The Names of the Winds – New Video
I upgraded to Sibelius First 7 this week and have had a lot of fun learning its features, especially the ability to create video of your sheet music! I exported a video of the sheet music (which took me a few days to transcribe — I only had a lead sheet of the arrangement, and...
Birth of an Arrangement: The Names of the Winds
It was the second set of our show. The pianist shot me a malevolent glare, then proceeded to butcher the opening chords of the song I was about to sing, obfuscating the key so I couldn’t tell what note to start with. He finished the intro; silence lingered as the band waited for me to...
Si Mes Vers Avaient Des Ailes
Si Mes Vers Avaient Des Ailes (“if my verses had wings”) is a poem by Victor Hugo set to music in 1888 by child prodigy Reynaldo Hahn when he was 14 years old. It was published by Le Figaro and was a hit. I recorded this as a first test of my new Zoom H2N...
Fantastic show footage & interview: I Wanna Work For You at Yoshi’s Oakland
CD release and Kickstarter victory celebration at Yoshi’s Oakland on December 18, 2011. Thanks to Patrick Hickey for amazing photos included in this video, Yoshi’s Oakland for being such a fantastic venue, and Roberto Daza, Mark Oltmanns and Oakland North for stellar video coverage of this show. Arranger, associate producer: Sam Bevan, bass Musicians: Colin...
Pacific Mambo Orchestra’s Recording Project on Kickstarter!
Be a part of Pacific Mambo Orchestra’s first studio album! Swimming against the technological current, in 2011 pianist Christian Tumalan and trumpeter Steffen Kuehn formed a 19-member acoustic force to be reckoned with. One year later, the San Francisco Bay Area is loco for PMO, which plays premier clubs and festivals and is packed with...
Rock History: Live Chat with Steve Morse and John Laurenti
Just got this note. Looks interesting! Hi Alexa, Last week, we launched an exciting new course called Rock History. The course contains the most comprehensive curriculum on the history of rock music ever created. It takes an in-depth look at the highs and lows of rock over the past 60 years—the key heroes and villains,...
Fury Unleashed: Canine Edition
Thanks for the run today. You know, I’ve been meaning to tell you how much I appreciate being on a leash. It’s like, when I’m on a leash, I don’t have to fight anyone. Sure, I slaver in a mentally unbalanced way whenever I see another dog, but I don’t have to follow through! I’m...
NAMM Wrap-up: Booth Babe Blues
It’s hard to sing in a trade show booth — that is, without all the trappings. At NAMM, everywhere you walked there was a musician playing in a booth, showing off the wares of his or her corporate sponsor. Some had a better set-up than others: A small wooden circle stage, just 8 inches off...
NAMM: Steve Vai on Not Struggling in the Music Business
“I never struggled a day in this business,” said Steve Vai. “I’ve been so blessed. It was always, how can I do this thing on guitar, and you work until you can do that.” Vai was honored at the 27th annual TEC awards, receiving the 2011 Les Paul award for the creative application of music...
Day One at NAMM
Today was actually our day two, as we started yesterday for the press preview. Some of the press we previewed for were legit, some probably formed a publishing concern in order to get a pass to NAMM. But today it started to become clear just how much of an onslaught of music business insiders and...
See you at NAMM! My first (appropriately geeky) endorsement deal!
So I’ve had a really interesting gig these past few months, where I get to mix my three main skills as a professional musician & bandleader, a technology journalist/pundit and a copywriter. I’m actually working with Exadel, the makers of Tiggzi, to shape the perfect tool to help musicians build their own mobile apps to...
Pictures from Yoshi’s by Patrick Hickey
These pictures by Patrick Hickey of our Kickstarter Victory Celebration and CD Release at Yoshi’s are worth more than 1000 words each! Thank you so much, Patrick! None of us have ever seen a photo set that was THIS gorgeous from one concert! More pictures here: http://www.idyll.com/alexa/slideshow
