Greg Lake - Live! Songs of a Lifetime

Greg Lake (from Emerson Lake & Palmer)  -one of my early heros and the single most person who really inspired me to play guitar every day, was in San Fransisco at the Regency Ballroom - a fun historic venue.

Its been a while - I used to see Greg lake regularly back in the day - you might even say I was addicted to ELP and Greg's way of creating music...   

WOW what a great show - Greg started the show with the intense 21st century scitzoidman - and closed the show with "Welcome back my frineds", and played everythign in between.  His voice was smooth and poweful and sounded fantastic as did his backing tracks and guitar tones.  I had a great balcony seat right over stage right. He played and taled with the audiance for 3 hours - breaking the show with Q&A which was very informativ and intimate.

More....   and a bit about the show:

Greg Lake's autobiography Lucky Man is out and he has taken the show on the road.  Writing the book, Lucky Man, gave birth to the show, but the show is not the book. Fans have sparked to the intimate, autobiographical Songs of a Lifetime experience as each audience takes a different journey with Greg Lake every night to standing ovations. Lucky Man is the autobiography you have been waiting for. Read by the author, here are the tales of his extraordinary life of song and music and the people who inspired Greg.

 

How I get out and beyond the power lines - Toyota Land Cruiser

My facination with Landcruisers started when I was 22 years old and living at that time in Milford Pennsylvania. I was building a recording studio for Ed labunski a very prolific and famous jingle writer (Google him.)  Driving in the snow out in the woods beyond the powerlines, camping, hiking and playing music around the fire... 

My first Landcruiser was a new 1979 green 40 series that was a fun time with a then unknown vehicle. Fast forward to 5 landcruisers later and the 1997 80 series... Like a line from a Robbie Roberston tune  "It's in my blood"

Looking forward to the next Landcruiser...

Zappa Plays Zappa 2/12 Rio Theatre - Santa Cruz, CA

After seeing ZpZ play last year and really enjoying how well Dweezil played I new I had to go again this year... What a killer show!  They played a completely different set than last year and dug deep into the FZ archives to bring many unheard songs to life. Dweezil can shred and play with accuracy while all of the band members hold their own. We had great seats in the second row center slight stage left - the balance of both guitars (Dweezil and Jamie Kime) was fantastic. And Jamie is no slacker on guitar he plays without a pick and smoked many great solos, while Scott Thunes layed down solid bass.   ...ZpZ site

THE PLAYERS:

Dweezil Zappa: Guitar
Scheila Gonzalez: Saxphone, Flute, Keyboards & Vocals
Scott Thunes: Bass
Billy Hulting: Marimba, Mallets & Percussion
Jamie Kime: Guitar
Joe Travers: Drums & Vocals
Ben Thomas: Vocals
Chris Norton: Keyboards

After taking more than three years off to study the physical performance and technical compositional techniques of his father, Frank Zappa, Dweezil Zappa began his search to create a combo that could, according to Dweezil, "accurately execute Frank's music in the most authentic way humanly possible."

Dweezil's focus was on providing an avenue for the elder Zappa's music to new generations of listeners. To that end, he personally selected members of the Zappa Plays Zappa septet after an arduous set of auditions. The process typically involved them having to transcribe assorted Zappa pieces and then play their specific parts while accompanied only by Joe Travers (drums) -- the latter having previously worked with Dweezil in his and brother Ahmet Zappa's Z. Travers is also the Zappa Family Trust archivist, which likewise meant he would be intimately familiar with the various distinct eras of Frank's music. 

Set list:

1. Sexual Harassment in the Workplace 
   (Frank Zappa cover) 
2. Plastic People 
   (Frank Zappa cover) 
3. Hungry Freaks, Daddy 
   (Frank Zappa cover) 
4. Bow Tie Daddy 
   (Frank Zappa cover) 
5. Motherly Love 
   (Frank Zappa cover) 
6. Dirty Love 
   (Frank Zappa cover) 
7. Any Kind of Pain 
   (Frank Zappa cover) 
8. Blessed Relief 
   (Frank Zappa cover) 
9. Mother People 
   (Frank Zappa cover) 
10. Debra Kadabra 
    (Frank Zappa cover) 
11. Carolina Hard-Core Ecstasy 
    (Frank Zappa cover) 
12. Advance Romance 
    (Frank Zappa cover) 
13. Wedding Dress Song / Handsome Cabin Boy 
    (Frank Zappa cover) 
14. Trouble Every Day 
    (Frank Zappa cover) 
15. Lucille Has Messed My Mind Up 
    (Frank Zappa cover) 
16. Eat That Question 
    (Frank Zappa cover) 
17. Who Are The Brain Police? 
    (Frank Zappa cover) 
18. Ride My Face to Chicago 
    (Frank Zappa cover) 
19. Son of Mr. Green Genes 
    (Frank Zappa cover) 
20. Encore:
21. Dancin' Fool 
    (Frank Zappa cover) 
22. Willie the Pimp 
    (Frank Zappa cover) 
23. Whipping Post 
    (The Allman Brothers Band cover)

Holy Zoo - The Desert (1993) from the album, Harvin Garvel 2

From the incredible expanding Holy Zoo comes a bit of killer no filler early work...

Who the fuck are they?

Holy Zoo is a digital video and music production company located in the San Francisco Bay Area, founded by Steev Dinkins, born from a group of musicians and prolific artists. Holy Zoo creates motion picture and musical works, fusing visual instincts with musical creativity.

Steev Dinkins
Music producer, digital video producer, guitarist, electronic musician, and media guru

Kenny Pardo
Digital video director, drummer, and actor

Scott Chavez
Musical architect, bass player, guitar player, painter, poet, set designer, and comic genius

How do I get more?

See much more and watch the Holy Zoo Channel

Find thier new record Holy Zoo Faire on itunes now

For more music and info email: shoutout@holyzoo.com

Creating, Looping and finding good chords

Spending time lately with a small Roland AC-33 and RC-50 looper.  Finding chords jamming over the top- working out ideas. Its fast and fun...

Very little set up time - just plug and play.  Sometimes its the simple things that make it all work!

Mornings like this are the images of songs...