Stuff Goin' On

So, as should be the case with blogs like this, I feel compelled to inform everyone about what I've got going on these days. Musically, that is. (After all, this is supposed to be a music blog, right?)

Truth be told, I've got several irons in the fire that I am really excited about, so I'm gonna take some time to let you all in on them.

First of all, the incomparable Hillary Hand has an EP coming out in about a week that I can't wait for everyone to hear. We've been working on it for several months now (well, Hillary and her producer have been working on it for months... I basically just jumped in & out whenever I was needed) and the finished product is something truly great. It's definitely one of my favorite projects that I've ever been a part of: the songs are awesome, the arrangements & instrumentation are awesome, and getting the opportunity to form a rhythm section with the legendary Matt Bissonette is all kinds of awesome. I'll definitely be posting all about it both here and on my Fbook when the EP drops, so be ready. There are some other exciting things coming up for Hillary in the near future, as well, so stay tuned-in to everything she's got going on.

I've also been performing along with one of the Colorado music scene's most notable up-and-coming bands, Modern Suspects. They recently released an EP of their own and sought me out to help them perform the songs live. (I know, I know.... what in the world could they have been thinking?) Truthfully, though, this
has been a great experience already in the first couple months that I've been working with the guys and we've got a slew of shows & festivals coming up all across the front range. If you're in the area, be sure to connect with them and come out to a show. The Suspects have been getting some radio play here, too, and are really close to cracking into some of those larger markets, so it probably won't be long before you're hearing their stuff all over the place.

Oh, yeah... there's also this.

The North American dates haven't been posted yet and I haven't gotten the call to go to Europe, but... come September, I will be on the road for at least some of Alex G's first solo tour. So, please, make sure you come and check out a show. Especially if you happen to live in places like Canada or San Diego or anywhere on the east coast. It's been too long since I've gotten to play for all of you.

Anyway... that's what's going on these days and I'm going to try to keep things nice 'n' updated here on the blog. Keep tuning in, my friends. I'm hoping to see every last one of you very, very soon.

~

Soundtrackin'

I love to admit it: I am a ginormous Jurassic Park fan. I have been since I first read the novel when I was a kid, and then saw the movie (released the same summer my family moved to Colorado, incidentally), and then purchased a copy of the soundtrack. Almost everything about that movie was perfect as far as I was concerned - including the music. John Williams hit one of his timeless grand slams with that one. People are going to remember and be listening to those themes for decades and decades to come.

And so, massive fan (and purist) that I am, it was with a certain amount of hesitation & reticence that I received the news of yet another Jurassic Park sequel. I was let down by the second and third installments, to say the least, and have found myself convinced that the pursuit of the almighty dollar was allowed to outpace the one interested in great art when it came to this franchise. Still, the lesser sequels never ruined the original for me, and I had to admit that over the past couple of months, my excitement to at least give the new film Jurassic World a try has been steadily building.

And then along came the soundtrack, which I pre-ordered this past weekend and eagerly tore into over the past couple of days (I'm even listening to it as I write this). So, let me put it to you this way: listening to the music isn't doing anything to temper my childlike enthusiasm for the upcoming film. It's a marvelous soundtrack and Michael Giacchino - whom I first noticed while playing through a PS2 video game back in the day (Black), and who then went on to construct the signature sounds for the TV show Lost as well as the marvelous soundtrack for Ratatouille - has not only done Williams' original masterpiece justice (he incorporates the legendary themes, I'm happy to report), but has also taken the idea of Jurassic Park music into his own signature realms. I have no idea where any of the songs fit in relation to the plot of the movie, so I'm just listening to it as music-in-the-raw, but I still love it. If the songs are any indication, there's going to be a lot of action in this flick, and if the emotion of the film matches the emotion contained on the soundtrack, it's going to be a movie with some real heart and not just a mindless roller coaster.

We'll have to wait and see, but if Jurassic World is as entertaining as its music seems to suggest, than I, for one, am finally going to really enjoy a Jurassic Park sequel.

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When you watch Nightcrawler, you can't help but notice the music. It's mixed loud and is very much in the forefront of the movie, grabbing your attention right at the opening credits and making its presence known through to the end. What I found so interesting about the music to this creepy satire-ish flick is how unexpected it was. It has loads of attitude and coolness to it, and it somehow reinforces the heart of the film (which is quite dark) while not sounding much at all like what you would think music for a thriller like Nightcrawler would sound like. The music rocks. It is melodic and guitar-driven and moody and introspective. It's a soulful sound in the midst of a movie intent on depicting the soullessness of its subjects. I enjoyed Nightcrawler but have found myself enjoying James Newton Howard's soundtrack even more.

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The wife and I recently watched the History Channel's three-part dramatization Hatfields & McCoys about one of American history's more Shakespearian moments. The mini-series was well-done and, from what I can tell, pretty true to life in regards to what really went down between the two star-crossed families. John Debney (who also did fantastic work for Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ) crafted some truly heartbreaking & romantic music for the series, which masterfully blends 19th century soundscapes with some more modern and familiar melodies. The music feels familiar and powerful at the same time, and Lisbeth Scott adds some vocalization to the tracks that just takes your breath away. This soundtrack, like Nightcrawler, was an unexpected find: you don't tune into a History Channel mini-series expecting to hear wonderful music. Alas, Hatfields & McCoys brought the soul.

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I've also recently gotten my hands on Harry Gregson-Williams' soundtrack for Man on Fire, which I've been waiting for iTunes to sell for a long, long time. I haven't gotten around to listening through the entire thing yet, but if you never thought a piece of music could move you in less than a minute, I implore you to check out the cut entitled 'Smiling', which is 51 seconds of sublimity.

"...and back again."

I don't know what's wrong with me, folks.

Instead of eagerly devouring the top songs on iTunes or schlepping out money for some big arena tour I'm supposed to want to attend, there I was: at the American Jazz Museum in Kansas City, Missouri, taking in exhibits about some of the genre's most notable luminaries and the city's indelible effect upon both the artists themselves and the music they created.

Kansas City, a retro take

Truth be told, I've never liked the cool kids' table. I've never felt welcome or comfortable there and it seems that I am still managing to find ways to extricate myself from the transient nuisance that is the majority of popular music by surrounding myself with things that are still beautiful and awe-inspiring half a century (or more) after they've been released.

So, hold on... Let's back up a step.

My wife and I had decided on a quick weekend excursion to the City of Fountains (more than any other in the world with the exception of Rome) for more reasons than just jazz history. We took in a baseball game at the home field of my all-time favorite team, sauntered through a number of museums (not just the one dedicated to American Jazz, but the national World War I and Negro Leagues Baseball Museums, as well), ate some fantastic local cuisine, and spent time with family.

Architecture a la KC

You see, a sort of revelation occurred to us a little while ago when we journeyed up to Seattle to meet Harry Connick, Jr.: namely, that there are a lot of fascinating, beautiful, and memorable experiences waiting to be had within just a short drive of most of us... and yet most of us never take advantage of the fact. Here we are, living in one of the most wondrous times in all of human history, when a simple day-or-two-long drive or the purchase of a train or plane ticket can get you to some of the world's most interesting places and many of us seem all-too-willing to let the opportunities pass us by over and over again. It is easy to open yourself up to the wonders of history and art and music and food and architecture... it remains even easier to close yourself off from them, apparently. So the Family Burns has decided to become a bit more deliberate with its free time. When schedules allow and work doesn't interfere, we've agreed to spend the money and invest the time necessary in order to try and see what we can see, one piece at a time, of this great world we find ourselves in.

Kansas City became one of our first targets, and we were able to get quite a lot accomplished in two unplanned days.

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.





~

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.