David Torn, from Cloud About Mercury.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Torn

I love this piece. Bill Bruford’s Simmons-assisted accompaniment, Levin on bass, the lyrical Oriental shadings from Torn’s guitar. The 80’s were a tremendously fertile period for musicians who stretched electronic and compositional chops. This piece really culminates in the lines of technology that were being advanced, by Bill Bruford namely, and others…

I could listen to this piece of music all day and not grow tired of it, it has angles and shapes that can been seen in different ways.

Interview de Tony Levin filmé à l’occasion de son passage au festival du Prog’Sud 2009.

Fonte: “MusicalNews“

di Laura Gorini

Venerdì 6 novembre esce “L’insulto delle parole” (Promo Music/Edel), il quarto disco della cantautrice toscana Susanna Parigi.

L’album, distribuito nei negozi tradizionali, sulle piattaforme digitali e sul sito www.promomusic.it, affronta il tema della parola, delle sue smisurate e controverse potenzialità.

Sono le parole di Pasquale Panella, in una introduzione contenuta nel libretto, che presentano il cd: “Le parole che insultano e le parole che sono insultate, e quello che ne viene. […] Tu canti questo. […] Chiusa nel cuore e preda del tuo pubblico egoista”.

Susanna Parigi lo presenterà in una serie di showcase/incontri che partiranno il 5 novembre a Roma presso la Fnac del Centro Commerciale Porta di Roma (Via Alberto Lionello, 201) per proseguire il 6 novembre a Napoli presso la Fnac (via Luca Giordano, 59) e successivamente in altri store in tutta Italia.

Susanna Parigi racconta così il suo progetto: “Percorrere la storia di una parola è come scoprire sotto le pietre il segreto delle sorgenti. La parola ha una potenza smisurata, a volte può fare la differenza tra vivere o morire. La parola può dare la sensazione di appartenere a qualcos’altro, una folla, un esercito, un ideale. Può comandare, contrattare, illudere. La parola è sacra. Le parole ingannano. Qualcuno ha detto “Non credo che alcun sistema filosofico riuscirà mai a sopprimere la schiavitù: tutt’al più ne muterà il nome”. Ecco l’insulto di cui ho sentito esigenza di scrivere oggi, forte, violento, talmente evidente che è un dolore terribile accorgersi che dai più non è visto”.

Sei dei brani contenuti in “L’insulto delle parole” sono firmati in coppia con Kaballà, il musicista di origini siciliane già autore fra gli altri di Carmen Consoli, Eros Ramazzotti, Antonella Ruggiero e Mario Venuti.

Da segnalare la riedizione di “La canzone dei vecchi amanti” di Jacques Brel, riarrangiata da Vince Tempera. Tutto il disco è arricchito dal quartetto d’archi Arkè String Quartet, con Carlo Cantini al violino, Valentino Corvino al violino, Sandro Di Paolo alla viola e Stefano Dall’Ora al contrabbasso.

Queste le dieci tracce che compongono l’album: “L’insulto delle parole”, “Non chiedermi parole d’amore”, “Fa Niente”, “L’Attenzione”, “La Fiorista”, “Il Raro Movimento”, “C’è Bisogno di Tempo”, “La Canzone dei vecchi amanti”, “Una Basta”, “L’applauso”.

“L’insulto delle parole” contiene inoltre “The insult of words”(è la traduzione inglese, per questo va tolto), un clip video che raccoglie le testimonianze di Pino Arlacchi, Corrado Augias, Lella Costa, Cesare Fiumi, Kaballà, Leonardo Manera, Andrea Pinketts e Bruno Renzi e rappresenta un work in progress che si va man mano arricchendo di altre testimonianze e variazioni sul tema dell’insulto della parola.

Sul sito di Promo Music è già visibile l’intervista rilasciata da Marco Travaglio, e con il tempo si aggiungeranno sempre più dichiarazioni di importanti personalità della cultura italiana.

Interprete sofisticata e autrice di grande spessore, Susanna Parigi è stata pianista di Riccardo Cocciante, Claudio Baglioni e Fiorella Mannoia e vocalist di Raf, suona la fisarmonica, canta, scrive i testi, la musica e gli arrangiamenti delle sue canzoni. Chansonnière fiorentina ma trapiantata a Milano, propone un genere originalissimo che potrebbe essere definito “pop letterario”.

Sostenuta da artisti come il fotografo Sebastião Salgado e il filosofo Umberto Galimberti, diplomata in pianoforte, insegna al conservatorio di Trento. Susanna Parigi ha inoltre collaborato con il celebre chitarrista statunitense Pat Metheny, la cantante israeliana Noa e il bassista e stickista statunitense Tony Levin.

Questi i suoi lavori precedenti: “Susanna Parigi” (1996); “Scomposta” (1999); “In Differenze” (2004); “In Differenze: il dvd” (2007).

Fonte: Ufficio Stampa Parole e Dintorni

What years of listening to Rush records in your mother's basement can do to your complexion.

Prog has always claimed that it was ‘music for musicians’. It’s a pretty attractive label, and much better than the alternative ‘music for geeks who aren’t getting laid’. Regardless of the tag-line, the point is that even if you don’t actively listen to progressive rock, chances are that the bands you DO listen to count progressive rock artists among their influences. When young bands (that don’t suck) are talking to the press and the reporter asks them who their influences are, if they’re brave enough to mention people outside their own genre 90% of the time the drummer will include Neil Peart and/or Mike Portnoy, bass players will mention Geddy Lee, Tony Levin, and/or Chris Squire, and keyboard…well…ok, if they have a keyboard player, chances are he isn’t being given any face time unless he’s also the front man and super duper pretty (guitarists gets more genre dependent, but I see Steve Vai’s, David Gilmour’s, Frank Zappa’s, and Steve Howe’s names thrown out a lot).

So what happened to all these progressive-rock-influenced artists? How come none of them ended up making progressive rock? The answer is that you are simply being a naive fool. Progressive rock has worked long and hard to covertly work its way into more mainstream genres, and the fruits of decades of labor are now beginning to ripen. Below you will find examples of some genres where artists are now becoming popular who show significant signs that they’ve been infected with the prog.

METAL

What, no corpsepaint for the baby?

Metal was one of the earliest and easiest genres for prog to branch into. For one, a lot of metal musicians are extremely talented. I realize that, to people who aren’t fans of metal, a lot of the music just sounds like loud noise and unintelligible lyrics, but under the growling and the corpsepaint you’ll find some of the most technically skilled musicians around. Good metal guitarists can play diminished augmented pentatonic chords using alternate sweep picking just as fast as the proggy-ist prog douche bag guitar player, they just chose not to so because it’s not brutal enough (note: metal people judge all things on a scale of 1-brutal). Metal drummers and prog drummers are in an eternal pissing contest over who can play double bass faster, and just like how metal singers and prog singers are always trying to see how high they can sing without causing a sonic boom. Also, they put equal emphasis on physical activity and hygiene in their personal lives. So prog and metal have been pushing each other’s buttons for a very very long time, and the results have been enjoyable for both fan bases:

Examples of prog/metal marriages:

Dream Theater – Basically the flag bearer for progressive rock. Train of Thought is their most metal album, but every album has significant metal overtones through out. Scenes from a Memory is widely considered to be one of the best prog album of the 1990’s if not of all time. (Dream Theater Example – “Painc Attack”)

Opeth – If Dream Theater is a prog band with metal overtones, Opeth is a death metal band with prog overtones. The band drifts between melodic haunting passages and crushing metal destruction almost too freely. If you can’t handle cookie monster-style vocals you’d best start with Damnation which is their ‘mellow’ album, but then quickly get Deliverance and give that a spin as well. (Opeth Example – Death Whispered a Lulaby, and then The Drapery Falls)

Other prog/metal bands (and their albums that you should check out):

Symphony X -  V (Example: “Inferno”)

Fates Warning – Inside Out (Example: “One“)

Queensryche - Operation: Mindcrime (Example: “Spreading the Disease”)

Tool – Lateralus (Example: “Sober”)

Between the Buried and Me - Colors (Example: “White Walls”)

Scale the Summit - Carving Desert Canyons (Example: “Dunes”)

Pain of Salvation - One Hour by the Concrete Lake (Example: Inside)

Coheed and Cambria (Example: “Welcome Home”)

Jazz

Above him, Led Zeppelin was stealing his music

The other genre that prog was able to easily seduce was jazz. Jazz has been the most popular kid in school basically forever. Everyone wants to claim that they’re influenced by jazz, or that they have jazz tendencies, or that they once slept with jazz at a party but jazz wouldn’t remember it because jazz was really drunk that night. No matter how much jazz wants to deny it, jazz and prog did in fact hook up a few times in the 60s and 70s, resulting in the genre fusion. If you know jazz, think of Kind of Blue. Fusion is the exact opposite of that. It’s fast, complicated, crazy shit that most of the time sounds like a bad jam session made up of really good musicians (note: I love fusion). If someone tried to dance to fusion they’d be mistaken for a seizure victim and taken to a hospital. The people who play fusion are of course ridiculously talented to the point where they could probably have a full conversation with each other using only their instruments. One problem fusion inherited from jazz  is that any band that considers itself to have drawn from jazz and some other genre automatically considers itself to be ‘fusion’. What can I say, jazz was a whore:

Examples of prog/jazz marriages:

Mahavishnu Orchestra – If there was ever a band that sounded like an acid trip, I’d pick Mahavishnu Orchestra. Drawing from Indian, European, jazz, and classical music, as well as John McLaughlin’s own eccentricity, the music they produced was frantic, intensely complex, and mind blowing once you manage to wrap your brain around it. Birds of Fire and Apocalypse may be the best characterizations of the band’s sound, but if you don’t enjoy either album that’s fine, you’re probably still too sane. (Mahavishnu Orchestra Example: “Trilogy”)

Frank Zapppa – I’m not even going to try to explain Frank Zappa in three lines. I don’t even know if I can call the majority of what he did ‘fusion’ but he’s fucking important and he fits best here. Go listen to Hot Rats, Roxy and Elsewhere and Apostrophe, and if you don’t like those don’t worry about it, there’s about five billion other albums that sound totally different that you can get into. (Frank Zappa Example: “Waka/Jawaka”)

Other prog/jazz bands (and their albums that that you should check out):

The Mars Volta – Francis the Mute (Example: “Wax Simulacra”)

The Dixie Dregs – Night of the Living Dregs (Example: “Assembly Line”)

Liquid Tension Experiment - Liquid Tension Experiment 2 (Example: “Biaxadent“)

Jam Bands

There wasn't actually any mud. Hippies are just this dirty.

Unlike jazz and metal, prog hasn’t shared a lot of common ground with the jam scene. The Grateful Dead were thoroughly un-complicated and yet they became extremely popular by touring their asses off and playing a lot of simple country and blues covers in cool new ways  (making them…….progressive? MY BRAIN CAN’T HANDLE THAT). For a long time hippies were content bopping along to country and blues music, and probably would have been fine like this forever, until Phish came along and expanded the genre by writing songs that made as little sense as possible. Moving from the relatively comfortable confines of country and blues to the total nonsense that Phish produced (note: I love Phish) blew hippie’s minds. So hippie musicians, being totally incapable of rejecting any art form, started incorporating every possible genre of music into the covers they played, into their huge and totally awesome music festivals, and eventually into their own music. Alternative and bluegrass were some of the first genres to gain popularity with hippies, then some electronica and punk weaved its way in, and now metal and prog are starting to poke their heads in as well:

Examples of prog/jam band marriages:

Umphrey’s Mcgee – UM is the cream of the crop as far as blending technical skill and musicality. It’s really an amazing balancing act that they pull off, and they do it flawlessly. I also find their live improv stuff to be far less meandering and self indulgent than a lot of other jam bands. Anchor Drops is the place you start for their studio efforts, but after that I suggest downloading their eight billion podcasts, as a lot of their best songs haven’t ever been recorded in the studio. Honestly I’m not even going to bother discussing other prog/jam band marriages in depth, Umphrey’s is really the top of the line and an experience like no other. (Umphreys Mcgee Example: “Bridgeless”)

Other prog/jam bands (and their albums that you should check out):

The Disco Biscuits - Uncivilized Area (Example – “I-man”)

Keller Williams - Laugh (Example – “Freeker by the Speeker“)

moe. – Wormwood (Example – “Crab Eyes”)

Oysterhead - The Grand Pecking Order (Example – “Mr. Oysterhead”)

Bluegrass

A tradional bluegrass band. Guitar, upright bass, banjo, mandolin, and no black people.

I’m going to be upfront about this. I hate country music more than any other genre of music on the planet. Most of the performers are talentless and I think the stereotypes it generates are more damaging to rednecks than gangster rap is to urban youth. That being said, I also think the slide guitar/dobro, mandolin, and banjo are some of the coolest instruments ever. So I compromise and enjoy bluegrass. Bluegrass to me, is what happened to all the talented southern musicians. They sing about all the same topics the crappy country artists do, but their songs are ten million times more interesting and their lyrics are ten million times more creative. To be honest I don’t know if bluegrass is actually even aware of progressive rock, but both genres are fast, technical, and full of energy, so if they haven’t met maybe I can help.

Examples of prog/bluegrass marriages:

Bela Fleck and the Flecktones – This band probably only gets lumped in with bluegrass because it features a banjo. It’s also probably one of the few, if not only bluegrass band to include sax and electronic drums (note: electronic drums that are actually awesome, unlike most electronic kits which sound horrible). All of that being said, Bela Fleck might be the most well known and universally respected banjo player ever (even more than Steve Martin!), and Victor Wooten is part of the pantheon of modern bass gods. Kind of bluegrass, kind of fusion, whatever, it’s extremely creative and fun to listen to. Little Worlds is a 3-disc set that’s probably less bluegrass-y than their past efforts, but it’s a great introduction to their sound. (Bela Fleck and the Flecktones Example: “Next”)

Yonder Mountain String Band – The shining symbol of ‘new grass‘, YMSB is talented and technically proficient and blah blah blah, but that’s probably the least attended to part of their music. What makes them such an incredible band is how they’ve taken bluegrass out of the realm of genres like polka (i.e. dance music that’s a joke to most people) and made it emotional and joyful. I’ve never seen so many universally happy people in my entire life as I’ve seen at YMSB shows. The crowd just emits rainbows and sunshine and good emotions. They make 80 year old men act like 10 year olds on their birthday, and the coolest hipster turns into a Appalachian mountain dweller before their onslaught of elation. Mountain Tracks: Volume 5 is a great selection of live tracks to check out, and their new album The Show is pretty solid. (Yonder Mountain String Band Example: Sideshow Blues)

Other prog/bluegrass bands (and their albums that you should check out)

Railroad Earth – Amen Corner (Example: “Seven Story Mountain”)

Hopefully this has given you a decent idea of how prog isn’t actually as alien a genre as one might think. There’s a lot of common ground between prog and genres that are far more popular, and there has been and will continue to be bleeding between groups as new bands find their own unique sounds.

P.S. – I do want to mention one band that I left out, that being Muse. Muse has a totally absurd amount of popularity for a band that prog fans consider to be ‘one of us’. It’s not super duper technical, but it at least creates the illusion of being super duper technical, and sometimes that’s good enough. It is high energy and features a guy who sings high enough to make the guy from The Darkness jealous so I guess the leap in prog-faith isn’t too absurd.  I can’t really explain why the rest of the world loves them, not that I’m complaining either. So I guess if a band like Muse can be touring with U2 and performing on the VMAs then I can still hope that prog will take over all of music one day. A man can dream can’t he…a man can dream…

Like a lot of people, I first heard about the Chapman stick when Tony Levin started waving one around with Peter Gabriel and King Crimson in the Eighties. Last week I bought the December issue of Guitar Player in order to read the tributes to the late Les Paul, and found a profile of Stick creator Emmett Chapman that showed he may yet earn himself a place in the pantheon alongside the great player and inventor.

Does the Log lead inevitably to the Stick? Here’s Bob Culbertson playing “Little Wing” on an acoustic Stick:

How about something bluesy on an electric Stick?

Taking it back to the beginning (for me, anyway) here’s Levin leading his solo band through “Elephant Talk,” which helped launch the reconfigured Eighties edition of King Crimson into the stratosphere.

Adrian Belew sounded a bit like David Byrne when he sang the original version. To my ears, Levin occasionally veers toward Sacha Baron Cohen doing King Julien. But the man does make his fingers sing.

Nama Lengkap: John Peter Petrucci
Website resmi: JohnPetrucci.com
Grup Band Sebelumnya: Majesty
Guitar: Ernie Ball MusicMan, Ibanez
Tempat Lahir: Long Island, New York, 12 Juli 1967
Pengaruh: Steve Morse, Allan Holdsworth, Yngwie Malmsteen, Metallica, Eddie Van Halen

Zodiac: CancerTempat Tinggal: New York
Status: Married
Keahlian: String skipping, berhubung dgn warna Scales, Arpegio, Matrix Modulation, dan lain-lain.

John Petrucci (lahir pada 12 Juli 1967), merupakan sebuah gitar yang dikenal sebagai Amerika Serikat yang membentuk anggota grup progresif metal Dream Theater. Dia juga seorang produser (dengan band teman Mike Portnoy) semua album Dream Theater sejak rilis album adegan Dari J Memori, 1999.

Petrucci besar di Long Island, tepatnya di taman Kings Petrucci dengan John Myung dan Kevin Moore sekolah di tempat yang sama. Petrucci bermain gitar pertama kali pada usia 8 tahun. Dan mulai bermain dengan sebuah band pada usia 12 tahun. Band dan gitaris yang mempengaruhi permainan gitarnya adalah Yngwie Malmsteen, Randy Rhoads, Iron Maiden, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Yes, Rush dan sebagainya. Karena itu berkembang irama metal dan trash, Petrucci menambahkan pengaruhnya pada musik Metallica dan Queensryche.

Petrucci tumbuh dalam keluarga yang suka musik. Hal ini dapat dilihat dari saudaranya yang semua musisi. Sedangkan Petrucci sendiri akhirnya memilih gitar sebagai instrumen pilihan. Petrucci mulai bermain gitar sejak usia 12 tahun. Dia menghabiskan sekitar enam jam dalam satu hari untuk berlatih gitar. Tidak berbeda dari anak-anak lain, Petrucci juga memiliki idola kecil. Dia sangat terpengaruh oleh permainan seperti gitar-gitar Yngwie Malmstein, Steve Morse, Steve Howe, Steve Vai, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Al Di Meola, Alex Lifeson dan Allan Holdsworth. Dia menyebutkan idolanya sebagai “Steves dan Als.” Ia juga dipengaruhi oleh band – band seperti Rush, Yes, Iron Maiden, The ampas, untuk Metallica. Meskipun kecil, Petrucci pernah membuat sebuah band dengan teman, Kevin Moore. Setelah lulus SMA, Petrucci memilih untuk pergi ke sekolah musik, Berklee College of Music di Boston.

Perjalanan karir Petrucci dimulai saat dia belajar di Barklee. Petrucci dan ketika teman sekolah tinggi, John Ro Myung, mempunyai ide untuk membentuk sebuah band untuk mengisi kekosongan saat kuliah. Mereka bertemu dengan drummer Michael “Mike” Stephen Portnoy di kamar praktek di Berklee, dan setelah dua hari negosiasi akhirnya menyetujui untuk bergabung Mike. Menempatkan posisi keyboard oleh seorang teman kecil pertama kalinya, Kevin Moore. Sementara itu, Chris Collins telah dipilih untuk menjadi vokalis. Terbentuklah sebuah band yang bernama Majesty. Keagungan sendiri kesempatan untuk membuat demo album. Namun baginda tidak bertahan lama. Dengan berbagai alasan aliran musik, Chris Collins mengundurkan diri. Tempatnya digantikan oleh Charlie Dominici. Bahkan, nama baginda telah digunakan oleh band lain. Karena alasan itu, Petrucci, Myung, Portnoy, Moore dan Dominici, sepakat untuk mengubah nama band mereka Dream Theater. Dream Theater sendiri diambil dari nama sebuah bioskop favorit ayah Mike Portnoy yang bernama Dream Theater. American pengejaan kata-kata yang berbeda untuk membuat perubahan ke teater teater.

Petrucci bersama Dream Theater merilis album pertama When Dream dan Hari Unite 1987. Petrucci nama yang dikenal banyak orang mulai ketika album kedua Dream Theater, Foto dan Kata-kata, yang dirilis pada tahun 1992, mendapat respon yang baik oleh Amerika Serikat. Tarik saya video klip lagu Under muncul di MTV dan diputar di radio. Album ini juga menelurkan hits seperti Another Day dan Take the Time membuat terkenal Dream Theater. Kemudian diikuti dengan konser – konser Dream Theater dari dalam negeri ke luar negeri. Sampai saat ini, Dream Theater telah merilis 9 studio album, rekaman tinggal 5, dan 7 album single. Dream Theater, tetapi juga tidak bebas dari masalah. Dari mulai konflik internal, gonta – ganti personil, hingga masalah dengan label rekaman pernah dihadapi. Akhirnya formasi dari tahun 1999 yang hingga saat ini adalah John Petrucci (gitar), John Myung (bass), Mike Portnoy (drum), James LaBrie (vokal) dan Jordan Rudess (keyboard). Bersama dengan label baru, Road Runner, Dream Theater merilis album ke-9 tahun yang lalu pada tahun 2007 diberi judul Chaos sistematis.

Pada tahun 1995, Petruuci membuat video instruksional, berjudul Rock Disiplin. Dalam video tersebut, Petrucci menjelaskan teknik – teknik bermain gitar untuk pemula. Pada tahun yang sama, Petrucci juga terlibat sebagai kolumnis di majalah edisi Guitar World, Wild Stringdom Seri. Sebuah buku dengan judul yang sama juga akhirnya diterbitkan sebagai kumpulan pelajaran yang disertakan dalam majalah.

Selain dengan Dream Theater, Petrucci juga ada sisi proyek. Bersama Mike Portnoy (drum), Jordan Rudess (keyboard) dan Tony Levin (bass / Chapman stick), mereka membentuk sebuah grup yang disebut instrumental band Liquid Tension Experiment (LTE). LTE dihasilkan dua album yang cukup sukses di Liquid Tension Experiment I (1998) dan Liquid Tension Experiment II (1999). Petrucci dan istrinya, Rena Sands, mendirikan sebuah label musik dengan nama sendiri Sound Mind Music tahun 2000. Album pertama dirilis oleh label milik Petrucci adalah album duet antara John Petrucci (gitar akustik / listrik) dan Jordan Rudess (piano / keyboard) dengan judul An Evening with John Petrucci dan Jordan Rudess. Pada tahun 2001, Petrucci kesempatan untuk berpartisipasi dalam konser G3 di Amerika Utara dengan “dewa gitar” seperti Joe Satriani dan Steve Vai. Dalam konser G3, Petrucci dibantu oleh Mike Portnoy (drum) dan Dave LaRue (bass). Petrucci melanjutkan konser G3 pada 2005 di Meksiko dan Jepang dengan Joe Satriani, dan Eric Johnson Steve Vai, dan di Amerika Selatan, sekali lagi dengan Satriani dan Vai. Sedangkan untuk tahun 2007, Joe Satriani, Paul Gilbert, John Petrucci dan berkumpul dalam konser G3 di Amerika Utara. Petrucci juga dipercaya untuk mengisi bagian gitar album – album tersebut, seperti keyboard pada album solo Jordan Rudess, Feeding the Wheel (2001) dan pada lagu Czar di Steel dari album solo keyboard Derek Sherenian (ex-Dream Theater keyboardis), Darah dari Snake (2006). Selain itu, dalam album Marty Friedman, Loudspeaker (2007), Petrucci hadir sebagai Special Guest Guitarist. Petrucci juga mengisi soundtrack video game Sega Saturn: Necronomicon. Dalam permainan, Petrucci membuat dua lagu dan kemudian diberi judul Prologue dan Epilogue. Selain Petrucci juga cukup aktif, sebuah gitar klinik di berbagai tempat. Petrucci merupakan voting member dari NARAS (National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences), di sebuah akademi spark acara penghargaan musik bergengsi di Amerika Serikat, Grammy Award.

Pada tahun 2005, Petrucci merilis album solo gitarnya yang pertama dengan nama Suspended Animation. Diproduseri ini album solo oleh Petrucci dan berteduh di bawah label, Sound Mind Music. Dalam pembuatannya memerlukan waktu hingga empat tahun, Petrucci dibantu oleh Dave LaRue (bass), Dave DiCenso (drum) dan re-mixer, Tony Verderosa. Album ini juga di-mixed oleh Kevin Shirley yang merupakan mix engineer album Dream Theater. Beberapa lagu dalam album tersebut adalah lagu yang tidak pernah Petrucci di G3 konser.

Selain piawai bermain gitar, Petrucci juga piawai membuat lirik. Tema yang seperti itu fantasi, filosofi, keluarga, dan lain-lain. Masalahnya, agama juga tidak lepas dari jangkauan lirik musik. Dalam lagu Dalam Nama Allah (dari album Kereta Thought), Petrucci mengkritik para ahli agama yang mengatasnamakan Tuhan untuk membenarkan semua bentuk kekerasan. Petrucci juga membuat lirik untuk ayahnya yang terserang kanker otak dalam lagu Another Day dalam lagu dan mededikasikannya Take Away My Pain (album Falling Into Infinty) setelah ayahnya meninggal. Untuk lagu – lagu yang terdapat banyak tema filosofis dalam album Metropolis part II: adegan dari memori sebagai Roh membawakan lagu On Life and Beyond ini. Petrucci juga banyak menyoroti masalah psikiatris / psikologis dalam lagu – lagu di album Six Degrees of Inner gangguan. Pada album sistematis Chaos, Petrucci tema fiksi seperti cerita tentang rakasa, vampire, roh / jiwa, dalam lirik – liriknya yang terinspirasi beberapa komik dari berbagai negara.

Sebagai gitaris dunia, Petrucci telah memperoleh beberapa penghargaan. Pada tahun 1992, Petrucci di-mendukung oleh Ibanez Guitar gitar untuk produk mereka. Oleh Ibanez, Petrucci membuat tanda tangan model gitar, Ibanez yang JPM100 P1, P2, P3, P4 dan JPM 90. Festival. Pada tahun 1999, Petrucci memutuskan untuk pindah dari Ibanez Ernie Ball / Music Man. Pada saat yang sama seperti Ibanez, Petrucci buat gitar dengan nama EB / MM John Petrucci BFR Series. Gitar yang digunakan untuk hari ini. Petrucci juga dipercaya untuk menggunakan produk-produk dari DiMarzio (pickups), Ernie Ball (strings), Axess Elektronik (foot controller), Boss (effects), Dunlop (plectrum, efek wah), dan Mesa Boogie (lemari, amplifiers). Solo gitarnya lagu Under a Glass Moon dimasukkan dalam 100 solo gitar terbaik sepanjang masa. Petrucci telah ditampilkan di majalah Guitar Player edisi Oktober 2007. Total Guitar majalah mahkota Petrucci sebagai “Guitarist of the Year 2007″. GuitarOne bahkan menempatkan John Petrucci di peringkat ke-9 “Greatest Shredder of All Time.”

Petrucci kehidupan pribadi tidak berbeda dengan kehidupan orang-orang seperti biasa. Petrucci memiliki istri bernama Rena Sands. Petrucci bertemu dengan Rena pada tahun 1989. RitaAKARena adalah gitaris band metal, Meanstreak, perempuan. Mereka menikah pada tahun 1993. Sampai sekarang, Rena Petrucci dan telah memiliki tiga anak itu, kembar Samantha dan Reny, dan Kiara. Menariknya, sama seperti Petrucci, beberapa personil Dream Theater yang juga menikah dengan personil lainnya Meanstreak. Seperti Mike Portnoy yang menikah dengan Marlene Apuzzo dan John Myung dengan Lisa Martens. Dalam waktu luangnya, selain Petrucci bermain seperti mengahabiskan waktu dengan bercanda bersama keluarganya, liburan, ski, menonton film dan gerak badan.

John Petrucci

Petrucci/Music Man

John Peter Petrucci nació el 12 de julio de 1967, se crió en Kings Park, Nueva York, un pequeño pueblo residencial de Long Island. John comenzó a tocar la guitarra a los 12 años y rápidamente se dio cuenta de que la música era su pasión y que la búsqueda de la excelencia en su instrumento se va a convertir en su mayor obsesión durante los años venideros. Para ello, practica por lo menos 6 horas al día en un esfuerzo por su comprensión y capacidad técnica como guitarrista. Algunas de sus primeras influencias incluyen a Steve Morse, Al DiMeola, Steve Howe, Allan Holdsworth, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Randy Rhoads, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Alex Lifeson, Yngwie Malmsteen, Yes, Iron Maiden, Metallica. A los 18 años después de graduarse de la escuela secundaria, estudió en el Berklee College of Music de Boston juntocon el bajista John Myung, ambos conocen  al bateria Mike Portnoy y rápidamente formaron el núcleo de lo que sería Dream Theater. Petrucci afirma que ahora no practica tanto como cuando era joven, en lugar de ello trata de mantenerse en forma y calentar para no tener lesiones. Sus tecnicas favoritas son el picking, mediante fragmentos de escalas, el legato, sweet picking y el estudio de compacses poco corrientes (5/4, 5/8, 7/4, 7/8) conocidos como old meters, que utilizaban los grupos progresivos de los setenta como Yes, King Crimson y Rush los cuales fueron gran influencia para Dream Theater.

Petrucci con Dream Theater

En 1995, John lanzó su primera video instructivo llamado “Rock Discipline” y también fue columnista en la revista Guitar World Wild Stringdom. En 1998 y 1999, John lanzó “Liquid Tension Experiment” y “Liquid Tension Experiment 2“, respectivamente, junto con compañeros Mike Portnoy, Jordan Rudess y el inimitable Tony Levin en el bajo. El año 2000 trajo consigo la creación del sello discográfico “Sound Mind Music” cuyo primer lanzamiento fue “An Evening With John Petrucci y Jordan Rudess”, un concierto acústico en vivo instrumental para guitarra y piano grabado en junio de ese año en el Helen Hayes Performing Arts Center en Nyack, NY. En 2001, John se unió a la gira americana de G3 con Joe Satriani y Steve Vai. Actuó como un trío con sus compañero de Dream Theatre Mike Portnoy en batería y el bajista Dave LaRue de la Steve Morse Band. John posteriormente continua con las giras en México y Japón con Joe y Steve ( “G3 Live in Tokyo” fue lanzado en 2005), América del Sur con Joe Satriani y Eric Johnson, Australia, con Joe Satriani y Steve Morse y otra vez en América del Norte en 2007 con Joe Satriani y Paul Gilbert.

Satriani, Gilbert y Petrucci en gira con G3

En 2005, John lanzó su primer y muy esperado disco en solitario titulado “Suspended Animation” con su propia discográfica Sound Mind Music.

John es endorser de  Ernie Ball/Music Man, con varios modelos signature, algunos modelos con la etiqueta BFR Ball Family Reserve con especial elección de las maderas y acabados, DiMarzio (Crunch Lab y Liquifire), Mesa Boogie, Jim Dunlop…

Ernie Ball/Music Man John Petrucci BFR black

Ernie Ball/Music Man John Petrucci blue

Ernie Ball/Music Man John Petrucci red

Ernie Ball/Music Man John Petrucci walnut

DiMarzio Crunch Lab

Rack de la gira: Mesa Boogie, TC Electronics M3000, Eventide 7600...

 

Set utilizado en giras anteriores

 

Discografia

* Various Artists – “Guitar Battle” (1988)
* Dream Theater – “When Dream And Day Unite” (1989)
* Dream Theater – “Images & Words” (1992)
* Dream Theater – “Live At The Marquee” (1993)
* Dream Theater – “Awake” (1994)
* Dream Theater – “A Change Of Seasons” (1995)
* Working Man – “Rush Tribute” (1996)
* Dragon Attack – “A Tribute To Queen” (1997)
* Dream Theater – “Falling Into infinity” (1997)
* Liquid Tension Experiment (1998)
* Explorer’s Club – “Age Of Impact” (1998)
* Dream Theater – “Once in a LIVEtime” (1998)
* Jon Finn Group – “Wicked” (1998)
* Liquid Tension Experiment 2 (1999)
* Dream Theater – “Scenes From a Memory” (1999)
* An Evening With John Petrucci & Jordan Rudess (2000)
* Jordan Rudess – “Feeding The Wheel” (2001)
* Dream Theater – “Live Scenes From New York” (2001)
* Dream Theater – “Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence” (2002)
* Dream Theater – “Train of Thought” (2003)
* Dream Theater – “Live At Budokan” (2004)
* John Petrucci – “Suspended Animation” (2005)
* Dream Theater – “Octavarium” (2005)
* G3 – “Live in Tokyo” (2005)
* Derek Sherinian – “Blood Of The Snake” (2006)
* Dream Theater – “Score” (2006)
* Marty Friedman – “Loudspeaker” (2006)
* Dream Theater – “Systematic Chaos” (2007)
* Dream Theater – “Black Clouds & Silver Linings” (2009)

Videografía

* Images And Words: Live In Tokyo Dream Theater (1993)
* Rock Discipline John Petrucci (1995)
* Progressive Bass Concepts John Myung (1996)
* 5 Years In A LIVEtime Dream Theater (1998)
* Metropolis 2000: Scenes From New York Dream Theater (2001)
* Mystic Dream Excercise John Petrucci (2002)
* Live at Budokan Dream Theater (2004)
* Live in Tokyo G3 (2005)
* Score: 20th Anniversary World Tour Live With The Octavarium Orchestra Dream Theater (2006)
* Chaos in Motion Dream Theater (2007–2008) 

Cuz I’m in the mood for some Bill Bruford and the Gang.

A nasty,nasty LTIA, turn it up loud.

the era of KC that I grew up with, early 80’s. Fresh and vibrant, influential amongst the musicians I knew. Very new music and attitudes, hard music to replicate with high school intruments, vanguard of music that these guys were..

As I was searching for KC, found this playlist. COOL!

KROQ1982

The year I started high school, frightening times…

KC on a comedy show on the early 80’s, Friday’s. ABC late night show, sometimes funny, sometimes tried too hard but it was still much better than anything on SNL in the last 20 years. I have the entire show run on DVD. Hard to watch some of it, but Rich Hall was a funny ass guy. Michael Ricahrds got his tart on that show. Struck me then as a totally insane guy with a bizarre disjointed personality. I have no idea why he came up his humor, it’s post-modern, sort of. the King Crimson of tv comedians. He really went for weird.

When you have limitations, the resulting creative output is affected by these limitations. You can accept them and follow that path to the end result, or you can try to break free of them, with the result. Bruford’s kit is a good example, Fripp’s technology also. Belew, not a doubt that he pushed the limits. Levin, solid, but not called into creative battle with the other three very much.

Early Crim, with Jamie Muir and Wetoon.

Time to watch that playlist…

Plays Live: 1983

I saw this tour when I was 16, and it still stands out as one of the greatest concert experiences of my life. The opening band was horrible, but Peter more than made up for it. The entrance from the back of the arena, with Gabriel carrying a marching bass drum was completely unexpected. Then he put an exclamation point on it by disappearing, and reappearing on top of a scaffolding singing the first note (or wail) of “The Rhythm of the Heat.” The free-fall into the audience during “Lay Your Hands on Me” was daring and spectacular. Nothing will ever match chanting along with “Biko,” with arms raised long after the band had left the stage. I have seen him since, and many other great shows, but this was the best.

I was ecstatic when I found out an album from this tour was being released. The recording did not let me down. It covered all of the greatest moments. It even featured the surprise “I Go Swimming.” No one had heard that before the concert. It could also be the most fun thing PG has ever recorded (along with “Excuse Me”). Tony Levin especially shines on this one. All of the tracks contain the energy, and magic that I had experienced. Even “Humdrum,” which is one of his most moving performances, maintains that quality. The end, of course, is “Biko.” Remarkably, it harnesses all the power of actually being there. I won’t go into the rest, as they are well known and reported. Although, I will say that there is not one weak moment. Every bit of it is outstanding.

I am generally not a fan of most live albums. Most of the time they lack the essence of the show. Other times, the quality of the recording is poor. This one has it all. The sound is terrific (actually, it was state of the art in 1983), and the sense of awe is there. The band lineup not only features the great Tony Levin (as usual) and Jerry Marotta, but also electronic music pioneer Larry Fast (a.k.a. Synergy). This isn’t just a great live version of gabriel, or rock (prog or otherwise), this is a great live album. It is also a great place for a Peter Gabriel initiate to start. Everyone should have it.

Peter Gabriel – lead vocals, synthesizer, piano
Jerry Marotta – drums, percussion, B-vox
Tony Levin – stick, bass, B-vox
David Rhodes – guitar, B-vox
Larry Fast – synthesizer, piano

Rocks the West: 2000

This is a live outing, and that is exactly how I discovered them. A friend wanted to go to show at a particularly good local venue. Another friend (guitar player/singer/songwriter) suggested we go to see a band I had never heard of, The California Guitar Trio. I had now Idea what I was about to witness. Almost immediately, King Crimson came to mind. Then I thought about The League of Crafty Guitarists, and it made sense. My suspicions were confirmed, when Paul Richards related some history. They are truly amazing. The scope of material is just as astounding. They have originals, delve into surf music, Beethoven, and even Queen.

This recording is taken from three different shows, at three different locations, in 1999. It even features the legendary Tony Levin on several Tracks. There is also wonderful sax playing by Bill Janssen on quite a few. The sheer entertainment value is worth the price, but the music is outstanding. These guys can play, and play they do.

You wouldn’t think a group of acoustic players could pull off the last Movement of Beethoven’s Ninth. Let me tell you, it is a treat.

“Bohemian Rhapsody” is probably more effective when you are in the audience. That doesn’t mean that it is not enjoyable at home.

“Caravan” is beautifully executed, and rivals any other artists’ versions.

You can’t help but love Dick Dale’s “Miserlou.” When these guys do it, it is an event.

“Blockhead” is a tune they did with (and I believe wrote for) The Robert Fripp String Quintet. This seethes with proggy goodness.

The rest of the tracks take you through many different places, and are all worthy.
This is probably the next best thing to actually seeing them live, and stands out for that purpose. Their studio albums are more concept-oriented. This is fun, and exciting. Check it out.

Bert Lams – guitars
Hideyo Moriya – guitars
Paul Richards – guitars

Featuring:
Bill Janssen – drums
Tony Levin – stick, bass

It feels weird to be writing a review about someone who, well, writes reviews… But David Malachowski doesn’t do just that. Yes, he reviews concerts for the Times Union and writes CD reviews for the Kingston Freeman, but David is first and foremost a musician himself. After having read many articles by him about other people, I finally got to see Mr. Malachowski perform on Friday night when he played at the Stewart House with the Woodstock Allstars.

I wouldn’t be surprised if you’ve never heard of the Woodstock Allstars. I hadn’t either, until recently. It’s easy to miss a band that only plays together once a year or so… It’s not for lack of motivation however, in fact, it’s quite the opposite: the “Allstars” have separately been involved in multiple other musical projects throughout their careers, and members of the band have played with the likes of Bob Dylan, Pink Floyd, John Lennon, Govt. Mule, Rick Danko, Paul Simon, Savoy Brown, and Joan Osborne, to name a few (when you have as much talent and dedication as the Woodstock Allstars do, you tend to be in high demand). And so the Allstars played their only performance scheduled for this year at the Stewart House on Friday night (it was actually supposed to be an outdoor concert at the Athens Riverfront Park, but was moved due to the rain).

David Malachowski formed the Woodstock Allstars in 2007 and members have come, gone, gone and come back, and you never know who will be playing. This is a real jam band — one that is so full of stellar musicians, they are the only group that can pull off playing one show a year together and sound not good, but great! The musicians playing on Friday were the current line-up of Machan Taylor on guitar and vocals, David Malachowski on guitar and vocals, Daniel A. Weiss on keyboard, Dennis Gruenling on harmonica, Pete Levin on organ, Tony Levin on bass, and Gary Burke on drums.

There were wires everywhere, and the room was crammed to the max. Guitars (no less than seven of them), a drum set, a bass, a keyboard, an organ, amps, fans, and…an antique iron wood stove??? Yes, that’s right. The Stewart House, built in the late 1800’s, is a historic building and retains a lot of it’s original charm. As for the concert… David’s voice is smooth as single malt whiskey, and Machan’s is soulful. When they sang together, it was a perfect marriage of vocals. The Woodstock Allstars opened with “Further On Up The Road,” and only heated up the already sweltering room with their music from there. At times the music would build with excitement, Machan singing jazzily, then David would bring the mood down to a calm blues with his guitar — only to fire up spirits with his playing shortly after. Duo keyboards were great, with Pete and Daniel trading solos back and forth, while bass grounded the music and drums kept a steady beat with smoky cymbals crashing along. Some of the hottest parts came towards the end of the night, and the musicians brought the historic house down with their last few songs.

Although David Malachowski is the “organizer” of the band, so to speak, there isn’t really any lead musician. They all take turns in the spotlight and play for the love of music, not ego. It’s a beautiful thing. The spontaneity of the situation allows for true art to take place — uninhibited, unadulterated, and completely natural art — in the form of music. In the words of Malachowski, “I love playing with that bunch, God do I…” Well, we love listening.

Crossroads

Feelin’ Alright

Just got my hands on their album CGT+2 which is great! Very cool Instrumental Jazz Rock Fusion, I highly recommend.

Peter Gabriel: 1980

This was the first Peter Gabriel album I bought. I heard a cut on the radio when it was released, and went straight to my local record store. (For you young people, that is what music stores used to be called. Though, the discs were much bigger). It got me from the first note of “Intruder,” and has never diminished in its force. What an incredible piece of work.

I love all of his studio output, but he never topped this. Every song is a masterpiece, and fits together in an almost organic fashion. He had mastered his incorporation of world sounds, and gathered an amazing group of musicians to make it happen. It is a moody thing, complex, dark, and in the end, hopeful. There are grooves that can make the tightest booty sake, and poignancy that can bring a tear to the most macho eye. The closer is an anthem that I dare you not to feel the urge and chant along to.

The musicians are ultra-talented (a few being Tony Levin, Jerry Marotta, Phil Collins, Robert Fripp, Kate Bush, and even The Jam’s Paul Weller), and play like it is their last performance. This is actually some of Mr. Collins’ best work. How can you lose?

I could do a song-by-song analysis, but I wouldn’t do the album justice as a whole. Also, unlike may things I write about, this is not an obscurity.

Not only do I recommend this for all prog fans, I think all rock fans (and probably fans of any music) should have this album.

Peter Gabriel – lead vocals, percussion, bass synth, synth, piano

Jerry Marotta – drums, percussion

Phil Collins – drums

Morris Pert – percussion

John Giblin – bass

Larry Fast – bass synth, synth

Tony Levin – stick

David Rhodes – guitar, background vocals

Paul Weller – guitar

Robert Fripp – guitar

Dave Gregory -guitar

Dick Morrissey – sax

Kate Bush – background vocals

One of my favorite PG songs, he really hit a peak here, at the end of a long string of great albums. Again, where is the experimental pop music, why isn’t it popular, if it exists? Could be that the influence of British Progressive music gave Peter inspiration, positive or negative. But the rhythms grounded in the bass I hear are subtly shifting in the afro-cuban/african 6/8 way, then bubbling under the hard R+B piano, and a Stewart Copelan-ish hi hat with delay. Just cool. Finish it off with a throaty Tony Levin bass solo…genius.

The lyrics, poignant and uplifting, simple.

Steven Wilson – “Insurgentes”

CD+DVD

Después de mucho tiempo de trabajo, Steven Wilson logra poner a disposición de sus seguidores “Insurgentes” su primer trabajo compuesto en solitario.

Luego de colaborar con muchos artistas y hacerse una carrera ya consagrada con Porcupine Tree, Wilson decide adentrarse en su propio espacio mental y logra arrancar de ahí un puñado de canciones llenas de texturas y melodías que van de la melancolía al noise puro.

Un álbum experimental, en la veta de lo que han estado haciendo Trent Reznor o Thom Yorke, pero que en ningún momento se siente exclusivo u hostil para el escucha neófito.

El CD contiene el álbum en stereo mientras que el DVD incluye la mezcla en 5.1.

Wilson ofrece con esta versión especial un verdadero tributo a quienes buscan fidelidad de sonido. La preocupación por los detalles y la muy experimentada mano de Wilson en las perillas hace de la versión 5.1 un deber para cualquiera que espere experimentar la música y no solo poseerla. En una era donde el mp3 domina el mercado, esta versión de “Insurgentes” llega como un premio a quienes aun consideran el Rock un Arte.

Encarga hoy “Insurgentes”, CD+DVD, por solo $14.000.-

FONTE

FOGGIA – “Momentary Laps of Reason” dei Pink Floyd, “Brothers in Arms” dei Dire Straits, “Milk and Honey” di John Lennon e “Oltre” di Claudio Baglioni. Quattro album distanti tra loro chilometri di stili e linguaggi. Eppure qualcosa, anzi, qualcuno li tiene legati da un filo (o una corda, per restare in tema) invisibile. Quel “qualcuno” è uno dei più efficaci, sensazionali e richiesti bassisti della storia del rock e del pop, che sarà a Foggia (e non è uno scherzo) con quella sua inconfondibile testa rasata che sotto un riflettore diventa bianca e lucida, e quei baffi neri alla Sergente Garcia. Tony Levin è il suo nome, per chi non avesse riconosciuto, nella foto in alto, il profilo destro di un pezzo di storia della musica.
Beato colui che alla fine degli anni Settanta sorseggiava caffé con Peter Gabriel, l’anima dei Genesis, che volle il suo basso in oltre 1 kg di vinili e in concerti in giro per il pianeta. Quel basso e quel baffo conobbero il John Lennon della conversione pop, e si chiusero assieme a Gavin Harrison e Paco De Lucia nello stesso studio di registrazione per incidere “Mille giorni di te e di me”, preghierina della sera di una generazione e mezzo di innamorati.

Oltre 400 i dischi incisi, e neanche questo è uno scherzo. Ma, evidentemente, raccontare ai nipoti di aver suonato con Paul Simon, James Taylor, David Bowie e con gli italiani Eros Ramazzotti e Vasco Rossi, non basta. Perché quella lucida e preziosa testa, alla veneranda età di 64 anni si inventa uno spettacolo nuovo, complici vecchi amici e la voglia di esplorare linguaggi sempre nuovi, manco fosse un ragazzino alle prime armi. A sedurlo all’inizio del terzo millennio è lo stick, quello strumento ibrido che con le sue dodici corde copre l’estensione di un basso e di una chitarra, con tutti i benefici armonici che ne conseguono. Il suo concerto, in programma a Foggia nella serata di lunedì 25 maggio, chiude con l’Evento (con la E maiuscola) l’ultima e già strepitosa rassegna Lune…dì Jazz, il miracolo senza “patrocini” di Nino Antonacci. Al Moody Jazz Café, l’oracolo della buona musica sito in via Nedo Nadi, al pianterreno dell’ex-Cristallo, Levin suonerà assieme all’altro bassista e chitarrista Michael Bernier e al batterista Pat Mastelloto, spalla di una vita. L’evento nell’evento sarà l’apertura del concerto con la suadente voce svizzera di Laurence Revey, scoperta dal grande Hector Zazou e prodotta dal monumento Artur Lindsay.
Due le esibizioni previste (alle 21.30 e alle 23.15, con le due relative performance della cantante svizzera) per far fronte alle numerose richieste, perché il Moody, nonostante l’arrivo di una rockstar, resterà sempre e comunque un jazz club, con poche decine di poltrone e la sua magica e accogliente atmosfera. i: 0881.711432

Guess I’m on an amp kick. Amps are tough because they sound better than pedals (ya, I know someone will argue me that running a Klon direct is every bit as good as an amp, but I’ve yet to hear it…and of course if I’ve yet to hear it, it doesn’t exist…hehe), but unless you’re famous or an idiot, you’re going to get your different clean and overdrive sounds from 1 amp and 4 or 5 pedals, rather than from 4 or 5 amps. I’ve done it before with 4 or 5 amps……and since I’m not famous, that just leaves the other option. Yep. Idiocy. Just a quick note to those of you who have tendencies like my own, and are willing to ‘take no shortcuts’ when it comes to tone: The bigger your rig, the less sound guys will know what to do with it, the longer it will take to set up, the more chance for something to go wrong, the more noise will be induced, and dare I say the more likely you are not going to know how to run all of it properly. Ans then of course, everyone looks at you and your five amps and thinks, ‘Okay, this better be the best tone I’ve ever heard.’ So now you have inflated expectations, an hour long setup time, tons of noise, and it sounds terrible in the house. All for a church or gig of 25 people. Your bandmates will be nice (hopefully) and say, ‘Good job, tone sounded great’, but in their heads they’re thinking ‘idiot’, and you’ll wait by your phone for them to call you about subsequent gigs, and it’ll never happen. Now, when you’re famous, no one cares and you can have 15 amps, and your band will still call you about upcoming gigs. Amazing how things get less and less stupid the more famous you get. For example:

No one cares that Tony Levin is wearing a cape. Or that he looks like he got confused and thought this was a Disney stage production of Aladdin. Or that Peter Gabriel is upside down behind him. Now if I tried to to do that, and started off worship upside down, and/or with a cape (as cool as I may think that is…for my own benefit, I’m not going to say just how cool I think that is), it wouldn’t go over very well. Now, enter a little thing called ‘fame’, and suddenly all the stupidity is forgiven. Well, they may be entering a little thing called ‘talent’, too.

But that’s where pedals come in. They allow us versatility without having to lug around 5 amps. Yet even after I said all that, I’m still having delusions of having 8 amps, and an elaborate switching system between them. I just can’t get away from the big rigs! At first, I was all excited about the Divided by 13, and my next experiment of running all channel switching, and selling all my drive pedals (well, except for fuzz…that love affair is still going on). But then as my board gets smaller and smaller, I guess I can’t handle it, and now I want to get a bunch of amps? I think the quest for tone can be summed up by this: Something is wrong with us guitarists, and we love it.

So anyway, I decided to take my Holland Brentwood to my tech to fix it up in case I needed to sell it to keep the Divided by 13. It’s never worked quite properly, but it’s worked well enough to still sound good as my pad rig. So basically I took it to him and said ‘Please make this work.’ Now, quick little plug…if you’re in the Southern California area, and you need amp repairs or mods, Jerry Blaha is the guy to see. Best work out there; and it sticks. I’ve never had to take an amp back to him. Not to mention he’s in Hollywood, so you get to pretend to be famous like Tony Levin in a cape. And, in Hollywood, you can also wear a cape if you feel so led, and no one will look twice at you. Which is awesome. And then of course, Jerry proceeds to mention just off the cuff that he’ll have to wait on my amp so he can get an older Gibson and Marshall out for the guy doing all the guitar work on Terminator 4; so then I look down and see the Gibson, and just casually put my hand on it like I’m resting it, but in reality I’m sucking up all that awesome once-removed, cool-by-association from it. And then when I see Terminator 4, and hear the guitars, I can look at everyone around me and be like, ‘I’ve touched that tone!’ To which everyone will look at me like, ‘What a loser.’ Or, the girls will look at me more like, ‘If you’re not as hot as Christian Bale, you have no business speaking right now.’ And I’m not, so I don’t. Nor am I cool from being in the same room as one of the amps owned by a guy who probably did one volume swell in the background score of a movie. But do these facts hinder in any way my perception of my own hotness and coolness? Nope.

(Sometimes I do wish that I were Christian Bale…or at least that I had that jacket. I mean, the dude gets to be Batman, and John Conner? And Teddy Laurence? I mean……I don’t know what that last reference is from……)

So I get the Holland back from Jerry, and he’s totally redone the whole amp. It’s called a Brentwood, but it’s more of a cross between Mike Holland’s Brentwood and his Jumpmaster. Mike Holland used to pride himself on unique designs rather than clones, and on never making any circuit or amp exactly the same. So Jerry diagnosed the circuit, found out what it was, found out what it ‘wanted’ to be, and then fixed/modded accordingly. And it’s like a totally new amp. I say again, if you need work, go to Jerry. I put a link to his shop, Amp Crazy, in my links section. Anyway, this Holland/Blaha, as I guess it is now, has some of the best cleans, and the most clean headroom I have ever heard. It’s one input, but is internally jumpered for two channels, kind of like you can do with a patch cable on some of the old 4-input Fenders and Marshalls. And then you can adjust each of the preamp channels to taste. And of course, the famous Holland reverb. And if we want to go into the whole, who can make the best adjective for tone thing (which I love, by the way ), I’ll go ahead and call the tone of this amp ‘living.’ It is very American, with the big, gutsy cleans from two 6L6 tubes, but the warmth is not getting overtaken by its own bass frequencies, which is good.

Here’s a quick demo I shot yesterday, after the mods and repairs had all been done.

Clean Tone

Gerard Melancon Pro Artist Strat (chambered) with Lindy Fralin Blues pickups–>

Loop-Master bypass looper–>

Loop-Master bypass looper–>
          (–>Dr. Scientist Tremolessence
          (–>Damage Control Timeline
          (–>Damage Control Timeline

Holland Brentwood–>

Heritage pine cab with Jensen P12N

So that’s the demo of the, I guess, Holland/Blaha Brentwood/Jumpmaster. We’ll just call it a Holland Brentwood, because I don’t like typing all that. And should I sell it? Yes. There is absolutely no need to not get asked back to gigs because I have so many amps that neither me nor the sound techs know how to utilize them correctly. Will I sell it? hehehe I have all these lofty ideals about what makes the best tone, and how a guitarist should behave, and what gear you should and shouldn’t have, and all that. But when it comes down to it, I think I just like gear. I mean, music.

Splendid.
Karl.

FONTE

Viaggio nel progressive insieme agli Stick Men

Schio. Il ritorno a Schio del bassista Tony Levin per chiudere la serie dei concerti organizzati da SchioLife è il coronamento ideale di un percorso musicale che molte città si sognano. L’artista sarà in trio, con i suoi Stick Men, giovedì 30 aprile al Teatro Astra. In una delle prime tappe della formazione in Italia e grazie all’intervento del direttore artistico di SchioLife Claudio Canova siamo riusciti a contattare il musicista che, finito il sound-check per uno dei concerti, ha qualche minuto da dedicarci al telefono prima dell’inizio della serata. Con Tony Levin si potrebbe parlare di musica per delle settimane. Ha suonato per moltissimi artisti famosi, basti citare Peter Gabriel e i King Crimson per far capire il livello. Ha suonato anche per molti italiani, da Claudio Baglioni a Vasco Rossi, sino a Ivano Fossati. Parallelamente compone e suona anche per se stesso, con risultati notevoli e molto interessanti. E già dalle prime battute Levin si conferma persona di grande spirito e simpatia. Per correttezza gli annunciamo che si stava registrando la telefonata e la sua risposta, ridendo, è stata più o meno: “Ok, uno due tre prova, prova…”.
Poco più di tre anni fa ha suonato a Schio con la sua band, riscuotendo un successo incredibile. Teatro pieno all’inverosimile…
Già, ricordo proprio che era un bel teatro e, soprattutto, c’era un gran bel pubblico. Un pienone…
Cos’è cambiato da allora? C’è un album nuovo, “Stick Man”, da presentare…

Da allora ho fatto molte cose, anche perché mi piace essere impegnato. Ho suonato il basso in moltissimi album e in tanti tour, con gruppi diversi. Dopo il mio ultimo album solista è nata la volontà di suonare materiale solo per “stick”; negli Stick Men c’è un altro stick-player, Michael Bernier, col quale abbiamo deciso di suonare solo questo strumento. Come batterista abbiamo scelto Pat Mastellotto, con il quale suono nei King Crimson. Abbiamo realizzato una musica inusuale, perché lo strumento ha sia corde da basso che da chitarra. Siamo solo in tre ma suoniamo come se fossimo molti di più…
Come definirebbe il vostro genere? Ricorda il progressive dei King Crimson?
Sì, senza dubbio, anche per l’apporto di Pat alla batteria. La nostra musica è progressive in questo, ma anche nel fatto che cerchiamo di rendere idee interessanti e complesse sia nelle parti strumentali che in quelle cantate, anche se non si tratta di canzoni d’amore… Sono parti più molto più complesse. Abbiamo un pezzo scritto addirittura su un supercollisore, un acceleratore di particelle… Non è un soggetto normale per una canzone! Faremo anche alcuni brani dei King Crimson e pezzi che il gruppo sta scrivendo, nonché naturalmente alcune canzoni da “Stick Man”.
Cos’è cambiato nel mondo del rock, e del progressive in particolare, negli ultimi venti o trent’anni? Qualcuno ama ricordare quando Tony Levin suonava ai tempi del primo Peter Gabriel o di Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman and Howe…
Devo confessare di non essere un esperto in questo senso. A me piace suonare la musica, non vado a cercare il perché di tante cose… Certo, anche per la musica adesso molto è cambiata la situazione con Internet. Grazie al web posso ascoltare musiche che altrimenti non potrei sentire, da luoghi anche molto distanti, anche se per i musicisti tutto questo può anche essere dannoso, è più difficile vendere la propria musica. Ma è comunque meraviglioso avere il mondo a portata di mano.
Che programmi avete per i prossimi mesi?
Sarò in tour con gli Stick Men per parecchio tempo. E siccome mi piacciono le sfide, cercheremo con questo gruppo di estendere e studiare tutte le possibilità che lo stick offre. Stiamo già pensando al prossimo anno, al prossimo tour. Naturalmente suonerò molto anche con i King Crimson e con Peter Gabriel, con il quale sono appena stato in tournée in Sudamerica. E proseguirò anche con i Liquid Tension Experiment, formazione che comprende alcuni membri dei Dream Theater. Avrò insomma un sacco da fare, anche perché dopo tanti anni capisco di essere fortunato a suonare con tanti musicisti di valore e mi piace suonare dal vivo.

FONTE

Prima data del tour italiano

Napoli – Grande appuntamento con la musica di qualità quello di mercoledì 22 aprile 2009.
Sul palco di Casa della Musica si esibirà – prima data del suo tour italiano – Tony Levin .

Ha suonato con Robert Fripp, i King Crimson, Paul Simon, Gary Burton, James Taylor, Herbie Mann, Goro Noguchi, Judy Collins, Joe Yamanaka, Carly Simon, Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe, Tim Finn, Richie Sambora, e Claudio Baglioni,  e per molti anni è stato il bassista e collaboratore di Peter Gabriel.

LINEUP STICKMEN TRIO:
TONY LEVIN  STICK, BASSO, VOCALS
PAT MASTELOTTO BATTERIA (KING CRIMSON)
MICHAEL BERNIER  STICK, BASSO, CHITARRA
TONY LEVIN STICKMEN TRIO

Tony Levin  -  biografia

Tony Levin è nato il 6 giugno 1946 a Boston. Crebbe nel sobborgo di Brooklyn e a 10 anni iniziò a suonare il contrabbasso. Alle scuole superiori imparò anche la tuba, suonando come solista nella banda locale, e fondò un barbershop quartet; ma il suo interesse principale rimase legato al contrabbasso, che arrivò a suonare alla Casa Bianca con un’orchestra giovanile in onore di John e Jackie Kennedy.

Dopo le superiori frequentò la Eastman School of Music di Rochester, NY e suonò nell’orchestra filarmonica della città. Alla Eastman conobbe Steve Gadd, in seguito diventato un apprezzato batterista, che insegnò a Levin a suonare il jazz e rock. Levin barattò il proprio Ampeg per un vecchio Fender Precision, che rimase il suo unico strumento per molti anni.
Nel 1970, Levin si trasferì a New York City ed entrò in un gruppo chiamato Aha, the Attack of the Green Slime Beast, nel quale suonava anche Don Preston, in seguito nei Mothers of Invention di Frank Zappa. Poco tempo dopo, Levin iniziò a lavorare come sessionman e il suo nome apparve su numerosi album degli anni ‘70.

Verso la fine del decennio, per suonare di più dal vivo, Levin decise di entrare nella band di Peter Gabriel. Aveva conosciuto Gabriel attraverso il produttore Bob Ezrin (con cui Levin aveva inciso Welcome to My Nightmare di Alice Cooper e Berlin di Lou Reed). Da allora, Levin ha suonato moltissimo con Gabriel, sia in studio che in concerto. Sul primo album di Gabriel, Levin suonò il basso, la tuba, e diresse persino un barbershop quartet nel brano Excuse Me.

Fu in quei primi anni con Gabriel che Levin sviluppò il suo personalissimo stile con il chapman stick. Più recentemente, la canzone Big Time, dall’album So di Gabriel, ispirò l’invenzione dei funk fingers, che sono bacchette da batteria mozzate e utilizzate per martellare sulle corde del basso.

Secondo quanto riportato da Levin, l’idea fu di Gabriel (e di Andy Moore che ne curò la commercializzazione).

Nel 1978 Levin si trasferì a Woodstock, nello stato di New York, per entrare nel gruppo L’Image insieme al suo vecchio amico Steve Gadd, a Mike Mainieri e a Warren Bernhardt. Questa band si sciolse dopo un anno, ma Levin rimase a Woodstock, dove vive tuttora.
Nel 1980, Levin suonò sull’album Exposure di Robert Fripp (che Levin aveva conosciuto durante l’incisione del primo album di Gabriel). Questa collaborazione gli aprì la strada per entrare nei King Crimson.

Negli anni successivi, Levin suonò con numerosi artisti, tra cui Paul Simon (Levin appare anche nel film di Simon Divorzio stile New York, del 1980), Gary Burton, James Taylor, Herbie Mann, Goro Noguchi, Judy Collins, Joe Yamanaka, Carly Simon, Peter Frampton, Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe, Tim Finn, Richie Sambora, e Claudio Baglioni.
Nel 1984 Levin pubblicò il libro fotografico Road Photos, una raccolta di fotografie in bianco e nero scattate durante i suoi viaggi con King Crimson, Gabriel, Simon e altri.

Nel 1984 Levin rientrò nei King Crimson (scioltisi nel 1994) fino a quando questi rimasero nella formazione “doppio trio”, (Tony Levin, Robert Fripp, Adrian Belew, Trey Gunn, Pat Mastelotto e Bill Bruford), uscendone quando Fripp trasformò il doppio trio in un quartetto (l’altro escluso oltre a Levin fu Bruford). È in questo periodo che Fripp lo spinse ad una carriera solista, e nel 1996 pubblicò il suo primo disco per la Discipline Global Mobile (DGM), l’etichetta etica creata dall’amico.

Nel 2004, Trey Gunn lasciò i King Crimson, e Levin rientrò nel gruppo per sostituirlo. È solo nel 2008 però che la band torna effettivamente in attività con l’aggiunta di Gavin Harrison alla batteria accanto a Mastelotto.

Ha suonato con artisti come Peter Gabriel, King Crimson, Yes (Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe), Andy Summers,Liquid Tension Experiment, Pink Floyd, John Lennon, Dire Straits, Claudio Baglioni, Joan Armatrading, Alice Cooper, Seal, David Bowie, Carly Simon, California Guitar Trio, Sarah McLachlan, Kevin Max, Paul Simon, Michael Schenker Group e molti altri. Noto per il suo approccio innovativo al basso, Levin è stato fra i pionieri dell’uso del Chapman Stick e del contrabbasso elettrico oltre che creatore di una tecnica per suonare il basso con le bacchette nota come funk fingers.

Levin è un bassista di grande reputazione, noto per il modo in cui unisce una grande tecnica musicale a un grande senso del groove, una buona dose d’umorismo e una inarrestabile passione. Il grande pubblico conosce il basso accattivante del brano Sledgehammer di Peter Gabriel, ma per i fan più raffinati il nome di Levin è soprattutto associato ai King Crimson.

LINEUP STICKMEN TRIO
TONY LEVIN  STICK, BASSO, VOCALS
PAT MASTELOTTO BATTERIA (KING CRIMSON)
MICHAEL BERNIER  STICK, BASSO, CHITARRA

TOUR ITALIANO
MERCOLEDI’ 22 APRILE NAPOLI CASA DELLA MUSICA
GIOVEDI’  23 APRILE ROMA STAZIONE BIRRA
VENERDI’  24 APRILE LUGANO  LIVING ROOM 
SABATO   25 APRILE TORINO TAVAGNASCO ROCK FESTIVAL
DOMENICA  26 APRILE COSIO VALTELLINA TEATRO FRASSATI
MERCOLEDI’ 29 APRILE MILANO BLUE NOTE
GIOVEDI’  30 APRILE SCHIO TEATRO ASTRA
VENERDI’  22 MAGGIO CAPOLIVERI (LI)  SUGARREEF MUSICOLOGY
DOMENICA  24 MAGGIO Roccaforzata (TA) – Go West 
LUNEDI’   25 MAGGIO  FOGGIA  – MOODY’S JAZZ CAFE’

FONTE

Per la prima volta, i musicisti Tony Levin, Pat Mastelotto e Michael Bernier tengono una serie di concerti in Europa. Noto per il suo approccio innovativo al basso, Levin è stato fra i pionieri dell’uso del Chapman Stick e del contrabbasso elettrico oltre che creatore di una tecnica per suonare il basso con le bacchette nota come funk fingers. Levin è un bassista di grande reputazione, noto per il modo in cui unisce una grande tecnica musicale a un grande senso del groove, una buona dose d’umorismo e una inarrestabile passione. Il grande pubblico conosce il basso accattivante del brano Sledgehammer di Peter Gabriel, ma per i fan più raffinati il nome di Levin è soprattutto associato ai King Crimson.

Tony Levin, Pat Mastelotto e Michael Bernier
 
Le date del tour
Mercoledì 22 aprile Napoli – CASA DELLA MUSICA
Giovedì 23 aprile Roma – STAZIONE BIRRA
Venerdì 24 aprile Lugano – LIVING ROOM
Sabato 25 aprile Torino – TAVAGNASCO ROCK FESTIVAL
Domenica 26 aprile Cosio (So) – TEATRO FRASSATI
Mercoledì 29 aprile Milano – BLUE NOTE
Giovedì 30 aprile Schio (Ve) – TEATRO ASTRA
Venerdì 22 Maggio Capoliveri – SUGARREEF MUSICOLOGY
Domenica 24 maggio Roccaforzata (Ta) – GO WEST 
Lunedì 25 maggio Foggia – MOODY’S JAZZ CAFE’

Chi è Tony Levin
Tony Levin è nato il 6 giugno 1946 a Boston. Crebbe nel sobborgo di Brooklyn e a 10 anni iniziò a suonare il contrabbasso. Alle scuole superiori imparò anche la tuba, suonando come solista nella banda locale, e fondò un barbershop quartet; ma il suo interesse principale rimase legato al contrabbasso, che arrivò a suonare alla Casa Bianca con un’orchestra giovanile in onore di John e Jackie Kennedy. Dopo le superiori frequentò la Eastman School of Music di Rochester, NY e suonò nell’orchestra filarmonica della città. Alla Eastman conobbe Steve Gadd, in seguito diventato un apprezzato batterista, che insegnò a Levin a suonare il jazz e rock. Levin barattò il proprio Ampeg per un vecchio Fender Precision, che rimase il suo unico strumento per molti anni. Nel 1970, Levin si trasferì a New York City ed entrò in un gruppo chiamato Aha, the Attack of the Green Slime Beast, nel quale suonava anche Don Preston, in seguito nei Mothers of Invention di Frank Zappa. Poco tempo dopo, Levin iniziò a lavorare come sessionman e il suo nome apparve su numerosi album degli anni ‘70.

Verso la fine degli anni 70 Levin decise di entrare nella band di Peter Gabriel. Aveva conosciuto Gabriel attraverso il produttore Bob Ezrin (con cui Levin aveva inciso Welcome to My Nightmare di Alice Cooper e Berlin di Lou Reed). Da allora, Levin ha suonato moltissimo con Gabriel, sia in studio che in concerto. Sul primo album di Gabriel, Levin suonò il basso, la tuba, e diresse persino un barbershop quartet nel brano ‘Excuse Me’. Fu in quei primi anni con Gabriel che Levin sviluppò il suo personalissimo stile con il chapman stick. Più recentemente, la canzone Big Time, dall’album ‘So’ di Gabriel, ispirò l’invenzione dei funk fingers, che sono bacchette da batteria mozzate e utilizzate per martellare sulle corde del basso. Secondo quanto riportato da Levin, l’idea fu di Gabriel (e di Andy Moore che ne curò la commercializzazione). Nel 1978 Levin si trasferì a Woodstock, nello stato di New York, per entrare nel gruppo L’Image insieme al suo vecchio amico Steve Gadd, a Mike Mainieri e a Warren Bernhardt. Questa band si sciolse dopo un anno, ma Levin rimase a Woodstock, dove vive tuttora. Nel 1980, Levin suonò sull’album Exposure di Robert Fripp (che Levin aveva conosciuto durante l’incisione del primo album di Gabriel). Questa collaborazione gli aprì la strada per entrare nei King Crimson. Negli anni successivi, Levin suonò con numerosi artisti, tra cui Paul Simon (Levin appare anche nel film di Simon Divorzio stile New York, del 1980), Gary Burton, James Taylor, Herbie Mann, Goro Noguchi, Judy Collins, Joe Yamanaka, Carly Simon, Peter Frampton, Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe, Tim Finn, Richie Sambora, e Claudio Baglioni. Nel 1984 Levin pubblicò il libro fotografico Road Photos, una raccolta di fotografie in bianco e nero scattate durante i suoi viaggi con King Crimson, Gabriel, Simon e altri. Nel 1984 Levin rientrò nei King Crimson (scioltisi nel 1994) fino a quando questi rimasero nella formazione “doppio trio”, (Tony Levin, Robert Fripp, Adrian Belew, Trey Gunn, Pat Mastelotto e Bill Bruford), uscendone quando Fripp trasformò il doppio trio in un quartetto (l’altro escluso oltre a Levin fu Bruford). È in questo periodo che Fripp lo spinse ad una carriera solista, e nel 1996 pubblicò il suo primo disco per la Discipline Global Mobile (DGM), l’etichetta etica creata dall’amico. Nel 2004, Trey Gunn lasciò i King Crimson, e Levin rientrò nel gruppo per sostituirlo. È solo nel 2008 però che la band torna effettivamente in attività con l’aggiunta di Gavin Harrison alla batteria accanto a Mastelotto.

Stick Man: 2007

                               Tony Levin – stick, basses, cello, vocals, and misc.
                               Pat Mastelotto – drums & percussion
                               Scott Schorr – keyboards, drums, percussion
                               Chris Albers – guitar
                               Tim Dow – drums

When I last went to see California Guitar Trio, Tony Levin just happened to be with the guys for that show. He also had his new CD available for sale. So, along with the recording of that night’s CGT performance, I got a signed copy of “Stick Man” (he is also such a nice man, that he told me I didn’t look old enough to have seen him with Peter Gabriel back in 1982).

Tony is best known as a kind of musical mercenary. Is there anyone he hasn’t played with? If there is, I sure he has plans to correct any omission. So what does he do when it’s just him? I had heard some samples of other albums, but never had an entire Tony Levin CD. From what I had heard, I was expecting world music, or jazz-fusion. Well, it was something completely different. The best way to explain is that Tony seems to have been missing King Crimson. To me, this is what they would sound like if Tony Levin ever took the reigns over from Robert Fripp. Much of it is in a heavy avant style, still with a bit of jazz flavor, and some precision, rapid fire drumming. There are some vocals (done by Mr. Levin), but it is mostly instrumental.

There are some heavy-duty jam outs, slow grooves, fun stuff, and even a touch of some classic new wave sounds (ala Eno/Talking Heads). Some of it is even reminiscent of more current Jeff Beck work. He gets a little help from a few friends, but it is mostly Tony on his famous stick, and a drummer. What that man can do with that instrument is just incredible, but you probably already know that. Whether he is creating atmosphere, or using it for a lead guitar riff, it is all masterfully done. This album is satisfying on every level, and I highly recommend it.

I would love to call “Stick Man” essential, but alas I just don’t see it as a true masterpiece. However, I still think you would be doing yourself a disservice by staying away from it.

No habré soltado babas (y otra sustancia más…) al enterarme hace escasos minutos del Box Set que planean sacar Liquid Tension Experiment con motivo de su décimo aniversario. Un material que todo buen fan desearía tener, y sorprendentemente a un precio bastante más asequible de lo esperado. Váis a tener conciertos hasta hartaros al módico precio de 96 euros al cambio. A mí me parece una ocasión irrepetible, puesto que todos sabemos que no se prodigan mucho los vídeos de esta enorme formación (recordemos: John ‘Redfield’ Petrucci, Mike Portnoy, Jordan Rudess y Tony Levin).

Doy por sentado que si habéis leído más de tres palabras en esta entrada es porque conocéis a dicho grupo, pero si no es así, deciros que fue uno de los proyectos del sello Magna Carta de reunír a varios monstruos y ver lo que podían hacer juntos. El motor de todo el asunto fue Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater), quién gracias a una llamada de Pete Morticelli y Mike Varney se puso a pensar en diversos músicos para lograr el ansiado “supergrupo”.

P0rn-Today no fue el primero, ya que anteriormente hicieron lo mismo con Terry Bozzio, quién se juntó con Tony Levin (sí, de nuevo) y Steve Stevens para firmar dos grandes discos (especialmente el segundo, Situation Dangerous, el cuál os recomiendo encarecidamente). Pero si tengo que comparar ambos proyectos, me quedo sin lugar a dudas con el de LTE. Lo que no mucha gente sabe es cómo se gestó dicha formación, así que os lo voy a contar a modo de resumen aprovechando que tengo el librillo del primer CD en mis manos para refrescar la memoria.

Mike empezó a confeccionar una lista de los músicos con los que le gustaría tocar. Tuvo que descartar a Frank Zappa y a John Lennon por motivos obvios (descansen en paz, que su legado sigue en la memoria de todos), así que tuvo que elegir entre los vivos. Empezó primero por bajistas, y de inicio tuvo dos posibles candidatos: por un lado, a Tony Levin (Peter Gabriel, King Crimson, entre muchos más grupos en los que estuvo), y por el otro, a Billy Sheehan (con quién ya había tocado en un tributo a Rush llamado Working Man, y que repetiría años más tarde con otra banda tributo, en este caso a The Who, llamada Amazing Journey, junto a Paul Gilbert -Mr. Big, Racer X- y a Gary Cherone -Extreme-), uno de mis bajistas favoritos. Con candidatos de semejante nivel, está claro que no podía fallar.

Después pensó en teclistas, y también se le vinieron a la mente dos. Curiosamente, dos con los que ya había tocado en una audición en el año 1994 para su grupo Dream Theater tras la marcha de Kevin Moore. El primer candidato, el que a la postre se quedaría, ya no sólo en LTE, si no años más tarde en Dream Theater (previo paso de Derek Sherinian, uno de mis favoritos -escuchad su disco Inertia y luego me contáis-), fue Jordan Rudess, mientras que el segundo, el para mí desconocido Jens Johansson, quién tocó con Yngwie Malmsteen y Allan Holdsworth, ahí es nada…

Curiosamente, algo que menos gente sabe aún y que yo no recordaba es que en una primera instancia, tras las llamadas pertinentes, los primeros que estuvieron disponibles fueron Billy y Jens, así que Mike ya contaba con ellos y se puso manos a la obra en su búsqueda del guitarrista adecuado para el puesto. Lógicamente, la lista de guitarristas fue muy extensa, ya que si hay algo en lo que se parecen los informáticos y los guitarristas (curioso, yo soy ambas cosas xd) es en que hay a patadas por todo el mundo. Curiosamente, pese a tan grande lista (desde Steve Morse, uno de los favoritos de sidewalks y míos, al tristemente fallecido Dimebag Darrell), ninguno de ellos estaba disponible.

El tiempo pasaba, y Mike tenía un bebé en camino y a mayores, el comienzo de la grabación de su nuevo disco (en teoría, el Falling into Infinity), así que hasta que pasase ese período no podría hacer nada. Ahora Tony y Jordan eran las mejores opciones ya que durante ese período estaban disponibles, al contrario que los otros dos. Pero el guitarrista seguía sin llegar…

Así que Mike pensó detenidamente… Necesitaban a alguien con talento, distinto, espontáneo, una persona de equipo, y lo más importante… que estuviera disponible. No fue hasta que, gracias a su esposa Marlene, se dio cuenta que la persona ideal la tuvo delante de sus narices durante todo este tiempo (no, no hablo de su mujer xd). John Petrucci, su compañero de correrías en Dream Theater. La pareja ideal.

Y así fue, en resumidas cuentas, cómo se gestó Liquid Tension Experiment. Una formación de metal progresivo de altísimo nivel. Es como Dream Theater, pero sin LaBrie, en resumidas cuentas. Si hay alguien que no haya escuchado algún disco de ellos, os recomiendo algún tema suelto para ir calentado, como Paradigm Shift, del primer disco, y When The Water Breaks (posiblemente, mi canción favorita de la historia de la música) del segundo.

Soltado ya todo el rollo pertinente, vamos a lo que interesa, al contenido del Box Set. Primero, la versión corta, y luego la que os muestra el contenido en ella:

LTE Live In NYC (2 CD)
LTE Live In NYC (1 DVD)
LTE Live In LA (2 CD)
LTE Live In LA (1 DVD)
LTE Live In LA (1 Blu-ray) Available only in the boxset
LTE Bonus Disc (1 CD) Available only in the boxset
Liquid Trio Experiment 2 – When the Keyborad Breaks: Live In Chicago (1 CD)
24 Page Booklet

Preparados… Listos… YA!

LIVE IN NYC
1. Acid Rain (9:25)
2. Kindred Spirits (8:00)
3. Biaxident (7:39)
4. Freedom of Speech (9:00)
5. Improv Jam #1 (8:10)
6. Another Dimension (10:51)
7. State of Grace (6:20)
8. Universal Mind (9:36)
–
9. When the Water Breaks (16:49)
10. Improv Jam #2 (11:31)
11. Rhapsody in Blue (13:49)
12. Osmosis (3:43)
13. Paradigm Shift (9:31)

LIVE IN LA
1. Acid Rain (10:43)
2. Kindred Spirits (7:53)
3. Biaxident (7:34)
4. Freedom of Speech (8:54)
5. Improv Jam #1 (8:21)
6. Another Dimension (10:31)
7. State of Grace (6:00)
8. Universal Mind part 1 (3:36)
9. Keyboard Solo (5:19)
10. Universal Mind part 2 (3:46)
–
11. When the Water Breaks (17:52)
12. Improv Jam #2 (13:03)
13. Rhapsody in Blue (13:34)
14. Osmosis (5:52)
15. Paradigm Shift (9:17)

WHEN THE KEYBOARD BREAKS: LIVE IN CHICAGO
1. Universal Mind (When the Keyboard Broke) (2:21)
2. The Chicago Blue & Noodle Factory (7:03)
3. Fade Away or Keep Going? (5:03)
4. The Haunted Keyboard (9:34)
5. Close Encounters of the Liquid Kind (15:13)
6. Ten Minute Warning (5:55)
7. That ‘Ol Broken Down Keyboard Blues (6:34)
8. Liquid Anthrax (4:55)
9. That’s All Folks! (2:12)

LTE BONUS DISC
1. NYC (Early Show) Improv Jam #1 (6:54)
2. NYC (Early Show) Improv Jam #2 (7:41)
3. NEARfest Improv Jam #1 (3:42)
4. NEARfest Improv Jam #2 (5:43)
5. Chicago Improv Jam #1 (7:58)
6. San Francisco Improv Jam #1 (10:41)
7. San Francisco Improv Jam #2 (13:17)

Vía | Blabbermouth
Comprar | Ytsejam Records