Goodbye To An Old Friend

Sadly, Judas Priest have hung up the spurs. They might not be your cup of tea but they wrote some fine rock tunes that are melodic, musical which feature excellent guitar work and soaring vocals. While hits like "Breaking The Law", "Livin' After Midnight", "Desert Plains", "Out In The Cold" and "You've Got Another Thing Comin'" are truly great, I enjoy their story setups and monster depictions above all. From the album "Defenders Of The Faith": I love "Jawbreaker" about a mythical beast which features a mind-boggling workout from KK Downing. The futuristic 'Man against Machine' battle saga "The Sentinel" with killer rapid fire trade-offs between KK Downing and Glenn Tipton. The doomsday masterpiece, "Some Heads Are Gonna Roll" with a killer chorus and H-Bomb lead breaks. From the "Ram It Down" album: The Terminator styled post apocalypse fight to the death of "Blood Red Skies" with KK Downing again delivering a scorching break that prompted my friend Rob on first listen to blurt out, "He's picking every note!". From the masterpiece "Painkiller": The tale of a nocturnal killing creature "Nightcrawler". The Nuclear reactor disaster scenario "Metal Meltdown" featuring well, lead breaks that sound like reactor cores melting down! The "Ripper" Owens years were not kind sadly because even though he could sing the catalog with incredible authority his lyrical abilities lacked, and the tunes written by Tipton/Downing showed clearly that Rob Halford's pen was the catalyst that pulled everything together. That being said the albums "Angel Of Retribution" and "Nostradamus" with Halford returning showed clear signs that he might have been "cherry picking" from his portfolio, perhaps saving what he thought as better efforts for his band "Halford". When KK Downing departed before the final tour citing an un-workable situation I really wasn't that surprised. I have heard interviews with him and seen his webcam video postings to fans as band spokesperson and he is a class act. I wish him all the best and look forward to his next outing. Judas Priest was his band that he formed with bassist Ian Hill. To all the members of Judas Priest I thank you for so much inspiring work.

Give Me Bass Or Give Me Death Part 2

A few more pet peeves: Bill Wyman's non-presence that is noticed when Keith Richards substitutes. Any bad upright bass Arco technique. Stanley Clarke's hyper-overplay-slap crap. Wolfgang Schmid's totally unfunky playing in Passport. Anyone want to chime in here? Now, for me, Stanley Clarke's upright bass playing is phenomenal, and Wolfgang Schmid's playing in Passport is stunning. The late great Bob Bogle of The Ventures especially his work on "Super Live '80". Jonas Hellborg's acoustic bass guitar workouts on Ginger Baker's "Unseen Rain". Jaco Pastorious for just being here for a few minutes and influencing a whole generation of bass players (Joe Zawinul said of Jaco, "It's too bad you can't copyright style, man."). John Wetton for his work in King Crimson (NOT Uriah Heep!). Paul Chambers for everything. Ian Hill of Judas Priest for solid bottom end and consistency beyond reason. Jerry Scheff for his work with both Elvises, Sam Phillips and appearing on the Get Smart episode "The Groovy Guru" in the band "The Sacred Cows". Lee Dorman for his great work in Captain Beyond. Whoever the bass player is on the Shadow Music tape my Dirt Red band mate Tristram Lozaw found in Bangkok. Ingebrigt Haker Flaten of Scorch Trio for pushing the limits and kicking Raoul Bjorkenheim's ass. Any and all thoughts, comments and suggestions welcome. Give Me Bass Or Give Me Death Part 2 concluded!

"Nobody Wants A Digital Record!"

Those words were uttered by Pat McGrath, owner of Looney Tunes Records in Boston as he was inspecting a batch of LPs I needed to cash up to pay debt. Now, I understand Pat needed to dis these digital LPs so he wouldn't have to pay me the current reasonable rate in the interest of profit. How about the fact that this might be a credible, even masterful performance Pat?? What I like about digitally recorded LPs is processing the digital tape through the RIAA curve and mastering to the pre-emphasis and re-emphasis EQ tolerances of the LP format make the recordings sound WAY better than the CD issues. Take the first Philips digital recording, "Pops In Space" by the Boston Pops under John Williams. This first came out on LP and for me is a blockbuster sounding recording. When the CD issue was released, everyone in The COOP music department stood around scratching their heads and comments ranged from, "Well, it sure is LOUD", "Something's missing", "Why does the CD sound so harsh?". Fast forward to 2012 and the new Galactic album, "Carnivale Electricos". The LP includes the CD version. The LP version SMOKES the CD version in terms of trueness of instrumental timbre, rhythmic pace and extension at the frequency extremes. The CD "Sure is LOUD". This with the playback capabilities of NAD's near top of the range T567 BD machine. I ripped the CD into iTunes at 320Kbps/VBR/48Khz and played back through Winamp comes close-ish which for me is, "okay for digital". I thank any record label offering digital formats (CD/Mp3 download) with their LP releases. At least digital files played back on my iPod aren't susceptible to the stretching and breaking ala cassettes played back on the old Walkmans! And Pat, I love my digital records.

Rediscovering The Mandrake Memorial

My friend Brendan was over recently for a "follow the muse" listening session. In the heat of a tangent I fired up "Puzzle" by The Mandrake Memorial. One of my "Desert Island" LPs and a certifiable masterpiece. These four guys from Philadelphia were 180 degrees away from soul, funk or R&B. They were a psychedelic folk/pop/avant garde/musique concrete oriented band who recorded 3 albums for Poppy Records from 1968-1969. For example, here are some song titles; "Bird Journey", To A Lonely", "Barnaby Plum", "Ocean's Daughter", Whisper Play", "Bucket of Air". The first side of "Puzzle" navigates through warped tunes linked by little miniature variations called "Just a Blur" which always end with the last note tape echoing into infinity which at one point segue into a full blown "Kyrie" of massed overdubbed choruses and orchestra, written and arranged by the band. The common thread throughout is the interesting and haunting voice of bassist Randy Monaco who sings in an introverted ghostly alto. He makes me a believer when he muses from the heavens, "When I look down, S'just a blurrr". For me, these guys carried the psychedelic mantle way beyond blues tinged contemporaries like Pink Floyd because they drew on so many influences and in terms of ideas and execution far more conceptually advanced. At one point Brendan reflected, "What strange music", not meaning this in an unkindly manner. Any fan of psychedelic experimental music who hasn't heard these guys will be rewarded if they take the leap. I can't recommend "Puzzle" enough.

Remebering Pentangle

For a household that loved music, the mid to late 60s was a special time. It seemed every week a new revelation became revealed. The first Traffic album, Electric Ladyland, the first Doors album, Pearls Before Swine, the first Black Sabbath album, ELP's debut, the first Mothers Of Invention album, Blind Faith, "Stand Up" by Jethro Tull, Spirit, Mountain, the White Album, "Led Zeppelin II", Switched On Bach, Jeff Beck's first album, Donovan's "Hurdy Gurdy" album (the session where John Paul Jones and Jimmy Page met), Miles Davis' "Bitches Brew", Pink Floyd's debut, WHEW! One standout ensemble for us were Pentangle. Featuring John Renbourn on vocals, acoustic & electirc guitar and sitar, Bert Jansch on vocals and guitar, Jacqui McShee on vocals, Danny Thompson on stand-up bass and Terry Cox on percussion these guys were a sleeper super group. The influences of Renbourn, Thompson and Cox brought jazz and ethnic sensibilities into the healthy mix of blues, popular folk, traditional folk and medieval court songs which they were comfortable navigating through within a single song. Their rendition of "House Carpenter", with John Renbourn's scorching sitar was in constant rotation. What starts as a traditional folk tale gradually morphs into a percussion driven dervish with Jacqui McShee being the constant, her pure soulful voice the emotional connection to the past. What a voice. My dad was a huge Danny Thompson fan and always requested Danny's reading of Charles Mingus' "Haitian Fight Song" from their "Sweet Child" album. Dad heard Pentangle were coming to the amphitheater at Castle Hill in Ipswich MA and bought tickets. They were scheduled to be the opening act and due to some snags the schedule was reversed and the headliner, Arlo Guthrie opened. He was awesome. Telling stories between songs and making everyone feel at home. After a short break Pentangle came on. The set-up was, from the audience view; John Renbourn stage left, Jacqui McShee center, Bert Jansch stage right, Danny Thompson back line center stage left and Terry Cox back line center stage right. Jacqui sat on a stool as if in a trance, her beautiful long blond hair covering her face while the band worked out intensely around her. They were intoxicating. Trading lead vocals, executing vocal harmonies that at times brought me back in time to the days of Stonehenge. The mix of music ranged from Italian Renaissance dances to "Pork Pie Hat". The sheer magnitude of their collected vocabularies still awes me today. I can feel the tinge of evening breezes blowing through the theater, the smell of flowers from the garden, how brilliant Jacqui's white dress shimmered in the lights, how the lights would dance off the varnished guitars as Renbourn and Jansch would shift positions, Danny Thompson's tall presence in the background. After the show we were walking to our car when all of a sudden dad starts walking quickly towards Danny Thompson! "You, Sir, are an incredible bassist!" Well, that started a conversation! While we were talking Jacqui McShee ambled up in a tight t-shirt, jeans, her hair up in braids, and I could see her wonderful, wide lunar face that lit up the evening when she smiled. Danny was saying how this was the last stop before heading back to the UK and, "All that lovey-dovey stuff!" Thanks for setting up a great memory Dad.

The Miraculousness Of Vinyl Playback

I was listening to a few records with my friend Stephen the other night. I lowered the stylus of my Sumiko Blackbird cartridge mounted to a Rega P23 turntable feeding a Simaudio Moon LP 5.3 phonostage and thought, "This is the culmination of over 100 years of R&D, how many other current audio playback platforms can claim THAT??" A tiny needle point drops into a groove of polyvinyl binder substances stamped with micro grooves embedded with vibration cues which are picked up by the needle, transferred to the stylus pole which relays the information to tiny magnets mounted in the cartridge body. The magnets amplify these impulses into a signal which is sent along wires to outputs that feed a device which amplifies then corrects the wave forms according to a pre-emphasis curve. This device sends the amplified and corrected signal to the input of a switching device like a pre-amplifier which then De-emphasizes the radical equalization curve. The end of the line is tangible, palpable music from your speakers. I think this is WAY cool and for me is what separates the analog men from the digital proprietary boys. It's physics in service of music that has inspired people to seek ever more creative avenues of progressing this methodology. There are cartridges with magnets hand wound from miniscule strands of exotic metal alloys and housed in wood, ceramic, metal and even Bakelite. Works of art, museum pieces! Yikes! If anyone would like to chime in with more granular detail on this brutal signal transfer process please do! We should be grateful for all of the amazingly talented people whose labors bring us closer to the music we love.

"And YOU, How Do You DO It??"

One day in 1971 my friend Greg called, "Jon, Taj Mahal, The Buddy Guy/Junior wells Blues Band and Mahavishnu Orchestra are playing at Colby College. Do you want to go?" We went, for $2.50 a pop. What do we pay to see a 3 headliner artist bill today? First up was Taj Mahal solo, accompanying himself on banjo. He was quite engaging and kept the audience with him throughout a musicological treatise on American roots music. Next up The Buddy Guy/Junior Wells Blues band, well actually you could have called this The Buddy Guy Blues Band. Junior was "sick" so Buddy "warmed up" the audience until Junior could get presentable. When Junior finally did appear he lasted for one song, barely able to play the harmonica then staggered off stage. Buddy ever the showman, "Give it up for Junior Wells Ladies and Gentlemen!", and then it was back to business. Buddy guy was INCREDIBLE. His vocabulary, authority, blazing technique and ability to sell it more than made up for Junior Wells' absence. While Greg and I were catching our breath Mahavishnu Orchestra set up. The band readied themselves and John McLaughlin began speaking softly, very softly, until members of the audience caught on "sshhh, sshhh". As the audience quieted, McLaughlin's voice became audible, "...and we'd like to begin with a piece titled "Meetings of The Spirit""BLAM!! they were off with a huge chordal crash and for the next hour never looked back. To put this in perspective, the concepts this band were executing in 1971 had never been attempted. We were in the presence of a whole new musical genre being launched. For Greg and I, never before had such incredible musical technique been melded with passion and intellect. One inspiring melody after another, used as launching pads for intense solo sections. The highlight of the night was a jaw-dropping hellacious duet between McLaughlin and Cobham during "Dance Of The Maya" that stratospherically surpassed what was documented on "Inner Mounting Flame" and featured one of THREE Billy Cobham drum solos that night. During the set, Billy Cobham would execute press rolls with such brutal force that drumsticks would shear in half, the broken ends soaring sometimes 15 feet in the air. When this happened he would grab a stick from one of the metal stick caddies IN MID ROLL WITHOUT DROPPING A STROKE, and depending on where in the roll this occurred, WITH EITHER HAND. Yikes!! After the show we were on the way out and Greg needed to use the facilities. I looked up in the direction we were walking and there was John McLaughlin, just standing by the railing with his double-neck guitar still strapped on, having a soda. "Okay Greg, I'll be over there with Mr. McLaughlin". As I approached John saw me, broke into a huge smile, held out his hand and we executed the current "hip" handshake followed by a quick slap-hug. I started by thanking him for coming to Maine then shared knowledge of his work with Tony Williams' Lifetime, that I loved the "Devotion" album with Buddy Miles and Larry Young especially "Dragon Song", and of course his recent work with Miles Davis. I instantly got the feeling we were speaking as colleagues, talking about the writing process, how natural the evolution to Mahavishnu and thoughts on where all this would lead. I commented on the excursions between him and Billy Cobham, the Herculean role Cobham was called upon in support of the music AND the fact he accomplished 3 drum solos. McLaughlin was right there, eyes sparkling. I felt we were having a spiritual encounter. All of a sudden Billy Cobham ambles up, I look at him and say, "And YOU, how do you DO it??" McLaughlin doubles over, looks at me and says, "I JUST asked him the SAME THING!!", and we all collapse into hysterics. Billy told me he is left-handed, and playing in a right-handed setup enables him to leverage his ambidexterity "omni-laterally" and helps achieve the posture necessary for more power. "Ginger Baker Please Sit Down!" I am grateful to have been in the presence of these wonderfully talented people at the gestation of a genre that would inspire a generation. On the drive home Greg summed it all up, "John McLaughlin, I love you!" Thanks Guys!

Give Me Bass Or Give Me Death Part 1

There are exceptions for me, like Tim Bogert's (Vanilla Fudge/Cactus) fuzz bass, Chris Squire's overblown live solos, Jack Bruce's horrendous SG Bass "blatzzz" (Ala West, Bruce & Laing period), Lemmy's of Motorhead, anyone want to chime in here? Now, for me Felix Pappalardi's fuzz bass rocks! Chris Squire's sound and playing on "Relayer" boggles. ANY Dub bass playing. My Someone and The Somebodies band mate Tristram Lozaw's beautifully dense Hagstrom 8-string workouts (Terror Thru Hope!) that literally shook the house. Martin Turner of Wishbone Ash and his Gibson Thunderbird punch. Michael Manring for his work in the Yo Miles project. Sveinung Hovensjo's mercurial presence on the '70s Terje Rypdal recordings "Whenever I Seem To Be Far Away" and "Odyssey". Buster Williams' acrobatic space-funk on the Herbie Hancock and Eddie Henderson sessions. The elegant bounce of Ron Carter in the great Miles Davis Quintet of '65-'68. Paul Jackson Jr. in Herbie Hancock's Headhunters band (whew!). Bootsy Collins' stand tall and steady in James Brown's band (Live for Peace in Paris 1972). Oh, OK! ANY Bootsy Collins. My fellow Auto66 band mate Tristram Lozaw's deep, steadfast and haunting Martin "Thunder Bass" excellence. Gary Justin of Sir Lord Baltimore for his relentless full-blooded fuzz throb. Steve Swallow who has to be one of the most criminally underrated compositional and playing talents ever. Christian McBride for his ability to easily compress into his own voice 100 years of jazz bass stylistics on any given night. Janick Top of Magma for his psychotic maniacal approach to playing. Any and all thoughts, comments and suggestions welcome. Give Me Bass Or Give Me Death Part 1 concluded!

Drummers, Your Input Needed!

Drum-Shtickers! After more than a decade I've set the kit up and starting a daily routine to shake off the rust. The configuration is based firstly on how my feet orient themselves from the sitting position. I place the snare drum in the center, the bass drum and hi-hat pedals at natural foot orientation, the crash directly in front of my sitting position, the rack mount and floor tom positioned close for easy reach, and the ride cymbal at an almost vertical angle directly over the floor tom. Over the last 2 weeks I've been happy with the overall positioning especially the cymbals because my response times have shortened dramatically. The feedback from my body tells me I'm sitting too high, I keep slouching to the pull of gravity instead of being centered properly to be supported by gravity's forces. I'm thinking I need a new throne. My present throne is set as low as it can go. Any suggestions greatly appreciated!

I Love Hildur Gudnadottir

I recently read a review of Hildur Gudnadottir's recent album, "Without Sinking" and nothing stood out until it was mentioned she has worked with composer Nico Muhly who's album, "Mothertongue" I enjoy. So, I re-read the article and became intrigued because of the instruments she plays; cello, zither, processors, halidrophone and voice. With extra contributions from Skuli Sverisson on bass & processors on 2 tracks, Johann Johansson on organs & processors on 4 tracks, Guoni Franzson on clarinet & bass clarinet on 2 tracks, this is totally entrancing music recorded with a delicate intimacy. Her cello playing has a peaceful, glassy quality and her compositions incorporate the use of space in a reverent manner. On her rendering of the Icelandic hymn, "Heyr himna smiour" she displays a warm voice and the overdubbed harmonies are hauntingly beautiful. As I listen to this music I become relaxed, at peace and transported to some lightly chilled Icelandic sanctuary, a slice of heaven. Hildur Gudnadottir has the grace and guidance of a truly poetic muse, and I hope the connection remains strong. Thank you Hildur, I am grateful to have you in my universe.

R.I.P. Pete Cosey

I received a link from a friend that Pete Cosey, the incredible guitarist in Miles Davis' experimental band that existed for 18 months between 1973-1975, passed away yesterday. I truly love this guy. For me, his contributions to experimental rock music are hall of fame certifiable. Not only did he play guitar he also played percussion and synthesizer (a HEATHKIT no less!). When I saw this band at Paul's Mall in 1975, Pete occupied audience view stage left. Sitting behind his card table covered with wood blocks, bells, shakers and toys he presided over a controlled chaos with sheer abandon and joy, shifting easily from flailing on wood and metal to flailing on frets to twiddling oscillator dials. Miles had a battery of other high quality soloists including guitarist Reggie Lucas and reed man Sonny Fortune, and it was always a special moment when Miles called on Pete to jump in and solo. Pete was FEARLESS. No matter the context he played with an unmatched blend of technique and passion, at times making his guitar sound like it was literally breaking apart. Miles would instantly react to Pete's efforts, more than anyone else on the front line, signing encouragement, smiling, and gaping in awe. I am profoundly grateful to have been in the presence of this wonderful musician. The memories of watching him work remain as vivid as though it was just yesterday. Good for you Pete Cosey! May your spirit soar to heady heights. Give Miles a kick in the rear for me next time you play together at the Upstairs Lounge!

Who IS This Raoul Bjorkenheim Anyway?

A few years ago I came across an article, I can't remember where, titled, "The Finns Are Coming!". The by-line photo showed a bearded, long rasta-ish haired man with a manic expression that looked to be taken from a live performance. My first thought was, "Yikes! What a lunatic." immediately followed with, "Who IS this guy?". This guy is Finnish guitarist Raoul Bjorkenheim at the time fronting a band called Krakatau. The article talked about other artists and the lion's share went to this guy. Based on the description of the music I took a chance and bought the Krakatau album, "Ritual". All of the music is composed by Bjorkenheim for an ensemble consisting of himself on guitars/talking drums/percussion, 2 sax players, bass and drums. I was enthralled from the get-go. The opener, "Foot Talk" is a tongue and cheek send-up on certain world music cumbia ethno-rhythm pixie dust tunes. The non-joke is the composition and playing are top notch. Truly unique. I've been a fan ever since. Bjorkenheim is one of the most innovative and expressive guitarists I've heard. I put him at the head of a class that includes Terje Rypdal, Jimi Sumen who also cut his teeth in Edward Vesala's group, Derek Bailey, James Blood Ulmer, Sonny Sharrock, Even Hette Hermansen of bushman's revenge, and David Torn. I knew I had struck gold when one day traveling in the car put on the album, "Apocalypso", and halfway through the first tune "Oracle" my wife burst out laughing and pushed the eject button. I make no apologies! I love his work in the trio format and we are fortunate that 2 trios are documented. The first is Scorch Trio with Ingebrigt Haker Flaten on bass/electronics and Paal Nilssen-love on drums/percussion. I played the opener from their 2nd album, "Brolt!" for my bassist friend/collaborator Tristram who said, "Wow, this is pretty aggressive". And that before Bjorkenheim enters the fray! Once he jumps in everyone has to hang in there because his vocabulary is so large, his improvisations become streams of consciousness journeys which build into spontaneous compositions, and just when you think this is a bunch of nonsense he leads the band into an actual composition. The 2nd trio features Bill Laswell on bass and the incredible Morgan Agren on drums who's worked with the band Zappa's Universe. The focus here is on intricate compositions. Drummer Agren's "Phasers On Stun" attack gets right out there with Bjorkenheim, the healthy competition in the service of the music just fires me up, and Bill Laswell lays down the law holding everything together with a huge bottom end. Blam! Bjorkenheim also exploits the ring modulator better than anyone who's used this tricky effect, especially when combining with his excellent fret harmonics technique. Jaco Pastorious may have coined "Trio Of Doom" for the trio with John McLaughlin and Tony Williams, yes their 20+ minute set from Havana in '79 is classic stuff from the progenitors of jazz fusion and we thank them for their service, but these 3 guys truly are the Trio Of Doom. I will pay to see this if they come around. I hope Raoul Bjorkenheim one day receives the attention he so richly deserves. For me, he is the best guitarist/composer most folks haven't heard. Keep on doing what you're doing Raoul!

Audiophile Re-Issue Suggestion: Refugee

In the late '60s there was this cool band called "The Nice". The rhythm section was way ahead of the times in terms of execution and they had a showy and eccentric organ player who would stab his instrument with knives and coax gut wrenching sonics from his Hammond B-3. That keyboardist is Keith Emerson who jumped ship to form a band with King Crimson bassist/crooner Greg Lake and Atomic Rooster drummer Carl Palmer, called "Emerson, Lake & Palmer" or more commonly ELP. Well, we all know how THAT aggregation fared. But what of the ex-Nice band mates drummer Brian Davidson and bassist/vocalist Lee Jackson? They weren't giving up and had secured a one album deal with The Famous Charisma Label by 1972. the story has it Brian and Lee called Keith with the exciting news, Keith was very excited for the boys and said, "Don't know if you guys are aware I'm in this little band called Emerson, Lake & Palmer and we're quite busy at the moment. There is a guy I can recommend in Switzerland named Patrick Moraz who has his own studio and I think you'll get along nicely". On Keith's reference Brian and Lee secured Patrick's services for the album deal and a self-titled album was released in 1974 with little promotion. It appeared on the shelves with no hype and vanished quickly giving those "in the know" scant seconds to acquire. Produced by Jack Burns and the group, the music was written by Moraz, lyrics by Jackson and arrangements by the band. The opening cut, an instrumental called "Papillon" burst out of my speakers and shouted, "We're here!". This is an amazing workout requiring tight unison ensemble playing, and Moraz erupts with uber piano technique in the melody section all at a blistering tempo ELP could never match (the closest they came for me is the instrumental acoustic trio workout in "Karn Evil 9 2nd Impression" from Brain Salad Surgery, and I'm saying a distant close!). This album is a progressive rock classic. The music is intelligent, melodic, requiring virtuosic abilities and confidently executed. For me, the only other body of work from this era that equaled Refugee is "Relayer" by Yes. Replacing Rick Wakeman...Patrick Moraz! Moraz injected an energy to the precedings that put everyone on notice and the efforts of drummer Alan White and bassist Chris Squire on Moraz's "Sound Chaser" are undeniable. I still have my original Refugee LP. I've cleaned it up with my VPI 16.5 record cleaner. The sound is respectable for the surface age, I've dubbed a CD that's been imported to iTunes at 320kbsVBR/48Kz which barely suffices sonically. Someone (4 Men With Beards, Sundazed, MoFi, you know who you are!) PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE give this wonderful music the attention it deserves with a 180gram vinyl re-issue so more folks can enjoy what these 3 guys accomplished. If you're a fan of progressive rock and haven't heard this, you should check it out. You won't regret it!

How I Learned To Play The Piano

My Mom studied at Longy School Of Music and her teachers included Nadia Boulanger and E. Power Biggs. There was always music in the house. Dad loved Sinatra, Josh White, Don Shirley, Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman, ETAL and their LPs were constantly spinning on our old Garrard 'table. Mom played piano pretty well and sometimes I'd come home from elementary school to a Chopin Etude, a Liszt Prelude, or a Bach Variation she had transcribed. One of my favorite records at the time was an Antal Dorati recording of Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture" which featured real cannons and carillon. Can you say, "KLANG!"??? One day while Mom was puttering in the kitchen I walked to the piano and plucked out the 1812 ditty. You know, the one that goes, "DoDeeDaDaDoDeeDaaDoDo", in the correct key with the 1/2 step modulation. Mom freaked out, ran into the room and said, "You're going to have piano lessons!". Ugh. Piano lessons were quite instructive on many levels. I learned I did not care to take direction, that most of the literature for my performance level i.e. the John Thompson Reader(s) were inane like Dick & Jane, I have a temper, and authority figures outside the family were evil and to be feared. So, lessons were curtailed and I was allowed to happily listen to my muse. In the spring of '69 I was listening to the radio at my Mom's brother Ed's house, this tune came on that kicked my 16 year old ass and the singing was raw, passionate and ballsy. That tune was "Born On The Bayou" by Creedence Clearwater Revival. I bought the album, "Bayou Country", played it so often my parents gave in, caught the fever and gave CCR the stamp of approval. The last song on Side 1, "Graveyard Train" is a slow blues over a repeating riff and a vehicle for John Fogerty to stretch out on guitar and harmonica. I would spin this track and play along on piano. I picked out standard blues riffs, learned how to play them in different keys, and after a few weeks was able to answer Fogerty's solos with my own. What I learned through this process gave me the template on which to build my vocabulary and the flexibility to apply myself to newer musical formats including jazz fusion, electronic avant garde/minimalist, and straight up pop. That's how I learned to play piano. If anyone else has a similar story please share!

Paradigm Studio 20: The Holy Grail Of Reference Monitors?

True Stories.

 A few years ago I was in a project that had culled sufficient material to enter the studio. The engineer is top notch and works with Richard Thompson, Marc Cohn, Rosanne Cash to name a few. The first day was mostly for setting up the drums, the mics for them, tweaking, etc.  The current monitor configuration was a pair of current run KRKs. During mic placement playback checks I asked Tom how he like the KRKs, "They're okay, I'm renting them, the lease is up next week and I'm thinking there's a better alternative out there. You got any suggestions?" I told him about the Paradigm Studio 20 v1, I knew the rep and could score a pair on comp pricing, if he didn't like them I would keep them. We did the deal and had the Paradigms in house for start of following week's sessions. When we entered the mix phase the process was; run the mix down and commit to cassette. We'd go outside and pop the tape into the crappy deck in the bass player's Chevy Astro. On the second day of mixing Matt, the bass player commented, "The Paradigms are very accurate. What we're hearing up there, we're hearing down here." On the last day Tom the engineer/producer said, "I'm keeping the Paradigms Jonny. I just can't go back."

I recently had the pleasure of speaking with Mark Ailing at Paradigm Electronics. One of his customers is the mobile recording engineer for The Rolling Stones. This guy trusts his Studio 20s so much he ships them to wherever he is. On a remote mixing session with Keith Richards the shipper routed the Paradigms incorrectly so there was a 2 day delay. During the 2 days they were using the studio's Yamaha NS-10s and Keith seemed okay with that. When the Studio 20s finally arrived they were in the middle of a mix. Tape was stopped, and the Studio 20s hooked up in parallel to the NS-10s, and they resumed mixing. When the NS-10s were switched on, Keith took a drag of his cigarette, got up from his chair, ripped each NS-10 from it's perch and threw them against the wall!

Anyone else have stories about these remarkable speakers?