Guitarists - Excuse me while I kiss the sky!

Continuing with my series on musicians (my last blog focused on drummers), I'm going to follow up with guitarists. I'm writing this as a joint blog with my friend Jay David Hauser, who also happens to be a guitarist himself.

Jay David
In no particular order, some of my favourite guitarists include the following:

• Joe Satriani
• Steve Vai
• Chris Henderson (3 Doors Down guitarist)
• John Petrucci
• Jack Thammarat (Youtube sensation)

There are plenty more guitarist which I think have great styles and tones but the guitarists above have stood out the most.The way I relate to music is by how the music makes me feel. That may sound silly, but lets forget the 'Yeah, this has a cool beat' type of music, and try to relate to how a piece of music makes your soul feel.

Satriani / Vai
Joe Satriani and Steve Vai are very talented regarding styles and tone. Two people who know what they are doing. Satriani and Vai are both masters of expressing emotions through a guitar, with the notes they play and the melodies they perform. I promise, nothing is as easy and peaceful to listen to, even when they turn on the distortion. Both guitarists have outstanding knowledge of the guitar as an instrument and musical theory but their style is what makes them unique. Now I say unique, but comparing Satriani's style to Vai's, they are very similar but, remember, Joe did teach Steve how to play.

Chris Henderson - my hero
Chris Henderson has always stood out for me in 3 Doors Down. I personally love his style, the tone and the music that he helps create. I have been fortunate enough to have had a conversation over Facebook with Chris in the past and what a great guy. He started playing guitar from the age of 6 and can play pretty much any genre you place in front of him. Chris believes it is important to learn many styles and genres to help advance as a player. As a guitarist myself, I have taken on board Chris's advice and I'll be honest, it has paid off. Other than the wide variety of musical talent this guy has, he does make it look cool when performing.

John Petrucci
John Petrucci is a fabulous guitarist, though I do feel he doesn't rock out and show his feeling and emotions while playing. His style and playing alone are simply enough to entertain a whole audience.


I do not know much of Johns background with styles etc, but what I do know is that there is a hint of Satriani and Vai in his playing.

One of my favorite tracks in which John has recorded would be Acid Rain by Liquid Tension Experiment:

Jack Thammarat
Jack Thammarat is an amazing guitarist. I first spotted him on Youtube and was automatically attracted to his music. He entered Guitar Idol (sponsored by Youtube) in 2009 which he won. As a guitar teacher himself, Jack pulls out the techniques, the style and the passion that any musician strives for, which I suppose is why I like him.

Here is one of my favorite tracks by Jack:

Me
As with my blog about my favourite drummers, there just isn't room for me to list all of my favourite guitarists. So instead I'll pick just a few, and write about some of the others in a future blog(s). I tend to favour guitarists who have good feel, as well as technique. I like guitarists who have a great tone to their playing and can come up with interesting guitar parts or solos.

Jimi Hendrix
Arguably the greatest guitarist of all time. His style of playing has influenced entire generations of guitarists. The Jimi Hendrix Experience released their first single in 1966, 'Hey Joe,' followed by the truly dynamic 'Purple Haze' and an astonishing debut album Are You Experienced.

He was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter. He is widely considered to be the greatest guitarist in musical history,and one of the most influential musicians of his era across a range of genres - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimi_Hendrix

The Experience enjoyed reverential audiences on America's concert circuit and Axis: Bold As Love emerged in December 1967, completing a triumphant year. Electric Ladyland, the last official Experience album was released in October 1968.

Hendrix synthesized many styles in creating his musical voice and his guitar style was unique, later to be abundantly imitated by others. Despite his hectic touring schedule and notorious perfectionism, he was a prolific recording artist and left behind more than 300 unreleased recordings - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimi_Hendrix#Musical

In 1992, Hendrix was posthumously awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimi_Hendrix#Musical

John Frusciante
In 1989, eighteen year old John Frusciante, a bedroom-guitar prodigy from California's San Fernando Valley who had never played in a group before, auditioned for his favorite band, the Red Hot Chili Peppers. He got the gig — replacing Hillel Slovak, who died of a drug overdose in 1988 — and transformed the Peppers' punk funk into muscular arena pop. On the 1992 multi platinum album, BloodSugarSexMagik, Frusciante fortified the band's bone-hard grooves with a mix of Hendrixian force and, in the hit ballad "Under the Bridge," poignant Beatlesque melody. When Frusciante abruptly quit the Peppers in the middle of a Japanese tour in 1992, he left a big hole in the group's sound that was only filled with his drug-free return on the Peppers' 1999 comeback album, Californication.

Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa was a drummer (at age twelve) and composer (writing a string quartet in his teens) before he got serious about the guitar. But in his more than four decades on stage and record, Zappa — who died in 1993 — soloed with the same discipline and experimental appetite that he applied to the rest of his legacy: symphonies, doo-wop parody, big-band fusion and sociopolitical satire. For a man who ran his Mothers of Invention with an iron fist, Zappa was actually an improviser who combined the melodic rigor of his orchestral ideals with 1950s RandB.

Steve Vai
Steve Vai is one of the most precociously talented guitarists of any generation. Vai was a pupil of Joe Satriani as a teenager and studied at The Berklee School of Music before moving to Los Angeles at age 19. He was a huge fan of Frank Zappa's and joined Zappa's band after proving that he knew most of the repertoire and could transcribe orchestral pieces by ear. Zappa credited him on albums as the "stunt guitarist." He released the self-produced Flex-Able in 1984, combining his Zappa and Satriani influences, and went on to play with Alcatrazz, David Lee Roth, and Whitesnake.

Carlos Santana
The pure tone of Santana's guitar is among the most recognizable sounds in popular music. A towering musician who brought Latin rhythms and jazz improvisation to rock, Santana formed the first lineup of his band in 1968. His varied influences — from Mike Bloomfield and Peter Green to Miles Davis and John Coltrane — resulted in a singularly innovative approach. Santana's style of playing encompasses musical sections that culminate in (often lengthy) sustained notes. From Santana's career-breakthrough performance at Woodstock in 1969 to the 2000 Grammys — where he won eight awards for Supernatural, tying Michael Jackson's record — Santana has remained a compelling musician.

Summary
These are just a few of the guitarists that we admire and enjoy listening to. I'll hopefully follow up this blog with further guitarists. Following on from drummers and guitarists, I intend to write about bass players, singers and songwriters next (but not necessarily in that order). So watch this space.

Movember

It's Movember, the month formerly known as November, now dedicated to growing moustaches and raising awareness and funds for men's health; specifically prostate and testicular cancer. I'm donating my top lip to the cause for 30 days in an effort to help change the face of men's health. My Mo will spark conversations, and no doubt generate some laughs; all in the name of raising vital awareness and funds for cancer's affecting men.

Why am I so passionate about men's health? 

• 1 in 9 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime 
• This year 37,000 new cases of the disease will be diagnosed 
• 1 in 2 men will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime 
• 26% of men are less likely to go the doctor compared to women

I'm asking you to support my Movember campaign by making a donation by either: 

Donating online at: http://mobro.co/DomBurf

If you want to go old school you can write a cheque payable to 'Movember', reference my name and Registration Number 1646128 and send it to: Movember Europe, PO Box 68600, London, EC1P 1EF

If you'd like to find out more about the type of work you'd be helping to fund by supporting Movember, take a look at the Programmes We Fund section on the Movember website: http://uk.movember.com/about

Thank you in advance for supporting my efforts to change the face of men's health.

Drummers

I'm going to create a new series of blogs based around musicians. I'll describe in each post some of my favourite musicians and why I like them. To get the ball rolling I'm going to start off with drummers. The drummer is the much forgotten member of the band. They sit at the back behind their fellow band members, and so do not always get the attention they deserve.

During my teens and early twenties I used to play the drums in various bands, playing mostly Indie stuff, but with other influences thrown in for good measure, such as Zappa, rock and jazz. I played on a Premier APK 5 piece kit with a mixture of Paiste and Zildjain cymbals (7 in total). I had Paiste sound-edge hi-hats, Zildjain rock ride, 2 Wuhan chinas, 2 red Paiste crashes and a splash. I also had a cow bell for good measure.

Whilst playing the drums, there were many drummers that I used to watch and listen to for inspiration. I'd like to describe some of my favourite drummers and what I like about them.

Neil Peart
As a long time fan of Rush (having already written about them previously), it will come as no surprise that one of my earliest influences was Neil Peart. He is arguably one of the greatest drummers of all time. Rush concerts are one of the only occasions where air drummers outnumber air guitarists. He has received many awards and honours for his playing, including being the youngest drummer to enter the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame.

Many drummers have large kits, but not many of them actually use the kit in its entirety, or use it in a very limited way. When I first heard Neil Peart, one of the first things I noticed was how difficult it was air drumming along to him. His style of playing contains many complex notes played across many different surfaces (drums, cymbals, percussion).

When I listened to him playing, I very often couldn't work out how he was playing a particular drum pattern, as it sounded like he was playing with three or more arms! It was only when I watched him could I see how he played it. Whereas most drummers will play a drum pattern using the same hands on the same drum surfaces, Neil will play a drum part across many different drum surfaces and switch hands at the same time, making it almost impossible to work out how he is playing it. For example, Neil will play a drum pattern using both his hi-hat and ride cymbal, and play the snare drum alternately with his left and right hand at the same time. An excellent example of this is the track Subdivisions from the album Signals.

One of the things I learned from listening to Neil, was that by experimenting with different hands and drum surfaces, you can come up with great patterns and fills. Neil rarely plays a straight four pattern for long, before injecting an interesting pattern or fill.

Terry Bozzio
I got into Frank Zappa in my early twenties, and like Rush, have already written a blog about him and his music. I could write about any of Zappa's drummers here, as they are all world class. To be in his band was an endorsement that you were the best. That you could play multiple styles, time signatures, sight read and play under immense pressure at concerts. However, the drummer that I listened to and admired the most from Zappa was Terry Bozzio.

I first came across Terry Bozzio on the album Sheik Yerbouti. It was his incredible power and huge sound that I noticed first. When reading an interview with him in a drumming magazine, he described his kit setup.In it he described how he would mount two cymbals on the same cymbal stand, thereby hitting two cymbals at the same time. To get a really unique sound, he would mount a china cymbal on top of a crash cymbal. I'd never heard of anyone else doing this, and still haven't to this day. I tried this myself with my own kit. This is how he managed to get the huge 'clashy' cymbal sounds on Sheik Yerbouti. A true innovator who is not afraid to try something completely new.

When talking about Terry Bozzio, you have to mention the Black Page. This one of the most extraordinarily difficult, complex, feared and revered pieces ever written for the drums. Lucy Landymore won the BBC Young Musician of the Year competition when she played it. Despite Terry's huge talent and understanding of odd times, polymeters and polyrhythms, it still took him two weeks to be able to play it.



Chad Smith
I've written a blog about the group to which the next drummer in my list belongs also. He's Chad Smith from the Red Hot Chilli Peppers. The first time I played the album Mother's Milk, his style of playing blew me away. I've always loved funk, and admire musicians who can play in that style. To play funk well as a drummer is all about groove and feel. You can have all the lessons and drum theory in the world, but unless you have the 'feel' you'll never play funk. It's not about the notes, it's about the groove.

When I heard Chad playing tracks such as Knock Me Down, the Stevie Wonder cover of Higher Ground  and Nobody Weird Like Me for example, I was an immediate fan. His backbeat and groove were amazing. He plays with a lot of power and strength, but can also play the most subtle of ghost strokes.

Since first hearing him playing on Mother's Milk I've loved his style of playing. Really funky, he hits his snare precisely where it needs to be, and he complements this with his rock solid kick drum, the two working in perfect harmony. He demonstrates how rock drumming should be played. Power is far more related to controlled efforts, groove and feel rather than merely playing as hard as you can.

Finally
I could have written about a great many more drummers, and will in a future blog. I also want to continue this theme of musicians to include guitarists, bass players, songwriters, vocalists etc. So watch this space for future articles.

Heroes - Red Hot Chilli Peppers

Following on with my Heroes series of blogs, and only my second one relating to a group since the one I wrote about Rush, I'd like to dedicate this blog to another group. This time I'd like to write about a group for whom I have been a fan almost as long as I've been a fan of Rush. The Red Hot Chilli Peppers.

Red Hot Chili Peppers are an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles in 1983. The group's musical style primarily consists of rock with an emphasis on funk, as well as elements from other genres such as punk, hip hop and psychedelic rock. The band consists of founding members Anthony Kiedis (vocals) and Michael "Flea" Balzary (bass), alongside longtime drummer Chad Smith and recently added guitarist Josh Klinghoffer. (Wikipedia)

I first got into the Red Hot Chilli Peppers (RHCP) when I was roughly 19 years old. I listened to one of their albums Mother's Milk (1988) and became an instant fan. The singles Knock Me Down and their cover of Stevie Wonder's Higher Ground struck a chord with me. I was (and still am) a massive fan of rock / funk / psychedelic / punk / ska fusion bands, including Janes's Addiction, Living Colour, 24/7 Spyz and Fishbone, and RHCP fitted into that fusion well.

It was evident that they were talented musicians. The guitar work from John Frusciante, including some amazing solos, the vocals and lyrics by Anthony Kiedis, all nailed by a super tight rhythm section in the form of Chad Smith and Flea (who is still my favourite rock bass player). On hearing this album, I decided to buy their back catalogue too.

If you're a new fan of the band or just haven't heard this particular album, then you seriously need to check it out. In my opinion, it is one of the defining albums in their history. The band finally gelled on this album, and everything just seemed to come together. It is quite simply one of their best ever studio albums (better in my opinion than the more critically acclaimed and commercially successful albums Blood, Sugar, Sex Magik and Californification).

I bought tickets to the Mother's Milk tour for Sheffield Arena, which was to be their first tour as a headlining act in the UK. Unfortunately, I got my dates wrong, and ended up missing the concert, which still annoys me to this day. I missed my chance to see one of my favourite bands on their meteoric ascension on their first ever headlining UK tour.

Throughout their history, there have been several changes of line-up, namely their guitarist and (earlier) their drummer. Anthony Kiedis and Flea are original members. Their original drummer Jack Irons left the band, but the drum stool has now been filled since Mother's Milk by the awesome Chad Smith.

Their original guitarist Hillel Slovak died of a drug overdose after the release of their third studio album The Uplift Mofo Party Plan (highly recommended). One of his paintings appeared in the sleeve to the Mother's Milk album as a tribute. John Frusciante joined the band for the recording of Mother's Milk, despite not being overly familiar with the funk genre (but you'd never know this from the album, as he sounds completely at ease with the style - surely a testament to his phenomenal ability).

The current guitarist, and who recorded the new album I'm With You is called Josh Klinghoffer (who has worked with John Frusciante as a member of Ataxia, as well as The Butthole Surfers and Gnarls Barkley aka Cee-Lo Green amongst others).

When they released their new album entitled I'm With You, the band appeared on cinema screens throughout the world on August 30, 2011 live via-satellite from Cologne, Germany performing the entire new album in sequence along with various other hits. I was lucky enough to go and see this live performance at the Odeon cinema in Kettering. It was truly an amazing experience!

Their new album reminds me of Mother's Milk. Not in its sound or the songs, but in the fact that it seems like a defining album. The band have released their most mature and accessible album to date. Josh has slotted into the band and picked up easily from John Frusciante. Despite having big boots to fill (Frusciante is a very hard act to follow), and being the new member of one of the biggest rock bands on the planet, he has shown that he is a worthy member of the band. His live performance at Cologne for the release of the new album shows just how well he fits into the dynamics of the band. It was also obvious from the interviews with the band just how well they all get on on a personal level.

I have always admired their open love of their music and for each other, and their obvious respect for each other as musicians. As a band, they wear their hearts on their sleeve, and I love that about them.

One of the best bands on the planet.....I'm With You!

The philosophical clown

The late Charlie Chaplin (1889 - 1977) is widely recognised as a great actor and director. He was also very philosophical and compassionate, as these quotes from the man testify.

Wars, conflict, it's all business. "One murder makes a villain. Millions a hero". Numbers sanctify. (paraphrased from Bishop Beilby Porteus)

I am for people. I can't help it.

I remain just one thing, and one thing only — and that is a clown. It places me on a far higher plane than any politician.

My prodigious sin was, and still is, being a non-conformist.

I am what I am: an individual, unique and different.

I hope we shall abolish war and settle all differences at the conference table.

I am an individual and a believer in liberty.

And finally, here is the closing speech from his 1940 film The Great Dictator. This is as relevant now as it as was when it was first made.I urge you to watch it. It is less than four minutes, but is stirring in it's compassionate and inspiring message.

 

The value of friends and family

To realise the value of a sister or brother ask someone who doesn't have one.

To realise the value of ten years ask a newly divorced couple.

To realise the value of four years ask a graduate.

To realise the value of one year ask a student who has failed a final exam.

To realise the value of nine months ask a mother who gave birth to a stillborn.

To realise the value of one month ask a mother who has given birth to a premature baby..

To realise the value of one minute ask a person who has missed the train, bus or plane.

To realise the value of one-second ask a person who has survived an accident.

Time waits for no one. Treasure every moment you have. You will treasure it even more when you can share it with someone special.

To realize the value of a friend or family member, imagine losing one.

Who wants to be happy?

When I'm asked the question "How are you", I generally reply with something along the lines of "I'm wonderful thanks", or something similar. People often look at me in a strange way when they hear such a positive response. It's as if being happy and positive is somehow strange or weird.

The underlying assumption of course, is that being average should be the norm. "Yeah, I'm okay thanks" or "Yeah I'm alright" being the usual responses to such a question.

To most people, being average is the norm, to be expected, and typical behaviour. Being more than average is somehow seen as strange. This is completely wrong headed thinking.

Most people simply don't get it. They don't think they have a choice, and go through life being passive in how they think and feel. Like a pin ball in a pin ball machine, they bounce from one situation to another, without ever taking control of their mood.

It is entirely possible to choose your mood. If you choose to be happy and positive, then guess what? You'll feel positive and happy. If you choose to be moody and negative, then guess what? You'll feel moody and negative.

If you wake up and tell yourself you're going to have a good day, the chances are you will.

There will always be times when you can't be in a positive frame of mind. Sometimes life deals you some terrible blows. No one can be in a good mood at all times. However, positive, happy people will bounce back far quicker than moody, negative people.

Imagine yourself on a really good day. A day when you are feeling energised, happy and positive. Imagine if you could feel like that nearly all of the time. Yes, even on a Monday morning. Wouldn't that be amazing?

Well, you can, but only if you want to. If you choose to. If that's what you want. 

If you do something for 14 days, it becomes a habit, and you can do it without having to consciously think about it. The same is true for your mood. If you wake up each day for 14 days, and be as positive as possible during that period of time, then the happy habit will have formed. You will have made the biggest difference to your life imaginable!

The difference between feeling happy and positive vs feeling moody and negative is simply a choice. 

So many people go through their lives being moody, negative and unhappy. I simply don't understand such people. Life is so short, why waste your precious time being anything other than happy and positive.

Happy, positive people aren't necessarily rich, or drive big cars or live in big houses. What sets them apart is that they are happy with what they have. 

They also tend to attract many friends. People like to be around them. Why wouldn't they? They're happy and positive after all.

Do you want to be happy? It's entirely your choice. Next time someone asks you "How are you?", make sure you reply with "Wonderful thanks", and mean it!