MOG - starstuff's Posts

Chat with Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford

starstuff — Mon, 19 May 2008 20:20:06 GMT

I just saw this in my inbox this morning. Looks fantastic. If you are into Genesis, or even just crazy about keyboards or guitar, you might want to check this out. More at improvisemusic.com.

In case you're in the United States and wondering, 6:15 PM UK time is 10:15 AM Pacific, 11:15 AM Mountain, 12:15 PM Central, and 1:15 PM Eastern time.

The otherworldly sounds Tony Banks coaxes out of those keys... The ethereal tones Mike Rutherford wrenches from anything with strings... Without the innovative approach to their craft and writing that these two gentlemen contributed, there could be no Genesis.

We are thrilled to announce that Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford will be taking part in a live chat for all Genesis-Music members! The chat will take place at The Farm on May 22nd at 6:15 PM (UK). Producer Nick Davis will also be on hand to answer questions, just in case Tony and Mike weren't enough for you.

This is the first time that Genesis-Music has hosted a chat with Genesis band members, so start thinking of questions now, and join us for what is sure to be a revealing and entertaining evening of discussion. Post your questions in the Members Forum! Of course, you have to be a member to participate in the chat. If you are not a member, now is the perfect time to join Genesis-Music.com. If you are a member, mark your calendars now - this is one event you don't want to miss.

Lowered Inhibitions

starstuff — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 21:08:17 GMT

A pair of Johns Hopkins and government scientists have discovered that when jazz musicians improvise, their brains turn off areas linked to self-censoring and inhibition, and turn on those that let self-expression flow.

The joint research, using functional magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI, and musician volunteers from the Johns Hopkins University’s Peabody Institute, sheds light on the creative improvisation that artists and non-artists use in everyday life, the investigators say.

It appears, they conclude, that jazz musicians create their unique improvised riffs by turning off inhibition and turning up creativity.

The scientists from the University’s School of Medicine and the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communications Disorders describe their curiosity about the possible neurological underpinnings of the almost trance-like state jazz artists enter during spontaneous improvisation.

“When jazz musicians improvise, they often play with eyes closed in a distinctive, personal style that transcends traditional rules of melody and rhythm,” says Charles J. Limb, M.D., assistant professor in the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and a trained jazz saxophonist himself. “It’s a remarkable frame of mind,” he adds, “during which, all of a sudden, the musician is generating music that has never been heard, thought, practiced or played before. What comes out is completely spontaneous.”

What hot now.

starstuff — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 19:46:50 GMT

Every few weeks I like to go check out the most popular music videos at youtube. It's pretty simple, just go here.

At the moment, here they are: Britney Spears - Piece Of Me (Love that monotone singing with digitial pitch correction...will it be long before there is a "Sound-like-Britney" plug-in for ProTools? Easy on the eyes though.)

Chris Brown - With You (Super simple production really lets his voice steal the show)

Tay Zonday - Cherry Chocolate Rain (Web just killed your TV. With a squirrel.)

Snoop Dogg - Sensual Seduction ("Ain't no use to rush da bus 'cause I wouldn't want to have her to rush!" ... yes, words of wisdom from our oldschool freaky dogg.)

50 Cent - Still Will ("chill" or "kill"? Whatever happened to Give Peace A Chance? I think 50 Cent should cover that.)

Cascada - Last Christmas (pointless remake of forgettable seasonal Wham! tune, again with the gratuitous digital pitch correction.)

I was going to throw up my hands and stop there, but read on!

Led Zeppelin - Stairway (Zeppelin live from Dec. 10, 2007 in London. Plant's voice is shot. Still, wish I could have been there. Hey, maybe he should use digital pitch correction!)

Brandon Walker - Chinese Food On Christmas (Kinda funny. I liked it better when Adam Sandler did it.)

Led Zeppelin - Kashmir (OK, this one I like. A lot. Show closer from the December 10 reunion. Jason Bonham on drums. Just think, as each member gets old and leaves us, can we expect them to be replaced by their progeny like some royal lineage? A rock-n-roll monarchy? A Zeppelin dynasty that lasts for generations and generations?)

And tenth, but certainly not last, Daft Punk - Harder Better Faster Stronger (Ha! Lyric fembots!)

Robben Ford's best record so far

starstuff — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 07:02:00 GMT

I caught a truly amazing show last week. World-class guitar legends Robben Ford and Larry Carlton together, with Toss Panos on drums and Travis Carlton on bass. After the show, I stayed and finally got to meet Robben Ford. He told me that his new record, Truth, is "the best recording I've made so far."

Truth was released officially this week. His official press release echoes what he told me, "I feel this is the best work I have done in terms of a solo recording. It is my most realized work as a songwriter, and I feel like I am reaching higher ground as a guitarist. Truth represents the blues as they are today; some of the songs are sociopolitical in essence, but not without humor, and the musical setting is fresh."

My favorite moment of the live show was when he played Riley B. King, which is from the new album. We've all got heroes, and everyone can relate to the theme of this song, which Robben penned about on of his heroes, B.B. King. What a great theme for a song and a great way to connect to your audience, especially when most of your audience are musicians with heroes. That song is worth getting the album for all on its own, but the rest of the recording is just as compelling.

While recognized by his peers and critics as a superlative instrumentalist and technician, Robben Ford insists writing songs has kept his career on an upward trajectory. Truth features superb playing, but more importantly, it tells a story.

Ford employs an all-star cast which includes guest vocalists Susan Tedeschi and Siedah Garrett, keyboardist Larry Goldings, bassist Chris Chaney, drummer Gary Novak along with keyboardist Bernie Worrell, and drummer/bassist Charley Drayton, both from Keith Richards' Expensive Winos. The album also includes songwriting collaborations with Keb' Mo', Nashville tunesmiths Gary Nicholson and Danny Flowers, his wife Anne Kerry Ford and his nephew Gabriel Ford.

Rush on Tour With Legions of Air Drummers

starstuff — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 21:24:46 GMT

Anybody can play air guitar. Really. What's there to it? Hold an imaginary guitar, dance around, rock out, and you're more than halfway there. But air drums? That takes some practice, or at least obsessive listening and a lot of coordination. When it comes to quality air drumming, I submit that Rush fans are the world's finest. Like this guy playing YYZ.

Legions of air-drummer talents are on display right now in a city near you as Rush tours the U.S. Oh, and Rush are quite good as well.

I've seen Rush three times this past week, and I'm off to two more shows later in the tour. In a lot of ways it's like going to church for me, but that's for another post. Early in the 70's, Rush set out to combine heavy metal with progressive rock, and so forged a unique and captivating sound that has drawn a consistent, loyal, and nearly foaming-at-the-mouth mob of fans. On this latest tour, they don't disappoint this finicky crowd. They play a fair amount of the new album, but also draw heavily on their deep catalog and play a number of great songs from older albums. I won't put any spoilers in here, but I will say that, to my delight, they played a good selection from each of the early 80's albums (Permanent Waves through Grace Under Pressure).

Starting with the Vapor Trails tour a few years ago, bassist Geddy Lee started running his bass direct to the house through a Tech 21 SansAmp, which meant there was no reason to have stacks and stacks of speakers behind him on stage anymore. This left an awkward visual void on the stage behind him, so he began to fill it with something else. At first, it was three coin-operated dryers. They were mic'ed up like amps, and sound techs would come on stage from time to time and pump them full of quarters to keep them spinning during the show. For the next tour he replaced one of the dryers with a large vending machine, no doubt still in the quest for the perfect sound.

This tour, his stage rig has undergone another revision, but I won't spoil it for you here except to say that it's even more ridiculous, and I have been craving KFC ever since the show. Geddy seems even more animated and alive and happy this tour than in years past. It's a joy to watch someone so on top of their game, with so much talent and creativity. Along with the rest of the band, Geddy Lee has so much integrity to his vision of the art Rush has created, and the show is a celebration of that art and that integrity.

Neil Peart's drumming, already among the finest in the world, has grown substantially since the last tour. He is still developing and learning as a musician and still breaking new ground looking for new and more interesting ways to speak through his art. How are we as air drummers ever going to catch up? He also has access now to the finest drum equipment available, and you can really tell on this tour. The drum sound is amazing, and his signature Paragon cymbals cut through the mix perfectly.

Guitarist Alex Lifeson may be one of the least imitated guitarists around. He's not a flashy speed metal player trying to cram thousands of notes into a concert - but he can blaze with the best of them. His solos are lyrical flights and his sound is uniquely gigantic. He favors a lot of sound - not just volume, but he fills your ears harmonically. This tour features a Lifeson song from the new album entitled Hope, which he plays solo on a gorgeous sounding Garrison 12-string guitar in open tuning.

The new album, Snakes & Arrows, also was released in an MVI version that includes a great video on the making of the album. It's worth a look for any Rush fans or any musician that has tried to record or compose music. But you don't have to buy the MVI album, you can also get it separately from iTunes.

Here's the opening to "Far Cry" (get the video here at iTunes). OK, so for all you air drummers out there, it's so much more satisfying when we get it right.
Please synchronize those punches in the air like so:

|1+2+3+4+|1+2+3+4+|1+2+3+4+
|xxx  x  |xxx  x x|xxx x x

|1+2+3+4+|1+2+3+4+|1+2+3+4+|1----
| x  xxx | x  xxx |x x xxx |x----

And we'll see you at the next show.

A Hard Day's Night - that chord...

starstuff — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 07:06:28 GMT

Earlier this week I rented and watched A Hard Day's Night. Introduced it to my children, actually - you've got to bring them up right, yes? Forty-three years ago this week, the title song was released as a single in the US.

There's that chord that starts the song (and the movie) that really captures my ear. I know I'm just one of millions in that respect because a quick googling reveals discussions that have been going on for more than 40 years about that chord, how it was produced, and the best approximation to reproduce it. Rolling Stone called it "The most famous chord in all of rock & roll." But who knows how to really play it?

Here are just a few educated guesses at that chord compiled from Donald Sauter and from Chris Hook, in guitar tablature:

3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 5 3 1 3 x 1 1 1 6 3 8 1 0 5 5 2 2 0 5 5 5 2 3 3 3 0 3 0 3 3 5 3 5 5 5 x x 0 5 5 5 0 x 3 3 x x 1 3 5 5 3

Or, if you prefer chord symbols, here's a few that have been proposed: G7add11, Dm11, D7sus4, G7sus4, F9, Dm7sus4, G7sus4/A

Got another version? Add a comment - let's hear it! There's nearly a whole page about this single chord on wikipedia, with scholarly citations and erudite opinions on music theory. One thing is for sure. There are four musicians (George, John, Paul, and George Martin) all playing slightly different chords with big open voicings using a lot of fourths and fifths simultaneously on 12-string electric guitar, acoustic guitar, bass, and piano. The result is a beautiful ambiguity that strikes my ear as some kind of dominant chord (thanks to Paul McCartney playing a D under it), but defies most attempts at transcription for any one instrument. Drives me crazy, actually. Maybe that's why all those girls were screaming like maniacs?

In this video, looks like John is playing Fadd9.

Not a bad way to begin a song that was basically composed in one evening, then recorded shortly thereafter in a three-hour session, then held the top spot on both the US and UK charts for the single and the album all simultaneously.

Apple and UMG should go see Ratatouille

starstuff — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 17:38:54 GMT

Anybody seen Ratatouille? If not, you should, so I won't give it away too much. There's one of those second-act conundrums where Linguini (the chef of Paris's best restaurant, who doesn't really know how to cook) and Remy (the rat who could be a world-class chef, but can't get into the kitchen due to his rodent-ness) both start to get pretty full of themselves. These characters have had a fruitful symbiosis up to that point, but then they each begin to think that they are doing all the real work, and the other is holding them back. Conflicts arise, mayhem ensues, and everyone eventually re-learns the value of working together. The rat has the talent, but he can't get into the kitchen without Linguini.

Universal Music Group and Apple are in the same second-act conundrum this week. UMG, which is the world's largest music company, last week notified Apple that it won't renew it's existing annual contract with iTunes, and instead prefers an "at will" arrangement. This means that UMG could throw their considerable weight around with Apple, threatening to pull all or some music from iTunes with virtually no notice. Why the need for this leverage? Maybe UMG thinks Apple is holding them back with 99-cent downloads. Apple is becoming a heavyweight in its own right in the music industry, and this could turn into an extended chess game between Steve Jobs and the record industry. To me, it's not clear who would come out on top, but I hope that we get a minimum of conflict and mayhem, and then everyone eventually re-learns the value of working together.

With iTunes, Apple really created a new way of distributing music. It has some annoying issues for some, that's sure, but overall iTunes has been a triumph, and it has changed the way we listen to, distribute, find, and even how we create music. iTunes is one of the few music distribution outlets that is actually growing, while sales of actual plastic CDs continue to sag.

On the other hand, UMG is the largest of three major global music companies that control all the popular music. Universal Music Group labels have signed a powerhouse of artists around the world, including U2, Stevie Wonder, Dr. Dre, Sting, Eminem, Bon Jovi, Akon, Erykah Badu, Beck, Black Eyed Peas, Mary J. Blige, blink-182, Mariah Carey, Sheryl Crow, D-12, Daddy Yankee, Melissa Etheridge, Eve, Fall Out Boy, 50 Cent, The Game, G-Unit, Vince Gill, Godsmack, Hoobastank, India.Arie, Jack Johnson, Jay-Z, The Killers, Diana Krall, Ludacris, Reba McEntire, Nelly, No Doubt, Puddle of Mudd, Pussycat Dolls, Ashlee Simpson, Snoop Dogg, Gwen Stefani, George Strait, Sugarland, Shania Twain, 3 Doors Down, Weezer, Kanye West, Bryan Adams, A-Ha, Elton John, Michael McDonald, Metallica, Paco de Lucia, Scissor Sisters, Snow Patrol, and Enrique Iglesias.

UMG is the rat with the talent, but Apple owns the kitchen now. These guys should keep it together.

The Good Gets Better

starstuff — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 03:05:55 GMT

Hello There, Universe by Mose Allison is a great soundtrack for those times in your life when you're wondering what you're doing wrong. Oddly enough it also speaks to me when I'm looking back in a grateful but glad-i-don't-have-to-do-that-again kind of way at all the crap I had to go through to get where I am.

All this with Mose's clever style and fully tensioned harmonies.

Here's a bit of it:

Hello there, Universe. Am I doing what you meant me to? You let me feel your guiding light, and showed me splendors of the night. Now you've got me wondering if I missed my cue. Am I doing what you want me to?

It's one of Mose's favorites of his own tunes as well. He calls it his hymn. "We don't know what the universe has in mind yet. So it's hello, universe? That's the main question. If the universe knows what it's doing, then everything's okay. If it doesn't, we're all in trouble."

Will I Be Happy?

starstuff — Wed, 23 May 2007 18:17:33 GMT

This song manages to be happy and sad simultaneously. I think it captures that feeling when you are so so down and all you can do is think about someday being happy again. Just that hopeful turn away from the darkness and toward the light actually does offer some comfort and happiness and give you something to go on.

That's what it did for me anyway.

Plus, I think Jacqui Naylor and Art Khu (piano) are just fantastic. This is one of their originals, but you should check out what they can do with covers. They tend to play them two at a time. Imagine mashups done live--they call it "acoustic smashing", which conjures up images of particle accelerators for me, but I think that's a better name for it. "Mashup" never sounded technical enough, and that stuff can be pretty complicated.

There is also a great cover of this tune by Lorraine Gervais. She's on mog here.

Lorraine Gervais cover of Jacqui Naylor

starstuff — Wed, 23 May 2007 17:37:49 GMT

I had a dream about this song not long after first hearing it. It really creeps in and stays in your mind, but not in an annoying way. The hook is subtle. I like the gospel jazz sensibility to it too.

West Coast singer Lorraine Gervais, with her sultry contralto voice and souful delivery brings an all-star cast to her second album, A World Apart.

Soulful, Strong and Sweet - Lorraine Gervais

starstuff — Tue, 22 May 2007 19:59:43 GMT

West Coast singer Lorraine Gervais, with her sultry contralto voice and souful delivery brings an all-star cast to her second album, A World Apart.

Spanning genres from contemporary jazz to R&B, from songs by Joni Mitchell to Aretha Franklin, to traditional celtic and her own originals, Lorraine presents an eclectic selection showcasing her voice and phrasing which has been descibed as "heavy velvet". Produced and arranged by Alan Kuehne, players include Tom Bethky on guitar, Bob Villwock on piano, Roger Smith (Tower of Power) on piano and organ, Tony Unger on guitar, Lew Langworthy and Steve Boutte on drums, Alan Kuehne on bass, Dave Meyler on percussion and Brielle Morgan singing background vocals.

Playing in nightclubs since the age of 15, Lorraine has performed in clubs, concerts, and jazz festivals throughout the West Coast. Lorraine has also been a session player for other artists, and has done commercial work for jingles and soundtrack projects. Beginning in the '70's, she has opened for acts including the Pointer Sisters, the Charlie Hunter Band, and John Hammond.

The blend of music and song are beautifully balanced and collaboratively focused by Lorraine and her band... refreshing original arrangements. Romantically seductive and simply gorgeous!
- Michael Keene, DJ - KVMR

Lorraine Gervais is one of jazz's great voices. Her silky highs and warmly resonant midrange is her's alone...
- Jazz Chronicles

The sultry vocals of Lorraine Gervais are fresh and original. The tasty mixture of genres holds the attention of the listener.
- jazzreview.com, Richard Bourcier

Lorraine Gervais has a unique sound reminiscent of Randy Crawford singing with the Crusaders in the '80's or Cassandra Wilson, but one that is totally her own... With a deep contralto voice that is full of soul and heart, she took us on a wild ride of some familiar lyrics with a new twist on the melody... '60's rock and folk with a big infusion of jazz... Lorraine is also a composer and she brought us a couple of her original tunes, one of them, Cool Water, was absolutely wonderful, the lyrics inspired by Lake Tahoe. It was pretty obvious that this lady could take a nursery rhyme and turn it into a soulful hit...
- Vivian Lee, Savanna's Jazz Series, Sacramento.

If you are searching to hear strong, vibrant, female jazz and blues vocalists, then you should check out with this latest offering by singer/songwriter, Lorraine Gervais on A World Apart. A CD of eclectic arrangements, it keeps you interested and enjoying the innovative ride with a mix of originals and some cool covers from Joni to Aretha, Leon Russell and more. A World Apart makes it clear that Lorraine has been artistically inspired, having written many of the titles on the CD. Along with her stellar vocals the CD solidifies her place as one of the West Coast's most gifted and impeccable jazz singer-songwriters. Lorraine is like a storyteller using her stunning signature vocal range to weave images that take the listener away in bliss, add to that a CD that has impeccable well-crafted instrumental backup and it is a clear winner. A World Apart showcases her luxuriant voice - no voice compositing needed - she has what it takes to belt it out in the likes of Aretha Franklin, Joan Osborne, or Joni Mitchell, with just the right mix of edginess, tangy instrumentals and elegant arrangements to rank it far above the standard jazz genre. I highly recommend it.
- Lisa Cowden

Paul McCartney Music Downloads and Improvisation Interview

starstuff — Thu, 17 May 2007 05:30:26 GMT

I read the news today, oh boy... as Paul McCartney prepares to release a new album, his former label is preparing to put his solo catalog online for the first time. I hope the entire Beatles catalog will also be available online soon.

Albums from McCartney and his post-Beatle group Wings will be made available across all digital platforms and in physical formats, EMI Music said Monday.

The project will stretch from his first album, "McCartney" (1970) to his most recent studio album, "Chaos and Creation in the Backyard" (2005), which received a Grammy nomination for album of the year. It will include four albums that he recorded for Columbia Records in the early 1980s.

McCartney will release his next studio album "Memory Almost Full" on June 4 internationally (one day later in North America) as part of a new deal with Hear Music, the label formed by coffee retailer Starbucks and Concord Music Group.

Here's Paul McCartney from an interview early in his solo career. He's talking about improvisation (or "ad-libs", or "free bits") in the studio:

"The best things are often the free bits, and that gets very tricky. I go out into the studio and I know I'm going to ad-lib. If I announce I'm going to ad-lib, I can't ad-lib because I'm no longer ad-libbing. So I've just got to go out there and improvise, and someone's got to be in there in the control room very cleverly thinking, 'He's going to ad-lib now, I'd better tape it.' It's very hard because good things get missed. Last night I was doing a real ad-lib and I was in a great mood and I was exploring what there was to be done - and they missed it. The next time around when they tried the tape, I wasn't exploring any longer. I was trying to repeat past glories, and that doesn't work. But there are compensations. Sometimes you don't want to share those moments. Okay, the record-buying public didn't hear it, but you and I did. That's beautiful. That's real. The moment was temporary like everything is. Nothing in life really stays--and it's beautiful that they go. They have to go in order for the next thing to come. You can almost add beauty to a thing by accepting that it's temporary."

The man nearly speaks in improvised song lyrics. It's no wonder he is who he is.

The full interview is from Life magazine on April 16 1971, which can be found online.

Musical DNA

starstuff — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 01:28:04 GMT

There are a bunch of sites out there, like this one, that help you discover new music. I really like the social networking aspect of MOG. The MOG brain is really a collection of human brains, which are still (and hopefully always will be) the most efficient way for us to connect with each other. MOG makes it more fluid and simple to find real people with similar quirky musical tastes and rapidly generate some new great musical finds.

Another one I like tries to be more objective and relies more on pseudo-artificial intelligence is Pandora. That one allows uses some kind of fine-grained survey of each song in order to categorize it musically in a large number of ways, then try to guess what else someone might like when the say they like a certain group or a certain song.

As a musician, it's been instructive for me to get my music on Pandora, and create a radio station based on the band. That way you can see what their combination of subjective categorizer / objective computer program comes up with that's somehow similar. You can also look at each song and see why it was chosen for your station, which is interesting feedback on your own music.

Why not try to combine them a bit? I've posted a list of other songs played by Objects in the Mirror radio at Pandora. Maybe that will give you an instant snapshot of what we sound like. I'd love to see what turns up for some of the other bands using MOG.

Test drive "Objects in the Mirror"

starstuff — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 06:01:52 GMT

Funky fusion from Perry Mills and Objects in the Mirror.

Hear more here.

Neil Peart of Rush on Improvisation

starstuff — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 01:04:28 GMT

Well, you might as well know now, if you don't already, that I am a bit of a fanatic about the band Rush. I've noticed over the years that most people either don't like the band at all, or are somewhat fanatic about it. There's very little middle ground for them. Right now, there's a great deal of excitement and buzz in anticipation of their new album Snakes and Arrows, scheduled for release on May 1. Even the band seems particularly excited about this new album, with drummer and lyricist Neil Peart summing it up, "It combines everything we know about making music with everything we love about making music."

Neil Peart is a prolific literary writer as well, and the Rush-fan community looks forward to his liner notes, program notes, essays and books. His latest essay appeared on the band's website on April 4. I was struck by what he had to say about improvising:

As a drummer, it has become apparent to me that I am more of a "composer" than an "improviser," yet I still face every new song by imagining everything that might possibly fit. Determined not to repeat myself if I can avoid it, I search for new approaches to parts, and different kinds of fills. In that spirit, I played through all of the songs many times while I experimented, and that helped to "groom" my performances, make them smoother and more finely detailed.

To me, that's still improvising--using the experimental scratching around and inspirations of the moment to create something spontaneously. In the subsequent discernment, grooming, and perfectionism, somehow the creation shape-shifts from an improvisation to a composition. I'd bet Mr. Peart is one hell of a great improviser, but also that only those close to him get to witness it. The supreme detail and polish that he executes live and on recordings is the product of deliberation and development of the original ideas, then focusing his unmatched skills as a musician.

Here's another relevant bit from his latest essay.

...when we were discussing Snakes and Arrows as a possible album title, Geddy remarked, "I like it because it sounds familiar, but isn't."

I like that. "Sounds familiar, but isn't" is also a good description of a well improvised solo.

Check them out at rush.com, where you can also listen to free music streaming the first single from the album, "Far Cry."

Improvise to compose, says Scott Kinsey

starstuff — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 00:57:46 GMT

Here's an excerpt from a recent interview at All About Jazz with the masterful improviser and synthesizer wizard, keyboardist Scott Kinsey. He has recently released Kinesthetics (Abstract Logix, 2006), his first recording as a band leader.

AAJ: How much music was already written going into the studio and how much was improvised?

S.K: The tunes usually started as improvisations and then I would write them out and see what I needed to change or add. Joe Zawinul was an inspiration in this area. I read that he worked like this when I was a kid and it just stuck with me. Some songs can have elaborate forms and others can just be sketches. I like the more open idea more because it lets everybody do their thing and that way the music breathes and has more life.

As a fan of Weather Report, I was immediately drawn to Scott Kinsey's previous work with the now-dormant Tribal Tech. Kinsey's inspired lyrical improvisations and creative orchestrations invoke Zawinul for most listeners. However, what makes the sound fresh and unmistakably Kinsey are the deep layered synth sounds with multiple dimensions. He's constantly pushing new sounds into the universe in a very musical and beautiful way. He's Bobby McFerrin with a synthesizer--and I mean that in the sense of sonic innovator and also in the sense that he can create deep musical grooves.

If you haven't heard Tribal Tech, check out Face First for an introduction. Kinsey's keyboard lines include horn and string parts that don't try to be perfect samples of the instruments, but instead have their own authenticity. They sound like a keyboard, but devoid of cheesy thin or sampled tone. It's funky, and it grooves hard and makes you move. When he steps into the keyboard solo, he maintains an orchestral, layered improvisation with tonal depth and drama while playing a blistering lead weaving in outside harmony. The arc of Kinsey's solo peaks and sets up a screaming Scott Henderson guitar solo.

Scott Henderson explains, "Kinsey has been such a big influence on the direction that Tribal Tech has taken. Before we met him all we really had was a band that played tunes the way they were written out. But Kinsey was a major reason for us getting to that point of being able to throw the charts away and just jam right in the moment, because he could do it so well and pull it off every time. It wasn't until I played with Scott that I realized how loose it can be and still sound totally together. Because he would be pulling out so much cool stuff to listen to that you didn't need a note of written music. Kinsey's such a great improvising musician but he also brings a real sense of form and harmony to it so that you can just jam freely and know that it's always gonna sound cool."

Improvisation is at the core of creativity for Scott Kinsey. Actually I think that's true for everyone, but Kinsey seems to be more in touch with where it comes from than most.

Keith Richards gives advice to bands

starstuff — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 00:52:22 GMT

Here's what he said:
My best advice to young bands is... "Grow up. I mean who do you think you're gonna be? It's a matter of finding out who you wanna be. So to a band, I don't care how old or young they are, find out who you wanna be. If they wanna just be famous, or a star, that's easy, for a day or two, if you wanna be in a band then you'd better check out the sh*t all the way back." Source: NME.com
Now, this is from the same interview as the now-famous bit about snorting his dad's cremated ashes. We all love to marvel at Keith Richards's exploits and seemingly super-human longevity in spite of his lifestyle. But to me, this is one of the better less-publicized nuggets from the same interview - at least for us musicians. To me, it says here's one of rock music's brightest stars reminding you to play to our own strengths and be yourself - but also to dig deep into your influences, and their influences, find out what makes their music tick and what makes it move you, then develop your sound from there.