I’ll admit it: When the ukulele craze started catching-on a few years ago, I kind of made fun of it. I’m not sure why–but I did.
The other day I was seduced by the uke’s sound & vibe I had something of an epiphany which resulted in this tenor uke “following me home.”
Guess I’ll keep it.
A couple of weeks a go, I released my version of Led Zeppelin’s “The Rain Song” and offered the recording as a FREE download and asked only for a single Tweet in return.
The response was inspiring! All over the world came these lovely notes of appreciation for the track. They still come through now and again. Everyone seems to dig the reharmonization towards the end. It’s been really cool. There is even another video that Mike Conaty made the very first day of the song’s release here!
During one day of the recording sessions, I filmed some of the guitar and bass takes just to give a glimpse into the process. This was an overdub affair as I played everything on the tune except the drums which were beautifully performed by my first-call drummer Joe Shotwell.
I’ve also decided to make the song available via the Atmos Trio Store. As usual, the song can be streamed, embedded or downloaded at a “Pay What You Want (even nothing) price.
Artwork by the wonderful Linda Palmer.
Here is the Atmos Trio functioning as “The guys” in support of singer Cynthia Tarr. We’ve held down this regular gig in Glen Ellen CA at Olive & Vine for a couple of years and have developed a very enthusiastic audience there.
Here’s a fairly up-tempo tune that the band stretches out on a little. Good times!
This was filmed on a Creative Vado HD cam. Audio was EQ’d/ compressed using Ableton Live and video edited in Final Cut Express.
A few days ago I made my jazzified version of Led Zeppelin’s Rain Song available to my twitter followers in exchange for a tweet. I was thrilled by the number of downloads and positive reactions I received. You can still get the track for a tweet.
My biggest surprise came from Mike Conaty who, upon hearing the track, was inspired to film, edit and post this gorgeous video. It really captures the vibe of the tune. Thanks Mike!!
I always love it when these spontaneous collaborations occur. I hope to see much more of this in the future.
Here’s another quick preview peak into a project I’m wrapping-up. This an excerpt to a rough mix–just to show you what I’m up to.
“Reptile” is basically a funk tune. The instrumentation is a little different in so far as the rhythm guitar part is played on a steel-string acoustic guitar. The solo is my old work-hourse frankestein ’80’s-era Strat.
This track features my buds Joe Shotwell on drums and Jack Hines on bass.
Having just received my nylon-string guitar back the repair shop from my man Gary Brawer, I was excited to get back to work on some projects requiring this instrument.
I love playing this guitar, this excerpt from an upcoming album provides a glimpse into why.
On February 5th, 2010, Steve Uccello & I performed an impromptu concert to an internet audience on my ongoing Ustream Concert Series. This collection of tunes documents that performance. This album is available exclusively here, at AtmosMusic.com and at our Bandcamp store.
Album artwork by Linda Palmer (www.ponor.info)
Steve and I met on twitter last spring. We organized and performed together at the Atmos Trio “Twitter House Concert.” Once he expressed interest in playing on my Ustream show, I didn’t waste any time arranging to make it happen.
The Ustream gigs have been the surprise of the year for me. From my home studio, I performed several solo guitar shows, and played host to special guests Damian Erskine, Todd Johnson and even broadcast some gigs from my group, The Atmos Trio.
Due to the regularity of the show, an audience from all over the world routinely returned, show-after-show. Among them is artist extraordinaire Linda Palmer. I had seen here wonderful artwork and I was thrilled when she agreed to contribute the album cover. She actually contributed many pieces, all of which are great. Please take in some of her fine work while you listen.
Here is a brief song-by-song reflection for those who were not present during the broadcast.
Song for Stasia: Originally recorded by Anna Maria Jopek and Pat Metheny, this Marcin Kydryński composition served as a beautiful vehicle for our musical simpatico. I put this chart in front of Steve and he’s sight-reading here.
Minor Matter: A completely improvised tune based on a minor blues form.
Alright Right Now: One of Steve Uccello’s composition. This is what I sounded like sight-reading Steve’s tune on this day.
Travels: A classic country jazz ballad by Pat Metheny. We tried to make this sound like we’ve been playing together for a long time–even though this session marked only the second time Steve and I had played together.
Autumn Leaves: A “Jazz 101″ type tune. All jazzers know this song. We called a tune and counted it off…
Tenor Madness: Contemplating Sonny Rollins on his blues classic.
