Today I’ve been following one of my heroes of music, Joni Mitchell, after a friend hipped me to this interview. Everything that Joni talks about— her art, her music, writing lyrics, etc., I’m convinced that she’s a supreme bright woman and when she talks it all comes out as if it was yet another brilliant song. The only mini drag on this moment is that the interview fellow Jian Ghomeshi, who has a great voice and asks good questions, keeps on filling the bandwidth with his own voice and doesn’t let Joni finish her ideas. Rule one I think if you’re an interviewer is to prompt the stage and then get out of the way. It’s also a good rule for basic living too, listen more.

Jian’s super cool and smart but dude, let Joni finish her thoughts.

The fellow that publishes my Chick Corea Solos book sent me this link and it’s a really quick funny take on how men and women differ when dealing with a problem. I’m laughing and my wife Stef dug it too!

It’s Not About the Nail!

The banjo is finally on my knee! It took a while to pull all of the deets together but I’ve finally finished recording my tweaked romp through Louisiana and I’m calling it “The Susan Variations.” It’s 101 ways to play “Oh, Susanna” and survive to tell the tale.

Go here to watch and listen.

If you have an interest in bringing some of this insanity into your own home via your own guitar you might first acquire the sheet music by clicking here. Then go to these videos where I demonstrate how I came up with the arrangement along with other fine details. It was a hoot to pull together and I’m stoked to share it.

For this week I’m heading over to the Roxy on Thursday night for my ongoing good time of solo guitar music, friends, big helpings of healthy food, and the enlightened bohemia of downtown Encinitas. See ya there at 7pm.

That’s the word for now and many thanks for reading, Peter

“The Power to Rock”
Even though I grew up playing rock music I’ve spent most of my life riding down the never-ending road to play the perfect jazz solo. I love rock and one day after I read a funny interview with Jack Black I got a song idea for a rock anthem of sorts. He was talking about the tripy contrast of growing up in a high-powered intellectual household with his mom, a Harvard professor and his dad, a scientist —and then there was himself, an actor, a rebel and a rock musician. He said it best, “my dad is a rocket scientist and I’m a scientist of rock.” I took this premise to Randy Phillips, the lyricist that I frequently collaborate with, and together we came up with the laughable “The Power to Rock.” A little later we recorded it with Leonard and Lisa belting it out with me supplying the necessary distorted rock guitar fills in the background. Good fun! Check it out!

• Learning to properly reconcile SpragueLand’s balance sheets with the guidance of Quickbooks guru Mary.
• Massaging out the last kinks for the upcoming “Susan Variations” vids; one highlighting the performance and one explaining how I came up with the weirdness. Coming to you soon!
• In the studio recording a new Peter Jorgensen tune with Leonard on the vocal mic.
• Out to dinner to Native Foods with Stef, Kylie and a few of her friends. Super fun and killin’ organic eats! Try the vegan nachos!
• Wrapping up a recording project with guitarist Tony Taravella and his all-star back up band with Tripp, Duncan, Mike Wofford and Bob Magnusson.
• Interesting meeting with Jim Gilliam and Chris Montgomery about a possible future Encinitas Jazz Festival. We’re taking over the world, one small town at a time! Hah!
• A full on flowing solo concert at the Vista Library plus a special berry cobbler gift from 2 gifted epicurean Ramona fans.
• Gathering print media positive reviews and most recently, the Mikan/Brian Levy/Peter show got the attention of Sire Robert Bush. He reports, “a knockout concert of modern jazz at its finest, dispelling the notion that a rhythm section is absolutely necessary for potent music making.” To take in the complete account click here.
• Attending a concert with Roni Ben Hur and his group. Super cool music and Duduka on drums totally floored me. What a beautiful groove that fellow lays down. Also ran into Mundell Lowe and Oscar Castro Neves at the concert and we’re organizing a concert for us to all play together.
• Had a fun walk in east Encinitas with Ky and Stef and little Rocky boy was on it too. We carried him for part of it ‘cuz he’s got a small stride and it’s just not fair.
• High tech gear hang with David and I exploring his guitar synth, making me drool with future possibilities. He also showed me X-rays of when his hand fell off his, well, hand, and the resultant metal plate and screws that keep things in one place. Talk about hanging on by a thread…
• Two big days in the studio tracking for vocalist/pianist Matt Falker’s new CD project. He had a stellar band with Roger on bass and Sammy K on drums. Cool music indeed!
• Squeaking in little daily interludes of biking to the beach and either surfing, doing yoga, or swimming to keep the sanity and the sky in my head. It’s working I think!
• Mixing sax man Steve Feierabend’s new jazz project which was tracked up in SF. It’s sounding good complete with Steve’s original compositions too!

Our east Encinitas walk with Kylie and Stef carrying the little Rocky Boy. He did most of the walk on his own 2 legs but then started to wear down.

And tonight I forgo the beloved reoccurring Roxy gig and instead make the drive to the RB Inn to share the sound and to bolster the bank account.

I’ve got some cool stuff coming up down the way including a wacky 7am bright and early internet concert with Kevyn. But for this week, I’ll see you at the Sunday solo guitar brunch at the Craftsman in Encinitas. I played this gig a few weeks back and had a great time and turnout. Folks liked the food too so maybe we’ll see you there…

summer on good people, Peter

“Coltrane”
Got to thinking about deep drum grooves after hearing Duduka and this thought led me to this track from my 1985 Concord record release Na Pali Coast. Peter Erskine was our drummer and his groove is a 4 lane freeway heading straight to the capital of groove. Through all the tune’s tricky twists and turns Peter’s all over the details and the stylistic changes. The experience of playing with him has been one of my favorites in my life so far. And the other guys, Kujala, Mag, and Tripp are bringing it hard core too. Fun track! Check it out!

I’ve been up super early, breaking the muso stereotype, surfing in the ocean by 6:30am. It’s been windy and bumpy but super fun. Today was special and after the morning ocean session I carved out some studio time and recorded a new vid of me playing solo on “The Susan Variations.” The music will make its way to YouTube in the next couple of days and I’ll be sure to let you know.

Looking at the chart and marking the hard sections with a red pen. I’ve read that that’s supposed to make it easier to play. Hah!

This is where I sit when I play those red markup sections.

Coming right up tomorrow (Thursday), I’ll be back playing solo at The Roxy. I miss that place and I miss the gang that shows up there. See you soon!

If you live out in the Vista area I’m scheduled to play a solo hit on Sunday at the Vista Library. Library gigs are the new frontier—high level of listening with good sounding rooms and the revolving option of SILENCE as part of the music. I hope to see you there.

Peter and the revolving option of silence.
Photo by Karen Winter

I’ve been going out to hear other musos lately (last week was some great music by Anthony Wilson and the Seasons Quartet) and this week on Sunday I’m heading over to the Athenaeum Studio to hear guitarist Roni Ben-Hur and his trio. I’ve never heard him live but I know he’s playing up a storm. Here’s the details for the concert and here’s a little backstory on him:

Jazz guitarist Roni Ben-Hur has earned a sterling reputation as a musician and educator, renowned for his golden tone, improvisational brilliance, compositional lyricism, and ability to charm peers, students, and listeners alike. Eminent jazz critic Gary Giddins wrote in the Village Voice: “A limber and inventive guitarist, Ben-Hur keeps the modernist flame alive and pure, with a low flame burning in every note.” Ben-Hur—born in Israel in 1962 but a longtime American citizen, now based in New Jersey—has released nine albums as leader or co-leader, with Time Out New York calling him “a formidable and consummately lyrical guitarist.” The Star-Ledger of New Jersey summed him up this way: “A deep musician, a storyteller, Ben-Hur works with a warm, glowing sound and has an alluring way of combining engaging notes with supple rhythm.” Jazz guitar star Russell Malone got it right when he said: “Everything Roni does is beautiful. He has the magic touch.”

That’s it for this week and thanks for reading, Peter ]]> http://petersprague.com/tap-dancing-into-an-alternate-universe/feed/ 0 http://petersprague.com/the-little-dot-zipping-along-keeping-it-real/ http://petersprague.com/the-little-dot-zipping-along-keeping-it-real/#comments Wed, 22 May 2013 16:38:50 +0000 Peter Sprague http://petersprague.com/?p=7372 Greetings Good People, the south wind is blowing early, Bobby McFerrin is ripping it up with his Vocabularies on the speakers, and I’m rising from the slumbers documenting the RIDE that just happened plus switching on the HWC button (here’s what’s coming) to fill you in. This is what I’ve got…

The Ben Wanicur gig at Dizzy’s went beautifully with a nice turnout, a nice scoot through a 13 beat cycle, a little dough plus a nice review from sage jazz writer Robert Bush. Check ‘er out…

The last minute jazz brunch on Sunday turned out to be a fun hit for me. I like playing during that time slot and thanks to all the fans that turned out. The owners dug it too and they’ve hired me to play Sunday brunches marching forth. I hope to see you there downwind sometime soon.

Rounding out last week was a super fun solo show at the Christ Presbyterian Church. At the end of the show I held a little show and tell explaining all of the tech looping/synth/wild guitar effects that hang out on the floor in front of me. Folks dig seeing how the magic tricks unfold.

This is wild! Yesterday I was out surfing and the spot where I was has a surf cam on it. It just got upgraded to a feature that lets you rewind to a particular time of the day and watch the cam. I remember the last wave that I caught was pretty good so I hunted it down (pretty easy) and magnified it a little. What a hoot! I’m the little dot zipping along. Revelation: our life is forever cruising in front of some camera so keep it real, people!

Here’s another interesting YouTube moment. Some months back I worked with composer Michael Roth on a soundscore for the Sam Hunter play The Whale for it’s month long run at South Coast Repertory in Orange County. Matthew Arkin plays the main character and below is a short film of his remarkable transformation into Charlie, the 600 lb. man. Matthew’s actual preparation (make-up, prosthetic, and getting into costume) took about an hour but he sped up the film to show the job in just under 8 minutes. That’s me and Michael playing the music for the video.

Coming up for this week, I’m not playing my regular Thursday Roxy gig but instead I’m thrilled to hear Anthony Wilson’s Seasons Guitar Quartet concert at The Scripps Research Auditorium (formally known as the Neurosciences Institute). Anthony is one of my favorites and his playing with Diana Krall’s group is jazz guitar at it’s finest. He’s an amazing composer too and for this concert, the centerpiece will be his composition for 4 guitars. And he’s picked some of the best players in the world to join him; Larry Koonse is a true hero and is one of my all-time favorites; Chico Pinheiro is an avatar of the six strings and brings the magic of Brasil into the music; A fellow I haven’t met yet but I’ve heard on recording is Julian Lage, and he’s an amazing player. This will be a great show and here is a link for more info. Maybe I’ll see you there!

From left to right, Anthony, Julian, Larry, and Chico.

On Friday night I’m honored to join Gilbert Castellanos and Bob Magnusson for a night of jazz at the Westgate Hotel in downtown San Diego. I’ve played this gig once before and it was super inspiring with Gilbert playing at the top of his game plus an enthusiastic and attentive audience. Can’t wait!

Rounding out the week I’m connecting with saxophonist Brian Levy and pianist Mikan Z. for a wild Saturday romp at Dizzy’s. We’re playing this hit as a slimmed down, no drums, no bass trio—pretty unorthodox trajectory. All the players are world-class so I’m anticipating some fireworks, magic, and comedy bits too. See you there!

That’s the word for now and thanks for reading along.
all the very best, Peter

“Chanting with Charles”
This week I’m playing a show with Gilbert Castellanos and we’ve been playing this tune on our last few concerts. I wrote the song way back when and the inspiration came from hanging out with alto sax avatar Charles McPherson. He showed me a ton about playing jazz and also was instrumental and helping me land my first legitimate record deal with Xanadu records. Charles was always telling me how important Bach’s music was and how it was like jazz, just without Philly Joe Jones and Paul Chamber’s on bass. So for this version of the tune we play a Bach 2 Part Invention to set up the mood. Check it out!

I’m listening to Maria Schneider’s new release called Winter Morning Walks as I write to you. It’s filling the office air with majestic swaths of creative orchestration. Beautiful!

Over the last couple of months I’ve had some requests to transpose two of my jazz solos books over to Bb and Eb instruments. It took a bit of time but I’m happy to announce that the Charlie Parker book is now available for both concert and Eb instruments. The Sonny Rollins book is now in both the concert key and a version for Bb instruments. In the process of getting these transcriptions over to the computer from their earlier handwritten versions I also was able to upgrade the level of accuracy of the notes and rhythms as I think my ears have improved over the years plus the audio technology that exists today is far superior than what I was using back in the day. Click here to get the details on the books and you’ll dig their inspired notes.

Up for this week is my happily continuing Thursday night hit at the Roxy in Encinitas. I play solo guitar and traverse between Brasil, the Beatles, Gershwin, Hendrix, Bach and Weather Report. I include some of my originals too and I dress all of the music up with ongoing possibilities of loops, escape hatch diversions, spontaneous medleys, and when it’s quiet enough in there, wide open sonic space. It’s a hoot! Come and join me for music and great food.

On Friday night I’m meeting up with bassist Ben Wanicur and his group to play a show at Dizzy’s. Ben’s just released a new CD of his own music and that’ll be the road we travel down for this gig. It’s called The Excluded Middle and it’s interesting stuff with great players and inventive tunes. Check out his site here and we hope to see you there.

I’m thrilled to be included in the Christ Presbyterian Church’s concert schedule and on Sunday night I’ll play an hour long solo guitar program. The church has great acoustics and silence will be our friend. It should be a nice one and look to the gig calendar for the details.

That’s it for now. Stay well and keep the sky in your head, Peter

“The Space Between Two Thoughts”
My recording The Space Between Two Thoughts is our band Dance of the Universe Orchestra’s second project. A wandering hippie named Jamil Soorami came into the gig one night and gave me a poem called Dance of the Universe. I think it was a coincidence, in other words, I think he had written the poem before meeting us and when he heard our band, he flipped out and figured we ought to have his poem. I put music to it and this along with the epic The Space Between Two Thoughts composition rocketed our group of young musos off into thin air. It’s a wild tune that goes to a bunch of different places and I love the “chant” section where Ron Satterfield goes stellar! Check it out!

We were graced with a warm south swell and had many days of good surf. One night we had a great jazz show at the Cabo Surf Hotel, met some cool new folks and shared our sonic propaganda freely. We were in San Jose del Cabo and it’ll be magic day when we get to venture there next.

The Three Musos of Baja! From left to right, Tripp, Bob Magnusson, and Peter.

April in San Diego was a super busy month of playing for me and it turns out that a lot of press and YouTube noise got stirred up.

Starting with 2 new Bop Moderno videos! Hear Gilbert work the mute on the blues and next Tripp plays a great solo on “Chanting with Charles”!

We played a show at 98 Bottles with Anthony Smith’s group and this positive review surfaced reporting that it all went down with “two sets of highly intricate music before a standing-room-only crowd.”

Live at 98 Bottles with Anthony Smith, Mike Wofford, Danny Weller, Holly Hofman and Duncan Moore.

The next night I returned to 98 Bottles to flow through the world of Ella Fitzgerald with bassist Danny Weller guiding the ship and the amazing, and I mean it, fantastic vocals by Rebecca Jade! Yes indeed she sounded great! And along came this review of which Robert Bush, the reporter exclaimed, “Ms. Jade sings with that rare combination of aggressive power and wistful nuance coupled with distinct enunciation that allowed one to understand every lyric.”

Danny Weller’s group at 98 Bottles. Left to right, Peter, Charlie Weller, Rebecca Jade, and Mikan.

And dig the video clip as we cruise through “I Hear Music.”

We took the music to the streets at our Encinitas Street Fair gig a couple weeks back and a lone video guy had the camera right up into our world for pretty much the whole show. The only thing I remember is “why is this guy so close to us?” It turns out that the footage is better for this and I particularly like these 2 vids:

Americana! “Shenandoa” into “Your Smiling Face”

Stevie Wonder’s “As”

Tripp’s daughter Kate joined us on one tune!

Jazz writer Scott Yanow has put together an extensive examination of jazz guitarists and his book The Great Jazz Guitarists: The Ultimate Guide has just surfaced into the real world. Happily I’m included in the lineup and you can go here to check it out.

We had a wonderful show at Dizzy’s with the Mesa College Big Band and the highlight for me was to play with the up and coming flutist James Romeo Jr. This dude has the tone and the vibe and brought magic to the stage. I can’t wait to do it again! He also has a brand new baby boy who was hanging horizontal at the gig.

Peter with James Romeo Jr. and his little jazz baby.

In the works for this week, I’ll be living at the Roxy in Encinitas. First up on Thursday night I’m playing solo guitar and then on Saturday night I have vocalist Kevyn Lettau joining me. Big fun both nights and hope to see you there!

That’s the word for now and thanks for riding along with me.

all best, Peter

“Idyllwild’s Secret”
I’ve been thinking about Steve Kujala lately and how much I miss playing music with him. He’s an absolute avatar of the flute and we made several recordings back in the day along with traversing countless hours on the freeway between here and L.A. playing gigs. We’ve been missing each other but I’m thrilled that in July we have a concert in Coronado lined up and I’m counting the days. I just took “Idyllwild’s Secret” for a spin and I’m captivated by Steve’s beautiful sound and spirit in the music. This was a really fun record to make with Luis Conte on percussion along with John Leftwich on bass. The CD is now out of print but you can get the tracks as downloads off of my site. It’s a wonderful recording! Check it out!

I flew to San Franciso for a quick hit at the Pete Douglas Beach House and you talk about ultimate setups for music, this is right up there! His concert space sits at the ocean edge at Half Moon Bay. Pete’s a rusty old guy that likes to talk about the history of jazz in the Bay Area, spicing things up by throwing in beat poet excerpts from Ferlinghetti and Kerouac.

The entrance to the Half Moon gig.

The road getting to Half Moon Bay is a magical bendy thing that descends into the town through a beautiful green tree laden canyon. After a mega perfecto salad at a Whole Foods-esque establishment, we then unloaded the gear and worked out the kinks in the music. The band was Geoffrey Keezer on piano, Essiet Essiet on bass, Sylvia Cuenca on drums, Denise Donatelli singing and me on the guitar. It was a great night of music!

The view from the back of the stage with Peter on the left, Denise, Keezer at the piano, Essiet on bass, and Sylvia on drums.

You ever heard of the big wave spot Mavericks? It turns out we we’re looking directly out to the takeoff zone as we played our gig. There weren’t any waves this time around but my next plan is to book a show when I know the waves will be rumbling. I’d love to watch the whole thing go down in real time. (I’m not going out, it’s too big!)

The view from the gig out to Mavericks. It’s located at the end of the point in the distance.

I’ve got a bunch of gigs this week and it all starts tomorrow at Cuyamaca College in Rancho San Diego. It’ll be a night of Blurring the Edges featuring Fred Benedetti on guitar, Tripp on sax, and Peter the guitar-man. We’ve got a new program worked out and if you mix that in with the great performance space, it’s a shoe-in!

Live at Cuyamaca!

On Thursday it’ll be my on going solo guitar session at the Roxy in Encinitas—the six string revolution!

Saturday is a double header with first an afternoon slot at the Encinitas Street Fair with Leonard and Tripp. From there I’ll make my way to 98 Bottles in San Diego to connect with Anthony Smith’s group. He has a double CD that he recorded at SpragueLand and this night will be his CD release concert. It’s a great band with Mike Wofford, Holly Hofmann and others and we’ll be doing Anthony’s original music from the album. Big fun!

Band break! Left to right top row, Peter, Duncan, Holly Hofmann and Mike Wofford. In the front, Rob Thorsen and Anthony Smith.

Next up, (and maybe I should just sleep there) I’ll be back on Sunday night at 98 Bottles to play the music of Ella Fitzgerald. Bassist Danny Weller has assembled a great group with vocalist Rebecca Jade at the helm and together we’ll trance into Ella’s world. See you then!

On Monday, Tripp, Bob Magnusson and I head down to Cabo for some music and surfing. We’re playing a show at the Cabo Surf Hotel so if you know any folks that hang out down there please share the music news.

When we get back we’re playing a concert the next night at Dizzy’s with the Mesa College Big Band. I’m letting you know now because I’m pretty sure I won’t have time to get an email out while I’m surfing in Mexico. Instead it’ll be a low tech week, unwinding, scanning the horizon, and making my moves in slo-mo.

See you soon and thanks for reading along, Peter

“Costa Azul”
Next week we’re heading to Mexico and this got me thinking about a tune that I composed in 2008 while I was on a surf and music excursion in Cabo San Lucas. Our good pals C.J. and Sheila put us up in their beach house overlooking the Zipper’s surf spot. The vibe was fantastic and we had a bunch of long uninterrupted days, hanging under the palapa, watching the waves break and awaiting a spell when the lineup would empty out. I was continually noodling with my guitar and this little tune magically appeared one day. We recorded it when we got back and now it’s on my Free Floating SpragueSongs album. Check it out!

I’ve been hard at work writing grant proposals for future music projects that hopefully will come true of which I can share with you. Dang, that almost sounds like a song lyric with a Nashville-like rhyming scheme. Anyway, it’s been fun, the deadlines are looming, but today I get to return back to the guitar for some quality R&D time. I’m prepping for my next solo guitar video session at the end of the week. And by the way, thanks a mil for all of your interest and support from last week’s YouTube vids. A bunch of people had fun with it and the idea of the sheet music helping to illuminate the details has been a mini-hit!

Peter with little Rocky dog working on their rhyming schemes.
photo by Michelle Ramey

I’ve got a lot of playing lined up for this week starting off with a duo hit at Cal State San Marcos on Wednesday night. It’ll be Leonard and I playing, talking, and demonstrating what we like in music. We played this series last year and it was a hoot!

Leonard and Peter gearing it up for the college gig.
photo by Barbara Rix

Next up, the Roxy Revolution with me and the machines stirring up sonic mischief in downtown Encinitas continues on. It’ll be on Thursday night and the strawberry smoothies are awaiting you!

It’ll be a full day of driving and playing on Saturday as I start out with a free solo concert at the Rancho San Diego Library. From there I’ll morph over to Harry’s in La Jolla for a nighttime duo gig with bassist Gunnar Biggs. Both places are good listening spots where the music reigns supreme! Hope to see you there.

And the week closes with an early Sunday morning flight to San Francisco to play the amazing Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society hit with Sri Keezer and vocalist Denise Donatelli. The band is stellar and I’m told this concert venue at Half Moon Bay is one of the best setups ever. Can’t wait!

Denise Donatelli

There you go and big thanks for reading along. Play on and I’ll see you where the music is flowing, Peter

“Uluwatu”
In 2001 I brought together a bunch of tracks that I’d been working on that shared the common theme of gentle and melodic and released a CD called The Light Dance. It features Steve Kujala on flute plus my regular gang of musos that I love working with. For the song “Uluwatu” we have flute and harp playing the melody over a hypnotic African 6/8 percussion groove. It’s a great color and instrument combination. “Uluwatu” is the name of a legendary surf spot in Bali and I’ve used this track on one of my own home surf movies too. It’s surf music for the new millennium! Check it out!

I’ve been wanting to document some of my solo guitar moves that I’ve been swimming in at my weekly Roxy gigs. There, I combine my unique arrangements with lots of improvising plus integrate the looper and my guitar synth for some cool sonic escapades.

So, first I moved the drums aside in my studio, next I brought in a couple of lighting poles and then set up my guitar rig. I fired up the video cameras and then I set out to play live in front of the YouTube potential audience of INFINITY! Anybody listening?

Once the vids we’re floating in cyberspace I got the idea of writing out the arrangements and making them available for others to jump in if they wanted to put some of the chords under their own fingers.

Then a friend of mine told me the music was super tricky and wouldn’t it be cool if I made a video explaining and demonstrating in slow-mo how I came up with the arrangements.

So my good people, all of this is out there now and if you have an interest, here is your map of the music:

Peter Plays “My Favorite Things”

Peter Explains “My Favorite Things”

Sheet music to “My Favorite Things”

Peter Plays “Desafinado”

Peter Explains ”Desafinado”

Sheet music to ”Desafinado”

Tonight we’re playing a free concert at the Rancho Bernardo Library! Look to the gig calendar for the details.

Also up for this week, the famous Thursday Roxy Solo Git Hit is in the works. See you there in person for some great eats and spirited music.

On Saturday night I’m playing a special concert with Beth Ross-Buckley on flute, Fred Benedetti on guitar, and Gunnar Biggs on bass. We’ve been rehearsing and our last rehearsal is at a super devoted, can’t find any other workable time slot of 8am on Friday morning. I’m resting up just for that! The music we’re playing for this show are all of my tunes including a brand new one called “Baiaon Blue”. The venue is the Meyer Gallery in Little Italy and it’s a special full on listening environment. Hope to see you there!

Beth and the band in the garden at SpragueLand! Left to right, Gunnar, Beth, Fred, and Peter.
photo by Stefanie Sprague

Last up for the week is a solo guitar appearance at the Ion Theatre event in La Jolla. It’s a fancy fundraiser and if you want to attend, check out the deets at my gig calendar.

There it is folks and many thanks for reading, Peter

“Molecules”
This is the first movement to my suite entitled Dr. Einstein’s Spin. I wrote the music and it was funded by the prestigious Chamber Music America’s New Jazz Works grant. My vision was molecules bouncing off of each other, lots of pent up energy, wanting to move around. Musically I pulled this off by setting the tune in the 5/4 meter and using chord voicings that have close intervals—the happy rub! This recording is of my String Consort group and I love the way they pulled it off. I’ve adapted this tune to work with a smaller ensemble and that’s the way we’re playing it this week at the Camarada concert. Check it out!

Even though the campus was filled with people everywhere, I still ran into some old music friends from when I was living in Los Angeles. Otmaro Ruiz was trying to park his car quickly to make it to teach his class. Same for Aron Serfaty, a great percussionist who played a hit with my string group. He was hurriedly directing his drum gear towards his classroom. I ran into Bruce Forman, Steve Trovato, and guitarist Richard Smith who heads the program there. I knew Richard from the days when we we’re both teaching at Musicians Institute in Hollywood. The day capped off nicely with getting to hear a wonderful young guitarist named Jesse play an Ellington tune with Nina singing—the new generation keeping it real!

Hanging at the USC guitar class with Jesse, Peter, Richard, and Nina.

A few months back we played a concert at the Museum of Making Music with Bop Moderno and I’ve just completed editing a video that I posted on YouTube. If you missed our concerts through the San Diego and L.A. area, maybe give this vid a spin to hear and see what we were into. This tune is slow but it’s sweet.

This week we garnered some CD release ink noise from Reader columnist Robert Bush. He highlights details from both Dr. Einstein’s Spin and Intersection as we’ll as Rob Thorsen and Steph Johnson’s new releases. We’re all churning out this music and we do it for you, dear listeners! Hah!

I’m only gigging once this week and I’m putting everything I’ve got into those 2 sets. Hope to see you on Thursday at the magic Roxy in Encinitas, 7pm downbeat!

That’s it for this week folks and thanks for tuning in.

hanging ten, Peter

“Caro Mio Ben”
This week when I was driving up to L.A. I was listening to my iPod on shuffle mode. On came Nando Lauria’s beautiful music and this led me to the time that he and I connected on my recording project called Nikki’s Rose. For this album I wanted to include the popular aria “Caro Mio Ben”, which was a piece that Nikki sang, but do a Brazillian version of the tune. I first pulled Nando into the loop to add his gorgeous wordless vocal ridding over the samba groove. I sent the tracks to him in Florida, he added his parts there and then sent his tracks back to me to be mixed. It’s cool the way that we go with our version of the song and then near the end of the tune we blend it back to Nikki’s version, using her vocals taken from a recital many years earlier. It’s a touching moment for sure and great to bring her presence into the project. I love this track! Check it out.