Regular columnist Robbie Gennet has toured with Nick Lachey, Everclear, Wayne Kramer, and Fishbone, plays keyboards in the original funk band Rudy (WARNING: possible explicit lyrics if you click that link), and is generally involved in too many projects for us to keep up with. Drop him a line here.
Greetings fellow
keyboard players, welcome back to the Keyboard blog! We've all been
recovering from NAMM, which reverberates for weeks after in your brain
(and feet!). There seemed to be more people attending than last year, a
good sign in this struggling economy. Perhaps people are finding the
motivation to create their own change and make things happen out there,
or a lot of butts are on the line. Or both. But after more than a dozen
NAMM shows in a row, I feel a communal camaraderie that always makes me
glad to suffer the sore feet and laryngitis for the people, the gear,
and the jams. And boy were there some jams! Arlan brought down "The
Booty Bus" filled with great gear including a Hammond and Leslie, old
and new Moogs, and a Wurly, all surrounded by a full drum kit, guitar
amps and bass amps. Over the course of Friday and Saturday nights,
there were many luminaries floating through the open, revolving-door jam sessions, including Blue
Oyster Cult guitarist Buck Dharma and former Saigon Kick singer Matt
Kramer. Our good buddy Arlan Schierbaum provides such an inspirational musical
concoction and it has become legendary in NAMM lore. Here's hoping
there are some companies out there who want to make him an honest man
and sponsor the bus (and/or ice cream truck--no, really, it's a smaller version of the same idea, an ice cream truck containing a drum kit, backline, and keyboard station) at NAMM in 2011! Check him
out here: http://www.myspace.com/arlanoscar One more bonus: I got to
see my sisters killer all-girl rock band Riot Brides at the Coffin Case
party Friday night and they blew the doors off the place. If you don't
mind hot chicks and heavy metal, turn it up! www.riotbrides.com
Of the instruments
that piqued my interest at NAMM, there were a few that stood way out.
The Mason & Hamlin 9'4" acoustic grand piano was a treat, joined by
the Fazioli and Estonia grands as the cream of the crop of acoustics
this year. Mason & Hamlin's WNG composite hammer and damper actions
are a real breakthrough in piano design and they felt great under the
keys. Bruce Clark gave us some insight into just how they work in the video below. (Click here if you can't see it.)
I was also impressed with
the new Yamaha CP-1 which had some of the most realistic vintage electric piano sounds
that I've heard. The real Rhodes was also in the house, which I review in the February issue, was
turning heads and attracting a lot of talent at the booth, such as Jeff
Lorber and Greg Phillinganes. The MIDI version of the Rhodes tracks
amazingly well, as you can see in our John Novello video here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeLyWQ1kovs
The Hammond booth saw some
shredding as well; check out the video we caught of Glen Stewart and
saxman Mike Phillips jamming out: www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLoJq50ihU0 And don't miss our
exclusive vids of American Idol finalist Brandon Rogers and Garaj Mahal
keyboardist Eric Levy on the piano floor, posting now at
www.youtube.com/keyboardmag1
Since my last blog
post was in early December, let me not forget to mention the 2009
holiday season, during which I went to Florida to lay down vocals on
the new Rudy record and play a few shows to boot. And since I'd been
writing the upcoming story (look for it in the March 2010 issue) on keyboardist Page McConnell of Phish, I decided to see
the band again during their New Year's run in Miami. They played four
nights, two sets per night, and I managed to see the first three nights in
their entirety. As predicted, they jammed and didn't repeat
one tune. To see a band three nights in a row play three completely
different shows is a pleasure in the world of over-planned spectacles
that often pass for rock concerts these days. There were some truly
amazing moments where the music and the lights combined to hoist the
proceedings to brilliant heights and the crowd really got lifted.
I'm reminded of
our Keyboard community, our cabal of like-minded gear geeks that will
flip over a tweaked filter and argue over whether the sound in some obscure '70s tune was a Wurly or a Pianet. Or was it a Hohner
International? We sometimes feel like a secret society, which is kind
of cool; not everyone gets us or what we're about, and that's okay. Truth
is, though our club is tight, it is open and we welcome new keyboardists
to the fold. It was heartening to see 15-year old piano and synth prodigy Skylar Thomas come hang on
our piano rounds and even on the jam bus and kick out some jams of her
own. Also cool was seeing Arlan slip effortlessly from instrument to
instrument while keeping an orderly flow to the bus jam. Just when you
think Arlan's blown your mind, he cranks it up another notch. From the
veterans to the new recruits, our Keyboard community is chock full of
passionate and dedicated individuals and I'm glad to be a part of this
motley group of- dare I say- brilliant and twisted geniuses! (That means
you, Dave Bryce )
Lastly, I recently
got a super-sneak preview of the new Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey album Stay Gold and man, is it cool! The band's sound has morphed and
evolved in a way that past records couldn't predict and their new
lineup is making some amazing music that defies easy categorization.
Keyboard player Brian Haas is a dynamic force of nature who always
bends the ear and mind like a prism of consciousness and this new
record is no exception. The title track was a standout and I look
forward to hearing it all mastered and finished soon. Keep your ears
and mind open and check em out at www.jfjo.com Better yet, see them on
tour right now! They're doing a West Coast run in February and a
European run in March.
That's all for
now~ hope your 2010 is looking bright. Make sure you visit our Youtube
page and see exclusive video we shot at NAMM at both keyboardmag.com/community for the official gear demos, and youtube.com/keyboardmag1 for what this roving reporter found.
See you soon~ keep shedding and shredding out there!
Robbie Gennet
February 1, 2009
Los Angeles, CA