Tag: features

Every noted jazz artist in the world is familiar with Vic Juris. His body of work commands serious respect and admiration from today’s music cognoscenti.

A child of the ’60s, he grew up bombarded with great music – the Beatles, Hendrix, Coltrane, Wes Montgomery, Chuck Berry’s records on Chess. He recalls its tremendous appeal and how it spurred him to pick up the guitar.

“My first guitar was a Harmony Monterey,” he said. “Then I graduated to a National electric and a Magnatone amp. At age 11, I began studying with Ed Berg, who hipped me to Barney Kessel, Jimmy Raney, Django Reinhardt, Jim Hall, and especially Johnny Smith. Ed had gotten one of the last guitars made by John D’Angelico. I’ve never heard a guitar sound like that.

“My teachers were among the best anywhere,” he added. “In addition to Ed, I was lucky to have greats like Lou Mecca, Joe Cinderella, and Pat Martino mentoring me. Even Tony Mottola lived just two blocks away.”

During a succession of garage bands and local rock gigs as a teen, a friend turned Juris onto Howard Roberts’ early Capitol albums, H.R. is a Dirty Guitar Player and Color Him Funky. 

“I bought all his records, even later stuff with his more-progressive things like Antelope Freeway and Equinox Express Elevator. And I found Hank Garland’s Jazz Winds from a New Direction, with Joe Morello and Gary Burton. I think Gary was only 16 at the time. That was a real landmark record for any aspiring jazz guitarist.”

Juris further cites Larry Coryell’s early recordings, the Beatles’ Rubber Soul, Jimi Hendrix’s Are You Experienced?, and Dynamic Duo by Wes Montgomery and Jimmy Smith as having profound impact on him. 

Juris has always made his living as a guitar player. 

“In the ’70s I learned so much from working my way up through organ trios, like Pat Martino did. In fact, Pat recommended me to Don Patterson and I played an ongoing gig with Jimmy Smith, and also worked with Wild Bill Davis.” 

In addition, he helped perpetuate the prestigious line of guitarists who worked with drummer Chico Hamilton, whose bands always featured a hot young guitarist; Howard Roberts, John Pisano, Jim Hall, Gabor Szabo, Dennis Budimir, and Larry Coryell all got their starts with Hamilton, and Juris later taught alongside him at The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music. Today, students can avail themselves of Juris’ teaching expertise at The New School as well as at Rutgers University and CUNY Purchase. 

The Juris discography as soloist and sideman includes more than 200 recordings including sessions with Nancy Wilson, Sarah Vaughan, Mel Torme, two duet albums with Phil Woods, regular appearances with Larry Coryell, albums with James Moody and a live Carnegie Hall recording with Biréli Lagrène among many others.

“I even got to work with Dizzy Gillespie in a couple of All-Star configurations,” Juris said. “He was so wonderful to play with and a great teacher. I’m so happy I got to ask him some technical questions about his tunes.”

In addition, the guitarist routinely mines our greatest composers for his recordings. He admires compositions from everyone from the Beatles to Marvin Gaye and many more, but strongly favors the Great American Songbook old guard like Victor Young and the iconoclastic and enigmatic Alec Wilder.

“The first Alec Wilder song I remember hearing was ‘Moon and Sand’ recorded by Kenny Burrell in the ’60s on Guitar Forms. The arrangement was by Gil Evans and I thought it was the most beautiful song ever. Then I heard ‘I’ll be Around’ and later the waltz that Wes Montgomery recorded, ‘While We’re Young.’ When I record a tune, I do my homework and always think of the lyric and try to listen to several versions.”

Today, Juris is using a Roger Sadowsky semi-hollow and a Fuchs Jazz Classic amp with 12″ speaker. There’s an Earthquaker Dispatch Master for reverb and delay as well as a few Boss pedals like the Super Overdrive, Terra Echo, and DG-3 delay. Also in the arsenal is a Godin nylon-string Grand Concert and a Martin OM steel-string.

Juris works with drummer Adam Nussbaum and bassist Jay Anderson in his trio, which plays the first Sunday of each month at The 55 Bar in New York City. His solo concerts include master classes that encourage and inspire young players. He’s proof that dedication and talent can realize an extraordinary career payoff.

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This article originally appeared in VG September 2017 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

Train guitarist Luis Carlos Maldonado’s musical upbringing and skill on the fretboard has earned him cherry gigs with artists like John Waite, UFO, and Glenn Hughes. He hails from the SG school of melodic-rock swagger, yet it’s his way around a melody that made him invaluable in great bands. He’s a prolific solo artist and professional songsmith. Train’s current album, A Girl, a Bottle, a Boat, is full of memorable pop and his clever guitar hooks.

How did you develop such a wicked legato technique?

My entire family is made up of musicians; three of my four brothers studied classical guitar. We were raised in orchestra from a very early age, studying classical guitar. So, most of it came from there. You have to build these techniques so you can play Villa-Lobos and all that stuff. When you’re doing flamenco, you’re always barring the frets and always moving up and down the fretboard. The muscle memory just stayed there when I started playing pop music. Somehow, when I managed to play rock, it stayed, and I developed my own thing. As much as I wanted to sound like Paul Kossoff, I never did (laughs).

One of the main reasons I play an SG is because of Pete Townshend. I watched him on the Woodstock video, playing with the Hiwatt amps and that crazy fuzz he had going. That was a big influence – like, “Oh my God!” I’ve always loved Angus Young and Tony Iommi, too. My main guitar is a Gibson Custom Shop VOS ’64 reissue with a Vibrola and the stock Burstbucker pickups. I pair them with Hiwatts and Marshalls. They’re pretty awesome.

What was going on in your life before you joined Train?
About 11 years ago I was working with a pop artist on Columbia Records who was opening for Train. She never did sound checks, so I would sing, play Led Zeppelin, and all kinds of oddball stuff. Pat Monahan, the singer from Train came up and said, “Dude! Where did you come from!?” I told him about working with Glenn Hughes, UFO, and John Waite. He said, “Would you like to write?”

We wrote some songs and ended up recording his solo record. Over the years, I stayed with the guys even though I made an album with my band, Into The Presence. If fact, I kept playing with a lot of people including Lisa Marie Presley and Bigelf, which was a big deal. One day, Pat called and asked me to join full-time. I was like, “Cool. Let’s do it.” We stayed friends professionally and personally. Everyone in the group is like a big family. My brother, Hector, plays in the group, so it was a logical step. Pat is really into letting everybody shine. Train is full of great music and inspiration.

How did you graduate from Madison Square Bedroom to becoming a professional guitarist?
I use to do sessions for Mike Varney, at Shrapnel Records. Mike loves discovering new talent – he paved the way for Yngwie Malmsteen, Paul Gilbert, and all those guys. I moved to the Bay Area and my mother said, “Some guy named Mike is looking for you.” I wound up playing guitar for him, doing back-up vocals, and engineering. That’s how I ended up working with UFO and doing a Michael Schenker record. Mike isn’t just a great friend; he’s a mentor in many ways.

I ended up playing keyboard and guitar on a UFO tour with Uli Roth. John Waite was on that tour, and I ended up with him. Everything was very natural and organic when I met Glenn Hughes a few years later. Mike got me to that point with UFO and it just kept going. I wrote with John for eight years and wound up doing an album with Glenn and a bunch of other people. I don’t have many nightmare stories (laughs); 98 percent of my career has been very blessed and I’m glad to be doing it.

Outside of Train, what’s going on with you?
I still write with a lot of people. For me, writing is one of the things I’m blessed to do. When I first got signed, it opened a lot of doors to write with a lot of different artists. I’ll never ignore that. I want to make something that will last regardless of whom I’m working with. I’m in an awesome band with some awesome people, and I get to write with all kinds of people.

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This article originally appeared in VG September 2017 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

Bettie Serveert is still going strong, 25 years after bursting on the scene in Amsterdam at the height of alternative rock.

Palomine, its acclaimed debut, mixed fuzzy riffs and folky jangle with engaging vocals by singer/guitarist Carol van Dyk. And while most contemporaries have long since hung it up, the Betties – van Dyk, guitarist Peter Visser, bassist Herman Bunskoeke, and drummer Joppe Molenaar – continue to release well-crafted albums of melodic, punchy guitar rock. Its latest is called Damaged Good.

Did you do anything differently for Damaged Good, in terms of writing or recording?

van Dyk: Every album is new adventure, and our daily life has an impact on our songs. We don’t sit down and say, “Let’s write a song.” Sometimes, a song will write itself and all you have to do is let it happen. Peter and I had done a project with [producer] Jesse Beuker in Australia in 2009 (Me & Stupid), so when we heard he built a studio in Amsterdam, we went to visit. Shortly after, we started recording.

Which guitars did you use?

Visser: A Gibson SG 1968 with a 490 in the neck and 498 in the bridge, both now with Alnico II magnets, a Frankenstrat with great-sounding ’70s Strat-style pickups, and a pimped-out ’75 Ibanez Les Paul copy with Gibson ’57 Classic pickups, Grover tuners, and cavities filled with mahogany.

van Dyk: I played my ’99 Rickenbacker Jetglo 360, my mid-’70s Fender Starcaster, and Peter’s Dixon acoustic. For “B-Cuz,” I borrowed Peter’s SG.

Bunskoeke: My workhorse, a ’69 Fender Precision I found on a wall in a little studio. I was lucky.

What about amps?

Visser: I used a Marshall JCM 900 Dual Reverb Top with a Framus 2×12″ FR cab and a Vox AC30 reissue.

van Dyk: Mostly a Marshall JCM 900 4×12, but I also used Jesse’s Twin-Reverb.

Bunskoeke: In the studio, I plug straight into the mixing board, and live I use a Fender Bassman with an Ampeg 4×10.

And effects?

Visser: My pedalboard has a Boss Tremolo, an ’80s Ibanez Tube Screamer and Yamaha DI-01, a Zvex Fuzz Probe, DigiTech Whammy 5, Ernie Ball Volume Pedal, Boss Tuner, Boss RE-20 echo, Boss Digital Delay, and a Line 6 Verbzilla.

van Dyk: I don’t use much… mostly the Marshall’s distortion channel and a couple pedals Jesse had lying around. Live, I never use effects because as a rhythm player, I don’t really need them. Maybe that’s why I’ve always been a big fan of Mick Ronson.

Bunskoeke: I use a Tech 21 SansAmp, an Electro-Harmonix Bass Preacher compressor, and a tube radio for rough edges.

One of the highlights is your duet with singer Peter te Bos on “Lovesick.” How’d that come about?

van Dyk: We’ve known Peter since the late ’80s, and in the early ’90s we shared practice space with his band. While recording “Love Sick,” we lowered the pitch of one of my backing-vocal tracks, and we said, “It sounds like Peter te Bos!” So, we called him, and we’re very honored he did the duet.

“Digital Sin (Nr 7)” is another highlight, but it’s a bit out-there.

Peter: Joppe and I were jamming a lot, and we recorded all of that. It sounded like an abstract piece of prog-rock until Carol added vocals and shaped the chord structure.

van Dyk: I totally didn’t get Peter and Joppe’s idea. I’ve never been good at jamming, but I like writing songs. So I listened, then asked, “What’s the beginning, what’s the middle?” At home, I’d recorded a rough demo of “Love Sick” and there’s a specific melody I play in the bridges that’s basically the same as when the first verse starts in “Digital Sin.” Peter and Joppe mainly wrote the first half, and I added the last half!

What’s the vintage-guitar scene like in Amsterdam?

Visser: There are, relatively, a lot of vintage shops in Holland. In Amsterdam, there are three used-gear shops I visit on a regular basis – but not too often because the urge to buy might get the better of me!

Are you planning to tour the U.S.?

van Dyk: We’d love to, but we have day jobs and pay for everything ourselves, so won’t be able. Never say never, but any foreign artist/band needs a work permit, which is expensive and takes about five months to get. And if you get denied, you don’t get your money back.

Twenty-five years together is a huge deal for a band. How does it feel?

van Dyk: We’re really grateful there’s still an audience that wants to hear us play, because at the end of the day, they decide whether we can tour! The fact that Peter, Herman, and I have been close friends for more that 30 years is probably the main reason we’re still together, because we’re family. A dysfunctional family, but still, a family.

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This article originally appeared in VG September 2017 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

Rodney Crowell arrived in Nashville in 1972, bent on finding a niche for himself in the country music he’d loved since his childhood in Houston. He wrote songs for Jerry Reed’s publishing company and, in 1975, Emmylou Harris added him to her Hot Band as rhythm guitarist. He wrote hits including “’Til I Gain Control Again” for Crystal Gayle, and his greatest success came during country’s New Traditionalist movement, with five #1 singles to his credit in 1988 and ’89.

Life is critical to Crowell’s music; personal experiences inspired his 2011 album, The Houston Kid, and autobiography, Chinaberry Sidewalks. He views his latest, Close Ties, as a continuation filled with similar rootsy, hard-edged compositions. The songs, performances, and production are simple and hard-hitting; among the powerful are “Life Without Susanna,” an homage to longtime friend Susanna Clark, who died in 2012. Her husband – singer/songwriter Guy Clark, who died in 2016 – was another Crowell friend and mentor.

“‘Life Without Susanna,’ is a recent memory,” he said. “So is ‘It Ain’t Over Yet.’ I was writing that while I was close to Guy.”

He calls “Nashville 1972” “…a basic memoir,” adding, “Maybe I’ve gotten this out of my system now. Who knows?”

Crowell played on almost all of the songs and had masterful helpers like Tommy Emmanuel, whom he invited to join for “East Houston Blues.”

“He’s so dynamic, and such a charismatic player,” Crowell said. Longtime Crowell guitarist Steuart Smith appears in various places, while co-producer Jordan Lehning added guitar on “Life Without Susanna.” Chris Leuzinger and his resonator appear on “Nashville 1972,” with Richard Bennett on “Forty Miles From Nowhere.” Crowell and Jim Oblon created the ominous guitar framework for “Storm Warning,” while Lehning, Oblon, and Smith generate the full-bodied backing that frames “I Don’t Care Anymore.”

Crowell used four guitars, two being his main acoustics.

“My number one is a ’32 12-fret/white-pickguard Gibson L-00,” he said. “I also have a ’37 14-fret L-00 that Vince Gill gave me. I played that on ‘Life Without Susanna’ and ‘East Houston Blues.’ It has a pickup, and I also played it on ‘I Don’t Care Anymore.’ I also have a wartime banner J-45 – the Sherman tank of wartime Gibsons – with a baseball-bat neck. It’s a thumper and has that real midrangey Hank Williams sound. On ‘Storm Warning’ I was playing a ’57 Southern Jumbo. Live, I use the 12-fret L-00.”

Crowell worked more extensively with vintage gear while supervising music for the Hank Williams biopic I Saw The Light. He also helped star Tom Hiddleston find a voice, and supervised musicians Chris Scruggs, Richard Bennett, fiddler Stuart Duncan, and guitarist Wes Langlois, who used vintage gear to accurately re-create Hank’s late-’40s/early-’50s sound. Recording on period equipment at Ray Kennedy’s Room & Board studio further enhanced the retro feel.

Blues, not country, was Crowell’s major inspiration for Close Ties.

“The album was informed by recordings by Big Joe Williams and Blind Blake,” he said. “I started digging into the blues the way I didn’t in my teens and early 20s; Hank Williams was my touchstone for blues. The last five years, though, I’ve been listening a lot to Delta and country blues. I’ve always listened to Lightnin’ Hopkins, but I’m smart enough to know that’s not what’s inside me. Still, if you understand it and love it for its purity, it starts to inform your work.”

He views Close Ties as part of a trilogy.

“The tonality is akin to what I did on Houston Kid and Chinaberry. Those are three of my better works as a writer, and that may be the thing that ties them together.”

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This article originally appeared in VG September 2017 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

As Billy Idol’s longtime guitarist and songwriting partner, Steve Stevens’ unique approach – flamenco stylings and the occasional ray gun – have rocked stages worldwide for four decades. Throughout his career, he has also recorded and performed with Michael Jackson, Vince Neil, Robert Palmer, and as a solo artist, having just wrapped a successful European tour.

“Flamenco guitarist Ben Woods and I decided to go through my catalog and do the stuff people don’t get to hear,” he said. “Songs like ‘Top Gun,’ Michael Jackson’s ‘Dirty Diana,’ and tracks from my Flamenco A Go-Go record. About halfway through the show, we break it down and do a bunch of flamenco. It’s great for me because it’s a whole other side of what I do.”

Stevens developed a passion for flamenco at a young age.

“I started playing guitar when I was seven, and one of the first teachers that really made an impression on me was a flamenco guitarist. It’s another way for me to express myself and it’s something I do that’s different from other guitarists.”

In Europe, Stevens simplified his approach.

“It’s entirely different than the Billy Idol shows. I have a signature amp with Friedman; that was the only piece of gear I brought, apart from some pedals. So it was really stripped down and kind of liberating. With Idol, I have to re-create tones from a 30-year career, and songs like ‘Flesh for Fantasy’ requires a lot of processing and totally different guitar sound than ‘Rebel Yell.’

“I have a signature version of the Rockaway Archer overdrive pedal made by J. Rockett. Before, I’d find a boost that I liked, but I’d have to put a six-band EQ after it to carve out a curve that worked for me. So I asked J. Rockett if they could combine the two pedals, and that’s my overdrive. I also had a Digitech Whammy and a TC Electronic Alter Ego Vintage, one amp head and one cabinet.”

For his solo shows and the Idol gigs, the guitars remain the same.

“I use a Knaggs Severn, which has their proprietary vibrato system, and we’re on the third generation of my signature Knaggs, the Steve Stevens Classic. I’ve got a signature pickup with Bare Knuckle called the Rebel Yell, so my guitars are loaded with that. I also use my Les Paul Silverburst, which has late-’70s Gibson humbuckers.”

In 2010, the Idol band added second guitarist Billy Morrison.

“Bringing him in allowed me to play songs or parts that I hadn’t played for the last 35 years,” said Stevens. “Now, I can replicate some of the overdubs and things live, which helps us sound much closer to the original recordings. I love having him in the band; it really frees me up.”

Idol is currently holding court with a residency at the House of Blues in Las Vegas. “It’s great because we play three shows a week and we’ve dug into the catalog to play some more obscure tunes and things we haven’t played in a long time. We’re doing ‘Daytime Drama’ from Rebel Yell, for example, which we were never able to replicate live. When we originally toured on that album, that song fell by the wayside because of all the guitar overdubs; once again, having Billy meant we can play some of these other tunes. We also do ‘Don’t Need A Gun’ from Whiplash Smile, but we’re doing kind of a flamenco version of it with nylon-string guitar.”

The set also includes a flamenco solo.

“When I was in the Vince Neil Band, we did six weeks with Van Halen, and Vince said ‘You have to do a guitar solo.’ I’m thinking, ‘In an hour, Eddie Van Halen’s going to get up there and do “Eruption.” I can’t compete with that.’ So I figured I’d do a nylon-string solo, and I’ve been doing it ever since. To Idol’s credit, he’s willing to let the band shine; he’s proud of all of us.”

This summer marks the re-release of the early Billy Idol records.

“We’ve remastered the first three albums with (original producer) Keith Forsey for vinyl, and I have to say, when I A/B’d the test pressings, it wasn’t even close. They sound the way these records were meant to sound.”

Stevens also frequently plays with Kings of Chaos, an all-star band built around drummer Matt Sorum, guitarist Gilby Clarke and bassist Duff McKagan, with rotating frontmen and additional players.

“I love doing those gigs. Sometimes we wind up with Billy Gibbons and Robin Zander in the band. It’s a guitar-player’s dream, playing with Billy Gibbons, I’ll tell you that.”

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This article originally appeared in VG September 2017 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.