Hal Leonard Publ. ). Gambale wanted to call the book "Sweep Picking" but the publisher didn't know what it meant since there was no precedent, and they believed the guitar public wouldn't know what the book was about either. Everyone now knows the what Sweep Picking is thanks to Gambale and his pioneering achievement. In 1986 he signed a 3 album contract with a small label called Legato and began his recording career. The same year he was recruited by Jean-luc Ponty to tour in the summer. Shortly after that tour, he auditioned for Chick Corea and began a 6 year stint which culminated in 5 albums, a Grammy award and two Grammy Nominations. Chick helped expose Frank to the world, for which he is very grateful, "playing with Chick was like a dream come true" says Frank.The band reunited in 2002 for the album "To The Stars" and more world tours which continue to the present. Also in 1986 Ibanez guitars approached him to endorse their guitar which culminated in a 13 year relationship and spawned the Frank Gambale model guitar which was first on sale worldwide in 1987. They made 4 versions of the guitar, the FGM100, FGM200, FGM300 and FGM400. In 1987 Frank signed a 3-video deal with DCI / Warner Brothers/ now all under the Alfred Publishing banner, for instructional videos. His first video "Monster Licks and Speed Picking" cemented Gambale's claim as the Grand Master of Sweep Picking. Again, he fought and lost with the publisher to have the word "sweep" not "speed" in the title but the fact remains that the subject matter was Sweep Picking. Gambale had given to the world, in these two instructional publications, the very nuts and bolts of Sweep Picking and the majority of his work outlined the accepted method of the Sweep Picking technique. In 1988, Frank signed a major label deal with JVC. In 1990 he released "Thunder From Down Under" which sold well all over the world and at one point it was #1 on the Japanese Jazz charts along with all his three Legato releases in the top 10 at the same time.In the same year he produced a landmark album with Allan Holdsworth called Truth In Shredding featuring songs from The Brecker Brothers, Chick Corea and Wayne Shorter and one original composition.In 1992, Frank decided it was time to go out there on his own and has been touring with his group ever since. He has toured in many countries with his own band including Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Australia, Germany, Switzerland, Japan and the U.S. He has done countless seminars and master classes worldwide to countries as far away as South Africa and Uruguay since the late 80's demonstrating his phenomenal Sweep Picking Technique and unique brand of music. In 1996 Frank was offered a position of Head of the Guitar Department of a new musical school in the Los Angeles area called the L.A. Music Academy (LAMA). He wrote most of the core curriculum/ study program for this one year vocational school including Harmony and Theory, Improvisation, Technique and Composition courses. He has recently resigned from the school and is in talks with other schools to license his curriculum. In the late 90's Frank began his own record label called Wombat Records on which he re-released his early Legato catalog along with other releases including a double live CD called Resident Alien - Live Bootlegs, and a duet CD with Maurizio Colonna, the famous Italian Classical guitarist called Imagery Suite, a live album recorded in Poland in 1996 where Frank plays lives versions of music from the Passages and Thinking Out Loud period, an album by his long-time friend and bassist Tony Muschamp called More Bass Please. In 2000 Gambale recorded a wonderful guitar album called Coming To Your Senses, the first release on the new Steve Vai owned label, Favored Nations. In 2005 Gambale released another album called Raison D'Etre. This marked another groundbreaking invention on the guitar, his "Gambale Tuning".This tuning, really a re-stringing of the guitar enabled close-voicing chords previously only the domain of piano players. Sweep Picking and the Gambale Tuning method will go down as two major contributions in guitar history books. In 2007 Gambale released Natural High, an all acoustic album featuring reworkings of jazz standards with his own melodies. In the same year he release three compilations of his music spanning his entire recording history, Best Of Jazz and Rock Fusion, Best Of The Smoothe Side, and Best Of The Acoustic Side. Frank has also played and contributed songs to seven Vital Information albums and three trio recordings on Mike Varney's Tone Center records. The first released in 1999 called Show Me What You Can Do was well received, and the second called The Light Beyond came out in July 2000 and the third one is simply called GHS 3. Frank left Ibanez for a deal with Yamaha guitars and a new Frank Gambale model called AES-FG soon followed. A second model is being designed currently for a future release. Frank worked with Carvin to design a guitar preamp called the Tone Navigator which was released at the January 2004 NAMM in Los Angeles. This is an opportunity granted to very few people. Gambale's most recent releases for Alfred Publishing are a concert DVD called Concert With Class, 90 min. concert and 90 min. instructional material related to the performance part and an acoustic concert/ instructional called Acoustic Improvisation which is a 60 minute concert with his Natural High Trio plus 60 minutes of melodic development ideas. Late in 2002 the celebration of Chick Corea's 60th birthday reunited the Elektric Band after a 10 year hiatus with a sold-out performance to 18,000 at the Hollywood Bowl Aug 28th. The band received a GRAMMY Award and two NOMINATIONS in the late 80's and early 90s. The show kicked off a wave of reunion tours. The group recorded an album the same year called To The Stars and a live DVD at the famous Montreux Jazz Festival. Gambale keeps a busy schedule for sure either writing for an album, book or video, touring or helping design a new guitar model with Yamaha, or giving seminars in Asia, or doing a session for an Italian pop record. Frank loves his work to say the least." I can't believe I get paid to do what I do, I wouldn't trade it for the world". © HDtracks 2007 - 2012 https://www.hdtracks.com/index.php?file=artistdetail&id=4729

BIO (WIKI)

Frank Gambale (born 22 December 1958), is an Australian jazz fusion guitarist. He has released eleven studio albums over a period of more than two decades, and is renowned for his use of the sweep picking and economy picking techniques. Gambale graduated from GIT in Hollywood, with Student of the Year honors. He also taught there from 1984 to 1986. After graduation, he played the jazz club circuit with his own band and in 1985 released his first studio album, Brave New Guitar, through Legato Records (owned by Mark Varney, brother of Shrapnel Records founder Mike Varney) in what was to be a three-album contract. In that same year, he toured with Jean-Luc Ponty and shortly afterwards began a six-year stint with the Chick Corea Elektric Band in 1987. During his time with the latter, he has participated in five albums and shared a Grammy Award (with two nominations). In the 1980s, he released two studio albums and a live album. In 1988, he released Monster Licks & Speed Picking, the first of many instructional videos. An endorsement deal with Ibanez guitars resulted in the 1987 debut of the Frank Gambale Model (FGM) signature series, modeled after the Ibanez Saber. Yamaha also manufactured a signature guitar after he left Ibanez later in the 1990s. In 2011, he endorsed the Carvin FG1, a thin hollow body guitar made in the US. He signed with Victor Entertainment in 1989 as part of a five-album agreement, and released Thunder from Down Under the following year. The 1990s began for Gambale with a pair of albums—Truth in Shredding (1990) and Centrifugal Funk (1991)—as part of The Mark Varney Project. These were collaborations with fellow guitarists Allan Holdsworth, Brett Garsed and Shawn Lane, in a jazz fusion supergroup concept put together by Mark Varney. Around this time, he served as head of the guitar department of the Los Angeles Music Academy. In the 2000s, having parted ways with Victor, Gambale started his own record label named Wombat Records after purchasing his entire Legato discography with the intention of reissuing it himself. A live double album, Resident Alien – Live Bootlegs, was released in 2001, along with Imagery Suite; a duet featuring classical guitarist Maurizio Colonna. He also released a studio album, Coming to Your Senses, on guitarist Steve Vai's Favored Nations label in 2000. Gambale has also been a member of the jazz fusion band Vital Information since 1988, with the group consisting of keyboardist Tom Coster, drummer Steve Smith and bassist Baron Browne. Furthermore, in a group known as GHS, he has released three collaborative albums with Steve Smith and bassist Stu Hamm through Mike Varney's jazz-orientated label, Tone Center Records. In addition to concert recordings, he released an instructional DVD called Concert with Class in 2003. A reunion with Chick Corea came about in 2004, and Gambale subsequently toured with the Chick Corea Elektric Band. In 2006 and 2010, he released two all-jazz studio albums in the form of Natural High and Natural Selection, respectively.

Toshi Iseda


Toshi Iseda - Full On! - 1998 - Over The Top! Records

“Years ago I had purchased 2 PRS guitars. Best guitars I've EVER played. At the time though, they weren't manufacturing a production 7-string guitar. I've been playing 7-string guitars exclusively since 1991. I've waited over 20 years for the greatest guitar manufacturer to make the guitar of my dreams. They're here. It was worth the wait." Born in Chicago Illinois, and after being mesmerized by his uncle Jeff Brown playing guitar, Toshi Iseda was inspired to pick up the guitar. A guitarist since the 7th grade, Toshi has become known as THE prominent up-and-coming guitarist in the Midwest. In the “beginning”, he was inspired by listening to a lot of different kinds of music, but especially that of KISS, Aerosmith and Peter Frampton (The song “Do You Feel Like We Do?” had a profound effect on Toshi). He then was motivated to practice up to 2 hours a day when first learning how to play. Toshi’s first “serious” influences were guitarist such as Rock greats Eddie Van Halen, Randy Rhoads, Adrian Vandenberg (when he was in the band Vandenberg), Uli Jon Roth, Jimi Hendrix, and Michael Schenker among others. After reading an interview with then UFO guitarist Michael Schenker in an issue of Guitar Player Magazine where Schenker spoke of how he practiced as many as 4 hours a day when starting, Toshi decided it was time to up the stakes on his practice regime. Toshi then started practicing up to 5 hours a day in order to play like Mike! Toshi eventually worked his practice schedule up to 15 hours a day!!! This practice schedule also included Toshi’s classical guitar studies which he had later taken up after hearing about Randy Rhoads’ classical influence. Toshi’s classical guitar influences include Christopher Parkening, Andreas Segovia, Liona Boyd, John Williams and Julian Bream. Later his Rock influences would include Tony MacAlpine, Vinnie Moore, Paul Gilbert (circa Racer X), Jason Becker - basically the whole Shrapnel records collection -, George Lynch, Eric Johnson, Yngwie Malmsteen and Steve Vai. Unlike many of Toshi’s guitar playing friends, he was also influenced by a great deal of non hard rock guitarist such as Ernie Isley, Al Mckay (from Earth Wind and Fire), George Benson and blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughn, B. B. King, Johnny Winter and Robert Johnson. As Toshi improved his influences grew to include such “fusion” guitarist as Steve Morse, Al DiMeola, Allan Holdsworth, John McLaughlin and Bill Conners. In 1985 and 1986, Toshi entered and won the ‘Hot Licks’ contest for two years in a row. The only guitarist to ever do so! He then received a scholarship to the world renown Berklee College Of Music where he majored in Music Synthesis and Performance. At Berklee he was consistently asked by fellow class mates for instruction on the modern techniques of the time and started teaching. Soon Toshi would have enough students to where his was able to financially support himself doing this. Eventually Toshi was teaching over 50+ hourly students a week which is what he averaged up until he stopped teaching, due to career commitments, in 2001. (During his time teaching in Chicago Toshi, according to a readers poll results, was considered the #1 guitar instructor in Chicago - some say the Midwest!) It was during 1988/89, that he hooked up with then Aerosmith keyboardist C. Bruce Ost who had recently gotten off tour with the group and formed the band ‘Shoot Shoot’, which went on to become one of Boston’s most popular bands. Toshi left Shoot Shoot to form his own groups ‘Clyde’ then ‘Autumn Lords’ which also featured recently departed Tony MacAlpine bassist Mike Jacques. He then submitted tapes to Mike Varney and John Stix and featured in both Guitar Player Magazine’s “Spotlight” column (July/1990) and Guitar F.P.M.‘s “Resume” column (November/1990). It was then, in the winter/spring of 1991, that Toshi received a call from Columbia recording artist Heaven’s Edge and was asked to join the group. Iseda had met the guys in the band while hangin’ out one night in Philadelphia in 1990 with Shrapnel recording artist Richie Kotzen. Toshi then relocated to New Jersey where the band is from, and went on to play with them for approximately 6 month’s where he then moved to N.Y.C. after leaving the group to be closer to a major music metropolis. While in New York he also taught privately and at the American Institute of Guitar in Manhattan. Toshi has also served as a visiting instructor at the Musicians Institute in Tokyo, Japan and is a former faculty member of The National Guitar Workshop. It was right about then that Toshi started playing 7-string guitars. A major turning point in his musical life. Toshi now plays 7-string guitars exclusively and is considered to be the foremost rock player and authority on 7-string guitars, currently owning 109 of them. In 1996 Toshi co-organized and performed at the ‘First Midwest Jason Becker Benefit For ALS’ in Chicago, Illinois. The Benefit that Toshi spearheaded featured such stellar musicians as Eddie Van Halen, Marty Friedman, Zakk Wylde, Tony MacAlpine, Vinnie Moore, Greg Howe, Billy Sheehan, Steve Lukather, Richie Kotzen, Michael Lee Firkins and many, many more! Toshi has been featured in guitar/music magazines around the world including; Guitar Player, Guitar World , Guitar/Guitar One, The Guitarist Network. Internationally in magazines such as Young Guitar, Guitar F.P.M. and Guitar Magazine (JAPAN), Musica Pro (South America), Guitar Chef (Italy) and others. He also writes instructional columns for several guitar oriented magazines. He has been featured in full page, full color ads with Carvin guitars, Morley pedals, Audix microphones and Spectraflex cables. Having been featured on over 14 CD’s (including all four of Guitar World magazine’s ‘Indie Bin’ CD’s - the only guitarist asked to be on all four CD’s!), in 1998 Toshi released his first solo CD, the critically acclaimed ‘Full On!’ (Over The Top! Records), and collaborated with former Dixie Dregs bassist Andy West to record and co-produce ‘RAMA 1’ on Magna Carta records. This project also features such renown musicians as drummers Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater/Liquid Tension Experiment), Rod Morgenstein (Dixie Dregs/Winger/Jazz Is Dead), Jonathan Mover (Joe Satriani/Einstein) and keyboardist Jens Johansson (Yngwie Malmsteen/Stratovarious), T. Lavitz (Dixie Dregs/Jazz Is Dead) and Mike Keneally (Frank Zappa/Steve Vai). He is the Editor-In-Chief of ‘Intense Guitar!’ Magazine. Newsletter © PRS GUITARS 2012 http://www.prsguitars.com/artists/profile/toshi_iseda

"Toshi's new stuff sounds great! His use of the 7-string guitar and some real cool effects are refreshing. The tone is real warm and precise and his playing is totally wailing!" - John Petrucci (guitarist for Dream Theater/Liquid Tension Experiment).

"Toshi plays awesome guitar on these tunes. He will surely be the envy of any guitarist who hears his work!" - Marty Friedman (Shrapnel/Favored Nations Recording Artist and former Megadeth guitarist)

"Toshi, all the best to you with your music. Great playing!" - Eric Johnson (Capitol Recording Artist)

"Combining melodic sense and raw energy with enough chops to fill a butcher's shop, Toshi seems destined for greatness." - Guitar World Magazine

"One of the most enjoyable sessions that I have been a part of in quite sometime, has been my contributions on the new Toshi Iseda CD. It has always been a pleasure of mine to jam with great guitarist of our time, and certainly Mr. Iseda is included on that list. Enjoy this CD as much as I enjoyed playing on it." - Tony MacAlpine (Shrapnel/Favored Nations Recording Artist)

"Toshi is not only a great guitarist, but a brilliant songwriter and producer. The new CD ROCKS!" - Michael Angelo Batio (Solo Artist)

While not up to world-class instrumental rock standards, Chicago guitarist/instructor Toshi Iseda's playing has plenty of flash and the artist demonstrates his massive chops to fine effect on this debut. All the ingredients needed to create fine shred material are here: dense harmonic motifs, dynamic musical shifts, intriguing arrangements, and, of course, tons of skilled guitar trickery. Iseda just about has it all but, unlike the best of his genre (Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Steve Howe, Yngwie Malmsteen), the guitarist doesn't quite display the unique guitar tone/voice or the strong rhythmic sense needed to make his million-note melees coalesce into something more than musical free for alls. Iseda's rhythm guitars and melodies can sometimes drift in front of the beat -- a bad habit many shredders can't shake. Regardless of genre, the best guitarists never fight the beat. With a keen sense of time, the finest players keep the pocket stabilized, maximizing compositional power. While perhaps not perfect, Iseda is no hack, and this metallic collection sports some fiery soloing. The Chicago shredder basically keeps up when trading licks with monsters Michael Angelo on "Affair With a Stranger" and "High Noon" and Tony MacAlpine on the melodic epic "The Sheltering Sky." In addition to laying down a torrent of guitar tracks, Iseda produced, arranged, composed, recorded, and mixed Full On! in its entirety, and while the drums get lost amid the guitar flurries on rare occasion, the guitarist proves himself very capable on both sides of the recording console. By the time Full On! was released in 1998, there were hardly any new musicians breaking into the minuscule instrumental rock market, so Iseda must be given credit for being true to his own musical values and doing the hard work necessary to make this debut the fast and furious entry that it is. © Vincent Jeffries © 2014 AllMusic, a division of All Media Network, LLC. | All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/album/full-on%21-mw0000043992

Great hard-driving instrumental metal and rock from the Chicago born guitarist, Toshi Iseda. As usual, the music critics compare this guy to Greg Howe, Joe Satriani, etc., etc., usually saying that he is not up to their level of “greatness”. I hate comparing guitarists, as all great guitarists have their own unique skills, and Toshi Iseda is no exception. Listen to this album on it’s own merits, and you may be impressed. Listen to Andy West’s great “Rama 1” album which features Toshi on six tracks [All tracks @ 320 Kbps: File size = 144 Mb]

TRACKS

1Tokushima 2:11
2 Full On! 3:42
3 If I Were King 4:24
4 Custer's Last Groove 5:45
5 Prelude 1:25
6 The Sheltering Sky 9:54
7 92 in the Shade 4:35
8 Angels Masquerading as People 1:57
9 Affair With a Stranger 5:24
10 Predator 5:00
11 High Noon 4:54
12 Crimson Tides 2:14
13 Maryjane Rottencroch 5:47
14 After the Fix 13:41
15 Krackhead 3:02

All tracks composed by Toshi Iseda

MUSICIANS

Michael Angelo, Eddie Head - Guitar
Tony MacAlpine - Guitar, Keyboards
Toshi Iseda - Guitar, Bass, Keyboards, Drums, Sampling
Andy West, Steve Hart - Bass
Derek Bernal, Craig Quinn Kasin, Bobby Domings, Michael Terrana, Kit Bergman, Gregg Potter - Drums

BIO

Seven-string guitar virtuoso Toshi Iseda finally burst out with his own full-length CD, Full On!, after years of honing his "axe" skills; writing articles for guitar-oriented publications such as Guitar World, Guitar, Guitar Player, Showcase Midwest, and Guitarist Network; and giving guitar lessons and clinics all over the world. Iseda had previously recorded with Columbia group Heaven's Edge and was included on four of Guitar World's Indie Bin compilation CDs. Iseda always had aspirations of being a professional rock musician. He initially picked up the guitar in the seventh grade in part because of the popularity of big rock bands such as Kiss, Peter Frampton, and Aerosmith. His uncle, Jeff Brown, was a closer source of inspiration. Iseda played in a bunch of high school rock bands while taking music lessons. While east, Iseda joined New England area band Shoot Shoot formed by Aerosmith's Permanent Vacation tour keyboard player C. Bruce Ost. The band had a Top Five Boston radio hit with "Blind Faith." Guitarist Reggie Wu contacted Iseda about an audition for a second guitarist for New Jersey band Heaven's Edge; Iseda was with the band for a year. In May 1987, he attended Boston's Berklee College of Music. After living in New York City for a year, he moved back to the Midwest. Full On! was released in 1998. © Ed Hogan © 2014 AllMusic, a division of All Media Network, LLC. | All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/artist/toshi-iseda-mn0000797455

21.2.14

Jethro Tull

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Jethro Tull - Live At Montreux 2003 - 2007 - Eagle Rock

While the world may not need another live Jethro Tull disc recorded only two years after their last one, this sturdy, nearly two-hour 2003 gig, released simultaneously on DVD and CD (same tunes and order, but Ian Anderson's often clunky introductions are mercifully edited out of the audio-only version), finds the band in fine form. Anderson and guitarist Martin Barre, the two flagship members, effectively juggle the set to include a few new tracks and some rarities with the handful of hits ("Aqualung," "Locomotive Breath," "My God," "Living in the Past") that the fans demand out of every gig. The double disc is broken down by the band's two sets, the first being primarily acoustic-based, or at least softer material, and the second revving up the electricity and intensity. The other three members (bass, drums, and keys) are accomplished musicians who play with precision if maybe a shortage of personality. But it's really Anderson's and to a lesser extent Barre's show, and they jubilantly lead the ensemble through the blues, prog, jazz, and classical influences that have always distinguished Tull from their contemporaries. Highlights include an acoustic "Fat Man" with Barre playing flute along with Anderson, a stunning 11-minute "Budapest" from Crest of a Knave, and the exotic Middle Eastern worldbeat of "Dot Com." The sound is perfectly recorded and Anderson is in good spirits as he dips deep into the Tull catalog to dust off oldies such as "Some Day the Sun Won't Shine for You" (from the group's 1968 debut), Stand Up's "Nothing Is Easy," and Benefit's "With You There to Help Me." The band injects a twist into the hoary "Locomotive Breath" as it veers off into old British folk territory in its final two minutes, and even "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" (from The Jethro Tull Christmas Album) gets a new lease on life, albeit in a slightly cheesy jazz-classical arrangement reminiscent of "Bourée." Still, this is an impressive document of a band embracing its past while pushing into fresh territory nearly four decades into its existence. Maintaining the old fan base while doing this is a tricky balancing act, but one that Anderson and Barre perform with grace and class. © Hal Horowitz © 2010 Rovi Corporation. All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:gnfuxzw5ldse

The powerful and influential British rock band Jethro Tull have been playing since 1967. Tull began playing experimental blues rock, but over the years they have included elements of classical, folk, ethnic, jazz, progressive and art rock in their music. Tull's distinctive music has always been characterized by the distinctive vocal style and flute work of the legendary Ian Anderson. Jethro Tull have been an institution of British progressive rock for over 40 years now, and have released many great classic albums with different band line-ups. Ian Anderson and guitarist Martin Barre have been the nucleus of Tull since the band's formation. "Live At Montreux 2003" is an impressive live concert from this great band, and is VHR by A.O.O.F.C. If you are not familiar with the band's music, listen to their classic "Aqualung", and "Thick as a Brick" albums. Ian Anderson's "Walk into Light" album, and Martin Barre's "A Trick of Memory" album are also great recordings and should be heard by anybody remotely interested in great rock music [2 X Rar files: All tracks @ 320 Kbps: Pt 1 = CD 1 File size = 134 Mb, & Pt 2 = CD 2 File size = 148 Mb]

TRACKS

CD 1

1-1 Some Day The Sun Won`t Shine For You 4:20
1-2 Life Is A Long Song 3:31
1-3 Bouree 4:57
1-4 With You There To Help Me 6:33
1-5 Pavane 4:28
1-6 Empty Cafe 2:37
1-7 Hunting Girl 5:30
1-8 Eurology 3:39
1-9 Dot Com 4:43
1-10 God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen 5:00
1-11 Fat Man 5:25

CD 2

2-1 Living In The Past 6:59
2-2 Nothing Is Easy 5:09
2-3 Beside Myself 6:38
2-4 My God 8:30
2-5 Budapest 11:28
2-6 New Jig 1:27
2-7 Aqualung 8:02
2-8 Locomotive Breath 8:36

All songs composed by Ian Anderson

MUSICIANS

Vocals, Flute, Guitar - Ian Anderson (With Tull from 1967 to present)
Guitar - Martin Barre (With Tull from 1967 to present)
Bass - Jonathan Noyce (With Tull from 1995 - 2007)
Keyboards - Andrew Giddings (With Tull from 1991 to 2007)
Drums - Doane Perry (With Tull from 1984 to present)
Vocals - Masha (Occasionaly tours and records with Tull since 2003)

BIO

Jethro Tull was a unique phenomenon in popular music history. Their mix of hard rock; folk melodies; blues licks; surreal, impossibly dense lyrics; and overall profundity defied easy analysis, but that didn't dissuade fans from giving them 11 gold and five platinum albums. At the same time, critics rarely took them seriously, and they were off the cutting edge of popular music since the end of the 1970s. But no record store in the country would want to be without multiple copies of each of their most popular albums (Benefit, Aqualung, Thick as a Brick, Living in the Past), or their various best-of compilations, and few would knowingly ignore their newest releases. Of their contemporaries, only Yes could claim a similar degree of success, and Yes endured several major shifts in sound and membership in reaching the 1990s, while Tull remained remarkably stable over the same period. As co-founded and led by wildman-flautist-guitarist-singer-songwriter Ian Anderson, the group carved a place all its own in popular music. Tull had its roots in the British blues boom of the late '60s. Anderson (b. Aug. 10, 1947, Edinburgh, Scotland) had moved to Blackpool when he was 12. His first band was called the Blades, named after James Bond's club, with Michael Stephens on guitar, Jeffrey Hammond-Hammond (b. July 30, 1946) on bass and John Evans (b. Mar. 28, 1948) on drums, playing a mix of jazzy blues and soulful dance music on the northern club circuit. In 1965, they changed their name to the John Evan Band (Evan having dropped the "s" in his name at Hammond's suggestion) and later the John Evan Smash. By the end of 1967, Glenn Cornick (b. Apr. 24, 1947, Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England) had replaced Hammond-Hammond on bass. The group moved to Luton in order to be closer to London, the center of the British blues boom, and the band began to fall apart, when Anderson and Cornick met guitarist/singer Mick Abrahams (b. Apr. 7, 1943, Luton, Bedfordshire, England) and drummer Clive Bunker (b. Dec. 12, 1946), who had previously played together in the Toggery Five and were now members of a local blues band called McGregor's Engine. In December of 1967, the four of them agreed to form a new group. They began playing two shows a week, trying out different names, including Navy Blue and Bag of Blues. One of the names that they used, Jethro Tull, borrowed from an 18th-century farmer/inventor, proved popular and memorable, and it stuck. In January of 1968, they cut a rather derivative pop-folk single called "Sunshine Day," released by MGM Records (under the misprinted name Jethro Toe) the following month. The single went nowhere, but the group managed to land a residency at the Marquee Club in London, where they became very popular. Early on, they had to face a problem of image and configuration, however. In the late spring of 1968, managers Terry Ellis and Chris Wright (who later founded Chrysalis Records) first broached the idea that Anderson give up playing the flute, and to allow Mick Abrahams to take center stage. At the time, a lot of blues enthusiasts didn't accept wind instruments at all, especially the flute, as seminal to the sound they were looking for, and as a group struggling for success and recognition, Jethro Tull was just a little too strange in that regard. Abrahams was a hardcore blues enthusiast who idolized British blues godfather Alexis Korner, and he was pushing for a more traditional band configuration, which would've put him and his guitar out front. As it turned out, they were both right. Abrahams' blues sensibilities were impeccable, but the audience for British blues by itself couldn't elevate Jethro Tull any higher than being a top club act. Anderson's antics on-stage, jumping around in a ragged overcoat and standing on one leg while playing the flute, and his use of folk sources as well as blues and jazz, gave the band the potential to grab a bigger audience and some much-needed press attention. They opened for Pink Floyd on June 29, 1968, at the first free rock festival in London's Hyde Park, and in August they were the hit of the Sunbury Jazz & Blues Festival in Sunbury-on-Thames. By the end of the summer, they had a recording contract with Island Records. The resulting album, This Was, was issued in November. By this time, Anderson was the dominant member of the group on-stage, and at the end of the month Abrahams exited the band. The group went through two hastily recruited and rejected replacements, future Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi (who was in Tull for a week, just long enough to show up in their appearance on the Rolling Stones' Rock 'N Roll Circus extravaganza), and Davy O'List, the former guitarist with the Nice. Finally, Martin Barre (b. Nov. 17, 1946), a former architecture student, was the choice for a permanent replacement. It wasn't until April of 1969 that This Was got a U.S. release. Ironically, the first small wave of American Jethro Tull fans were admiring a group whose sound had already changed radically; in May of 1969, Barre's first recording with the group, "Living in the Past," reached the British number three spot and the group made its debut on Top of the Pops performing the song. The group played a number of festivals that summer, including the Newport Jazz Festival. Their next album, Stand Up, with all of its material (except "Bouree," which was composed by Johann Sebastian Bach) written by Ian Anderson, reached the number one spot in England the next month. Stand Up also contained the first orchestrated track by Tull, "Reasons for Waiting," which featured strings arranged by David Palmer, a Royal Academy of Music graduate and theatrical conductor who had arranged horns on one track from This Was. Palmer would play an increasingly large role in subsequent albums, and finally join the group officially in 1977. Meanwhile, "Sweet Dream," issued in November, rose to number seven in England, and was the group's first release on Wright and Ellis' newly formed Chrysalis label. Their next single, "The Witch's Promise," got to number four in England in January of 1970. The group's next album, Benefit, marked their last look back at the blues, and also the presence of Anderson's longtime friend and former bandmate John Evan — who had long since given up the drums in favor of keyboards — on piano and organ. Benefit reached the number three spot in England, but, much more important, it ascended to number 11 in America, and its songs, including "Teacher" and "Sossity, You're A Woman," formed a key part of Tull's stage repertory. In early July of 1970, the group shared a bill with Jimi Hendrix, B.B. King, and Johnny Winter at the Atlanta Pop Festival in Byron, GA, before 200,000 people. By the following December, after another U.S. tour, Cornick had decided to leave the group, and was replaced on bass by Anderson's childhood friend Jeffrey Hammond-Hammond. Early the following year, they began working on what would prove to be, for many fans, the group's magnum opus, Aqualung. Anderson's writing had been moving in a more serious direction since the group's second album, but it was with Aqualung that he found the lyrical voice he'd been seeking. Suddenly, he was singing about the relationship between man and God, and the manner in which — in his view — organized religion separated them. The blues influences were muted almost to non-existence, but the hard rock passages were searing and the folk influences provided a refreshing contrast. That the album was a unified whole impressed the more serious critics, while the kids were content to play air guitar to Martin Barre's high-speed breaks. And everybody, college prog rock mavens and high-school time-servers alike, seemed to identify with the theme of alienation that lay behind the music. Aqualung reached number seven in America and number four in England, and was accompanied by a hugely successful American tour. Bunker quit the band to get married, and was replaced by Anderson's old John Evan Smash bandmate Barriemore Barlow (b. Sept. 10, 1949). Late in 1971, they began work on their next album, Thick as a Brick. Structurally more ambitious than Aqualung, and supported by an elaborately designed jacket in the form of a newspaper, this record was essentially one long song steeped in surreal imagery, social commentary, and Anderson's newly solidified image as a wildman-sage. Released in England during April of 1972, Thick as a Brick got as high as the number five spot, but when it came out in America a month later, it hit the number one spot, making it the first Jethro Tull album to achieve greater popularity in American than in England. In June of 1972, in response to steadily rising demand for the group's work, Chrysalis Records released Living in the Past, a collection of tracks from their various singles and British EPs, early albums, and a Carnegie Hall show, packaged like an old-style 78 rpm album in a book that opened up. At this point, it seemed as though Jethro Tull could do no wrong, and for the fans that was true. For the critics, however, the group's string ran out in July of 1973 with the release of A Passion Play. The piece was another extended song, running the length of the album, this time steeped in fantasy and religious imagery far denser than Aqualung; it was divided at the end of one side of the album and the beginning of the other by an A.A. Milne-style story called "The Hare That Lost His Spectacles." This time, the critics were hostile toward Anderson and the group, attacking the album for its obscure lyrical references and excessive length. Despite these criticisms, the album reached number one in America (yielding a number eight single edited from the extended piece) and number 13 in England. The real venom, however, didn't start to flow until the group went on tour that summer. By this time, their sets ran to two-and-a-half hours, and included not only the new album done in its entirety ("The Hare That Lost His Spectacles" being a film presentation in the middle of the show), but Thick As a Brick and the most popular of the group's songs off of Aqualung and their earlier albums. Anderson was apparently unprepared for the searing reviews that started appearing, and also took the American rock press too seriously. In the midst of a sell-out U.S. tour, he threatened to cancel all upcoming concerts and return to England. Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed, especially once he recognized that the shows were completely sold out and audiences were ecstatic, and the tour continued without interruption. It was 16 months until the group's next album, War Child — conceived as part of a film project that never materialized — was released, in November of 1974. The expectations surrounding the album gave it pre-order sales sufficient to get it certified gold upon release, and it was also Tull's last platinum album, reaching number two in America and number 14 in England. The dominant theme of War Child seemed to be violence, though the music's trappings heavily featured Palmer's orchestrations, rivaling Barre's electric guitar breaks for attention. In any case, the public seemed to respond well to the group's return to conventional length songs, with "Bungle in the Jungle" reaching number 11 in America. Tull's successful concert tour behind this album had them augmented by a string quartet. During this period, Anderson became involved with producing an album by Steeleye Span, a folk-rock group that was also signed to Chrysalis, and who had opened for Tull on one of their American tours. Their music slowly begun influencing Anderson's songwriting over the next several years, as the folk influence grew in prominence, a process that was redoubled when he took up a rural residence during the mid-'70s. The next Tull album, Minstrel in the Gallery, showed up ten months later, in September of 1975, reaching number seven in the United States. This time, the dominant theme was Elizabethan minstrelsy, within an electric rock and English folk context. The tracks included a 17-minute suite that recalled the group's earlier album-length epic songs, but the album's success was rather more limited. The Jethro Tull lineup had been remarkably stable ever since Clive Bunker's exit after Aqualung, remaining constant across four albums in as many years. In January of 1976, however, Hammond-Hammond left the band to pursue a career in art. His replacement, John Glascock (b. 1953), joined in time for the recording of Too Old to Rock 'n Roll, Too Young to Die, an album made up partly of songs from an un-produced play proposed by Anderson and Palmer, released in May of 1976. The group later did an ITV special built around the album's songs. The title track, however (on which Steeleye Span's Maddy Prior appeared as a guest backing vocalist), became a subject of controversy in England, as critics took it to be a personal statement on Anderson's part. In late 1976, a Christmas EP entitled Ring Out Solstice Bells got to number 28. This song later turned up on their next album, Songs From the Wood, the group's most artistically unified and successful album in some time (and the first not derived from an unfinished film or play since A Passion Play). This was Tull's folk album, reflecting Anderson's passion for English folk songs. Its release also accompanied the band's first British tour in nearly three years. In May of 1977, David Palmer joined Tull as an official member, playing keyboards on-stage to augment the richness of the group's concert sound. Having lasted into the late '70s, Jethro Tull now found itself competing in a new musical environment, as journalists and, to an increasing degree, fans became fixated on the growing punk rock phenomenon. In October 1977, Repeat (The Best of Jethro Tull, Vol. 2), intended to fill an anticipated 11 month gap between Tull albums, was released on both sides of the Atlantic. Unfortunately, it contained only a single new track and never made the British charts, while barely scraping into the American Top 100 albums. The group's next new album, Heavy Horses, issued in April of 1978, was Anderson's most personal work in several years, the title track expressing his regret over the disappearance of England's huge shire horses as casualties of modernization. In the fall of 1978, the group's first full-length concert album, the double-LP Live-Bursting Out, was released to modest success, accompanied by a tour of the United States and an international television broadcast from Madison Square Garden. 1979 was a pivotal and tragic year for the group. John Glascock died from complications of heart surgery on November 17, five weeks after the release of Stormwatch. Tull was lucky enough to acquire the services of Dave Pegg, the longtime bassist for Fairport Convention, which had announced its formal (though, as it turned out, temporary) breakup. The Stormwatch tour with the new lineup was a success, although the album was the first original release by Jethro Tull since This Was not to reach the U.S. Top 20. Partly thanks to Pegg's involvement with the Tull lineup, future tours by Jethro Tull, especially in America, would provide a basis for performances by re-formed incarnations of Fairport Convention. The lineup change caused by Glascock's death led to Anderson's decision to record a solo album during the summer of 1980, backed by Barre, Pegg, and Mark Craney on drums, with ex-Roxy Music/King Crimson multi-instrumentalist Eddie Jobson on violin. The record, A, was eventually released as a Jethro Tull album in September of 1980, but even the Tull name didn't do much for its success. Barlow, Evan, and Palmer, however, were dropped from the group's lineup with the recording of A, and the new version of Jethro Tull toured in support of the album. Jobson left once the tour was over, and it was with yet another new lineup — including Barre, Pegg, and Fairport Convention alumnus Gerry Conway (drums) and Peter-John Vettesse (keyboards) — that The Broadsword and the Beast was recorded in 1982. Although this album had many songs based on folk melodies, its harder rocking passages also had a heavier, more thumping beat than earlier versions of the band had produced, and the use of the synthesizer was more pronounced than on previous Tull albums. In 1983, Anderson confined his activities to his first official solo album, Walk Into Light, which had a very different, synthesizer-dominated sound. Following its lackluster performance, Anderson revived Jethro Tull for the album Under Wraps, released in September of 1984. At number 76 in the U.S., it became the group's poorest selling album, partly a consequence of Anderson's developing a throat infection that forced the postponement of much of their planned tour. No further Tull albums were to be released until Crest of a Knave in 1987, as a result of Anderson's intermittent throat problems. In the meantime, the group appeared on a German television special in March of 1985, and participated in a presentation of the group's work by the London Symphony Orchestra. To make up for the shortfall of new releases, Chrysalis released another compilation, Original Masters, a collection of highlights of the group's work, in October of 1985. In 1986, A Classic Case: The London Symphony Orchestra Plays the Music of Jethro Tull was released on record; and Crest of a Knave performed surprisingly well when it was issued in September of 1987, reaching number 19 in England and number 32 in America with the support of a world tour. Crest of a Knave was something of a watershed in Tull's later history, though nobody would have guessed it at the time of its release. Although some of its songs displayed the group's usual folk/hard rock mix, the group was playing louder than usual, and tracks like "Steel Monkey," had a harder sound than any previous record by the group. In 1988, Tull toured the United States as part of the celebration of the band's 20th anniversary. In July, Chrysalis issued 20 Years of Jethro Tull, a 65-song boxed-set collection covering the group's history up to that time, containing most of their major songs and augmented with outtakes and radio performances. In February of 1989, the band won the Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance for Crest of a Knave. Suddenly, they were stars again, and being declared as relevant by one of the top music awards in the industry; a fact that kept critics buzzing for months over whether the group deserved it before finally attacking the voting for the Grammy Awards and the membership of its parent organization, the National Association of Recording Arts and Sciences. Rock Island, another hard rocking album, reached a very healthy number 18 in England during September of the same year, while peaking only at 56 in America, despite a six-week U.S. tour to support the album. In 1990, the album Catfish Rising did less well, reaching only 27 in England and 88 in America after its release in September. And A Little Light Music, their own "unplugged" release, taped on their summer 1992 European tour, only got to number 34 in England and 150 in the United States. Despite declining numbers, the group continued performing to good-sized houses when they toured, and the group's catalog performed extremely well. In April of 1993, Chrysalis released a four-CD 25th Anniversary Box Set — evidently hoping that most fans had forgotten the 20th anniversary set issued five years earlier — consisting of remixed versions of their hits, live shows from across their history, and a handful of new tracks. Meanwhile, Anderson continued to write and record music separate from the group on occasion, most notably Divinities: Twelve Dances with God, a classically-oriented solo album (and a distinctly non-Tull one) on EMI's classical Angel Records. J-Tull.Com followed in 1999. © Bruce Eder © 2010 Rovi Corporation. All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:3ifqxqe5ldse~T1

Citriniti feat. Fabrizio Leo


Citriniti feat. Fabrizio Leo - Citriniti feat. Fabrizio Leo - 2008 - Citriniti Records

The brothers Citriniti play bass and drums, started in the prog metal corner, but quickly developed a liking to jazz rock and merge since these styles. On their third output, this time also appeared on their own label, they have again (like its predecessor) the Italian guitarist Fabrizio Leo on board, so in addition to all the rhythmic explosions also what is being done for the "tunes". Domenico C. on bass and Danilo C. on drums ignite an almost incredible fireworks of breaks, fills, curved bars, wild, time-shifting, snare and bass drum attacks, high-energy bass lines, funky bubbling rhythm and vital interaction. Listening to this musical acrobatics, may already be full evening alone. The Italians it at even create to sound earthy and extremely groovy, is on the whole still really the crown. Nevertheless, a pure rhythm and percussion orgy would be in the long run but hard substance. But there's still Fabrizio Leo. Leo is a renowned Italian session guitarist and lends his skills else ever seen such illustrious acts like Umberto Tozzi or Eros Ramazotti. Well, as blends together? Perfect! Leo lets it all out here what he have to curb in its mainstream jobs. Razor sharp riffing, bold, aggressive solos, jazzy runs and high-speed fretboard hunts shakes Leo only out of his sleeve and lets the listener now definitely no chance to catch your breath longer. The three Italians hunt through their pieces and pour the defenseless listener with a plethora of notes, breaks, fills, rhythmic anomalies until it cries for mercy, but of course this cry died away unheard. The musical energy of these eruptions pushes the listener literally on the wall. Guest keyboardist De Paoli controls a few gimmicks and subtle orchestrations in, that was it but also and make sure that everything on what to harmony and melody in need can stop it. So the make trying out a bow to the album. However, if the center of the triangle Spaced Out - Planet X - McGill / Manring / Stevens studied and in the musical excesses of Nathan Mahl eyes light up, which should give a chance Citriniti. © Thomas Kohlruß © 1999-2014, The copyright of all texts by their respective authors http://www.babyblaue-seiten.de/album_9358.html [Review translated from German]

Citriniti is an Italian instrumental metal/fusion band named after brothers Danilo (drums) and Domenico (bass). The intricacy and sophistication in their music has naturally evolved from a lifetime of playing together. Citriniti play mostly instrumental progressive jazz fusion, using rich and advanced techniques. This is complex and challenging jazz metal fusion, and if you like artists like Combination Head Liquid Tension Experiment, Mike Keneally, David Torn, Wayne Krantz, and great innovative guitarists in general, you may find what you are looking for in this album of super tech and speedy metal fusion with a real biting edge! HR by A.O.O.F.C. Check out the immensely talented Italian session guitarist Fabrizio Leo’s “Cutaway” album on this blog and try and listen to Citriniti’s “Hydra Odd World” and “Between The Music And Latitude” albums. Citriniti are on https://myspace.com/citrinitibros [All tracks @ 320 Kbps: File size = 125 Mb]

TRACKS

1 Mannequin, Mr. Robbie 4:21
2 Shock 5:12
3 Transylvania (Circus Charlie) 5:32
4 Macabre 4:48
5 Vicolo Dell' Inganno 4:28
6 Bava 4:48
7 Maniac 5:24
8 Lifetime Of Penitence 5:47
9 Damaged Brain 4:30
10 L'arpa Della Strega 5:01
11 Into The Convent 6:55

COMPOSERS

Danilo Citriniti & Domenico Citriniti - Rhythmical Composition
Fabrizio Leo - Melodies & Arrangements

MUSICIANS

Fabrizio Leo - Guitar
Domenico Citriniti - Bass
Andrea De Pacli - Keyboards on Tracks 1,2,5
Danilo Citriniti - Drums, Keyboard Programming

BIO

Citriniti is named after brothers, Danilo and Domenico Citriniti born in Catanzaro, Italy. Drummer Danilo and bassist Domenico gradually shifted their focus from math metal to complex progressive fusion instrumentals, rich in advanced techniques. The intricacy and sophistication of their music is easier to understand when considering that these two stellar musicians grew up going with their father to his gigs and have shared a lifetime of playing together. The level of intuitive musical interplay and synergy created by the Citriniti brothers is a powerful force that inspires awe from fellow musicians. After recording their first effort Hydra Odd World in 2002, the brothers Citriniti began planning their greatest musical achievement to date, Between The Music And Latitude. This album, released on 2006, features Italian session veteran Fabrizio Leo who has played with many successful Italian artists and is known for being one of the best guitarists in Italy. Their songs are an incredible set of intricate compositions, built on tight interplay between the three musicians. In the tradition of other great instrumental projects of this genre, such as Henderson, Smith and Wooten, Liquid Tension Experiment and Howe, Wooten and Chambers, this record is brimming with important performances, both by the ensemble and by each individual musicians jaw-dropping solos. Tone Center has built a strong reputation in the marketplace from recording high caliber musical unions and "Between The Music And Latitude" is a CD that progressive rock and fusion fans will be hailing for many years to come. Mike Varney: "Between the Music and Latitude it is a fantastic effort. You are all stellar musicians! So far, you guys have been the best that I have received from Italy, production, music, songwriting, playing, etc.. " 3rd may 2008, release date of the Citriniti new album! Featuring Fabrizio Leo all guitars and Andrea DePaoli solo keyboards. Their 2008 self-titled cd, is a heavier, more powerful, more progressive and more metallic effort than their previous record. Eleven instrumental tracks are offered, designed to satisfy all the various types of fans of their music. © Facebook 2014 https://www.facebook.com/pages/Citriniti/129530240455767?id=129530240455767&sk=info

20.2.14

Fabrizio Leo


Fabrizio Leo - Cutaway - 2006 - Tone Center

Fabrizio “Bicio” (pronounced “bee-chow”) Leo, was born in Abbiategrasso, about 20km south of Milan, Italy on 7/28/1971. He began as a self-taught guitarist at age sixteen, focusing his passion and practicing time perfecting an intense rock/fusion style. He was inspired by instructional videos and recordings from virtuoso guitarists from the Shrapnel label group, such as Greg Howe, Brett Garsed and Frank Gambale to name just to name a few. Today, Bicio is one of the greatest guitarists on the Shrapnel roster. After several successful collaborations as a sideman/touring guitarist with highly respected Italian pop/rock artists, in the year 2006, Bicio became the first Italian guitarist to be signed to Shrapnel Records. The CD, titled “Cutaway” garnered critical acclaim from specialized International music magazines and from the Italian press who recognized his extraordinary guitar playing ability © 2014 Shrapnel Records Group. All Rights Reserved. http://shrapnelrecords.com/artist/fabrizio-leo

Fabrizio "Bicio" Leo is absolutely a world-class musician. He is as deadly-accurate with his fingering as guys like Vinnie Moore and with his picking as guys like Steve Morse. Greg Howe will definitely come to mind when you listen to Fabrizio but this guy has a way with sweeping in which he leaves his mark. Definitely unique note choice and this guy isn't some run-of-the-mill hack like Francesco Ferreri who sloppily plays as fast as they can. In the current world of guitar where your heroes are guys like Guthrie Govan, Mattias "IA" Eklundh, Bumblefoot, etc., you need a little something special to stand out in the crowd and this guy absolutely does. You can hear his influences but he definitely has his own voice on the instrument. Great production, great composition and absolutely amazing guitar playing! Be sure to check out Citriniti, too. Fabrizio just finished doing all the guitars for their latest album and did as such for their last one. Finally, be sure to search YouTube for Fabrizio Leo and you will see that this guy is definitely the real deal by pulling off some of his monster licks with unhumanly-clean accuracy. This review I'm writing is absolutely biased but being a VERY avid listener of instrumental guitarists for years, trust me when I say that if you enjoy guys like Vinnie Moore, Richie Kotzen, Greg Howe, Frank Gambale, etc... you will definitely enjoy this guy. A must-have CD! – by & © Stephen VINE VOICE from ***** Ridiculously Amazing Musicianship April 21, 2008 © © 1996-2014, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000F1HG6A/sr=8-1/qid=1145919181/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-2890950-3288718?_encoding=UTF8

Influenced by the incredible guitarists that have come before him, Fabrizio Leo is a new breed of guitar hero that has forged his own style and is poised to take his place among the great innovators of our time. Leo's incredible technique is second only to his strong sense of melody and intelligent grooves. Fabrizzio Leo has created a debut album that is destined to shake up the guitar community and propel him to great heights within the genre. - Editorial Reviews © 1996-2014, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates http://www.amazon.com/Cutaway-Fabrizio-Leo/dp/B000F1HG6A

If there is a market for guitar instrumental albums then Mascot Records are carrying the flag, somewhat alone, for a genre that is seriously lacking in cool and most probably record sales. However you’ve got to hand it to Mascot for putting money into a long dead proposition. The financial rewards can’t be huge and the criticism too much to take but they keep on releasing signature guitar only albums as if ‘’Surfing With The Alien’’ were only last year. Italian maestro Fabrizio Leo started playing at the tender age of sixteen. Most of us were certainly playing an instrument at that age but not the six string type! So there’s little doubt about his proficiency, dexterity and talent it’s just the simple case of you like this type of album or you don’t. To be honest Leo does remarkably well on this his debut offering and remarkably doesn’t sound like Joe Satriani for a change. (His idol being Vinnie Moore) Although I’d guess it’s harder to differentiate one new axe hero from another LEO is a damn fine player. He bends stretches, soars and rocks for the most part covering Metal/ Rock/ Funk and Blues with equal aplomb. Surely you don’t record an album such as this without a pot full of brimming confidence? Natch. Instrumental albums reek of self indulgence and over confidence if with the best intentions in mind. By their very nature they turn off all but the truly dedicated. Fabrizio Leo’s debut is a strong offering just a pity the audience is so limited. Try a singer next time. (Online July 27, 2006) (5/10) © 2000-2013 The Metal Observer. All rights reserved http://www.metal-observer.com/articles.php?lid=1&sid=1&id=10625

Fabrizio Leo is a new breed of guitar hero who has been influenced by incredible players such as Greg Howe, Brett Garsed and Vinnie Moore, but who has also forged his own style, brimming with techniqua and fantastic melodies that should earn him a place among other great guitarists in the Tone Center / Shrapnel Records catalog. Interestingly, his song "Yeah Vinnie!", off "Cutaway", is especially dedicated to Vinnie Moore for his artistic inspiration. Leo did all the work on "Cutaway" himself, with just the drummer from Citriniti, Danilo Citriniti, assisting him with sound engineering. The fusion/shred style embodied by Greg Howe on his early releases will be sure to catch a lot of ears on Leo's debut album. © 1996-2013 Guitar Nine All Rights Reserved

Great album, HR by A.O.O.F.C, and again by one of the best guitarists you have never heard. Fabrizio Leo is an exceptionally talented guitarist and “Cutaway” is not just “total porn for shred heads”. There are many instrumental guitar albums out there with unbelievable shred work, but little compositional skill. This is not a criticism of these albums, as it is always great to hear a talented guitarist playing and even if the playing is sometimes self-indulgent, it is usually what their fans want and expect. Many of the tracks on “Cutaway” were composed, prepared, and recorded with great detail between 1998 and 2000 and finally mixed at Fabrizio Leo`s home studio in 2006. Fabrizio produced and mixed the album and provided most of the programming and instrumentation. Read a great interview with him @ http://www.guitar9.com/interview112.html Buy his “Mr Malusardi” and support genuine musical talent. [All tracks @ 192 Kbps: File size = 85 Mb]

TRACKS

1 Total Eclipse 5:07
2 Metal Bragalini 4:01
3 Yeah Vinnie! 3:28
4 Chat 4:30
5 Mai Dire Blues 4:28
6 Romilda 3:47
7 Lonely But Not Forever 4:55
8 AutoRegistrazioneCerebrale 3:59
9 The Sabrina's Black Glasses 5:28
10 Cyborg In Love 4:13
11 Cutaway 3:37
12 Black Man 4:07
13 Giorgi House 4:12
14 Illusion 3:34
15 Depression 3:38

All tracks composed by Fabrizio Leo

MUSICIANS

Fabrizio Leo - Guitars & all instrumentation except bass on Track 15
Rossano Eleuteri - Bass on Track 15