The Blues Bass Handbook
I wrote a bass instructional book (with accompanying CD) called 'The Blues Bass Handbook' for Cherry Lane Music distributed by Hal Leonard Corperation. It's a challenge to put my thoughts in any logical order, much less a book. But I enjoyed the process. I feel I really got across the way I go about playing blues bass.
click here for more info & to order my new book
Bass Instructional Video
I did an instructional video for Ibanez that was quite an experience. I had 3 cameras aimed at me, lights in my face, and I was wired for sound so I could perform live. I have a lot more respect for anyone who speaks on camera now. I damn near forgot my own name it was so disorienting!
Wendell Scott Documentary -
The First African American Stock Car Race Driver
I and my partner Nick Hubbell (link) scored this hour long documentary
on the life of Wendell Scott. It's a facinating story about breaking
the race barrier in the stock car world in the south in the '50s and
60's. Needless to say, Wendell had a rich and storied past including moonlighting
running moonshine (and outrunning the local police).
We composed, performed and produced the soundtrack with lots of down
home blues, folk, and bluegrass capturing the western Virginia setting
of Wendell's home town, Danville. The narration was done by U.S.
senator John Warner. My good friend Dick Neal helped us by playing
banjo, mandolin and dobro on the sessions.
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*** add link to music page
Organica
I'm producing a CD with my friend Scott Schlacter who writes great vibey post alternative rock tunes. With the help of guitar noise-god and co-writer Carl Royce, and drum legend Steve Holley, we cut 11 songs. Scott and i are in the middle of overdubbing and will be mixing soon.
Scott also owns Topaz Records: a cutting-edge Dance/Electronica label
**** link to topaz
*** link to music page
Medicine Band
John Coster and Suzannah Keith are the core of this roots/folk band. Great writing and singing. I, along with Jeff Pevar (gtr), Richard Crooks (drums), and Seth Farber (keys) round out the band. The CD is called "Dangerous Kingdom", and is available on the Prime CD label. Suzannah also has a CD soon to come out soon that we all played on as well.
Chris Hunt
Another great guitarist. Chris is about to release a new instrumental CD called Slippery Slope on the Touchwood/Zero Hour label. Check it out.
John McEnroe
Yes, John McEnroe. He plays guitar. He sings. He writes songs. He's got this in your face' punk vibe on stage. Actually, the stuff is good. We've done some recording and gigs - and a memorable drive-thru the Mojave Desert in Andre Agassi's souped up satellite tracking, global positioning Nike-mobile van. John is one of the smartest and funniest guys I ever met.
Rebecca Pidgeon
Singer, songwriter, actress, and wife of playwright David Mamet, Rebecca has a couple of CD's out on the Chesky Label. I played some shows with her at the Bottom Line in NYC, as well as performing on the Conan O'Brien TV show. (It was freezing in the studio) Do you know why they keep some TV studios so cold during taping? I initially thought it was to protect all the gear from overheating - but I was told it is to keep the audience cold so they are ready to laugh at all the bad jokes to keep warm. Apparently laughing is akin to shivering as far as your body is concerned. Who knew!
Larry Mitchell
Another gifted guitarist. But more than that Larry writes and produces very cool instrumental music ranging from rip-roaring rock to sweet acoustic. I played on 2 of his releases: self titled "Larry Mitchell" on Grudge/BMG, and "Mind Body & Soul" on Guitar Player Records. Larry, drummer Yves Gerard, and I had a very hot trio a few years back. We played all around NYC and also got involved playing clinics around the country for Ibanez/Tama.
Vernon Reid
I worked with Vernon on a wild movie soundtrack called Fresh Kill. I played bass and handled all the midi work on the soundtrack - a monumental task - since we produced over 2 hours of music in 2 weeks. I don't remember sleeping during those 2 weeks! Vernon is an amazing musician with so much range, it's hard to describe. We made music from the rawest to the sublime; sometimes with the oddest combinations of instruments. A great experience.
Charlie Karp & the Namedroppers
Charlie and I met up at a small club where he was jamming with another guitarist friend of mine. We hit it off and started gigging around CT playing a lot of blues and R&B. At first the 2 of us would use different musicians to fill out the band depending on the gigs; but as a lineup coalesced we started writing and released a self titled CD on Grudge/BMG. One of the songs from this CD found it's way (with our help) into an Orion Pictures movie and soundtrack CD called "Speed Zone."
Caroline Horn
This self-titled CD is from a great singer songwriter. Besides playing bass, I also did all the guitar work on this disc as well - a real treat for me. Caroline is poised to release another CD any minute now... which I produced a few tracks on.
GMV Blues
GMV stands for Gary, Mark and Vito. Gary Ciuci is a blues singer/guitarist who has been a force on the New England Music scene. Mark Epstein is... well... I think you're starting to get a picture of who he is... and Vito Liuzzi is Johnny Winter's new drummer. The three of us produced this CD on our own (Vito being a bonified recording engineer in his own right), and are about to shop it around; for all of you A&R people out there...
