This is a ‘just in case’ post. Just in case you don’t already know this, there is a great service provided by etree.org which provides lossless, free, and painless torrent tracking for live music. All you have to do is have a bitTorrent client installed on your machine and a ton of free live music is at your fingertips. The site includes a feature to search by band and the torrents are almost always labeled correctly with setlists and dates included.
A lot of people have been reading this post about the Gainesville Jazz Festival put on by the Gainesville Friends of Jazz so I am guessing it has good interest in town. I think someone who appreciates good music can’t help but enjoy two nights of jazz in Gainesville. This was my first event and I have to say that the atmosphere was a lot different then I had expected. The crowd was dressed up in mostly suits for men and dresses for women and tables were set up throughout all of the available space. The was no floor space at all available to anybody close to the band. It was a fun night and the music was incredible. For reasons that I provide below, I don’t think I will attend the second night. Read More »
You would think that after seeing SO much amazing live music here, I’d get spoiled with it, take it for granted, and eventually lose interest. But when its just another Thursday night in my neighborhood and Eric Krasno (Soulive, Lettuce), Adam Deitch (Lettuce, John Scofield, Wyclef), Louis Cato (THE baddest), and Nigel Hall get together to perform as Chapter 2, well, this is just something that I cannot miss. Especially when the venue is 5 minutes walking from my apartment at Sullivan Hall.
The band wasted no time getting into a ridiculously sexy, heavy, and soulful groove by starting with a few original tunes from the upcoming Chapter 2 album, and Kraz’s upcoming solo album as well. Check the Royal Family website (www.royalfamilyrecordings.com) and listen to what they’ve got in the media player box at the top right of the screen. That’ll give you half an idea. And while they all have madd jazz chops, these are all cats who grew up on soul, funk, and hip hop, and all of it shows. By the time they made it to a fast-paced boogaloo version of the Beatles’ “Get Back” (to be on Kraz’s solo album, and currently on the Royal Family site), there was no turning back. After tearing through it, the band segued into Kraz’s heavy-ass New Orleans-style “Manic Depression” cover, one that would make Jimi himself proud. Read More »
Hi all! If you don’t know an Ami Gavarian this post probably isn’t for you. BUT, if you do I have to let you know that Ami sang an amazing love song (Something by the Beatles) at my house tonight to Lauren. I recorded it and I am glad to say that we can all enjoy its beautiful-ness. I have to be honest, I saw live music tonight, and this was true soul. Please listen until the end!! You will thank me.
Alright everyone, I have seen quite a lot of searches for “Phish Backing Tracks” coming through the site so I figured that maybe I should reveal where some are. I used to use Emil’s Tablature for all of my Phish starting tablature. I have since moved over to Strange Design (easier navigation) BUT Emil’s site does have some ‘Virtual Boomerang’ loops that you can use to play over. Of course a Bommerang is one of Trey’s main pedals and loops things as needed, and I will be doing a review of this in the future. The virtual boomerang though just loops the band or a recording over and over so you can noodle and improv until your hearts content. I hope you enjoy. Read More »
Now, nearly two years after leaving the stage, the fearsome five-some of String Cheese Incident is coming back for an appearance at the 2nd annual Rothbury Music Festival in early July. There are currently no other shows planned besides the sole Rothbury performance, but each member has repeatedly said that the band is back for good.
All the better for music junkies worldwide.
What SCI brings to the table that few other bands can is a versatile mix of textbook bluegrass merged seamlessly with mind-melting noodling, Calypso rhythms, tribal beats and good ol’ rock n’ roll. And, of course, they put on amazing shows that have you gyrating uncontrollably for nearly three hours straight.
Here is another band that caught my eye at Langerado 2008. The Pnuma Trio has an eclectic mix of jazz, rock, and electronic dance music that sets it apart from pretty much anything I have seen. They are firmly seated in the growing jamtronica scene which melds electronic music with live improvisational music performance. Where you might consider STS9 spacey, and The New Deal as straight dance, these guys are much more akin to being considered as a jazz group. This, possibly, is derived from the fact that their keyboardist, Ben Hazlegrove, attended the Berklee College of Music. It seems no matter which bands I tend to gravitate towards one or more of the members has attended Berklee.
Wouldn’t it be nice to have a metronome, string tuner, scale finder and chord finder with you at all times? The Guitar Toolkit iPhone app allows you to have just that. I have had this app on my iPhone for a while and it is probably my favorite and most useful app (next to the LuxTouch Risk-type game). Everything on this app works pretty well except for a few deficiencies noted below. If I had to give a recommendation I would say it is well worth the money and amazingly useful in a pinch. Below is a full review of this fine app.Read More »
Have you heard of RAQ? Have you seen them live? I first saw this band a bunch of years ago at The Side Bar in Gainesville. Unfortunately, the Side Bar has since closed down and it seems that Common Grounds is picking up where they left off in terms of playing home to the more exploratory live music in town. Anyways, I think this band is one of those underrated live acts. I saw them at Langerado 2008 and they were playing on a small stage with maybe 100 people there in attendance. I couldn’t even get some of my friends to go. The thing is, I think these guys put on one hell of a show. Read More »
For those of you that are trying to learn your circle of fifths there is a pretty decent site that has some online tests. These tests get increasingly hard and are pretty good at helping you memorize this stuff. That is all this really is, memorization. So go forth, and memorize!
You would think that after seeing SO much amazing live music here, I’d get spoiled with it, take it for granted, and eventually lose interest. But when its just another Thursday night in my neighborhood and 
Hi all! If you don’t know an Ami Gavarian this post probably isn’t for you. BUT, if you do I have to let you know that Ami sang an amazing love song (Something by the Beatles) at my house tonight to Lauren. I recorded it and I am glad to say that we can all enjoy its beautiful-ness. I have to be honest, I saw live music tonight, and this was true soul. Please listen until the end!! You will thank me.
Alright everyone, I have seen quite a lot of searches for “Phish Backing Tracks” coming through the site so I figured that maybe I should reveal where some are. I used to use 
Now, nearly two years after leaving the stage, the fearsome five-some of 
Here is another band that caught my eye at Langerado 2008. 
Wouldn’t it be nice to have a metronome, string tuner, scale finder and chord finder with you at all times? The 
Have you heard of RAQ? Have you seen them live? I first saw this band a bunch of years ago at The Side Bar in Gainesville. Unfortunately, the Side Bar has since closed down and it seems that 
For those of you that are trying to learn your circle of fifths there is a pretty decent site that has some online tests. These tests get increasingly hard and are pretty good at helping you memorize this stuff. That is all this really is, memorization. So go forth, and memorize!
