JOHN MCLAUGHLIN: “SEE CLEARLY … FEEL DEEPLY”: IMPROVISATION AND TRANSFORMATION BY: DANIEL FISCHLIN On the cusp of a North American concert tour in late 2010 and hot off the release of To the One, his musical meditation on Coltrane’s A Love Supreme and his own lifelong spirit-quest, celebrated guitarist John McLaughlin agreed to a CSI request for an interview focusing on improvisation and spiritual... »
Seemingly from out of nowhere, New York-based guitarist-composer Chris Taylor has emerged after nearly 30 years on the scene with a brilliant, fully-realized first album as a leader. And though it’s been a long time in coming, Nocturnal may be the most auspicious debut of the year. Reflecting the influences of such potent bands and composers as Weather Report, Pat Metheny, Tribal Tech and the Zawi... »
As jazz and jazz guitar grew in popularity during the decades of the 20th century, many students of all backgrounds and experience levels began to seek out the top teachers and players in the field in order to better their comping and improvisational skills. Because of this, several pedagogues became recognized as the most sought after teachers in jazz guitar. Players such as Ted Greene, Howard Ro... »
AL:I remember checking out the interview you did some time ago with Bill Milkowski where you talked about drum machines. Do you have any general opinion about how the trend in having a musician actually play drums to emulate a machine has taken music, or where you feel it might be going? Steve Smith:For thousands of years music was created by musicians playing without the technology of computers o... »
For nearly three decades in music Steve Smith has proven himself as one of the finest technicians worldwide on the drum kit. Adept at nearly every style from fusion (Jean-Luc Ponty, Steps Ahead, Vital Information), pop (Journey, Mariah Carey), and straight jazz (Buddy’s Buddies, Jazz Legacy) through to his original iconoclastic work on the Tone Center label, Smith’s formidable technique has earned... »
Walter Kolosky, the author of the acclaimed Power, Passion and Beauty – The Story of the Legendary Mahavishnu Orchestra had no plans to write a book specifically about the leader of that band, John McLaughlin. His next work was going to be about the movies. He says he is still going to write that one, but the order of things has changed. In the meantime, his new book Follow Your Heart: John McLaug... »
Bass, the final frontier. Anyone who has taken a moment to study the low frequencies cannot help but notice a philosophical bent that many of its finest exponents take on. Cats like Victor Wooten, Kai Eckhardt, and Jonas Hellborg are just a few of the players at the vanguard of music introspection—low plains drifters, if you will. With the release of his third album Unknown Angels, Tony Grey conti... »
Jeff Richman has been a fixture on the west coast jazz scene for some 20 years. In addition to his highly-regarded solo recordings, the LA-based guitarist has an extensive list of session and sideman credits, which includes work with artists such as Ernie Watts, T Lavitz, Mark Isham, Robbie Krieger, M’shell Ndegeocello, and many others. Richman is also an educator who has taught at both Musician&#... »
Over the last 30 years, Jonas Hellborg has simultaneously defied and defined what it means to be an electric bass player. In the 21st century, he is doing more of the same. As one of the most iconoclastic musicians experimenting with the bottom frequencies, Hellborg has seemingly never been at a loss for ideas or direction. From his new approach to the bass (aside from Spinal Tap, who else had the... »
For those of you who are finding out about Ehsaan Noorani, for the very first time, he is one of the finest composers of Indian Film Music often termed as Bollywood, a mammoth machine that churns out big movies quite so like Hollywood, if not more. However what sets the two film industry apart among many things, is the music score that is as integral to the movie as the movie itself. In fact in a ... »