cfyves.com - Musicians

New music on the way : Krantz Carlock Lefebvre

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 13:23:00 -0300

This morning, I got an email from waynekrantz.com, a fan mailing list I subscribed to long ago.

Hadn't received an email from that list in a long time. Too long in fact. Wayne Krantz is a truely great guitar player from NYC and some of his trio recordings have been favorites of mine for some time.

I remember reading that the trio was on hiatus and I was disappointed by the news.

But this morning... what a great surprise. Seems as though the trio is alive once again!

They are releasing an album and are called "Krantz Carlock Lefebvre".

Here they are at the Montreal Drum fest in 2005... Keith making a little noise.

I love these guys.

Drum clinic yesterday for Music Rocks Academy

Wed, 22 Jul 2009 09:42:00 -0300

Yesterday I had the pleasure of doing a short drum clinic for Music Rocks Academy in Summerside.

I was invited by Moe Hashie, one of the Academy's instructors, to give an hour long drum clinic.

So I talked a bit about warm up excercises and some of the stuff that I've practiced over the years and currently practice. I took some questions about influences and favorite drummers. It was fun.

Got to see some faces I hadn't seen in quite a while. It was a fun time.

Played some grooves... Moe asked me to play some faster stuff, so I played around the kit a bit faster and talked about playing around the kit getting the motion of the body smooth.... talked about stick control a bit as well. So I played a pattern around the kit slowly and gradually sped it up.... which in fact I had to do a bit to get it going faster. Playing on someone else's setup is always a bit different..... when the toms are a couple of inchs off where you are a customed to, it makes a difference.

Finally, a couple of the guitar instructors got up on the stage and we had a little jam. Played Crazy Train, Enter Sandman and Moby Dick (which I hadn't heard in a long long time).

It was a fun time.

RIP - Michael Jackson

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 09:36:00 -0300

I must say that I, as many I'm sure, was surprised when I heard the news that Michael Jackson had been rushed to a hospital for cardiac arrest....

I was working... actually, I believe I was taking a lunch break when the news broke on CNN.

As time went on they got more updates.... to where he was in a coma... and then that he had passed away.

Wow.

He was in fact trying to make a bit of a come back to sold out shows this summer.

Very hard to believe that he had passed quite suddenly.

But, as a couple of days passed, I started thinking a little more about him.... as I had before. About how he grew up, what he had possibly gone through being an international star... what people had accused him of.... and the constant bashing of him in certain media outlets for quite some time.

The fact of his passing became less surprising... really. I don't know (or didn't) know the guy. But I do know that being through what he had been through would have been rough.

I try to let the kids be kids. Really. I love seeing my daughter learn and discover.... and play. She's 5 years old. She has talents.... I know that... she even has musical and dancing talents. But I would never imagine of getting her to work at performing. No way. She's got to be a child while she is in fact a child. I can't imagine attempting to force her to be at a stage where she is not.

Mr Jackson had quirks.... for sure. In fact, I'm sure we've all had things in our closet (to varying degrees)... and many still do.

But I can't imagine the kind of pressures that were put on this guy... from childhood... and though he was loved and adored by many... seemed totally reclusive and lonely.

One interview I saw of him... he talks about being about 10 years old and being in the recording studio for hours... and at times watching kids playing in a park across the street and crying because he would have loved so much to be a part of that.

How far would you be willing to push your child for your own wants/needs/desires??

Mr Jackson obviously wanted to be a child while he was a child. He needed to be a child while he was a child.

Kids need to be loved. And they need to be kids.

Mr Jackson had great musical talent... a gift everyone saw early on.... but the focus many had on that gift for their own gain robbed him of his childhood..... and in part having a whole life. The focus was on developping the gift and delivering the gift instead of developping the person... the child in this case.

That is my opinion.

Your kids need love. And they need to be kids.

Metallica interview for Rock 'n Roll hall of fame

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 23:27:00 -0300

Found this and it coincides with my late purchase of Death Magnetic on iTunes.

Metallica's music had a great impact on me growing up... I consider a few albums classics.

So here it is:

Miley Cirus is mad at Radiohead

Sun, 15 Mar 2009 13:57:00 -0300

I haven't been writing too much lately.

I wanted to post a short note about this... because I think it's rather funny and gives us a little view of some "stars"...

During the Grammy's, seems like Miley Cirus wanted to meet with Radiohead.... because they are (from what I gathered) her favorite band.

She tried to get her manager to set up the meeting.... the manager said something like "Miley's really obsessed".... to which the band basically responded "we don't really do that"...

And so Miley Cirus was insulted and has been acting out.

That's great.

The guys in Radiohead definately "do it their way" and I wouldn't think would bend to try and be popular with some pop culture personality. I believe Radiohead to be "artists" and not some corporate entity who happen to play music.

So here's the article on Yahoo! Music.

Sad news in the music world

Tue, 17 Feb 2009 13:06:00 -0300

The great Louis Bellson has passed away.

Louis was a jazz pioneer and also pioneered using 2 bass drums.

He will be missed.

Zappa plays Zappa is amazing

Mon, 29 Dec 2008 17:36:00 -0300

Some of you out there currently zipping about the internet have never heard of Frank Zappa, nor have heard of his music.... while some others likely have (and some of the "some" are likely fans)....

I had heard that Dweezil Zappa had started touring with a show (or band) called Zappa plays Zappa... this instantly caught my attention. I really really wanted to see this show... being a fan of Zappa's music for a number of years I've often thought of some day finding some people to play some Zappa stuff.... and the thought of seeing a somewhat "authentic" live performance of his music was exciting.

Of course, living on the east coast here in Canada, we don't get many shows like this come through the maritimes.... I've driven to Quebec city and Montreal to see shows/festivals... this time around, the band did tour to Quebec, but the logistics of time VS $$ just didn't work out for me.

BUT... I bought this DVD... Zappa plays Zappa.

This DVD is very very awesome. Musically, it is super..... I couldn't compliment it enough. For any Zappa fan, I would strongly suggest this DVD. This band is great and Frank's music comes to life!!

In the first song I fell in love with this DVD.

Check it out here on Amazon

I would have to say that I'm very very happy that Dweezil has taken up this project to bring back Frank's music. The production is great, the playing is great.... the music does live. Dweezil, congrats on the super work you're doing with this and THANK YOU for doing it!!!

Favorite musicians - Steve Weingart

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 22:09:00 -0300

This video clip is from the Dave Weckl band which includes another one of my favorite musicians... but in this post I wanted to post about Steve Weingart.

I remember several years ago when I used to go to the Montreal Drum Fest faithfully (haven't been able to attend in several years now) there was a band in the lineup that I didn't really know.

In fact, it was a band that I believe Steve was filling in for.. he was playing along side of Joey Heredia and Marco Mendoza . After we got in Montreal, little did I know that I was staying in the same hotel as many of the artists performing @ the drum fest.

We had heard that these guys were playing at a local bar... 3 nights in fact.. plus at the drum fest (on the saturday I believe).

We went down to the small place they were playing in and had front row seats to a mastery of musicianship. Their performance was nothing short of awesome.

After that show (on the thursday night) we met the band afterwards.... it was very cool to chat with them.

On the friday after the drum fest I was gonna make my way down to watch them again... and I met both Marco and Steve in the hotel lobby, we chatted a bit (they recognized me from the night before) and I let them know I was gonna see their show.... it was neat because they invited me to take the cab with them.

When we got down to the club, I paid for the cab ride.... I remember Marco thanking me (as I did it without offering or anything) and he told me "tonight you're our guest" and he proceeded to tell the door man I was with the band that night.

That friday and the next night on the saturday, I remember chatting with the guys a bit... I remember sitting with Steve and just chatting music for a little bit. About studying formally vs self-taught studying... about playing live....... stuff like that.

Steve was (and most likely still is) very cool.... he seemed to share when I asked my questions, seemed very down to earth... and left a long lasting impression of someone passionate about music and sharing his knowledge... for me it was one of the best learning experiences chatting with him and watching his incredible talents in a small setting.

A great talent on the keys!

In the video....
Dave Weckl - drums
Tom Kennedy - bass
Steve Weingart - keyboards
Gary Meek - saxophone