Long Beach Jazz Angels

Hello!

I recently had the opportunity to check out a free show that the Los Angeles Philharmonic put on as part of their Neighborhood Concert series, and on the bill was a group I had never heard of before, the Long Beach Jazz Angels. I liked what I saw, so I thought I would look into them a bit more, and give them a shout-out on my blog.

The Jazz Angels is a program based out of Long Beach, California that lets kids get involved in music performance outside of the usual school setting. Their mission statement is as follows: “The Jazz Angels creates an environment for the youth of greater Long Beach to develop self-confidence and leadership skills while learning, playing and preserving jazz through professional music mentoring. These skills and experiences transcend the musical feeling and impact all areas of the young musician’s personal growth.”

These kids have a wonderful opportunity to learn and play alongside profession musicians, and the group I had saw included an instructor on the double bass, and youth on the drums, keyboards, sax and trumpet. The organization has the music arranged specifically for its ensembles, and in this case they got to play along with the LA Phil on a couple of numbers. What a tremendous moment in time for these kids!

There are a few different ways for youth to participate. There are ongoing summer, winter, fall, and spring programs, each of which has eight rehearsals and at least two performances. These sessions cost around $250, and needs-based scholarships are available. They also have special programs, such as the recent A LOT initiative, which was funded by grants from the Arts Council for Long Beach and the NEA. This program involved twenty youth (ages 10 to 14), and included free concerts in September and October.

The Jazz Angels is a neat organization that is helping preserve a truly American art form while giving our youth a chance to grow musically and contribute to our community. If you have a kid (or are a kid) in Long Beach or its surrounding communities you really ought to look into their programs and see if they interest you.

You can get more information about the group, download an application or make a donation to their cause at www.jazzangel.org

Please check it out!

Memory Lane: 1985 Westone The Rail Bass Review

Aloha!

Back in the 1980s, the Steinberger L-series basses were quite chic, but not cheap, so a few makers got on the bandwagon and produced their own small-bodies headless basses. The 1985 Westone rail bass we are looking at today is one of these, but with a few twists.

If you have not heard of Westone before, here is a quick run-down on the brand. Matsumoku was a Japanese company that specialized in making guitars for many brands, including Aria, Epiphone, Vox and more. They built very good instruments, including copies of popular American instruments that caused some legal difficulties.

After building instruments for other companies for all of those years, in 1981 they decided to start their own brand and Westone was born. Their products were never a big hit and in 1987 Matsumoku sold the brand to a Korean company, and by 1991 the brand was gone. Not many of their guitars ere imported to the US, and it seems like most of their products went to the UK.

In 1984 Westone got on the headless bass bandwagon and over time they introduced a range of instruments, including a full-bodied model (the Super Headless), a small-body model (the Quantum) and The Rail.

The Rail is one of the more bizarre-looking basses you will ever see, but everything about it is purely functional. It was designed around the idea of using a pickup that can be re-positioned so many different kinds of tone can be attained. This is similar in concept to the Dan Armstrong basses of the late 1960s. In this case, pickup movement was achieved by mounting it to two steel rails so it could be moved at will.

Unlike Steinbergers, no exotic materials were used to construct these instruments. The neck and body pieces are made of maple, and rosewood is used for the fretboard. The center piece where the passive humbucker pickup is mounted also contains all of the electronics, which consist of an output jack and a volume control. They figured that no tone control was needed as the pickup can be moved. There is an extra knob on top to lock the pickup into place. There were available in red, white or black, and all of them had black paint on the back of the neck.

The tuners and bridge are separate pieces, which simplifies things a bit from the Steinberger system. The bridge is easily adjustable, and the tuners work surprisingly well for a budget instrument. In true 1980s style, all of the hardware is finished in black.

Looking at The Rail Bass years later, I find that they are holding up pretty well. The necks do not seem to twist up, and I have never seen a broken tuner assembly. The frets on this one are still good, and it can be adjusted for a nice low action. By the way, when was the last time you saw red fret marker dots?

Playing these basses is not super-fun though. I like the shorter scale length (32 ¼-inches) and the pickup can indeed get oodles of different sound depending on where you put it, but ergonomically The Rail is a challenge. I could never get a comfortable right hand position, but maybe it will be just your cup of tea. I would like to try one of their Quantum basses and see if it is a better fit.

Westone’s The Rail Bass was not too expensive when it came out, with a list price of $499, which included a gig bag. They only made these basses for two or three years, but their rarity does not lead to a premium price on the used market. I see them sell for around $500 when they come up on eBay. If you ever see one, give it a try and see what you think!

Mahalo!

Nick and the Overols Telegraph Taboo Album Review

Hello!

This CD review was originally published in the March 21, 2013 edition of Blues Blast Magazine. Be sure to check out the rest of the magazine at thebluesblast.com

Nick and the Ovorols – Telegraph Taboo

Self Release

www.nickandtheovorols.com

10 tracks / 46:09

Some guitarists spend their entire lives searching for the perfect tone, but it sounds like Chicago’s Nick Peraino hit the mark early and then some. On Nick and the Overols’ debut studio CD, Telegraph Taboo, he lays down some of the heaviest hitting blues rock tones I have ever heard. Who would ever guess that he started out as a jazz musician?

Nick is a Yankee that moved to the windy city in the late 1990s so he could study jazz guitar at DePaul University and to be closer to the Mecca of blues music. After college he toured the Midwest with his own band and worked as a sideman around town. He took the role of frontman again when he formed Nick and the Overols in 2011, and their music is not jazzy at all! Nick provides the guitar, bass and other stringed instrument parts on this album, and he is joined by Lance Lewis on drums, Marcin Fahmy on keyboards and Honeesoul on backing vocals. Peraino produced Telegraph Taboo and wrote all of the tracks, with Lewis having co-writing credit on the first song.

And the first song is one raw piece of electric blues. “Take the V Train” uses a guitar pattern that repeats and then layers over a heavy ride cymbal and kick drum with Lewis hammering out a basic bass part. Despite the great guitar sounds, Nick’s voice is the star here. He comes off like a harder-edged Paul Rodgers, which is a good thing. The lyrics are simple with no frills, which is something you will find throughout the album.

After the first track, things turn up a notch. “Chitown Via Greyhound” has a couple of false starts, almost like he is trying to figure out the best way to approach the song, and then it just takes off like a bat out of hell. For this one Peraino uses heavily distorted guitars with a neat slide solo overlay. Lewis is back on the drums for this track and he lays down a serious beat. This song segues into the slow rolling “Heed the Words I Say” which has a slightly funkier vibe due to the inclusion of Fahmy’s B3.

“Honey Please” is a standout track, with a bit more of a modern sound. It is upbeat with thumpy bass and lots of toms and kick drum. Peraino tortures his voice as he strings together an impressive string of musical clichés. His guitars are all over the place and he has some truly awesome solos that battle with each other. Then “Mojo A Go Go” brings the soul and funk out with some wacky distorted keyboard parts. Though the material is all blues-based, Nick and the Ovorols manage to come up with a lot of different sounds and tones, so things never get into a rut.

The vocals are overpowered by the music in the slow-burning “Hey, Mr. President” to the point where I had a hard time understanding the words. This is fine with me as I do not like to mix my music with politics. After this song the album takes a turn and we are treated to a neat ballad, “Try Me,” which is the longest track on Telegraph Taboo, coming in at 7 ½ minutes. In this song Nick shows just how pretty he can sing, and his voice works so well with Honeesoul’s. Fahmy’s organ work is very tasteful, and Peraino’s guitars have a lot of neat textures in this tune, with a good mixture of clean and reverb layers. This is my favorite track on the album as it is just so well crafted. The mood becomes even more subdued with “Day to Day,” a bare bones ballad. The drums are left out as Nick experiments with delay-soaked acoustic guitar and some edgy effects. He also throws a little accordion into the mix, which adds nicely to the unique sound of this track.

The band picks up the tempo and brightens the mood with the soulful “Half of Two” as Honeesoul returns. And to close out the album, Nick gives us “Soundtrack to Life” which a short yet mournful guitar-only a capella tune.

Telegraph Taboo was an ambitious undertaking, and Nick and the Overols were up to the task. This is a collection of twelve very good original songs, and if you like hard-hitting electric blues this will be just the ticket for you. Check it out if you get a chance -- you will be glad you did!

Mahalo!

Fender Rumble 350 2x10 Bass Combo Amplifier Review

Howdy!

Things have changed a lot in the amplification world since I bought my first bass combo, a Peavey TNT 150. Technology and construction have improved so that these amps are more efficient and powerful, not to mention lighter, than ever before. This holds even for entry-level units, such as the Fender Rumble 350 2x10 bass combo amplifier that we are looking at today.

The Rumble 350 combo not terribly huge, measuring 25” tall by 23” wide by 14” deep. It is covered in black vinyl with a metal grille, and it weighs in at around 65 pounds – so much for that stuff I was saying about new amps being lightweight. It does include removable casters, which are a godsend until you get to that first staircase. There are spring-loaded handles for when it comes time to tackle that staircase or when you are loading it into the back of your mom’s minivan.

As you probably guessed from the name, this is a 350-watt amp (at 8 Ohms). This is a solid-state unit, and it has a variable-speed fan to keep it cool. The power is output through two 10-inch Fender Special Design speakers (whatever that means) and a piezo horn, which can be switched off.

The front control panel has plenty going on. Only one input is provided, and it has a -6dB pad switch. There is a switchable overdrive section with a gain control and a blend knob that mixes the clean and the overdriven signals. Tone shapers include two preset switches (Punch and Scoop) as well as a three band EQ with a semi-parametric mid control (level and frequency).

There are a few extras, too, including an effects loop, A pair of AUX IN RCA jacks, a ¼-inch headphone out, the footswitch jack, and an XLR line out with a ground lift switch. There is also the horn ON/OFF switch and the power switch (on the front!). I really like that they included the RCA jacks and headphone jack, as it is sometimes nice to plug in a CD or MP3 player and practice silently.

Fender is bucking current trends, as there is not much to be found on the back except for an IEC power cable socket. Surprisingly, there are no speaker outs.

I tried out the Rumble350 with a few different basses with vastly different outputs, including a passive Precision Bass, a Sadowsky vintage P, and a Musicman Bongo 4H. Without overdrive, the amp did not color the tone of the instruments, and I had no complaints at all. The sound had a warm character to it, and this would be a good amp for classic rock or blues.

The two shaping presets are a bit of a mystery to me. I tried them out with a variety of playing styles, including the hated popping and slapping, and could not get comfortable with the tone it produced. I had a lot better luck using the EQ knobs to get to where I needed to be.

Well, I do not usually use overdriven sounds, but I tried out those controls, and I liked having the option of turning the function on or off with a footswitch. It worked reasonably well on the Fender and the Sadowsky. All bets were off when I plugged in the Bongo as its 18-volt preamp distorted the crap out of this thing, and not in a good way (even with the pad switch pressed). It would probably be acceptable for harder rock or metal, as long as you do not need too much volume from the combo itself.

All of this is with the volume set at less than 50%. Up to this point the amp played very loud, which would certainly be enough for a small club, or to hear yourself onstage if you are running the bass through the PA too. With or without the overdrive, at over 50% the speakers started to fart out, and there was not more usable volume to be found. It is a shame that there are no extra speaker outputs…

The Fender Rumble 350 2x10 bass combo is a loud enough for small to medium gigs, and though its tone is not the greatest, it will get the job done if you are not too picky. If you look at Fender’s bass amp offerings there are not many choices, so they really need to step up their game if this is the best they can come up with. This amp has a list price of $649, and a street price of $499. For sure you should try it out BEFORE buying.

Mahalo!

Epiphone Thunderbird Classic-IV Pro Bass Review

Hi there!

Bass players often joke around about Gibson not making basses, and though I am certainly not fond of their Les Paul or SG basses, I think their old Ripper and Grabber basses are pretty cool. Not to mention their big gun, the Thunderbird. Today we are looking at a very good substitute that is sold by Epiphone, the Thunderbird Classic-IV Pro.

The original Gibson Thunderbird was a refreshing change of pace when it was introduced in 1963. It had a bizarre reverse body profile and the headstock turned the wrong way at the end, courtesy of automobile designer Ray Dietrich. It also got a super-solid neck-thru construction and a tone that Fender could not offer. It caught on with a few band over the years, most notably, the Who, Cheap Trick, Lynyrd Skynyrd, not to mention its most ardent ambassador, Nikki Sixx of Motley Crue.

Fast forward four decades, and you will find that Epiphone introduced their own imported version of the Thunderbird, and it was immediately panned, and for good reason. It had a bolt-on neck, was festooned with cheap-ass hardware, and it played and sounded like crap. However, it was really cheap, coming in at around $300 (about a fifth the price of the American-made Gibson model).

Well, Epiphone still sells that chunk, but they have since introduced a $400 Pro-IV and the $500 Classic IV-pro I am reviewing here. The Classic IV-Pro is a completely different animal, and could be a bass worth buying if you can hang with the eccentricities of owning a T-bird bass.

From the first glance you have to agree that they did a very good job of following the original visual theme. Epiphone went all the way with the wood, going for mahogany wings on either side of the seven-ply mahogany and walnut thru-neck. It retains the original thin body wings that step up to the width of the neck, which is a clever weight-cutting feature. Rosewood is used for the fretboard which is unremarkable until you consider that if you buy a new Gibson Les Paul you will get a maple fretboard that is dyed to look like rosewood. For $2000 more. This one is finished in Vintage Sunburst, which is the only color I like on this body style. Alpine White is also available, but I will make fun of you if you buy one.

That seven-ply neck has a 34-inch scale (rare for a Gibson bass) and it is a skinny 1.5-inches wide at the nut. It has a 60’s profile on the back and a 12-inch radius across the fretboard. They sunk some cute pearloid dot markers into that fretboard, and pressed 20 medium jumbo nickel/silver frets into it. There is no binding on the neck (or the body, for that matter). Hidden on top of the headstock are the sealed gear tuners, which are finished in black. This is a departure from the original shiny open-geared tuners of the originals, but the current Gibson T-birds use black hardware too.

Moving down to the body you will find that the three-point flush-mount bridge has the same finish. The bridge seems solid enough and is adjustable in every possible axis, allowing a multitude of set-up possibilities. The black hardware bugs me a bit, but it is not a deal-breaker. The truss rod cover has the Epiphone logo, and it would probably not be hard to find one that says Gibson if you want to fool your audience. Thankfully they went with iconic pickguard shape, complete with the bird outline on it.

The electronics are very good, with two potted Gibson ceramic magnet humbuckers. They are wired through two volume controls and a master tone control, which are in a tight line and set right next to the G string.

I have always liked the look of the Thunderbird, and Epiphone did a wonderful job of catch the vibe of the original. If you have not played one of these before it is kind of a trip, because the neck feels like it is a mile long. This results in some neck dive, which is somewhat ameliorated by the lightweight tuners. Thought the stepped body profile may look a little odd, I do not notice it when playing, and it certainly does cut weight as this bass comes in around 9 pounds, 2 ounces.

The neck on this one is nice and thin and its rounded back profile is very comfy. Epiphone’s Indonesian workers made sure that the frets are level with nice ends, which is something that the Gibson factory cannot seem to accomplish with their high-dollar Les Pauls. This bass showed up with good intonation and a medium action height. It is a good player, for sure.

The sound is very similar to the Gibson Thunderbird. This bass was originally introduced to combat the Fender Jazz Bass, and though the controls are the same the humbuckers are less subtle, which gives this instrument a different character. The output is more powerful and experimenting with different types of amps and gain settings will result in most any sort of tone you could possibly hope for. And though can play clean and distinctive tones, where this bass naturally shines is in super fat and overdriven circumstances. It is a dreamy rock bass, and you can see why louder bands prefer its tone.

So, for $499 (list price $832) you get a bass that is just as good as its Gibson counterpart for a thousand bucks less. This includes Epiphone’s limited lifetime warranty, but no case. Keep in mind that most cases will not fit the T-bird, so you will want to pony up for the Epiphone hard case, which runs about $98 (list price $148).

If you like the looks of the Thunderbird and can handle the ergonomics, the Epiphone Thunderbird Classic-IV Pro bass is the only one to consider. Check one out!

Mahalo!

Black Magic Johnson Call Me Album Review

Hello!

This CD review was originally published in the February 28, 2013 edition of Blues Blast Magazine. Be sure to check out the rest of the magazine at thebluesblast.com

Black Magic Johnson – Call Me

Self Release

www.blackmagicjohnson.com

12 tracks / 54:21

I think there is a Springfield in almost every state in the United States, but the one closest to Chicago is the one that gets my attention as there is a lot of great music that comes out of that city. Black Magic Johnson is no exception, having honed their skills by putting in a lot of hours gigging around the area. Despite the band’s busy schedule, they have managed to take the time to put together their newest CD, Call Me.

Black Magic Johnson is led by Reggie Britton, who wrote all twelve of the songs on Call Me and performed the lead vocals as well as the drum and harmonica parts. He is joined on this album by Alexis Rogers and Dan Grover on guitars (and background vocals) while Willie Chrismon and Bob Hagler split the bass duties, and Suit & Tie Guy worked the keyboards. By the way, Suit & Tie guy has to be one of the best musician names I have ever run into.

The band’s songs are mixture of genres that includes rhythm and blues, rock, soul and even a little country and gospel thrown in for good measure. But all of it is good-times music with lots of vocal harmonies and a heavy emphasis on guitars, which Rogers and Grover do an admirable job with. You will hear all of this on the first track, “Crazy About You Baby,” which has a nice Chicago blues flavor. This upbeat song is fun with simple lyrics and a jaunty syncopated rhythm guitar that pops along with the snare.

The funky “Loving Ways” is the next one in line, and Britton shows that his songwriting is versatile, as the lyrics are a bit more complicated. Sticking to the old standby relationship subject, he paints a picture of a saint of a woman using some really fun rhymes. The guitars are scorching on this tune, and everything comes off a little distorted. Then the band switches gears quickly with the slow and soulful “Standing By Me” which makes liberal use of acoustic guitars and Suit & Tie Guy’s Hammond.

My favorite song on this album is “Water from a Rock” a rollicking eight-bar blues tune that is built on the foundation of a doubled rhythm guitar and bass line. The music is good, but the lyrics are what make this stuff real. This is pure wit as Britton addresses the unrealistic expectations of another: “You want water from a rock / and blood from a turnip, baby / and sunlight under your shade tree.” Too true!

Most of the songs on Call Me are the usual four to five minutes, but they squeezed a couple of longer ones in too. The risqué (at times) “She’s Got Everything” clocks in at almost eight minutes, not because they threw in a couple of extra guitar solos, but because there were just a ton of things they wanted to say and that was how long it took to get the job done. The slow-burning blues song “Love So Cold” is a tick over 10 minutes. This song does not shortchange the guitar parts at all, and in fact it is so heavy that it would fit in perfectly with the blues rock of Led Zeppelin’s first album.

Suit & Tie Guy brings a few different keyboard sounds to Call Me, most noticeably the distorted synthesizers on “Blues Traveler” and his fine organ work on “All Tore Up,” which are both placed near the end of the CD. Then, after spending eleven tracks proving what good musicians they are, the band chose to end the album with a short a capella soul number, “Thank You Baby.” This is really the only opportunity to hear their voices without any coloration or distraction from the instruments, and with their sweet harmonization it turned out really nicely.

Black Magic Johnson created a very good album with Call Me, and I am impressed that they put together a collection of a dozen solid tracks without having to use any cover tunes. The lyrics and score are consistent, and there is a not a clunker in the bunch. You can find them gigging around the Springfield, Illinois area on most weekends, so be sure to check them out if you get a chance -- I am sure you will have a great time!

Mahalo!

Tech 21 SansAmp Para Driver Di Instrument Preamp Pedal Review

I have plenty of DI pedals, and mostly I prefer ones that provide a clean signal, but lately I have been messing around with DI boxes that can also shape my sound, and the Tech 21 Para Driver Pedal gets pretty close to a tube tone.

Tech 21 has been around since 1989, when a guitarist/electronics guru developed the first SansAmp tube amplifier emulator. In the years since they have introduced a wide array of products, including effect pedals, midi controllers and even a line of amplifiers. Their products are well-regarded by musicians, they manufacture stuff in the US, and they have very good customer service.

The Para Driver DI is housed in a smart-looking matte finished black case. It measures about 4.5 by 3.5 by 1.5 inches, and it weighs around ¾ of a pound. On top are the footswitch and five knobs: Level, Drive, 3 EQ knobs, and a mid shift knob. You will also find a blend switch, line/instrument switches the XLR and 1/4 outs, and a phantom power switch. On the right side is the ¼-inch input, and on left side are the ¼-inch and XLR outs.

This SansAmp runs on a 9-volt battery, or you can buy an adaptor to plug it into a wall. If it is plugged into a mixing console, you can ditch your AC adaptor and run it off the board’s phantom power (that is what the phantom power switch is for). Neat!

Like the originals, the SansAmp Para Driver DI plays the role of a preamp that sounds like a mic’d speaker cabinet that is being driven by a tube amplifier, using no real tubes and 100% analog circuitry. After plugging it into my Genz Shuttle, I pulled out the user manual and messed around with their recommended sample settings. The active tone controls allow +/- 12 dB of boost or cut. With my trust P Bass it took no time at all to get a solid SVT, Jaco or upright bass tone. This thing gets very close and many of the sounds I got out of it were very useful.

This Tech 21 unit was not designed just for bass though, so I also took the opportunity to put my Martin and Stratocaster through it. I used the blend control to take some of the weirdness out of the piezo on my acoustic, and I got some unholy gnarly rock sounds when driven hard with my Fender. This is really a versatile pedal, and I did not find any of my instruments that it would not work well with.

As a direct box, the Para Driver DI delivers the goods too. With the blend switched off and the EQ set flat it delivers a pure tone from my guitars and basses to the mixing console. The equalizer is still functional, so the tone can still be fine-tuned by the user and the switchable mid selections can really help a bassman find his or her sweet spot.

The Tech 21 SansAmp Para Driver Preamp Pedal is a great unit, and if you like the tone it will sell itself. It has a list price of $275, and street price around $200; if you buy a new one it comes with a one year limited warranty. Check one out for yourself, and see if it is what you are looking for.

Mahalo!