Tuesday, April 28, 2015

A Band of Brothers

A little more than a month ago now, renowned bassist Mike Porcaro passed after a years-long fight with ALS. Mike was a personal hero and favorite player of mine whose music will always mean the world to me.

Not long after his death, however, I caught wind of an up-and-coming documentary film about the lives and musical contributions of the whole Porcaro family entitled Band of Brothers. The Porcaros are one of music's most recorded and notable families, and you can currently donate to help cover the costs of production of the film here, via IndieGogo. I myself have already contributed and would encourage any fellow music lovers who happen to be reading this to do so, as well, in order to honor some of the music industry's most unheralded heroes.

From Steve Duddy, the film's director, who married a Porcaro sister:

...when I first married into the Porcaro family in 1980, Toto was already well on their way to great success. What fascinated me the most was not just the sheer number of artists each of my new brothers had worked with, but also how huge those artists were.  They'd played with everyone from Cher to Michael Jackson, Steely Dan to Madonna, Paul McCartney to Ray Charles, Miles Davis to The Bee Gees, Barbara Streisand to Dolly Parton and countless more.

The film pays homage to my amazing in-laws - Joe & Eileen Porcaro, who started it all.. who lovingly supported the careers of not only their children and Toto but so many others that chose an artistic path. It's a nod to all parents who nurture and support their children in the Arts. It's also a tribute to Jeff Porcaro and the  immense void he left, not only in our family's hearts but also in the hearts of music fans all around the globe. I've cherished this fly-on-the-wall privilege and I'm now thrilled to share their incredible story with the world. I would love for you to be a part of it too.

Many of us will miss Mike and his late older brother Jeff, but we will always have the music they created.

And the music they created was nothing sort of legendary.





~

Monday, April 13, 2015

A Spectacular Interview with Chris Botti

The trumpet-based podcast The Other Side of the Bell has a great interview with the incomparable Chris Botti posted at their site. Even if you're like me and not a trumpeter (all I know about the instrument is that my brother played it for a couple of years in high school) or even if you're not a musician at all, I still would like to encourage you to listen to this podcast. Botti's got some great stories and some great insights to music, business, how it all works from a performer-to-audience perspective, and how he approaches his craft. It's a fantastic interview.

For those of you who may not know Chris Botti, he's the guy who performed the best rendition of America's National Anthem anyone has ever heard at an NFL game this past season:


Monday Night Football 11-03-14 National Anthem with Chris Botti HD from Jeff Bekeris on Vimeo.

In addition to his remarkable solo career, he's also performed alongside musical giants like Paul Simon, Sting, Michael Brecker, and Buddy Rich.
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