Pat Metheny Announces New Orchestration Project

On Friday, Pat Metheny announced that he will be releasing a new recording in 2010. By the sounds of it, this project is going to be very interesting. The following was written on Pat’s website on Friday:

I have been very lucky over the years to have many opportunities to explore a wide range of ideas as a musician. The quest to find new ways of thinking about things and the process of trying to come up with a personal perspective on music has been a major priority along the way, almost from the very beginning.
The Orchestrion Project is a leap into new territory. This project represents a recently developed conceptual direction for me that involves the merging of an idea from the late 19th- and early 20th-centuries with the technologies of today to create an open-ended platform for musical invention and performance.
“Orchestrionics” is the term that I am using to describe a new performance method to present music alone onstage using acoustic and acoustoelectric musical instruments that are mechanically controlled using the power of modern technology.
In early 2010 a new recording will be released on Nonesuch. It will be a “solo” record in that I am the only musician—but a CD that in some ways recontextualizes the term.

For more info, visit Pat's website. Here is a video from ’94 of Metheny and Scofield performing “The Red One” from their album I Can See Your House from Here.

Happy Birthday Chris Kuroda

Over the years, Chris Kuroda (Phish's lighting engineer) has provided the on-stage scenery for countless Phish sows. His ability to time the lights to the music is uncanny, and the way he uses the lights to create a visual image of the music is a true artform. Happy Birthday Chris, keep doing what you do.

Click here to read an interview with Chris from '94.

*picture courtesy of Rolling Stone

Love, Devotion, Surrender...Festival 8

When Phish made the announcement earlier this month that there would be a 3 day festival, over Halloween weekend, there was no question amongst true fans as to whether or not they were going. As the flash pages on the band's website slowly revealed the chosen state to be California, confirming all the rumors that had been brewing since day one, fans immediately began booking flights, hotels, RV's and everything else required for a 3 day Phish festival. No one stopped to check their schedule (or at least no one I know), the decision had been made, we were going. In all honesty, had Phish put up a map of Africa, it wouldn't have made a difference.

Phish has not performed on Halloween since 1998, when they covered the Velvet Underground's Loaded as their "musical costume". Previous years saw Phish cover The Beatles’ White Album, The Who’s Quadrophenia and Talking Heads’ Remain In Light on Halloween. In each of these shows, Phish lent their own unique touch, creating a magical experience that became a coveted tradition for the Quartet and their fans.

Every musical costume has allowed Phish to step outside of their conventional roles, and have fun playing someone else's music. The Halloween shows have traditionally showcased the entire bands musical abilities. Whether it be Jon learning to sing and drum for Remain in Light, or Trey tearing apart Lou Reed's lines on Loaded every show has had some unique aspect. Often times, these costumes would leave the band changed, as was clear after Remain in Light. Walking away from the Omni on Halloween 1996, every member of the band, and their music, would be changed. The band entered into a more funk-based direction in their jams, which has had an affect on their music to this day. So, needless to say, every phish fan is wondering what this year's Halloween will bring, and what, if any, influence it will have on the future direction of the band.

As rumors swirl, and speculation gets heavily underway, we are all wondering the same question..."What is the musical costume going to be this year?" Phish has already confirmed on their Festival 8 website that they will be doing a musical costume this year. So, here are a few ideas in no particular order:

Possible Musical Costumes

1. Michael Jackson's Thriller - For very obvious reasons. He was the King of Pop, and covering this album would be a huge tribute. Trey has teased licks from "Black or White"* and "Beat It"**, as can be heard in the show from 10-21-95, Pershing Auditorium, Lincoln, NE (*teased in GTBT **teased in both Harry and Suzy). So needless to say, I think this one is on everyone's radar as a possibility.
2. Bob Dylan and The Band's The Basement Tapes - Trey mentioned in a 2003 article with Relix magazine that this was a possible Halloween cover. The odd thing about this one is Phish doesn't cover Dylan songs or The Band songs very often. In November of 1985, Trey performed "The Hurricane" which many people have heard, but that song is not on this album. And that was once...24 years ago. However, Trey said it and its one of my personal favorites, so I'm all for it.
3. Brian Eno's Another Green World - For those of you who don't know, Brian Eno is the genius behind a great deal of Talking Heads music, and is widely known as one of the founders of ambient music. In the same 2003 Relix interview as mentioned above, Trey named this as another possible musical costume. While Phish doesn't cover Eno's music directly, they do cover a number of songs that he has co-written. For example, Eno co-wrote every song on Remain in Light. Trey is a huge Eno fan, and the Quartet would do a very nice job spicing up some of the ambient sections. In a 2006 interview with the Bonnaroo Beacon (the Bonnaroo magazine), Trey was quoted saying: "The first two things that pop into my mind...are My Bloody Valentine's Loveless and the four mid-'70s [Brian] Eno pop records: Taking Tiger Mountain, Here Come the Warm Jets, Before and After Science and Another Green World" when asked what albums he thought the whole world should hear. This gives good reason to believe that this is another highly possible album.
4. My Bloody Valentine's Loveless - This album, as is mentioned in the quote above, is one of Trey's favorites. He has also been quoted as saying "'Loveless' is the best album recorded in the '90s. History will tell, and 20 years from now that album will be considered a complete classic, while a lot of the albums that are real popular today will have been forgotten." Apparently, Trey has pushed hard for this album in the past. Again, a major possibility.

These are just some ideas. If you have any others, please comment. Otherwise, enjoy these videos. There is also a link to the Torrent for the '94 Halloween show from Glen Falls Civic Center posted below.

1994-10-31 Glen Falls Civic Centre, Glen Falls, NY

The first video, is a classic from the 1994, White Album, Halloween show. Here's "Why Don't We Do It In the Road".



This video is of "Lonesome Cowboy Bill" from the '98 Halloween cover of Loaded.



And this final video is from the 1996 Halloween show, musical costume: Remain in Light.

RIP Brent Mydland
On this day in 1990, the fourth Keyboardist for the Grateful Dead, passed away. Mydland contributed a unique sound to the band, often adding more organs and synthesizers to enrichen the sound (especially Space). Mydland died of a speed-ball overdose at his home on July 26, 1990 shortly after completing the summer tour. His music will forever live on.

Something Old for Something New

Because this blog is new, I wanted to start with something old. In 1958, in some barn, a slick young country picker was performing. That picker would later become known as one of the greatest guitar players ever, with a famous line of guitars named after him. Chet Atkins truly was a master of his craft. His nimble finger work makes his playing look effortless.

Chet Atkins marks the type of musician that existed in the early days of recorded music. Musicians had fully honed their crafts, and seeing them live was an exhibition of remarkable talent. People approached music like a blue collar job, they worked hard at them, and were humble about it. Chet always wore a suit, and he never flaunts his incredible talent. His playing and, especially, his picking are considered to be some of the finest in the business.

Chet was born in 1924 in rural Luttrell, TN to a very poor family. Chet has said that because his area was so rural, there was no one else to play with. As a result, he compensated by developing a unique style of picking that allowed him to play the rhythm and melody at the same time. He bought his first guitar from Les Paul for $25 and would practice in a bathroom at his local school. Chet had no electricity in his house, and so he would have to go out and find a plug in order to play electric. Chet has received 14 grammy awards, and is known as Mr. Guitar. He pioneered the famous "Nashville sound" on guitar, which has inspired countless guitarists. Willie Nelson says that he is the single most influencial musiciain in Nashville, ever. Cheers Chet, to a true country gentleman.

Watch this video of Chet playing Black Mountain Rag, a classic fiddle tune.

Today's Phish note:

Today marks the "less than a week" until Phish are back on tour point, and it is safe to say emotions are in high gear awaiting this next run of shows. As Phish returns to some of the finest venues in the nation, we wait, anxiously, for what is to come. Today is also the anniversary of the show from Nectar's from 7-25-88. Two songs from that show, "Sanity" and "Icculus" would later make it onto the studio release of Junta.