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Archives for November 2007

Awesome, I F—in’ Shot That! part 2

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The instruments were vintage except for the electric stand up bass, which I was impressed that they even tried to use this one. If you’ve ever tried to play a fretless instrument, then you will appreciate it even more!

For those not in the loop, the fretless instrument is a device that is used only after you have pretty much mastered it. On a fretted instrument, the distance between the frets are where you place your fingers. If not placed directly in between them, you will get a sound that is not clear and muffled. If you are not good on a fretted one, then a fretless instrument will make you sound very bad!

The keyboardist, Money Mark, used a Hammond Organ, Fender Rhodes piano and a Leslie speaker (please look at the design part of this one). This guy plays real old school keyboards and has the chops to prove it.

The guitarist was playing a Gibson with Morley Wah wah pedal! Unfortunately I can not see what he is playing through.

The bongo player seemed to be using 5 in total. What they are is a mystery to me,but by the quality of his percussion playing, they were more then likely NOT off the rack.

The drummer, Alfredo Ortiz, seemed to be playing a 5-6 piece Ludwig, metallic gold kit. Oh what a beautiful look they have and the sound is pure rhythmical magic! When I was growing up playing in Brantford, every drummer would have killed for a kit like that!

Keep on Jammin’





Awesome, I F—in’ Shot That!

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This was a concert that I saw on the old idiot box (TV) the other day and it was great! The Beastie Boys are the band and I know what you are thinking, but it really open my eyes to these guys. Up until recently, I was not really all into hip hop. Rick Jones did introduce me to different forms of hip hop that I thought was really interesting. Once I did see this video I had a new found love for this musical art form. So now let me try to clarify my position and in doing so I hope to change your attitude toward this band to some degree!

In this concert video Beastie Boys wanted to capture a show as seen through the eyes of the audience. It was also shot by 60 fans who had video cameras running during this show. The film was low quality, thus creating a unclean and grainy feel to it show which brings a true indie feel to it. I think that is what makes the film really unique since it was focused on main stream viewers that follow hip hop and pop music! The shots were taken from many nontraditional and professional angles that feature other audience members whipped into a frenzy and of coarse the band. This is the pure beauty of it all.

I caught the show on TV when a band was on this movable, rectangle shape stage. At this point I didn’t even know what band was playing let alone that I was watching a Beastie Boy concert. I think that if I did know who I was watching I would probably turned the channel right away do to my ignorance of the capabilities of the band.

It resembled a rectangular like gazebo structure that was being slowly spun around until you could see the band right in front facing the audience. There were white patio like lantern lights all above this thing, swinging lightly like they were playing in an outdoor venue. The band was dressed in cheesy white coloured tuxedos making my mind believe that I was watching a vintage concert way back in the 50’s. It also gave me the impression that the band was playing at Arnold’s Restaurant! You know the one in Happy Days with the Fonz going “ahhhhh”! Then the band started to play.

The music that came out out of these guys was a funky, pop 50’s sound that ya gotta love. They went back to this 50’s old school straight up Rock & Roll concept that has stood the test of time. You know I must give credit to the hip hop crowd that was there at the show because they all knew that, what they were hearing was good old R & R music. In my eyes this show had this carnival atmosphere going on and it just didn’t stop!

So check out this video and see what I mean. In my next post, I will try to break down what vintage instruments some of these guys were playing and you may be a little more then surprised. These classic hip hop guys pulled off this style in try R & R form!

Keep on Jammin’ (even the Beastie Boys!)

The great Massey Hall in Toronto

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Massey Hall is certainly a place that you have to go and see once in your lifetime! It’s a large but intimate venue to see a show. Here are some of the greats who have ventured and visited the grand lady, Frank Zappa, Winston Churchill, Enrico Caruso, Luciano Pavarotti, Sir Edward Elgar, Toscanini, George Gershwin, Oscar Peterson, Glenn Gould, the Dalai Lama and Maria Callas.

The first concert I saw there was with my older brother Tim and we saw Devo. Yes, that is correct Devo and what a show it was but I’ll tell you all later about that one!

I use to work directly across the street on the third floor. I was a jeweller back then and boy some of the things that I saw crawl out after a show was hilarious. Our shop was directly facing the outside fire escape of Massey Hall and one day some lovers started to go at it, right in front of our eyes! We all decided to get some hastily hand made score cards and you should have seen them fly down the fire escape, priceless!

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One day around noon, I looked out the window and saw the regular, everyday activities. Then 5 minutes later I saw a few people with red hats and jackets coming out of Massey Hall. Nothing out of the ordinary there. Then it grew and grew and grew till it looked like little worker ants walking around the street, everywhere. It was a convention of the Salvation Army workers and this picture comes to mind every time I walk by it.

It was built in 1894 for the Massey family and has seen many fabulous acts inside the hallowed hall. It was the site of the worlds best live jazz album ever recorded in many jazz lovers eyes! It was the Charlie Parker-Dizzy Gillespie concert May 1953. The album recorded was called Jazz at Massey Hall. The thing was that hardly anyone was in attendance. That same night there was a boxing show in another legendary venue down the street called Maple Leaf Gardens so everyone went there in stead, silly idiots!

So if you are just walking around Yonge at Shutter street, look down Shutter until you see the great gal and tip your hat to her!

Keep on Jammin’

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