From The Vaults: Hidden Treasures 6 & 7
by Paul Rosano on Nov.18, 2009, under Music
Back in the late 1980s, I remember seeing an ad in the back of a jazz magazine, either a Downbeat or Jazziz, for an album with four guitarists with Workshop in the title. It was a small, innocous one-column, black-and-white display on the rail of one of the pages.
What I recall that stuck in my head was that Buzzy Feiten, from Full Moon and the Larsen-Feiten Band, along with Jeff ‘Skunk’ Baxter, who had played with Steely Dan in that group’s early days, were on the album. At that time, I was never able to track the record down, which was on JVC, a company known more for its electronic innovations in stereo and TV equipment than producing records.
At the dawn of the Internet whenever I recalled the album, I tried searching for it with no luck. One problem was I couldn’t remember the title exactly. But in recent years, after probably doing a search on Feiten or Baxter, I came across this Hidden Treasure, Guitar Workshop In L.A., which also includes Teddy Castellucci and James Harrah, two other well-known and respected session players.
The record turned out to be pretty much what I expected, a guitar workout with two tracks apiece for each player, then all four joining in on the two closing tunes. It’s a feast for lovers of funky and bluesy jazz-rock who can’t get enough melodic, tasty and proficient guitar playing from four outstanding soloists, all of whom work mostly on the West Coast but who also have East Coast roots. Count me in.
The added bonus is that is was recorded live to two-track by David Garfield and Alan Hirshberg, something that never fails to amaze me since the musicians capture the spontaneity of the moment while executing demanding charts with few if any flaws.
You’ll notice two Treasures are indicated in the headline. The second is a companion piece to Workshop of sorts, a live recording from Montreux, Switzerland at the 1982 Jazz Festival called Casino Lights, which includes a plethora of ace musicians, including Feiten, his frequent collaborator keyboardist Neil Larsen, as well as guitarists Larry Carlton and Robben Ford, alto sax player David Sanborn, singers Al Jarreau and Randy Crawford, vibes man Mike Manieri and Yellowjackets.
It’s a mixed bag, all in a similar jazz-rock style combining L.A. and East Coast influences, all performed beautifully and caught live. Having two Larsen, Feiten tracks is worth the price of admission for me but if that’s not enough to entice you, rest assured the rest of the album is well worth the modest investment. (continue reading…)
Woodstock Extras
by Paul Rosano on Jul.05, 2009, under Music
It couldn’t have been more than two hours after writing Woodstock revisited and stating it was unlikely I would be purchasing the latest re-release of the rock festival that I walked into Costco and found a copy of the 40th anniversary Ultimate Collector’s Edition at a price I wasn’t expecting. So low, that is. Of course, I picked it up and bought it.
My main interest was not in the Director’s Cut, which I had bought back in the early ’90s, but in the Extras disc, Woodstock: Untold Stories. It includes about three hours of material with nearly 150 minutes of previously unreleased performances, the rest consisting of documentary video segments.
The inclusion of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band was the main attraction for me, despite the band performing only one song, but the disc also includes The Who, Jefferson Airplane, Santana, Joe Cocker and first-time appearances on a Woodstock disc by Johnny Winter and Creedence Clearwater Rivival.
The viewer will have to sit through a somewhat painful first half of the disc though to get to the good bits. That may affect your decision on buying the set at all. You can skip over most of that of course, but it does reduce the portion of the footage that will draw you back for repeated viewings. (continue reading…)
Concerts Vol. 1
by Paul Rosano on Mar.11, 2009, under Music
The first in a series that will focus on concerts I’ve seen and serve as companion pieces to the Connecticut rock ‘n roll scene posts I started with Connecticut’s Own and Pulse, Part 2.
I’ve been to quite a few concerts over the years, many influential, some inspiring. The earliest big venue shows were in the fall of 1965, both at the New Haven Arena. In early November, it was the Rolling Stones with Brian Jones on second guitar in the wake of their summer mega-hit Satisfaction. The Stones sounded and looked great, but it was a relatively sedate performance compared with ones for which the band became infamous. A side note on the Stones show is that the first time they were booked for the Arena, the summer of ‘64, the show was actually canceled because of insufficient ticket sales. Amazing. The second show, the Beach Boys with Brian Wilson on bass, on Thanksgiving Day. The Boys wore yellow short-sleeved oxford shirts with gray slacks, not their customary black-and-white and white khakis (I guess because it was a holiday) and with Brian in the fold sounded like angels. Two rather different groups but both rode the singles charts and that’s what drove the music industry at the time.
But the earliest show that made a huge impression on me was in a much smaller venue, the Cafe Au Go Go in Greenwich Village in the winter of 1967. The headliner was the Paul Butterfield Blues Band. But let’s back up a little.
I had been playing bass since 1964 in a couple of garage bands, most notably the Vanguards with Gary Gerard and Peter Neri, whom I would later play with in Bram Rigg Set and Pulse. I also played with and learned quite a bit from the Aiardo brothers, Tony and Peter, from North Haven who played first as the Highlights and later as New England Jam. They played everything from weddings to proms to clubs such as the House of Zodiac on Route 34 on the West Haven/New Haven line. They were schooled more than most musicians in the area and worked constantly. I’ll never forget a few years later when working with them again temporarily, we played a wedding in the afternoon, a dinner-dance in the early evening and an after-prom into the early hours. This was pretty typical and I learned a great deal from both of them, particularly Peter, who was a brilliant guitarist and was my second bass teacher. (continue reading…)
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