Eric Johnson’s latest release, Up Close, is his most lively studio project to date. With a looser vibe and the luxurious tones we’ve come to expect from Johnson, it gets closer to that happy place between immaculate execution and spontaneity. Johnson invited Steve Miller to sing and Jimmie Vaughan to play guitar on a cover [...]
Lee Ritenour’s career accomplishments are the stuff of greatness. With thousands of classic recording sessions and more than 40 albums bearing his own name, Ritenour continues to work his magic straddling the world of jazz, rock, fusion, and Latin music. Ritenour’s Yamaha Six String Theory Guitar Competition recently came to a close, and 16-year-old guitarist [...]
Any guitarist who can play Emerson Lake & Palmer’s “Karn Evil 9″ and nail the keyboard solo is a bad motor scooter. Paul Gilbert is one such guy. From his early days with the neo-classical metal band Racer X to the Grammy nominated Mr. Big, Gilbert has always played scarifying guitar. With 11 solo albums [...]
Casher with actress Brooke Shields at a soundtrack recording session. He’s called “The Papa of the Wah-Wah Pedal” and has been a top session cat since the early 1960s, introducing the Ecco-Fonic and wah pedal to film scores. He’s also an unsung hero of the recording industry whose love of technology made him the perfect [...]
Ed DeGenaro is a Seattle-based session cat and bonafide guitar monster with great ideas and chops. His music is a fusion of musical styles and influences that often intermingle within the same composition. DeGenaro concocts an eclectic arsenal of sonic delights (fretted, unfretted, electric, acoustic and guitar-synth) that sporadically brings to mind Scott Henderson, Shawn [...]
The genetically superior team of drummer Virgil Donati and keyboardist Derek Sherinian return to continue the next chapter in their metal-fusion saga. It’s been five Earth years since the release of Moon Babies, and Quantum powers up and takes us to new and unexplored regions beyond the outer rim. Rufus Philpot and Jimmy Johnson share [...]
The Psychedelic Underground Eric Gales’ new disc picks up where last year’s Crystal Vision left off. It’s a double-barreled dose of muscular blues-rock riffs, real-deal life stories, and refreshing solos. Classic blues-rock riffage is offset with angular melodies, Beatle-esque harmonies and deep pocket funk. Songs such as “Wake Up Call,” “Someday” and “Someone Else’s Problem” [...]
Any guitarist who can play Emerson Lake & Palmer’s “Karn Evil 9″ and nail the keyboard solo is a bad motor scooter. Paul Gilbert is one such guy. From his early days with the neo-classical metal band Racer X to the Grammy nominated Mr. Big, Gilbert has always played scarifying guitar. With 11 solo albums [...]
Alvin YoungBlood Hart brings the rock! His new album, Motivational Speaker, is a tough, guitar-driven blend of ’70s blues-rock, classic country, and sumptuous slide guitar. Moving beyond the core audience that praised him for channeling Charlie Patton, Ledbelly, and Skip James, Hart is a multifaceted guitarist who is true to himself and his artistic vision. [...]
Eric Gales’ new release, Crystal Vision, is an autobiographical blues-rock tour de force with inspired twists and turns. Long labeled by myopic music critics as a Hendrix knock-off, Gales actually has a closer affinity to Little Jimmy King or the Tone Ranger himself, Eric Johnson. Crystal Vision is Gales’ turbulent continuing saga, told through impassioned [...]
