Good stuff about Tommy’s vid. and the walking bass! I think that it speaks volumes when you say you feel like a much better “musician”.

My jam partner has a VG88 and a few stick-on Roland MIDI pickups, but I don’t think he has the new sounds redefine how he sounds in any significant sense. I see much more simplifying an existing technique (like Joni using a midified Parker Fly to hold her many tunings) and slight augmentation (like Steve Morse having string patches swell up on occasion behind his fundamental guitar tone) rather than a core redefinition of technique. Except with Future Man.

It gets to your point with the Moog guitar. My friend is thinking of getting a Floyd Rose with Ghost piezo saddles and a VG99. But beyond the actual wiring and setup to allow him to control the MIDI from the guitar, just straight hardware, he’s looking at over $1K and quite possibly $2K. Maybe more. Is there anyone who is still in the developing point of his style who is capable of dropping that kind of coin on an instrument?

In other news, I’ve been watching Tommy Shannon’s bass video from Netflix, and I think I understand walking bass a lot more now, and that’s beyond chromatic walkups and root-fifth-domseven-octave jumps. I feel like a much better musician today.

Condoms!-Drive Thru Window!

I’m not sure how that applies; just a Dallas memory.
SB-Yeah, I remember when they were trying to market Holdsworth to the diatonic minor, hairspray crowd. It seemed to me like some of that music wanted to evolve but the fans wouldn’t allow it.
As far as guitar synth goes, in general, I’ll walk out of the room. But, Holdsworth and Metheny; I will listen to them synth out. Seems like they just have interesting musical ideas. I like Atavachron and Metal Fatigue btw but, I think my favorite Holdsworth is still IOU which was a lot more sparse. I think my favorite of Pat’s is Bright Size Life because it’s kind of a jazz power trio. Jaco is cool on it but I really really dug Bob Moses.
Stern is a gut player with jazz knowledge as is Ford in my mind. Good combination sort of savory/sweet. I’ve heard some of the Yellowjackets with Stern and I think they made a wise choice.
Also, regarding the PM/Kenny G business; that was a hoot. Have you ever heard the tune Richard Thompson wrote about it?

Brainless pentatonic riffs
Display our Kenny’s arcane gifts
But we don’t care, his charms are so beguiling
He does play sharp, but let’s be fair
He has such lovely crinkly hair
We hardly notice, we’re too busy smiling

Here’s a link to the MP3
http://www.richardthompson-music.com/audio/I_Agree_With_Pat_Metheny.mp3

Ain’t life grand… Synth? Heidei blum and Guitar Hero. [stop]
Guitar, is a guitar, is a guitar, by any other name is still a guitar… Go ask Ron Roskowske what can you do to make your guitar sound like a Basset Horn?[stop]

Spent the day yesterday listening to Marsalis Father Son album… and watching home movies from our sixties… [stop]
Tears were shooting out of our eyes, splattering Cousin Paul’s recently replastered walls…[stop]
each time we saw or said a word about cousins we lost or ailing brothers sisters aunts uncles grands and great grands, cry fest [stop]
Thanks to my treasured Cousins, Paul, Lesan, Alice and the Queen mothers/ sisters octogenarians… smooth operations [stop]

don’t forget:
“The fortune of fables are able to sing the songs
Now witness the quickness with which we get along
To sing the blues you have to live the tunes and carry on” [stop]

If you don’t know what it means, I don’t either [stop]

Obituary well said:
“I [stratoblogster] could see the scenario– esp. with a the name “Metal” Fatigue. Then AH wrote a book which everyone ran out to buy– turned out to be about brewing beer as AH is also a brewmeister. Nothing about guitar.” [stop]

“…whereas PM shows are in larger more upscale venues and Summer fests with plenty of gorgeous Mini-Cooper & Hummer drivin’ professional cougar-type women.”

Cousin Paul, that’s what Dallas is all about, voted Metheny… [stop] add me to that, two for PM… [stop]

Atavachron was the Holdsworth album with the most Synthaxe. Wildly enough, that album also featured lots keyboard synth stuff. Here’s a funny Holdsworth item, in the 80’s the used record bins became a haven for copies of the Metal Fatigue album. AH was gaining major notoriety as a guitar god and all these big hairs were buying Metal Fatigue, scratching their heads and trading it back in for Poison albums. I could see the scenario– esp. with a the name “Metal” Fatigue. Then AH wrote a book which everyone ran out to buy– turned out to be about brewing beer as AH is also a brewmeister. Nothing about guitar.

In the early 80’s I saw Metheny doing his Ornette Coleman thing with some variety of early guitar synth specimen which caused me to have an out of the body experience.

I actually like smoothie jazz only without any guitar. Spyro Gyra is a fun getaway for me, until they add the silly over-compressed token turd-in-the-punchbowl guitar tracks. Yellowjackets with Robben Ford were cool. Stern’s supposed to be working with the Jackets these days– which is a nice kick of cayenne to the gumbo. Those boys are serious musicians.