I found this neat article on the Yamaha music website. It is an interview with Terry Lewis, Karl T. Bruhn and Barry Bittman, MD on yet another benefit of music. Here is the link
USA Today had an interesting article yesterday about how Clear Channel dominates the live concert scene. The article is found here: http://www.usatoday.com/money/media/2005-09-26-concerts-cover-usat_x.htm
From my post yesterday, it turns out Green Day was on for tonight in Portland, Or. Their website is similar to their tourbus in terms of boldness and color. www.greendayconcerts.com
I came across this organization at, of all places, an eBay auction. The TEC Awards for Music and Sound are auctioning many cool items for charity. H.E.A.R. is one of the beneficiaries. As a musician, I was intriqued by the mission of the organization.
From the H.E.A.R website:
H.E.A.R. (Hearing Education and Awareness for Rockers) got started in 1988 when rock and roll musician Kathy Peck joined forces with local physician Flash Gordon, M.D. in San Francisco. After attending an excessively loud concert, Kathy and Flash decided to address the problems and dangers of loud music. As a former bass player and singer for the San Francisco rock band The Contractions, Kathy had suffered hearing damage while playing a set at the Oakland Coliseum in l984. The repeated exposure to excessive noise caused a ringing sensation in her ears called tinnitus, as well as decreasing her ability to hear. Though a professional and personal setback, the injury provided the incentive for Kathy to throw her energies in a new direction. With the help of Flash Gordon, Kathy launched H.E.A.R.
H.E.A.R. receives no state or federal money and depends entirely on contributions and private foundation donations. H.E.A.R. has been recognized around the world for its diligent efforts both to educate the public on the dangers of excessive noise, and to provide adequate hearing protection for musicians and music fans. From public service announcements in mainstream media, to information and earplug tables at concerts across the U.S., H.E.A.R. is dedicated to promoting awareness of hearing damage. As a voice of concern between the music and medical communities, we are determinded to make our message heard. H.E.A.R. wants you to enjoy the music for a long, long time.
Since our inception in 1988, H.E.A.R. has received support from some of the most respected, popular, and influential names in the music and medical industries. From performers such as Pete Townshend of The Who, Lars Ulrich of Metallica, and Les Claypool of Primus, to media giants like MTV, Guitar Player Magazine, Bass Player Magazine, Keyboard Magazine, and MIX Magazine; from medical groups such as The American Speech-Language and Hearing Association, The American Academy of Audiology, and The American Academy of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, to trade groups like the National Association of Music Manufactureres, Audio Engineer Society, Consumer Electronics Association, as well as The Recording Academy, The Mix Foundation /TEC Awards, The Monterey Pop Festival, Aearo Corporation, Westone, Etymotic Research, RPG, Virgin Megastores , Ziljian, South by Southwest, Future Sonics, Shure and Energizer. H.E.A.R. is recognized and supported as leading the charge against preventable hearing damage.
More Cool Things They Do...
Hearnet is their interactive website that is updated regularly, providing information and resources on tinnitus, hearing loss, hearing evaluation referrals, hearing aids and assistive listening devices (ALD's), as well as a referral service of audiology partners, ear doctors, and entertainment links.
In addition to distributing information, H.E.A.R. conducts hearing evaluation clinics in the San Francisco Bay Area, as well as producing school programs, and public service announcements with music celebrities for national radio, TV and cable networks. H.E.A.R. has established H.E.A.R. Affliates world wide.
Little Kids Rock (LKR) is an innovative non-profit program that provides free instruments and music curriculum to children. They recently arrived in Nashville's metro school district. In the coming months, hundreds of students will receive free guitars and lessons as a result of the workshop. At the workshop teachers will be trained to offer Little Kids Rock classes at their schools. Children who participate in the Little Kids Rock classes learn to play popular music and also how to compose their own original music.
The Nashville program was made possible in part by a generous grant from the Hot Topic Foundation. The Hot Topic Foundation supports programs and organizations that specifically focus on encouraging and educating youth in arts. Little Kids Rock is also partnering with the Nashville Alliance for Public Education, a local nonprofit that aims to place one million dollars worth of musical instruments into the Nashville public schools. The instruments that Little Kids Rock brings to Nashville will be matched by the Nashville Alliance for Public Education.
About Little Kids Rock:
Little Kids Rock believes that music is a critical component of first-rate education. Many elementary schools have been stripped of their music programs. These cuts have had a disproportionately large impact on children from low-income backgrounds. Little Kids Rock restores music to its rightful place in the academic lives of kids in our public schools by providing a rich music education program including instrument instruction, free instruments and trained mentors. Founded by a single elementary school teacher in 1996, Little Kids Rock is now serving thousands of students in CA, NY, NJ and TN. Bonnie Raitt, Paul Simon, B.B. King, Jason Newsted, Steve Vai, Brad Delson, Dave Mason, James Burton and Les Paul sit on our Honorary Board of Directors and we are supported by friends Tom Waits, Carlos Santana, Phish, Bob Weir and others. More information can be found at: www.littlekidsrock.org
In the beginning there was a bass. It was a Fender, probably a Precision, but it could have been a Jazz - nobody knows. Anyway, it was very old ... definitely pre-C.B.S.
And God looked down upon it and saw that it was good. He saw that it was very good in fact, and couldn't be improved on at all (though men would later try.) And so He let it be and He created a man to play the bass.
And lo the man looked upon the bass, which was a beautiful 'sunburst' red, and he loved it. He played upon the open E string and the note rang through the earth and reverberated throughout the firmaments (thus reverb came to be.) And it was good. And God heard that it was good and He smiled at his handiwork.
Then in the course of time, the man came to slap upon the bass. And lo it was funky.
And God heard this funkiness and He said, "Go man, go." And it was good.
And more time passed, and, having little else to do, the man came to practice upon the bass. And lo, the man came to have upon him a great set of chops. And he did play faster and faster until the notes rippled like a breeze through the heavens.
And God heard this sound which sounded something like the wind, which He had created earlier. It also sounded something like the movement of furniture, which He hadn't even created yet, and He was not so pleased. And He spoke to the man, saying "Don't do that!"
Now the man heard the voice of God, but he was so excited about his new ability that he slapped upon the bass a blizzard of funky notes. And the heavens shook with the sound, and the Angels ran about in confusion. (Some of the Angels started to dance, but that's another story.)
And God heard this - how could He miss it - and lo He became Bugged. And He spoke to the man, and He said, "Listen man, if I wanted Jimi Hendrix I would have created the guitar. Stick to the bass parts."
And the man heard the voice of God, and he knew not to mess with it. But now he had upon him a passion for playing fast and high. The man took the frets off of the bass which God had created. And the man did slide his fingers upon the fretless fingerboard and play melodies high upon the neck. And, in his excitement, the man did forget the commandment of the Lord, and he played a frenzy of high melodies and blindingly fast licks. And the heavens rocked with the assault and the earth shook, rattled and rolled.
Now God's wrath was great. And His voice was thunder as He spoke to the man.
And He said, "OK for you, pal. You have not heeded My word. Lo, I shall create a soprano saxophone and it shall play higher than you can even think of."
"And from out of the chaos I shall bring forth the drums. And they shall play so many notes thine head shall ache, and I shall make you to always stand next to the drummer."
"You think you're loud? I shall create a stack of Marshall guitar amps to make thine ears bleed. And I shall send down upon the earth other instruments, and lo, they shall all be able to play higher and faster than the bass."
"And for all the days of man, your curse shall be this; that all the other musicians shall look to you, the bass player, for the low notes. And if you play too high or fast all the other musicians shall say "Wow" but really they shall hate it. And they shall tell you you're ready for your solo career, and find other bass players for their bands. And for all your days if you want to play your fancy licks you shall have to sneak them in like a thief in the night."
"And if you finally do get to play a solo, everyone shall leave the bandstand and go to the bar for a drink."
And it was so.
by Tony Levin
Remember when you used to watch the cool cartoons like bugs bunny, road runner, and others of that by-gone era. I didn't realize it at the time but most of the musical scoring that provided the drama and dynamics was classical music using symphonies. What a great way to get us kids into the classical mindset.
Over the years we grow accustomed to John Williams and the Star Wars theme all the while thinking that rock music is the coolest. Go ahead and name some powerful musical scores from movies you love that have a heavy back beat and low end bass groove. You probably can't name too many... I mean really popular movies.
So classical music is all around. I remember coding my first few ColdFusion sites listening to Beethoven piano sonatas because it allowed my mind to be free. It also tended to keep people out of my office because it was so odd, therefore i must be odd? Go figure.
I digress but come back around to my real reason for writing this post. There is a great new "cartoon" on. Granted, it doesn't have the bang up endings that Wile E. Coyote faced. But the new Disney Little Einsteins is a pretty good show. It is very music and art oriented. They start the show with a snippet from Bizet or Liszt or Shubert and it is repeated throughout the show. Famous pieces of artwork are displayed too. All the while, to keep the 3-6 year olds attention, the "little einsteins" in the show are finding hidden treasures and such, drawing the kids in.
So, it is nice to see that the classics are still out there being displayed and listened to by the new generations. If you ever feel uptight or find that you can't find anything good to listen to on your ipod anymore, turn on some Mozart or the choral version of Beethoven's 9th, sit back and relax, and enjoy peering into the mind of genius while getting lost in yourself.
I wish I could find the words to describe how I feel about John Scott Evans leaving beautiful Franklin, TN for sunny LA. He left today in his Honda Element for areas yet uncharted in his life.
Happy- John is such an awesome guitar player. Listen to one of his tunes HERE. He is going there to hang with the big dogs of jazz. John is soon to be a Taylor clinician too. Before leaving he received his Taylor "hall pass" to the NAMM show in Anaheim. He will be demoing the new Taylor acoustic/electrics.
Sad - John is my best friend and has been since we first sat next to eachother in the orchestra at Charles Stanley's church in Atlanta. He's pushed me to new heights that I didn't think I'd reach. You may have seen us playing together more recently at the People's Church (www.pclive.org) on the streaming video, at least through early December of last year. Check out the 12/4/05 and 12/11/05 services for some good stuff.
Grateful - for so many great bike rides. John and i named our rides after John Eldredge books. We had the Wild at Heart rides which were short jaunts through the woods. The Waking the Dead rides were those crazy, why aren't we wearing helmets kind of rides that would pull you out of a slumber. We had one stretch that had roots and rocks scattered about that on several occasions we thought would be the last.
Encouraged - to know we'll meet up again and the music will be fresh, the communion will be great, and, who knows, maybe he'll be married.
So John, I'll miss you man. Keep riding...
If you are a fan of King Crimson, you'll be interested to learn that Robert Fripp, one of the key players in the progressive rock band, is lending a hand to Microsoft to create new sounds for the new Windows Vista operating system.
Read more HERE
Imagine going by the name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophillus Amadeus Mozart. Translated, all these words are supposed to mean "beloved of God". Mozart is one of my favorite classical composers. Born January 27, 1756, the story of Mozart’s life is a sad one. A brilliant composer, writing scores of operas and symphonies, he changed the landscape of music in his day. Gifted beyond comparison, he died with no money and was buried in a pauper’s grave, the place where commoners with nothing to their name, were given a final resting place.
For more on Mozart, a great website to check out is http://www.mozartproject.org.
Just finished listening to Donald Fagen's "The Nightfly" again. It's been awhile. What an great album. If you haven't seen them yet and are a big steely dan fan, check out Twelve Against Nature at Third and Lindsley this Friday night (2/3) at 10. I saw them last month and they were dead on.
23rd Psalm for Bass Players
The Lord is my drummer, I shall not rush.
He maketh me to lay out in tasteful places
He leadeth me beside cool meter changes
He restoreth my "one".
Yeah man, though I read through the trickiest
charts, I will fear no train wrecks.
For You are with it.
Your ride and Your snare, they comfort me.
You setteth up a solo for me
In the presence of mine guitarists.
You annointeth my lines with drive.
My groove overflows.
Surely good feel and swing will follow me
through all the tunes of each set.
And I will dwell in the pocket
the whole gig long.
Amen.
a friend sent this to me. not sure who wrote it.
A t-shirt for any occasion. Or at least any occasion that requires you to wear your iPod Shuffle. This has a special magnet that you can clip your shuffle on. Get it HERE.
Apple's iTunes passed the one billionth download early today.
From Apple's website:
Music lovers like you in 21 countries around the globe have purchased one billion songs from the iTunes Music Store. And for helping us reach this massive milestone in digital music history, we’d like to thank you.We had one billion reasons to celebrate, and we started with you. As we marked our way to one billion, the music fans who downloaded every 100,000th song won a prize package featuring a black 4GB iPod nano and a $100 iTunes Music Card.
The lucky music fan who downloaded the billionth song from the iTunes Music Store — won a new 20-inch iMac, 10 60GB iPods, and a $10,000 iTunes Music Card to jumpstart their digital music collection.
Do you iTune?
My friend Bruce told me about this story after he'd seen it on one of the morning news programs. If you were around and going to concerts in the 70's and 80's you may recall seeing Bill Graham Presents on your tickets. This should bring back memories.
About the VaultOverview
Live music reached a new level with the arrival of the modern rock concert. In the 1960s, performers, artists and promoters shaped a synergy with audiences that was unprecedented. The promotional art inspired by the performers, the intimacy of the venues and the energy of the audience all combined to create experiences that are indelible in the minds of those who were there. This era was the true genesis for the years of great concert art that followed, as rock concerts evolved from their dance hall roots to the clubs, arenas, amphitheatres and stadiums of today.Why Wolfgang’s Vault?
Wolfgang was Bill Graham, the man whose genius for bringing performer and audience together shaped the rock concert as we have come to know it. Born Wolfgang Grajonca in Berlin in 1931, he escaped Nazi Germany to grow up in a foster home in the Bronx and anglicized his name at the age of 18. Bill Graham, who would come to be known as the midwife of the modern rock concert, was smart and forward-thinking, an opportunist and a listener, fair and ferociously demanding, and he remembered his roots: in the 1980s he opened a small San Francisco club and named it Wolfgang's.Graham's creative vision led him to commission true works of art to promote his shows and, fortunately for the modern collector, his entrepreneurial instincts led him to overprint and preserve the exceptional art, photography and recordings that came from these shows. For over 30 years, his company accumulated and stored this material in newly minted condition. Until Wolfgang's Vault, if you could even find a Bill Graham Presents poster, it was frequently in less than mint condition because it was torn from walls or telephone poles as a concert souvenir.
The vast majority of material in Wolfgang's Vault comes from the exquisitely preserved, original archives of Bill Graham Presents, which we now own and manage. Beginning with the seminal concerts of the mid 1960s and continuing through today, we've assembled a superb collection that is being cared for in state-of-the-art facilities.
return to topStraight from the Source to You
We have only begun to mine the depths of the Vault. We opened in October 2003 with our unparalleled collection of Poster Art and added our extraordinary vintage t-shirts, backstage passes, laminates and books shortly thereafter. In 2004 we released the BG Archive photography collection, and since then we have become the exclusive online source for five of the greatest rock photographers of all time; Jim Marshall, Baron Wolman, Michael Zagaris, Joe Sia and Gene Anthony.
For more info, check out wolfgang's vault.
They would have marketed it like this...
This past weekend i did a session at the Sound Kitchen. The famous Big Boy room was filled with an assortment of symphonic instruments. We covered about 10 tunes. The Nashville Praise Symphony does one CD recording a year which is used at events throughout the remainder of the year. Something about symphony/orchestral music that makes a session even more challenging is the intensity and focus required. If you are working with say 3 other players and one of you makes a mistake, it is fairly simple to patch in over the blunder. Try doing that with 100 people and you learn to get it right first time as often as possible. Unfortunately, my photographer (OK, my friend Jack) didn't have his flash card loaded and we didn't get any pictures. I did see another sammy snapshot running around so maybe I can get some of those pics.
I really enjoy technology and the arts. The HBMG Foundation has helped fund the ArtSpark Initiative in Austin, TX. Just what is ArtSpark? From their website:
The ArtSpark Initiative mission is to promote the creative process and explore synergies among the Arts, Technology and Industry. ArtSpark programs seek to nurture, develop, and provide professional benefit to emerging artists and innovators, to build connections with industry and to give the community a first look at the future of the entertainment arts and technology.Each year ArtSpark will present programs in Austin which bring together local emerging media creators in immersive creative experiences where they interact with visiting artists, industry, and professionals. Viable new works will be placed with the appropriate venues locally or nationally for further development, presentation or distribution.
Industry, art, technology, media, creativity, innovation. This is fascinating and I wonder how many other "ArtSpark's" there are out there. Is there a business leader out there willing to risk a little to spawn the next ____? Imagine the possibilities?
Well, the passport came in today. First time I've had a need for one. Amazingly, I dropped the application by the post office a week ago monday. Why does it seem like it was quick. Probably because the post office guy told me it would be 8-10 days. We are talking state department here. Sure enough. less than quoted always makes you feel like you scored a victory. next is more paper work (applications and the like). the excitement continues to build.
More HERE.
This Saturday, October 7th, the new Schermerhorn Symphony Center is opening its doors for a free look and listen for all of Nashville. Guests are invited to stroll the lobbies, pick up a snack, enjoy brunch or a beverage at one of the bars, relax in the open courtyard, and enjoy the wide variety of music being played in one of our many performing spaces. The day begins at 10 am and ends at 6 pm.
And there is a variety of music being played including the Nashville Praise Symphony which I play in. Our spot is from 12 - 12:30 in the main symphony area.
Tickets:
Passes will be issued on site on October 7 beginning at 10 am. Each guest will receive a pass upon entering the building. Guests may then stay as long as they like, explore the different spaces inside, enjoy the music, and when leaving, turn the pass back in so that another guest may enter. There will not be any advanced ticketing for this event.
Shuttles:
To help you attend multiple community activites, we are working with Scarritt Bennett and Metro Parks to offer free shuttles from Centennial Park - where the Celebration of Cultures event will be held from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Shuttles will be picking up and dropping off approximately every 20 minutes. The pickup/drop-off point at Schermerhorn Symphony Center will be on Demonbreun Street near the corner of Fourth Avenue South, across from the Country Music Hall of Fame. The Centennial Park pickup/drop-off point will be located just inside the park at the South end of the lake near 25th Avenue North (in front of the Sportsplex).
For more info go HERE.
The music video my daughter Kate had a part in is playing now on CMT. The group is Heartland from Huntsville and the song is "I Loved Her First". You can view it on the CMT website at http://www.cmt.com/artists/az/heartland__2_/artist.jhtml. To view it online, you'll have to use internet explorer. CMT isn't up to the new stuff yet.
Kate is the girl with freckles in the middle of the song. Way to go Kate.
There is a very strong possibility that The Police will tour this year. They are already scheduled to appear as a "surprise" guest at this year's Grammy Awards. Speculation is that they have begun rehearsing in Vancouver. How great would that be to have these guys back together? Sting is perhaps one of the greatest writers and storytellers in recent history. The other guys in the band provided just the right sounds and textures to make The Police one of the most successful and recognizable bands in rock history.
I never thought in my early days that I would be playing bass in church. Let me rephrase that: bass with an edge, in church. Wait: at a church in Franklin, TN. Hold it: bass at a church that has a live webcast each week that is viewed by upwards of 3000 people on any given Sunday from around the world. No, if you'd asked me then, I would have laughed at the idea.
I think if you think of church as some stodgy old place where people wear suits and carry around King James Bibles and say words like "thou" and "doest" and other such things, you may be thinking of the church that I used to think was church. Not so.
Take this last week for example. It was fun (it's OK to say that about church?). I got to play with some of my good friends and some really great players. The Peoples Church in Franklin is a cool place to be yourself. Yeah, we rock out a little. Yeah, we sometimes wear non-traditional clothing like jeans and t-shirts. Yeah, some wear hair differently. Curious, check out our webstream HERE. Click on the video link.
This surprised me a little bit. Not that it's bad. Perhaps I didn't realize how big Bonnaroo is. Perhaps it is the name of the town which has a sister in England. Regardless, I am sure it will be a sold out performance. I just hope the crowd behaves. Sting and the guys are a cultured lot after all. It's only an hour away. Perhaps I'll go.
