Guitarist Erick Turnbull & La Crema Pinot Noir

Erick Turnbull is my featured guitarist today. In 2005, he was the Canadian National finger picking champion. I have his new CD and it’s filled with good stuff. I’ve placed links to several videos of him playing on YouTube, but they don’t really do justice to his playing. Songs like Jazz in AM, Ladders, and A.D.D. will make you start swaying to the groove. Egypt starts out like an old English lute tune. Very nice. You can check out his CD at www.candyrat.com or Amazon. You can also preview much of his CD at http://www.last.fm/music/Erick+Turnbull. Check him out on MySpace.

Low C:This seems to be his signature song. Very intricate picking/fretwork and nice harmonics. The song really moves. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fne0RH4SRiY&feature=related

Bomba Checka: Really funky. It’s got a great groove. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T90ELHF8rIM&feature=related

June Tune: Kind of a mellow song, almost Celtic in its feel. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbZ4puGvb1s

Watchtower: Nice version of the song. This has always been one of my favorites. Always loved the Jimi Hendrix version, which, in my humble opinion, is one of the greatest rock songs ever. He sings on this one and his vocal style fits nicely. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYhvVdjdjSo


Although I can’t drink wine right now because of my diet, I have a backlog of elixirs that I haven’t written up. So for today, how about a La Crema 2006 Sonoma County Pinot Noir? $19.00. Medium bodied with a bouquet of strawberries, cherries and a touch of vanilla. A bit denser than most Pinot’s, which makes it tastier and fuller in the mouth. Complex and elegant with a soft texture. Flavors matched the bouquet. Mild tannins and a long finish. All in all, a very nice wine.

Pick up a copy of Erick’s CD, a bottle of La Crema Pinot Noir, and a copy of my latest book, Rise of the Fallen at www.bbotw.com, Barnes and Noble http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Rise-of-the-Fallen/D-Michael-Olive/e/9780741450555/?itm=1,or through any bookseller and chill.

Cheers!

Andy McKee and the Best Cabernet

Andy McKee’s playing is incredible. He’s one of the most original guitarists I’ve ever heard. In 2001, he was the youngest competitor to ever place in the top 3 at the Winfield National Fingerstyle Guitar Championships His videos are some of the most watched on YouTube. I believe he’s in the top five for the site so if you haven’t heard or seen him, there’s plenty of opportunity. Very listenable, but for a former bassist like myself, he can bring some pretty funky stuff. Again, if the links don't work, cut and past them into your browser. don't mis his playing!

Art of Motion: really fun, funky tune with great percussion and a nice melody to go with the beat. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmE3QaGetn4&feature=channel

Keys to the Hovercar: His mix of percussion and melody just amazes me. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIzuSi3dEqI&feature=channel

Africa by Toto: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dt1fB62cGbo&feature=related

All Laid Back and Stuff: On of my favorites. Very sweet melody and beautiful harmonics.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYFYL5m3118&feature=channel

Dreamcatcher: Very quiet, pretty tune. I could drift away on this one. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DaiM8Fh-8kc&feature=channel

The Friend I Never Met: Plays a harp guitar here. Very intricate harmonics. Michael Hedges sounding tune. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f27megLOleQ&feature=channel

Yesterday was Valentine’s day and I have to admit, I broke my diet (I’m down 22 pounds in four weeks so what the heck). I saw that my local wine shop was clearing out overstocked inventory and had a 2004 Whitehall Lane Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon marked down from $50.00 to $33.00. I realize this is over my usual $25.00 price limit, but hey, it was Valentine’s day.

This Cabernet is a deep red color. It has a gorgeous nose of blackberries, plums, blueberries, and spice with cherry-vanilla undercurrents. Very fruity on the palate with cherry, blackberry and spice flavors jumping out at you. The finish is remarkably long with a velvety texture and subtle oak and tannins that don’t overpower. I think this is one of the best Cabernets I’ve ever tasted. My wife agreed. The Wine Enthusiast gave it a score of 91. Personally, I’d give it a 95. Next time you’re in the mood to spurge, try this one. You won’t be disappointed.

Cheers!

Guitarist Kelly Valleau and overpriced Pinot Noir

Tonight I’m featuring a nylon string picker. Kelly Valleau is a classically trained fingerstyle guitarist who leans toward the Spanish style. He’s not a slapper and tapper but has a beautiful sound and style. Great for listening to while you’re reading or working on your next novel. Very precise fingerwork and to-die-for tone. Interestingly, he also does some cool contemporary stuff. I love his rendition of Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall.” Check him out below. You can get his CD’s at CandyRat records (www.candyrat.com ). Again, if the links don't work, cut and paste them into your browser.

a)Another Brick in the Wall: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gInwUzAOxj8

b)Fur Ludwig: flamenco/classical fusion: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xXW66Dvbe8

c)Requiem: classical style; nice use of harmonics: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JONge97uH2o

d)The Bull Run: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7ADMUukkNg&feature=PlayList&p=447B977301B3AB7D&playnext=1&index=12

So, while I was out in San Jose, I decided to celebrate a good presentation I made by cheating just a tiny bit and having a glass of wine with my dinner. I ordered a glass of Alma Rosa 2006 Santa Rita Hills Pinot Noir. The Wine Spectator gave it 90 points so I expected it to be good. Alma rosa wines are highly rated by the Wine Spectator and others. It didn’t disappoint. Very nice balance and smoothness. Sweet cherries and red rasberry flavors with balanced tannins and a nice long finish. But here’s the rub: this wine will run you $35.00 in the store. For that kind of money, you’d do just as well with a Pinot Noir from Cartlidge and Browne or Kim Crawford, both of which rate about 89 from the wine magazines, but which cost $15.00 and $19.00 respectively. Don’t get me wrong, the Alma Rosa was very good…but not $16-$20.00 better than the other two. See, pragmatism has its place when selecting a wine.

Cheers!

Scallops, Preston Reed, and Pinot Noir

I’m back from San Jose. Gave a really good talk on my research (if I do say so myself), chaired a science session, and had some good food, although I was worried about sticking to this diet plan. There’s a place called Santana Row, which has several nice restaurants, I particularly like Tanglewoods. I had a very nice salad with raspberry vinaigrette dressing to start. They have this class of appetizers they call sliders, so I tried an ahi tuna slider. It was a small sandwich with 3 oz of sesame encrusted ahi tuna accompanied by chips. Needless to say, I only ate the tuna (diet, remember?). For dinner I had grilled scallops (4 large ones), very tender, succulent, and sweet. No dessert, just decaf coffee. While it was a struggle to find the foods I need to eat right now, I must have done okay ‘cause I lost 4.5 pounds during the week. I’m now down 18 pounds in three weeks. Starting to feel good!

Tonight, I want to introduce you to Preston Reed. If you don’t know about him you’ll be amazed. Preston was the first guitarist I heard do the slapping, tapping, percussive thing (almost 12 years ago). A lot of the rhythms this style uses are derived from the Irish drums that accompany a lot of Celtic music. I first heard him play a song called Blasting Cap (link below) and promptly fell out of my chair. I bought his CD entitled “Metal” and have been a fan of his ever since. His style blends blues, funk, rock, and even jazz. He is incredibly versatile playing 6-string steel, 6-string nylon, and electric guitar. Check out the links below, but make sure you fasten your seat belt.

a)Ladies Night: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=356ViUx1Ktc

b)Blasting Cap: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NdUL-AkfkQ&feature=related

c)Shinkansen: Wild ride on a bullet train; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5dtkIXBKes&feature=related

d)Night Ride: sounds like a lonesome train ride after midnight; haunting melody; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kn369TSZ4QY&feature=related

e)False Spring: nylon guitar; moody late night walk in the rain through the streets of a darkened city; really pretty and a contrast to his slapping & tapping. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ddJkR-kW94&feature=related


Got several wines in my backlog from before the diet so I thought I’d give you a realy, really good one. Paraiso Santa Maria Pinot Noir, Highlands, 2006. ~$15.00. Rich dark red color. This is a dense wine with lots of fruit character. Black cherry, black raspberry, plum, a bit of pepper and spice, long finish with a velvety texture. I don’t know how easy it is to get in your local wine shop, but it’s available on line. As soon as I reach my weight goals, I’m gonna buy me some of this.

Cheers!

Thomas Leeb, Bad Flights, and Discoveries

Tonight’s featured Guitarist is Thomas Leeb, Austrian born and a close friend of the late Eric Roche. Thomas style is a combination of percussive sounds achieved by slapping, tapping and scratching the guitar body and sometimes funky, always melodic picking/chording. Something about Thomas’ tone just rings in your ears. He is a definite tone monster. I have two of his CD’s and here are a couple of my favorites:

•Grooveyard: he has a scratchplate affixed to his guitar to help add variety to his rhythmic sound. It mimics the sound of brushes on drums. Some of his strumming techniques hurt my hands to watch. I loovve this number!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rwb1lc0XStc

•Desert Pirate: percussive rhythm; almost sounds like a three piece band when he adds the drum like rhythm to the bass and guitar fills. This is one of my favorite numbers. Listen to it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqSDFa8a7xQ

•Oachkatzlschwoaf: he uses the scratch pad to achieve a sound like a jazz drummer using brushes on a snare. The whole number makes me feel like I’m sitting is a darkened, moody bar in Chicago, listening to a jazz trio. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeySsv_oTbI

•Oft Geht Bled: contrasting pace; sweet sounding melody; very nice use of harmonics
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvPHtQXCH9Q

•While my Guitar Gently Weeps: Sweet tone; he uses some beautiful harmonics to play the melody at two points. Listen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iI1HS2vO7Rk

•Perculator. This is an Eric Roche number and I guarantee Eric’s spirit smiles when he hears Thomas play it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZX5MuhtoY0

You can find more about him and also hear some of these tunes at his website: http://www.thomasleeb.com/. You can (and should!) order his CD’s there also.

On another note, I’m in San Jose right now getting ready to give a talk on my research at the Biophotonics meeting. Sounds impressive, Huh? Trust me, it’s not. Anyway, had a terrible time getting here. The flight was six hours late, they lost my suitcase (got it today), and I arrived at the airport too late to get a rental car. Plus some woman brought a cat onto the plane and decided it needed to be out of its carrier, so she tried to let it run loose through the plane. Guess who’s really allergic to cats? The stupid animal ran under my seat and as she tried to pick it up, it sank its claws into my leg, whereupon I lamented, “So many cats, so few recipes.” Needless to say, it probably wasn’t the right thing to say. Fortunately, the flight attendant made her put the potential tennis racket away. I also realized I had a real problem with my new diet. I’m supposed to eat every four-five hours, but with the helter skelter flight schedule, I had visions of going eighteen hours without food. Thank God for little delays, because of which, I discovered a restaurant, Pour Le France Café, in all places, the Denver Airport! Only had time for an entrée but what an entrée it turned out to be. I had Halibut Bouillabaisse, A six ounce filet of perfectly cooked halibut in a spicy thick tomato sauce with peppers, a few onions, zucchini, and other assorted veggies. Outstanding! Would have gone great with a robust merlot, zinfandel, or syrah, but alas, time and diet didn’t permit. I think, however, I feel an accidental filling of a glass of ambrosia coming for tomorrow’s dinner. Hey, don’t shake your head at me, I’ve been good! Catch y’all later.

Cheers!

Eric Roche

Tonight, I want to talk about one of my all time favorite guitarists who, unfortunately, died tragically about three years ago from throat cancer. His name…Eric Roche. The biographical material I could gather indicates he was born in New York but moved with his parents to Tralee, County Kerry in Ireland. He enrolled in the London Musician’s Institute in 1992 to study classical guitar. When he finished his degree in 1996, he became head of the guitar department. In 2000, he took a position as the head of guitar at the Academy of Contemporary Music in Guildford, England. In 2006, shortly after his death, the Guitar School of the Academy of Contemporary Music in Guildford was re-named to "ACM Eric Roche Guitar School” in his honor. His wife Candy is now raising their two children, Stefan and Francesca.

In 2006 Roche's Tablature Collection #1 was published. It was jointly produced by Roche and his close friend Thomas Leeb, who dedicated his work to Roche and donated all of his income from the book to Roche’s children. In fact, Thomas Leeb will be the next Guitarist I review.

Eric had a unique style of playing. His main axe was a Lowden 010 with a cedar top and mahogany back and sides. He had a percussive style of playing because of which a clear plastic scratch plate was affixed to the top of his guitar just below the sound hole. His playing involved drumming on the top and body of the guitar to create a variety of percussion effects. He would also use the scratch pad to elicit sounds ranging from a jazz drummer using brushes on a snare to a DJ scratching his records.

Go to You Tube and watch/listen to the following three videos in this order to get a sense of his style: (If the links don’t work, cut and paste them into your browser).
• She Drives Me Crazy, originally by the Fine Young Cannibals. Watch and listen to the crazy tapping and scratching. It complements the song perfectly. I like his version better than the original and as a bassist, I felt da funk coming through.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-tO6IFwBXI

• Jump (Van Halen): Incredible! Who needs a band? He plays bass, drums and guitar on one instrument.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J045nbHuKrE

• Nirvana’s theme for a generation: Smells like Teen Spirit: Amazing guitar work. You really have to see and listen to the You Tube video to appreciate what he does. I love his style. When he goes into the middle strumming part and uses his scratch pad it sounds almost like a wah wah effect.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zxZcUrfX0o

Eric was one of the best that’s ever been. His death was hard on his family, both emotionally and monetarily. So, listen to the videos then go to his website at http://www.ericroche.com and buy one of his CD’s. The money will help support his wife and kids.

I know you’ll enjoy Eric’s music so what are you waiting for? Grab a bottle of wine and a glass, kick back, and enjoy one of the most innovative and talented guitarists that God ever placed on this earth. See ya’ll later.

Cheers

Wine, Guitarist Antoine Dufour, and Diets?

Well, I haven’t blogged for awhile due to a major change I’ve made in my life…I decided it was time to lose some weight. I was 6 feet and about 245 pounds. But because of my travel schedule, something like Jenny Craig that required me to buy meals just wouldn’t work. Sooo, I enrolled myself in a group called Metabolic Research. Unfortunately, one of the things I have to cut out for the next six months is wine. Life is cruel sometimes, but I have lost 13 pounds in two weeks so it seems to be working. Only 47 more pounds to go. But fear not, I will still review restaurants and the occasional nip of the fruit of the vine that may accidentally pass my lips.

Now, one of my favorite ways to relax is to have a glass of wine (no, no, no! High protein drinks!), pick up a good book or work on one of my own, and listen to music, specifically guitar music of the acoustic variety. If you’ve read my profile, you’ll recall that I used to be a professional bass guitarist. I started playing the acoustic guitar because playing the bass by yourself is not terribly fulfilling. Now as a former bass player, I like to feel da funk in the music I listen to and that includes acoustic guitar. I’m not talking lackadaisical strumming while you sing Kum By Yah by the campfire. I’m talking foot stomping, finger ripping, tapping, slapping, harmonically percussive heavy wood.

I am amazed at the plethora of young, talented guitarists out there today. Not only are these guys technically in the stratosphere, but their originality, sense of melody, and yes, funk, is downright amazing. I’m a struggling writer of thrillers, although my day job is in the more mundane field of science. It’s a struggle to get people to buy and read your books when you’re an unknown. So as I was listening to some of these young guitarists, I realized that although some of their YouTube videos may have been viewed thousands of times, how many of the viewers were NOT guitarists? How do they get exposure to people who may not be musicians, but just appreciate good music.

So I says to myself, “Self, since we can’t do the wine thing right now, how about we spread the word about some of these young guns and blog about ‘em?” I thought it was a good idea, so for the next few months I’ll be mixing guitarists in with my restaurant and accidental wine tips. I will review guitarists who are probably only known to other guitarists but who ya gotta see and hear to believe. And…I’ll only give good reviews. I don’t believe in bashing the work of someone else. Okay? Here we go.

Canada seems to be producing some incredible talent. My first guitarist, Antoine Dufour, is one of my favorites. He’s got three CD’s out on CandyRat Records. One of the most prestigious guitar contests is the yearly Winfield festival. Antoine took third place a few years back and considering the fact that these are the best players in the world and the judging is somewhat subjective (all music is a matter of taste), that says a lot about his ability. He’s also won several guitar contests in Canada. He has a style that includes slapping and tapping the body of the guitar in percussive rhythms while tapping, slapping, and picking the guitar. He uses harmonics beautifully. Some of his music is almost danceable. One of the things that I love about Antoine’s playing is, while he is technically amazing, it’s his sense of melody and harmonics that grab me. When I can listen to a tune and spend an hour or two afterward humming the melody, that’s a good thing. Try listening to his YouTube video of a song called “Trilogy.” Very pretty. But my favorites are the ones where I feel da funk. Check out his videos of “30 minutes in London,” “Scratch,” or “Spiritual Groove.” Of course, when you’re finished and duly impressed, go to http://www.candyrat.com and pick up one of his CD’s. In fact, CandyRat handles several of the guitarists I will be reviewing, so if you want to get a head start, be my guest.

That’s it for tonight. Until next time, enjoy some music, a book (preferably my latest, Rise of the Fallen), and have a glass of wine in remembrance of a poor old guy who’s drinking only high protein cocktails in his tulip shaped wine glass…Pathetic!

Cheers!