New Videos, New Album, New Store

I made a new jazz guitar Christmas EP “Rob Michael’s Christmas by the Fire.”  Because I believe an album should more than some audio files and a pretty picture, I’m inviting you to listen and watch via this Youtube playlist.

This features the actual performances heard for the entire album, yours to experience for free.

Let me know what you think!!

We have two new stores on the Android Market

One for Atmos Trio and anothr for Rob Michael projects.
Put “Rob Michael’s Christmas by the Fire” in your Google Music library.

I’ve started making short videos of Christmas tunes that I’ve been re-harmonizing lately. Here’s my latest.

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.

UPDATE: By special request, I have made the audio from this impromptu performance available for FREE Stream or Download via my Bandcamp store.

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.

Here is a brief peak into what we played. There will be higher quality video on my YouTube channel in the next day or two.

Steve found a gracious and enthusiastic host in Juan Candelaria who has a gorgeous home in Capitlola CA. He was a wonderful host who helped set the magical tone for the evening.

The dialog for the planning stage of the evening were all conducted in the public time line on Twitter where anyone interested could ‘listen-in’ and contribute to the project/ conversation. Several good people did just that: Zach Parkes, bass player, blogger and overall positive guy took photos. This was all  surprisingly effortless and crystalized very rapidly. No mainstream media (radio or print) promotional avenues were used. All planning and correspondence was done via Twitter. Advice and well-wishes came from all over the world, including from our good friend Steve Lawson, who, is my personal House Concert Guru (Thanks Steve!).

The eclectic mix of music presented (Categorized “Neo-Chamber Music” by Zach) was a blend of rootsy singing by Aaron Ford, looping magic by solo bassist Steve Uccello and magical soundscapes by Gustaf’s electric cello, preceded the Atmos Trio set. The Concert concluded with us inviting all the performers back for an impromptu musical exchange. Made-to-order Magic!

Thinking it might be fun to continue the theme of community that emerged on twitter, we encouraged guests to take photos and make audio and video recording of the concert. We supplied a URL where they could share their content–and share they did. Over the course of the next couple of days, over 3 gigabytes of data arrived on my desktop. Sure, I saw some cameras and microphones strategically placed around the room, but the extent to which this event was documented really surprised me!

This is one of the things that make House Concerts special: Everyone can participate. Everyone is involved.

If you prefer to participate as a spectator, you certainly have that option. If you want to be more involved–that is welcome as well. In this setting, the audience members are not merely “asses to fill seats.” The audience is a significant component to the event. They have stepped up to fill the valued roll as a collective collaborator.

In the coming days, I will post video and audio content and, if there is interest, make it available for you to edit remix and share any way you like.

Want to host a House Concert of your own? You can learn more about it and have the Atmos Trio play in your home.

Just a couple of quick announcements from the Atmos Trio this time
around: