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We all have those songs and music videos that we hate. For instance, this one is annoying, but it's funny.



Feel free to post the ones you hate...

In the news today, jazz fusion guitarist, Al Di Meola, suffered a heart attack while performing a show in Bucharest Wednesday evening.
The hospital released a statement that Di Meola was sent to the cardiology ward and treated for a segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI).

Al stated he is postponing live performances until next year.

Oddly, I was talking with a coworker yesterday about music and how Miami is a mecca and great place for touring musicians. This guy is Brazilian and told me Al is booked to play at the Rio Montreux Jazz Festival in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil next month.
Make that Al 'was' booked to play in Brazil.


Link:

I wish I had a dollar for every video or story produced about getting your gear to sound EXACTLY like Jimi Hendrix.
Over the course of his career he used lots of different guitars and amplifiers but toward the end, it was a Fender Stratocaster guitar and several Marshall 100watt Plexi series amplifiers. He also popularized a VOX Wah-wah pedal and some effects pedals like fuzz and Octavia that produced high octaves and distortion.

Here are some essentials the guitarists often miss.
Hendrix was Left-handed and usually played a right-handed guitar with the strings reversed.
He tuned it a half step lower than standard and used mis-matched sets of strings where some of the middle strings had a thinner gauge, yielding a more 'twangy' sound and easier to do note bending.

Finally... (actually not) it was his 'feel' for the instrument as it was said he often carried his guitar to parties and nightclubs, rarely letting it out of his sight. Also important, Hendrix had long slender fingers and could wrap his thumb around the top of the neck playing the bass notes other guitarists couldn't reach. Most of the fast players (Steve Vai for example) have long fingers... it goes with the territory.

So, if you are trying to mimic Hendrix... I suggest 'keep at it' for the next 2 decades as there was only ONE Jimi.

... Who are looking for Mr. Right.

Indeed Halloween is upon us and all the witches, ghosts & ghouls will be out tonight



You might find yourselves doing the time warp again



or rocking your body



Ladies don't be scared and remember to light your pumpkins

From the legendary dous

Your not invited...this is for my enjoyment and fun only...

Innisfree is a real part of Ireland (thanks to Mollybaby's correction) that Yeats uses as the setting for his poem, “The Lake Isle of Innisfree”. Yeats was an Irishman and many of his poems were set in Ireland. This shows that Yeats identifies with his Irish heritage. Not only does he connect with his fellow Irishmen, but he also connects with the land itself.

... Enjoy






..... ......


UPDATE

Since up-loading this blog I have also found this little piece of information:
The spelling is different

Inishfree (or Inis Fraoigh)is a unique Island of only 640 acres of sandy beaches and breathtaking scenery. There is an air of peaceful tranquillity on this tiny Island that has attracted people to its shores for generations.

Inishfree (or Inis Fraoigh), lying 5km off the coast of Donegal, offers visitors an opportunity to step back to a simpler time, a time without cars, televisions or technology, and to experience the raw natural beauty of a place that for many holds an air of distinctive spirituality.

In Early Christian times Inishfree was controlled by Niall of the Nine Hostages, a local chieftain who became High King of Ireland. In the late medieval period, it was held by his descendants, the clan of Red Hugh O'Donnell, who led the last stand against England's conquest of Ulster.

By the early 20th century Inishfree Island was home to a tightly knit community of 36 Irish speaking families. In the mid 1970s, however, tough economic circumstances saw the sad exodus of the islanders to the mainland. A commune called Atlantis, and known in Ireland as the 'Screamers' due to their use of screaming as a form of therapy, took up residence in 1972 and remained until 1991.

Gradually, since 1991, former islanders, descendants and some mainlanders are moving back to the Island, keen to live closer to nature. The island's new residents are eager to help visitors make the most of their trip and experience the spiritual atmosphere that seems to pervade this unique place. Sea angling, boating, cultural workshops and diving are all available on the Island.

I'd never heard of these before, not by name, and was bug-eyed watching one played in a classical concert. It isn't touched but played by the energy of the hands waving gently above it.

Turns out, I'd heard them often and often. So have you. They've been around for donkeys years. Did you know?

Maybe most famously, the Star Trek theme is played on the (above the?) theremin. If you've managed to avoid Star Trek all your life, you might have heard the Beach Boys singing Good Vibrations. I found a poor recording which shows the theremin player in the foreground, although he actually does touch his keyboard. I'll have to put it into a comment, only one video link allowed.


Trekkie playing the theremin -


Monday is my day off and therefore my busiest day catch you at the next coffee break