Daily Doings at the Line of Death Bar & Grill

Continuing my march down memory lane....

My high school -- Sweet Home -- was in Section VI, Division I of the New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA). Section VI covered western New York -- Niagara, Erie, Chautauqua, and Cattaraugus counties. Division I was for the larger schools. The schools (and teams) I remember us playing against were Amherst (Tigers), Kenmore East (Bulldogs), Kenmore West (Blue Devils), North Tonawanda (Lumberjacks), and Jamestown (Red Raiders). Games were held on Saturday afternoons, and occastionally on Friday nights.

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So, in the past year or so, I added a few pieces to my collection of musical instruments, collectively known as the "Sonic Arsenal".

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It was either 1983, 1984, or 1985. _Contemporary Keyboard_ magazine had recently done a feature article on a German electronic music trio called Tangerine Dream. I found one of their albums in stock at a record store: "Tangram", which was released in 1980. I bought the album, took it home with me, and performed the "first listening" ritual as I had always done: with headphones.

I was wowed.

Most electronic music I had been exposed to before this was mostly collections of sounds that weren't exactly connected melodically. TD changed that. It showed me what was possible with synthesizers and sequencers. The music was divided into two album-side-long suites: "Tangram Set 1" and "Tangram Set 2". Each of the sets/suites were comprosed of several short pieces connected together. (Or to use a musical term, one segues into another.) A few of the sections had repeating bass lines and chord progressions, with either a guitar or keyboard playing a solo line over it. TD is renowned for their ostinato patterns, which were performed via sequencers or tape loops.

I still remember the night I recorded a cassette tape of this album, with the help of college friend Jim Ramberg.

One of its members, Chris Franke, went solo in the late 80s, and recorded music for movies and TV, including the music for all of the episodes of "Babylon 5".

And this is the type of music I'd love to write and perform. I have a partially completed piece, called "International Orange", which is written in the style of Tangerine Dream. I'm planning either 7 or 8 parts. So far, only part 2 has been realized, way back in 2002.

Give the entire album a listen here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2XEH_8PLts

The year was 1979, give or take a year. I was familiar with Gary Wright and his all-synthesizer song song "Dream Weaver". I remember laying in bed one winter's night in 1976, with the lights off, and hearing it on the radio. I was staring at the ceiling and I could see the stars.

And one day in the summer of '79, I was at the local Twin Fair discount department store, perusing through the record department, as I often did when I was there. I came across this album in the cutout bin. That day, it went home with me. And I listened to it. And loved it.

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So I've been listening to a lot of the Pat Metheny Group -- and Pat's solo work -- this past week. It's my favorite music for long-distance drives and traveling. I don't have all his CDs, but I'm working on it.

How did I first hear about him? In 1978 or 1979, there was a series of films I saw in high school science class called "The Search For Solutions". And the theme music the used in the opening credits was by the Pat Metheny Group. (The song they used was called "The Search", from the "American Garage" album. How appropriate.)

Flash forward to 1984. A new radio station in town, with the call letters of WRXT, and a free-form play list, played Pat's solo guitar song, "New Chautauqua", from the album of the same name. I loved the song so much that I just had to get my own copy. And so I went off in search of his albums.

Over the years, he's been a pioneer and a trailblazer. He started off playing trumpet, and switched to guitar a few years later. He's also taught at prestigious music schools such as the University of Miami and the Berklee School of Music, and did so at a very young age (late teens). He was one of the first guitarists (that I know of) to experiment with guitar synthesizers, and the myriad sonic possibilities available through them. And he uses the various guitar sounds for different effects, much like a painter would use different colors on a pallette to create a painting. Some of the guitars he uses are quite distinctive and unique. Perhaps the most unique is the 42-string Pikasso guitar that Canadian luthier Linda Manzer built for him.

And sometimes, he's outspoken and opinionated. Years ago, Metheny ripped Kenny G a new one, after Kenny G released his version of the Louis Armstrong classic, "What A Wonderful World", with Kenny G playing along with ths song via an overdub.

I don't know much about his personal life, and I don't need to. It doesn't matter to me. I do know that he travels a lot, performing for audiences all around the world.

I got to see him live in 1997, during the "Imaginary Day" tour, which had a stop at the Fraze Pavilion in Kettering, Ohio. And I hope I can see him in concert again.

From renaissancetouring.com: Renaissance is touring the northeastern US this fall! Here are the dates.

I'd like to attend the Sept. 13 show in Buffalo, at the Tralfamadore Cafe. I'll need to check my work schedule and my pocketbook to see if I can go.

Just got back from Ohio Valley Filk Fest 26. I was there only today. HIghlights for me:
* Chamberfilk with 10 players (and 2 bass clarinets! Thanks quadrivium!)
* The dinner with autographedcat and kitanzi at BD's Mongolian Grill
* Playing a duet written by peteralway
* [Finally] meeting a few more filkers I hadn't met before, like sweetmusic_27, ladymondegreen, judifilksign, and shadowriderhope

Thanks to all who reached out to me and made me feel a welcomed member of the filk community once again!

....about sound and music composition tools that run under Linux. Is there a package comparable to Cakewalk Home Studio? And are there MIDI players that will do mutiple tracks?

I'll watch the video clip later, when I have access to a high-speed internet connection. But for now, I'll share it with the rest of you.

The making of 10cc's hit "I'm Not In Love".

One of the albums in my collection is a two-record set called "Pink World" by the Planet P Project. For those of you who don't know, the Planet P Project is keyboardist Tony Carey, once with Richie Blackmore's band Rainbow.

I first heard this album from the local library. I later found a copy of the album in the discount bin. I think. Recently, I found some of the songs on YouTube.

The world that is depicted in Pink World is somewhat harrowing, almost like a dystopic SF world. Surverillance cameras are everywhere. People in cages for a human barrier of sorts. Through it all is a young boy, named Artimis, who doesn't speak. It's been a while since I've heard the album, so my details are sketchy at best.

It's been on my "to digitize" list. Not any more.

I found Tony's web site and it mentioned that Pink World, and his eponymous debut album, have been remastered and released on CD. So I went looking for it on eBay. And found it.

What are your favorite concept albums that I should know about?