The boys just happen to have all their instruments of honour off to the side and then it happens … Jimmy starts playing this little song called Whole Lotta Love. I don’t know if this was planned but this is the first song that is played with all three sitting together, PERFECT I say!

The other guys just melt when he begins playing. The Edge stands up to get a much closer look at how Jimmy does it (holy shit, I sure would) and it looks like Jack starts to smile and shake inside with excitement! He is trying his best not to totally freak out, check it out. This is the best part of the show!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=suGVO5t96wI

If you haven’t see it then search for it online or go out and buy it, I guarantee you’ll love it. I did. I remember when it first came out I thought that the concept was ideal. Having three generations of guitarists in one movie talking about whatever they want to can’t be all that bad. I didn’t think that they’d actually play but I couldn’t of been more wrong.

Keep on Jammin’

Joni Mitchell was the first guitarist that I encountered using this technique. I never tried this form of playing for a couple of years after playing. When I ventured on this coarse, I found that it opened up a whole new world of guitar playing for me. It certainly took a while to get use to it.

After a while through trial and error, I found that i could expand my chord progressions and better yet, develop that full sound that I have been looking for. Stepping out of your comfort zone is a must for all guitar players. Remember, it’s better to goof up while practicing in the comfort of your own home first before jumping in!

Open Tuning is very frustrating to master at first glance. Check out this link and give it a whirl!

Do you use alternative or open tuning? If so, what are you favorite ones?

Keep on Jammin’

I never believed that U2 wanted to save the whales. I don’t believe that The Beastie Boys are ready to lay it down for Tibet.
Iggy Pop

I’ve never been a real big Iggy Pop lover but the man on stage is raw and inspiring. He work with the stooges is well known and now the man and his band is set to play in Toronto at the Yonge-Dundas Square stage. It’s all part of the NXNE Festival concert line up this year.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfZb26IZq9w

I’d love to go and check his show out live tonight but I have previous plans for today that cannot be changed! I just found out about the show yesterday morning after coming home from an early doctors appointment down the street from Yonge-Dundas Square.

I was walking to the subway to go home and get ready for work when I saw the stage being set up, so I had a few minutes to spare, so I just walked around a bit. I saw this cool older couple sitting a this outside venue at a table and they were having a smoke and a coffee. So I walked up to them and asked then what was up and they told me of the show. Damn, not enough time to change our plans.

Has anyone out there seen these guys live? Am I nuts for not ditching my plans today for the chance to see the great Iggy Pop and the New Stooges play that is 7.9 km (4.9 miles) away?

Keep on Jammin’

I love how he just strums the strings on his acoustic guitar, a Stella I think, that gives off such a warm and inviting sound to the piece. This is a perfect example of how not using a pick can create a very intimate sound to a song. The chord structure and bridges that Mr Costello uses are simple and to the point.

In the beginning part before he starts playing, Elvis makes the point of saying that he would love to hear Barry White sing this one but with no disrespect to Barry, I think only Elvis could pull this one off. Mind you, it would be an interesting version for sure!

So sit back, turn down the lights, fire up a candle or two, OR if it’s raining outside get out your notebook and watch it while the rain is hitting the roof just right and enjoy!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=6c74V89CA8Y

Keep on Jammin’ Elvis

Many bands have attempted to play this great song like Humble Pie, New Riders of the Purple Sage or W.A.S.P. (remember them?). John Mayer’s interpretation of this song closely resembles that of John Scofield, which features guess guitarist Mr. Mayer. In Ray Charles adaptation, he has a more upbeat rhythm were as John Mayer’s is performed with a slower tempo with a swampy bluesy swagger.

In I Don’t Need No Doctor, which is a classic 12 bar blues song in the key of E, John hooks his distinctive chording in it. The trumpet player Brad Mason and saxophone player Bob Reynolds fill out the song rather fittingly.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXWKMwnWP4Q

Here are some neat chord inversions that John Mayer plays in this one. For this song, I will provide you with the chords in TAB form that I think he uses. Please be patient with this new TAB tables that I am using here folks. I’m just seeing how it comes up on some people’s screen. Please tell me if there is a problem viewing this post, thanx!

Keep on Jammin’

Heralded as ‘one of the best live dance acts on Earth,’ by the Village Voice (USA)

It was a very moving video. I found myself taking apart the song section by section in my mind, I’m always doing that to any music that I hear. It also got my heart a pumping and adrenalin a racing with the strong beats and bridges that it had. The visual effects that the band uses is not for those with the faint of heart. It could trigger an epileptic seizure for those afflicted with that disease if exposed to, for too long. It makes one wonder how much it costs the venue in electricity for a show like this, just a side thought.

TCM belongs to the style named the American Music genre. The band consist of two members, Ken Jordan and Scott Kirkland. Both of them were born in and local DJ’s in the Las Vegas, Nevada. Their studio albums are as follows

* Vegas (1997)
* Tweekend (2001)
* Legion of Boom (2003)
* Drive: Nike + Original Run (2006)
* Divided by Night (2009)

Rolling Stones (R.S.) call them a pair of basement beat scientists. This is a reference to where the band started off in, while perfecting their trade. As the story goes, they bought a home in Glendale, California, which had a small underground shelter beneath the front lawn. R.S. says the techno kings as comfortable on the dance floor as on rock radio, and just as wildly uneven. They also add that the band’s live performances throb with raw inspiration and intense sexual energy.

From a musicians point of view, dance music doesn’t seem all that much challenging at first glance. I use to share in that mindset until I was introduced to it by an old friend Rick Jones from the now defunct G-Force Media of Toronto. It was quite the exposure to this new genre of music that I did not appreciate up until then. He was also the guy that brought to my attention the Tone Port Line 6 and the APEX 420 microphone. The guy was a wizard sitting behind his massive sound board deep inside his recording studio.

Rick is a natural keyboardist with tons of other technical talent to boot. He showed me how he used loop effects, how to program them, then bring them up to be used at the drop of a finger during any song.

I have only a general interest in this form of music because it brings me to a place that I would normally in the past not appreciate. I am referring to the level of musicianship that I thought went along with it, that is. I now think of this type of music as very challenging in it’s own right.

So what do you think of The Crystal Method and their classification of music plus do you listen or play this school of playing?

Keep on Jammin’

The simplicity of his playing grew into a wave of emotions that swept through my whole body and mind. The warmth of Jesse’s guitar slowly brought me back to a more simpler time. It brought my wife and I to attention. We started focusing us on the song, blocking everything else out of our mind. Hell, the house could of been on fire and we wouldn’t of noticed!

Jesse Winchester has such a style all of his own. You could repeat every single note from this song but you will never be able to match the emotion that he brings to the piece. From his intricate guitar finger picking right down to the vibe that he gives from his soft voice is something that can not be taught.

On another note, as you all know from reading some of my past posts, I am not that into lyrics but man they are just plain beautiful! I have to admit that, while taking in this one, I turned into a little mound of mush. When writing this post I was drawn to replay this song about 6 times in a row. I guess I’m just a hopeless romantic at heart. How does he do it?!

So take a listen to this gem of a song and tell me what you were experiencing during it!

Keep on Jammin’

For one, keeping Jimi and his revolutionary guitar playing skills should live on forever. Guitar players of today and tomorrow would benefit greatly from the release of new tunes. We have all learned tons of guitar techniques from the master from old offerings but what about stuff that we’ve never heard of? Little Wing is a master piece that keeps fingers moving and exploring different ways of expressing themselves to either the masses or just person pleasure. What if something extraordinary like this tune was never released? I know that someone out there would eventually come up with a similar guitar approach but still Jimi’s style is in a league of it’s own! Next we have the just let him go camp.

A lot of music fans feel that the people/company that keeps exploiting the man are doing a great injustice. I can appreciate that view and would support it … to a certain degree.

What’s your take on this?

This one (Hear my Train a Comin’, acoustic version) is on the new album Valleys of Neptune.

Keep on Jammin’

In this video he uses a Larivee Acoustic, Godin Montreal acoustic/electric, Gracie Guitar Stand, Porchboard Bass (kick drum sound), RCA Dictaphone, Lexicon JamMan looper, Fender Vibrolux Amp, Danelectro Daddy-O Distortion Pedal, Electro-Harmonix Memory Man Delay, Shure Beta 58 Mic, Pendulum PreAmp, G7 Capo, ZOOM H4 handeld digital recorder, Lexicon LXP-1 Reverb (modified).

He also uses this neat device called a JamMan. It’s basically a live digital looping device. I just heard about the product and I’d love to hear back from some of you who have tried this thing out.

At one point in the video, the camera shows Jacob tapping this weird piece of wood. It’s called Porchboard Bass (kick drum sound) and it sounds great! I had the chance to try one out in the 12th Fret and man was it neat! An old buddy of mine Sue should check this thing out, I think that it would compliment her style perfectly.

So I hope that you enjoy this video.

Keep on Jammin’

The band only played one show and we performed You Turn me on, Winter Freeze at a St. John’s College talent night in 1984 I think. Anyways, it was a good show and we had some fun as well. I think that Eddie was suspended from school for a couple of days before the show and we had to do some sweet talking to the principle at the time to get permission to let him back on the school property to be part of the show. If anyone out there remembers who else played that night I’d love to hear from ya!

The original members of Santers were Rick (guitar/vocals) and Mark (drummer) Santers with Rick Lazaroff (bassists). They started playing together in 1981 and played in and around southern Ontario, Quebec and up and down the eastern US sea board. Later on they were performing in the UK for a while to some rave reviews. After that I lost track of them and didn’t notice them again until this past year.

Some other fabulous tunes were Racing Time, Mistreating Heart and Can’t Shake You.

So here is a neat video of them performing at Massey Hall in 1983, so sit back and enjoy!

Road to Morocco

Keep on Jammin’