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Symphony in C

2009-05-03T06:04:35Z

I saw Symphony in C again tonight, they were fantastic as always, maybe the best I have seen them yet. In these times where we are all being more frugal, all you Philly classical music fans should check them out. Let me count the reasons:

first rate musicians, all recent conservatory graduates
exiting music director, Rossen Milanov. He gets the most out of this ensemble
very close to center city, just over the BF bridge, and free parking
yes, it is in Camden. the parking lot and campus are well lit and monitored by armed guards. It is very safe.
ticket prices are a real bargain
excellent music hall, a small college auditorium with no bad seats
Maestro Milanov has good taste in music! he programs all the Eastern European and Russian music I love.

The real highlight for me was the Dvorak Piano Concerto, played by soloist Allesio Bax. This sparkling concerto is often neglected because the piano part is considered not brilliant enough. I think that the piano part is just fine (Bax sight read it from the score), and there is a lot of interaction between the piano, the strings, and the winds. Here is a short clip of Rudolf Firkusny playing the ending of this concerto. The first movement is like a mighty mountain, the second movement a pastoral dream, and the third a lively Czech folk dance.

They opened the show with Smetana's "Sarka" from Ma Vlast, which showed off the whole orchestra with some good heavy brass. Nice to hear a Ma Vlast tone poem that is not The Moldau, for a change.

They closed the concert with Brahms' well known Symphony no. 2. The strings' warm sound was especially highlighted in this performance. The precision and energy with which they dished out the finale earned them many ovations. Well done!

Our tickets were in the last row and everything sounded fine, loud and clear and well balanced.

In the lobby I ran into the principal cello for the orchestra, one Eric Coyne, who I last saw when we played together at Nicki Jaine's big Art Museum show. It was nice to see him again, chat about music a bit, and it was good to see he has advanced to the principal chair.

Here is another review from the Philadelphia Inquirer at Philly.com.

RIP, Bea Arthur

2009-04-27T02:02:07Z

With all of the obituaries and kind words being said for Bea Arthur, I
heard no mention of one of her greatest roles ever. One in which she
got to show off her ability to sing and act, on TV, singing along with
the music of America's most loved living composer, John Williams.

Yes, I am referring to the Star Wars Holiday Special.

Just one more round, friend!

EP Review: UKZ/Radiation

2009-04-10T04:24:47Z

I just got this EP on i-Tunes for 4 bucks, it is now available for download.

This is a strong new release, the best cut is probably the title track, which you can see, hear, and experience for free on Youtube here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFlnG3AKOW8

This is the only one of the four tracks on the EP to feature all of the band members.

Eddie Jobson opens the track with some dark CS-80 sounding pads, after which Trey and Marco pound out the heavy rhythm. Lippert's vocals are a little coarse, but they suit the material. I like how Trey uses two or three heavy bass tones on his Warr Guitar. Alex gives us some heavy grooves and Holdsworth style soloing, but he is an original prodigy nonetheless. I like how his solo blends seamlessly into Eddie Jobson's violin solo.

Track 2 is "Houston", as in "Houston, we have a problem", (Apollo 13) which is a bit of a cliche on lost love. Still, Aaron Lippert shows that he is a strong lyric singer here. Trey contributes a beautiful guitar solo with one of his trademark tones. No drums on this track.

Track 3 is called "Tu-95", and is an instrumental. There are some prog rock cliches here, like a 4/4 riff played against a 7/8, but it is a good listen all the same. It shows what an influence Trey Gunn was on that great late-90's King Crimson band.

The EP finishes up with a guitar solo from Alex, "Legend", showing the Holdsworth influence again.

The Phab 4 Return

2009-03-11T21:52:47Z

In this time of hard luck and bad news, it is nice to report some good news: after almost five years, Phish has reunited, and they are back in top form. They played for three nights in Hampton VA, three long concerts. They made all of the shows available for download, and I got the first one. It is over three and a half hours long! In some ways, as they play a lot of these tunes that they first made popular (to their cult following) almost 20 years ago, they sound a little bit like a nostalgia act. The vocals are a little ragged, reminding me of later Grateful Dead. HOWEVER, many of these songs have livs of their own, long improvisation sections, and they really do sound different every night. Hopefully, five years of being away from this music, and in some cases, substance abuse rehab, have given the band a fresh look at their old work. A new album is also in the works.

In a New York Times article, Trey indicated that he wanted to bring some joy to a depressed world, and i don't think it is too presumptious of him to say so. They worked hard to come back, and already gave the world three full length live albums for free. That is a nice way of saying thanks to fans like me who could not be there, but who have trekked long distances to support the band in the past, and will in the future.

Bravo Paavo!

2009-03-02T03:35:58Z

I just got in from the State Theater, New Brunswick, where I saw the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie (DKAM) under the direction of Paavo Jarvi. What a fine show, this may be the best orchestra concert I see all season. They played their specialty, Beethoven, specifically the Third and Eighth Symphonies, and the Consecration of the House Overture.

This orchestra, under Jarvi's direction, has an outlook on Beethoven not unlike that of Zinman and the Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra (see previous post). I believe that he is also using the new Barenreiter urtext editions of the symphonies. Modern instruments, chamber sized orchestra, and a fresh approach to these well tread symphonies. To give an idea of the size of this band, I counted seven first violins, six seconds, five violas, four cellos, and three basses. That string section is about half the size of the biggest romantic-era orchestras. This allows the other instruments in the orchestra to be heard more clearly.

All three works were played with speed, precision and clarity. In the 19th century style, they used faster tempi, and the smaller orchestra size let the pull it off with crispness. They were able to turn on a dime, running at high speed, like driving a Subaru WRX instead of a Hummer H1.

The concert seemed a bit undersold (~60% full), but the small audience was very appreciative, and we were rewarded with two encores: Sibelius' 'Valse Triste' and the Finale to Beethoven's First Symphony. In that last encore, the first and second violin sections switched places, to show that they all could play at a high level of virtuosity, and that nobody is "second fiddle" in this ensemble.

It was a great performance, and all you New Yorkers should get out in the snow tomorrow night to see them at Allice Tully Hall. This is a fantastic German orchestra under one of the world's great conductors.

The Nine

2009-02-21T19:47:51Z

In classical music, much is often made of the "curse of the nine". As the curse goes, you write nine symphonies, then you drop dead. While a number of great composers have written ultimate, "Ninth" symphonies, most of them don't really live up to the curse. Mahler wrote ten numbered symphonies, Bruckner eleven, and Schubert really only wrote eight, including his famous one that he didn't finish.

But two who meet the math requirement are Beethoven, of course, and Dvořák. I recently picked up sets of all nine symphonies by both of these composers.

For the Dvořák, I was faced with a choice of a few different sets available. I ended up getting the same set that I have on vinyl record, those recorded by Istvan Kertesz and the LSO. I went with this old standby because it was the first - Kertesz recorded all nine of these in a time when most conductors were only doing 7, 8, and 9. I respect that a lot. The recordings are from the early 1960's, but they still sound great and have a lot of exitement.

And having them on CD gives me the chance to really appreciate all nine. 7-9 ned no introduction, they are widely played and over played. 4-6 are starting to get their due. 5 and 6 I had always loved, and having number 4 on CD gave me the opportunity to listen to it more, and I can see it's strengths. Likewise, of the first three, I had always been a big fan of 2 & 3, but now the convenience of the CD medium gave me the chance to appreciate the first symphony. It is a testament to Dvořák's melodic gift that all nine of these contain memorable tunes. In the earliest of them, he has not yet mastered the technique for developing his ideas, but his inate gifts are still obvious.

There are also some overtures included in the set, but I was disappointed to see that the Hussite Overture and Othello were not included. Kertesz made fine recordings of these Dvořák masterworks, but I will have to be content with vinyl for now.

Turning now to Beethoven, there are dozens of sets available of his nine, but I had recently heard about a revolutionary new cycle recorded by David Zinman and the Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra. They are performed on modern instruments, but with a new Jonathan Del Mar edition of the score, published by Barenreiter, that unveiled a number of corrections (according to Del Mar) that had gone unnoticed for 200 years.

Whatever the corrections may be, and some are listed in the booklet, this set is like a breath of fresh air. It's not just because Zinman takes them all real fast (and he does take them all at a quick pace), but there is a newfound clarity here. I hear more winds and brass, and I hear even moments of improvisation, for example at the famous oboe cadenza in the first movement of the Fifth (a similar moment occurs in the first movement of the Seventh). These Zurich musicians - and they are a multinational lot - play in a 19th century style, and they are not afraid to shake it up a little.

I can give two examples of places where Zinman and editor Del Mar give us a new view of Beethoven. In the trio of the minuet in the Eighth Symphony, there is a counterpoint line played by the cellos. In the new edition, it is played by a solo cello, which makes the part stand out more, than when it was played by the whole section. In the Ninth, he inserts a general pause right before bar 747 in the finale. Just to give us an alternate view, the CD contains both alternate endings with and without the pause. I had to look up the spot in the score, to be sure of what he was talking about, and after all that I don't think it is a big deal. But David Zinman does, so good for him. So many Beethoven sets, recorded with large late 19th century romantic orchestras, sound the same. This one is different.

This is a fine set of the nine symphonies, available on a budget label for about $20, so it is a fine compliment to any other set you may own. Recommended.

Symphony in C

2009-02-15T18:40:06Z

I saw Symphony in C last night in Camden performing Grieg, Tchaikovsky, and Piazzolla. It was just the string section last night, and they showed off their chops very nicely. They have a warm, resonant string sound that shows their talent. Most of the members of this orchestra are recent graduates of major conservatories like the Curtis institute, on their way to jobs with major symphony orchestras. This "training orchestra" is akin to baseball's minor leagues, developing young talent. This puts them a cut above community orchestras.

They opened with Grieg's Holberg Suite - regular readers of this blog know how much I love Grieg. The Holberg Suite not only shows Grieg's interest in baroque forms, but it has strong Norwegian folk elements. The principal violin and viola players got a good workout playing in duet during the finale. it was like a Norwegian wedding dance!

Next up was a set of four pieces - a 'four seasons' suite - by Astor Piazzolla played by the orchestra with my teacher and friend Lidia Kaminska. This suite has an interesting history, they started out as four separate pieces for tango quintet representing the four seasons. They were composed at different times over many years. "Verano Porteno" is probably the best known. Violinist Gidon Kremer got the idea to put them together as a suite, in the manner of Vivaldi, and he commisioned the Russian composer/arranger Leonid Desyatnikov to create it. Desyatnikov also threw in a few references to Vivaldi for good measure. The liner notes for the CD they made probably explain it best. Now, in 2009, Lidia took the solo violin part and arranged it for bandoneon, which sounds appropriate because these melodies started out on that instrument. So the piece comes full circle. And it sounded great. This was videotaped and will be broadcast on WHYY TV Channel 12 at some time in the future.

The final piece on the program was the well known Tchaikovsky Serenade for Strings, which is so wonderful to see and hear up close (we were in the front row), to see how masterfully Tchaikovsky uses all of the string instrument groups, divided and subdivided into many parts to achieve a fully orchestrated sound. The Symphony in C strings shone beautifully here.

After the show I was fortunate enough to be able to hang out with some of the musicians, chatting about Piazzolla over cake and coffee until 1 am.

Box Five

2009-02-13T15:53:44Z

I saw Box Five last night at the Philly Farewell show at L'Etage. It was really nice, probably the best I have ever seen Box Five. In case you don't know, Box Five is a band, of varying lineup that backs up singer-songwriter-pianist Mary Bichner. I rode down with Joe D'Andrea and we enjoyed some crepes with Nicki Jaine at the restaurant downstairs from L'Etage, known as Beau Monde.

Last night, the lineup of Mary, plus Steve Toy (gtr), Joe Gribbons (bs) , and Chris Pires (dr), were backed up by Terri Rambo (b vox) Brian Hopely (perc), plus a string quartet and a woodwind quartet. Different musicians were on stage at different times, but the evening's finale featured everyone at once - 14 musicians on stage! I used to sit in with Mary playing accordion (usually when she did not have a string quartet, playing the string parts) but last night I sat comfortably in the audience, and it was a fine show. They played just about every song Mary has written for Box Five, in a set that was over an hour long. I joked with Steve Toy that it was almost like a Grateful Dead concert.

The opening act was Jaggery, from Boston, in a stripped down lineup of piano & drums. Nice set.

Good luck to Mary in Boston, I am sure she will restart her career soon up there!

After the Morning

2009-02-09T02:52:44Z

As I mentioned before, the tune "After the Morning" composed by John Hicks is a pretty cool song. The John Hicks Legacy Band made a very nice recording of it. It's a shame that it is not in any fakebooks... It sure would be nice if somebody did a transcription of it. I mean, that would never happen for a tune like this, those fakebooks just have lame filler tunes nobody wants to play :)

Pictures of me with Box Five

2009-02-07T23:14:40Z

Mary put some up on her Myspace page, from last March, at Burlap & Bean. I have always enjoyed playing with Box Five, usually I play the string parts when there is no string quartet present. It was a fine gig!

Felix's Day

2009-02-03T23:16:35Z

Today marks the 200th aniversary of the birth of Felix Mendelsohn. I think I have under-appreciated him through the years, in favor of some other composers who lived around the same time. And, he is not as popular as he used to be, as columnist Norman Lebrecht has written.

Looking back on his body of work today, I can appreciate his music for its inventiveness, melody, and clean lines. His string Octet is a really amazing piece, and seems as fresh today as it must have sounded when it was first played - when the composer was 16. Check out the score, in print and in the composer's own hand, courtesy the IMSLP.

Here is a nice performance, courtesy of Youtube, of his Hebredes Overture.

pet peeves with chat/Skype

2009-02-03T15:21:19Z

Why is it that so many are lurking these days, "invisible" on Skype or Google chat? That is my pet peeve - when somebody is "invisible" and they want to chat with me. From now on my policy is not to respond. If they have a visible status as "off line", then they are off line. If you wanna chat, turn on the green light. Otherwise it becomes a one way street "you can only talk to me when it's convenient for me to call you, don't dare think of calling me".

Less irritating is when someone has the green light on, and I try a Skype call and I get the old flusheroo (when people refuse a Skype call, it sounds like a toilet flushing). If you aren't available to chat, then why is the green light on? This is irritiating, but I understand, as I often walk away from my computer for a few minutes, leaving my status as green light. But if I list myself as avaiable, I won't refuse a chat or a call outright.

Some Jazz Albums From 2008

2009-01-23T22:54:37Z

I think that when I first got into jazz, I made the mistake (as many do) of buying up every Miles Davis and John Coltrane album in sight, at the expense of many other artists. Later I picked up more than my fair share of Sonny Rollins CDs, and of course I had my obsession-compulsion with JJ Johnson, but still there was a lot of classic jazz I missed out on.

Lately I have been broadening my horizons a bit. If I stay up late I try to tune in to WBGO, which is a real national treasure. Thanks to their deep programming I have become acquainted with Oliver Nelson's classic "The Blues and the Abstract Truth", as well as Quincy Jones' big band albums from the 60's (I had thought he was just the guy who produced hit records for Michael Jackson).

And, lest we think that Jazz is dead, or just smells funny, I did pick up a few jazz albums in 2008 that were actually released in 2008.

The first I'll talk about is Larry Willis' "The Offering".

Willis has been in the New York jazz scene for a long time, and he even played in Blood, Sweat, and tears for a spell. This record is a straight ahead jazz effort with good compositions from start to finish. The track that first caught my attention was a swinging rendition of the Theme from Star Trek (original 60's series). It works really well as a jazz tune. "Ethiopia" is a plaintive ballad that lets the bowed double bass present the melody.

Another jazz pianist that I did not know about until recently was Willis' friend John Hicks. Hicks died in 2006, and his widow, Elise Wood-Hicks, and Larry Willis put together the John Hicks Legacy Band to honor him with great renditions of his tunes on a record called "Mind Wine".

The standout track for me is "After the Morning". The title tune also kicks off the CD with energy. I have yet to deeply explore Hicks' own playing per se (I bought a few cuts on I-tunes) but his compositions speak well of his sophisticated musicality.

Both these albums were released in 2008 and are highly recommended. However, this is by no means a "best of 2008" list. I have a lot of catching up to do with newer jazz releases!

ps - Here is a youtube video of two Frenchmen giving a beautiful rendition of my favorite John Hicks song.

Shred!!!

2008-12-28T02:22:42Z

I am always a year too late finding these viral videos

I first found this by accident:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKCwH3amLaU

and I was fooled for about half of it, then I realized something was wrong. It's not a modern music escapde, but rather somebody overdubed new audio onto existing video. The original master was one StSanders:

http://www.wired.com/entertainment/music/news/2007/10/shredders

http://blog.wired.com/underwire/2008/02/parody-videos-s.html

he was shut down, but his videos live on

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89zM9pZzt0U

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiXR9ggRdFI

and now there are so many copycats that this has even gone over to classical!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5zh3Pme7PY

I have to admit that this Santana bit reminded me of Surrender to the Air, an avante garde Phish side project that I saw in 1996:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BrLEuzVCVQ

I think Surrender to the Air was a bit overrated. Just a bit.

King Crimson

2008-08-13T11:33:12Z

I saw King Crimson at the Keswick Theater Monday night, they were as good as ever, though I miss Trey Gunn. Tony Levin was adequate in covering the Trey tunes from recent years (Construction of Light, Level Five) but his tone didn't seem quite up to snuff for that material. However it was nice hearing Tony's singing voice, and some of those classic 80's King Crimson songs that really required his singing: "Three of a Perfect Pair", "Frame by Frame", and others.

I thought that the sound was ok, but the bass was kinda weak throughout, the sound guy could have done more to bring that out. They had two drummers, which caused a lot of buzz among my friends, but I thought they would have been just fine with one.

After the show I ran into Markus Reuter, all the way from Germany, which was a nice surprise. I had not seen him since 2004, and he had just been in Belgium for the tapping seminar. So for a few minutes it was nice to catch up on old times.

http://www.myspace.com/olderthangod

Concert Roundup

2008-05-11T18:29:54Z

Well, gee where do I begin, this has been quite a concert season for ol' Ray. I'll be seeing the NJSO do the Shostakovich #5 this week, to cap off the year. Let me see if I can remember all the concerts/operas I saw since September:

NY City Opera doing Barber's "Vanessa" in October.
Lidia Kaminska with her tango group at the Kimmel Center in October
NJSO playing the Rachmaninoff Symphony No. 2/Dvorak Violin concerto in November
NJSO (w/Brittany Sklar) playing the Brahms violin concerto, plus Ravel and Haydn; in November
NJSO doing the Mahler #2 in November
Tempesta di Mare in January, playing music of Janitsch, "rescued by the Red Army"
NJSO doing the Sibelius #2 in February
Philadelphia Orchestra playing Holst's Planets in March
NJSO doing the Brahms #3 in March
Allentown Symphony Orchestra playing the Mahler #5 in April
Philadelphia Orchestra playing the Mahler #8 (wow) on April 30
Piffaro, the Renaissance band, playing Elizabethian favorites, May 2
Symphony in C , with Lidia Kaminska, playing the Piazzolla concert on May 3

All outstanding events! Lidia was great last week playing the Piazzolla concerto on the bandoneon, which she had just started playing last year. Coming from chromatic accordion, this is not a great leap, but she had to really work to get her virtuoso chops transferred over to the new instrument in just a few months time! Bravo, Lidia!

As great as that was, the Mahler 8 was the greatest orchestral concert I have ever seen. Eschenbach was in his element, this is the music he is meant to conduct. All of the soloists, the choruses, the Philadelphia Orchestra, Verizon Hall itself, all were perfect. If you don't know this piece of music, then you just wouldn't understand! And as great as Jarvi's Mahler 2 was, (and it was great), the 8 is just on a whole other level.

So, the Shostakovich 5 will round out a fine year of concerts. I am looking forward to Jarvi's interpretation, as he was a protege of Mravinsky, who was closely associated with Shostakovich's music and the composer himself.

See you at the hall!

Whitesnake Retrospective Day 6: 1982

2008-04-23T21:31:41Z

Ah, dear reader, now we find ourselves in '82, at the end of our journey, and the final classic Whitesnake Album, "Saints & Sinners". I like this album a lot, I think it is a nice return to form after "Come and Get It", the songwriting is stronger all around. There's also more energy in the production, for example the songs run into each other without a break. The classic lineup is heard here, but apparently Bernie Marsden left the band at some point late in the recording process, and new guitarist/vocalist mel Galley did the backing vocals. The most notable songs here are probably the two that were re-made for the 1987 mega-platnum Whitesnake album: "Here I Go Again", and "Cryin' in the Rain".

The original "Here I Go Again" had a video, not nearly as famous as the one made in 1987. In it we see Cozy Powell (but hear Ian Paice on drums) and we also can see/hear the things that made Whitesnake great, the vocal harmonies, guitar interplay Jon Lord's organ playing, etc. I like the original version better, but I do think that the word "hobo" is a little dated.... yeah "drifter" may be an overused word but probably works better here. Anyway, the song makes a nice farewell to the classic years.

After this, the band went through a bunch of lineup changes on its way to being the platinum selling "hair band" that Whitesnake is famous as. On the road to 1987, they did make a fine hard rock album called "Slide it In", which I have to admit was the first Whitesnake album I ever owned. However, it is beyond the scope of this article. Still, let us take a moment to admire the fine shredding of guitarist John Sykes, on the song "Cryin' in the Rain", live in Rio in 1985. It is not the same kind of band that I have been talking about these past 6 days, but I do love this video. David Coverdale's slightly off key vocals are just proof that this is live, no overdubs. Sykes' shredding is completely over the top, and Cozy Powell matches him note for note. This video does not walk in the shadow of the blues, but is a guilty pleasure to watch. John Sykes was a lone axeman on this tour, but his playing works just right here, with a little backup from an (off-stage) keyboard player.

And where are they now? Well here is a video of David Coverdale working sometime in the late 80's, and here is some much more recent footage of Micky Moody and Bernie Marsden. Ok, I rest my case.

Whitesnake Retrospective Day 5: 1981

2008-04-23T01:33:51Z

In 1981, Whitesnake released "Come and Get It", which to me is the weakest of the classic albums, but it still has a few bright spots. In general though, the songwriting isn't as good here as it was on the previous two or three albums. The album keeps with the trend of being a little more hard edged than its predecessor, but it still has some bluesy numbers like the piano boogie "Wine, Women, and Song"*. They did a video for "Would I Lie to You". Standard late-70's style rock. Ian Paice and Mickey Moody are still behatted! Obviously we are still a long way from the hair band years here.

*this vid is from a few years later, slightly different lineup.

Whitesnake Retrospective Day 4: 1980

2008-04-21T23:36:22Z

1980 - a new decade, but more of the same from the 'snakes. Ready and Wiling was the first album to feature Ian Paice on drums, bringing the number of Deep Purple alumni up to three, or 50% of the band. With this lineup they released "Ready an' Willing". And as the cover art shows, they were a bunch of tough hombres, ready and willing to do anything! The album kicked off with what would be old Whitesnake's biggest hit, "Fool for Your Loving". So great in fact that a re-make was done during the hair-band years with Steve Vai. But who cares about that, this was a catchy tune in the original version. I love the bass line of this tune, one of my all time favorites from Neil Murray. He takes a simple chord progression and dances around with it in lockstep with Paicey's busy drum part. (and check out his hat in the vid).

Also in 1980, they released a live album, "Live in the Heart of the City" which had several versions on LP, CD, and cassette through the years. Even though it wasn't on the live album, here is a very nice live clip from that era of "Ain't Gonna Cry No More", which was on Ready an' Willing. This song has everything that made Whitesnake great: Coverdale in full cry, the two guitar attack, vocal harmonies, and some tasty Moog from Mr. Lord. Enjoy.

Whitesnake Retrospective Day 3: 1979

2008-04-20T15:30:44Z

So, we are up to 1979, and Whitesnake's second full length album, "Lovehunter". The album is well known for it's album cover that could have been from Spinal Tap ("Smell the Glove" anyone?). A little less bluesy, and a little more hard edged than its predecessor, it had a few good tunes like "Long Way from Home", the title track, and "Walking in the Shadow of the Blues"*. Pretty ballsy to sing:

"I love the blues, they tell my story
if you don't feel it you can never understand"

I suppose, coming from a working class Yorkshire background, Dave Coverdale has paid his dues.

The heavy organ is still a part of the Whitesnake sound, as is the three part vocal harmonies. This was also the last album to feature Dave Dowle on drums, and as much as I admire and respect those who took his place, I always thought he was the Whitesnake drummer. This was also the last Whitesnake album to feature a song not sung by Coverdale, "Outlaw", a nice Bernie Marsden tune with some Moog stylings from Mr. Lord.

next stop: are you ready? and willing????

*this is the oldest video I could find of this song, the drummer here is Ian Paice who did not play on the record, as far as I know. Low audio/video quality but it shows what a fun band this must have been live.

Whitesnake Retrospective: day 2 - 1978

2008-04-20T04:17:33Z

So dear reader, we come to 1978. After two solo albums and a four song EP, David Coverdale was ready to relase the first proper album by Whitesnake - "Trouble". To me this is the strongest of all the classic WS albums, which is not to say that it was all downhill from their first album. No, not by a long shot, there were many high points after this, but this is probably the most consistent of them.

By this time, Whitesnake was forming into a real band, not just a backing unit for dave. Jon Lord, of Deep Purple fame took over on keyboards. Though he was a sideman in this band, he had a lot of cool solos, and in many places his distinctive organ sound growls away behind the two-guitar attack of Moody and Marsden. "Trouble" is so much of a band effort that there are two songs without Coverdale at all. One song is an instrumental, and another features Bernie Marsden on lead vocals. Dave Dowle continued on drums, and while he was not as famous as some of the later occupants of the WS drum stool, he is the best locked in with Neil Murray's melodic, funky bass lines. For example "Love to Keep you warm" is diven by Murray's bass riff.

Check out this live video from the Old Grey Whistle test of two of the songs, "Trouble" and "Lie Down". The latter is a fine barrelhouse number with some nice piano playing, and a bit of Bernie Marsden's co-lead vocal in the bridge of the song (somewhat reminiscent of Glenn Hughes in Deep Purple Mk. III). In "Trouble", we get to hear both axemen take bluesy solos. Here is a promo video for "The Time is Right for Love", a shuffle tune that shows off the tight rhythm section.

Tomorrow - Whitesnake does their best effort to have a Spinal Tap-esque album cover!

Whitesnake Retrospective day 1 (1977-78)

2008-04-19T16:50:15Z

In the spirit of Ola's Blog, I think it is time to look back through the retrospectiscope, on the music of classic 70's Whitesnake. If you are thinking that Whitesnake begins and ends with bubblegum hair metal that saturated the airwaves in the summer of 1987 - think again. To those of use afficianados of British hard rock from the 1970's, Whitesnake was, along with Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow, one of the premiere hard rock acts that appeared in the wake of Deep Purple's demise. Or, to put it another way: "huge in Germany, Finland, and Japan, but totally unknown in the US". My kind of music.

So, shall we start from the beginning? In 1976, the final incarnation of Deep Purple (which included Tommy Bolan on guitar), already had quite a resemblance to the whitesnakiness that was to come. But this band did break up, Tommy Bolan died, and David Coverdale went off to make two solo albums. For the first of these, 1977's "White Snake" (which I have never heard in its entirety), he did this promotional video for "Lady" - not a great song funny to watch for it's pre-MTV style. He made a second solo album, "Northwinds" that had a few cool tracks, and was produced by Roger Glover. Finally, by 1978, a Whitesnake lineup solidified and produced a 4 song EP called "Snakebite". This spawned a minor hit with the cover version of "Ain't No Love in the Heart of the City".

This video shows us the frontline of Coverdale, guitarists Micky Moody (with the hat)and Bernie Marsden (with the doubleneck) , and bass player Neil Murray. It may be hard to appreciate him coming out of your computer speakers, but Murray is one of my favorite bass players of all time. Coverdale called him "the most melodic bass player since McCartney" and I couldn't agree more. Moody and Marsden also contributed backing vocals here, and on every subsequent release, providing a key element to the classic Whitesnake sound. David Dowle played drums, quite exceptionally on this and a few other releases, and Pete Solley was the keyboard player for this EP. Both would soon be replaced by more famous Deep Purple alumni, but that is another story.

Next chapter - trouble in 1978!

Weekend Recap

2008-04-15T22:29:08Z

Saturday - played a nice little gig with Nicki at an art gallery on 3rd st. in Philly. We packed as much as we could into three songs!.

Sunday I saw the Allentown Symphony Orchestra perform th Mahler 5. And play it they did, quite nicely.

jerseyray @ 2008-04-08T18:57:00

2008-04-08T23:06:55Z

Ok, saw three films yesterday at the Festival, here are the trailers:
Autumn Ball

Mrs. Ratcliffe's Revolution

The Red Elvis

Three very different films. Autumn Ball was a serious drama with comic overtones, about life in Estonia. Specifically, the lives of a group of people who live in a dingy apartment block. I think I have seen this kind of genre film before, but it was different, and the film was well shot and directed. I think we will be hearing from director Veiko Õunpuu again.

Mrs. Ratcliffe's Revolution was probably the most mainstream, and had the best reception from the crowd. A comedy about a British family that moves to East Germany.

And then the Red Elvis, the Dean Reed Documentary. Really well made, a documentary that lets the people in the film tell the story, these people who knew Dean. I thought he came across as a complex but naive character, others with me thought he was just a jerk. You decide!

jerseyray @ 2008-04-07T10:45:00

2008-04-07T14:46:47Z

hi Blog audience,

well I haven't posted in a while, as I have had some issues to deal with... At the same time I have been busy with work, and getting out to shows, and playing music.

Ok, it's off to the Philly Film Fest this afternoon!