What a Fun Week that was!

One week ago we flew back to N.Y.C. from
Detroit
where we were visiting family and friends
and have had a wonderful time plus a good flight there and back.

Monday night and after a long time i went to Hoboken
to attend the jam session hosted by Big Ed Sullivan
in a place i`ve never being before called The Dubliner.

I loved the place, the food and i met all my good friends
and amazing musicians who turned the jam into something special.

Christine Santelli,
Mike Torres,
Arthur Neilson and Dave Gross
where some of the musicians that shared the stage that night.

Arthur mentioned that he was going to be at Lucille`s
on Thursday night and invited me to come by.

Sheri Pine was the singer
and i really liked her voice and stage presence.

My pal Ivan "Funkboy" Bodley on the bass
laid down some funky grooves,
Arthur some sweet guitar and then they invited me to the stage
and Arthur handed me his Les Paul which he run
through a Fender Deluxe and it sounded great.

Friday night we were invited by our good friend Elizabeth Norment
to a Broadway show
at the Shubert Theater .

Blithe Spirit featuring Angela Lansbury
Rupert Everett,
Christine Ebersol,
and our friend Liz playing Jayne Atkinson`s role.

What an amazing performance that was and how inspiring.

Every one was fantastic and Elizabeth was a shining star.

Saturday night Kathleen and i took long stroll over to Central Park
which is so deliciously green and smells divine,
walking up the recently redone
pedestrian from 42nd to 57th st.Broadway holding hands,
and to a late night show at theAMC Lincoln Square cinemas
to watch Brothers Bloom, a rather boring movie.

What a week!
Rock on!

Greenwich Village.

I have three French guitar students.

One of them got accepted at Berklee
and he is moving to Boston by the end of May.

They all met at my studio the other day and asked me where to go
to have some fun and listen to good music.

I told them to take the F train and get off at
West 4th to the heart of Greenwich Village.

Right there when they get off the train at 131 W. 3rd St.
is the world famous jazz club Blue Note
and right down the street at the corner of MacDougal Street is
The Groove where the play some funky music.

At 115 MacDougal St. it`s the Cafe Wha?
where Jimi Hendrix,Bob Dylan
and Bruce Springsteen,among many others used to hang out and jam.

On the next block south it`s Bleecker Street
with a very vibrant music scene and many clubs featuring every kind of music.

From Folk Music to Blues
to Soul to Rock.

Some clubs i mentioned to them were The Red Lion
the Terra Blues and The Bitter End.

They e-mailed me the next day saying how much fun they had
and what a great place Greenwich Village is to hang out.

They ended up at The Red Lion where some amazing bass player-singer
was laying down the groove.

We are meeting tonight at The Bitter End for the jam hosted by my drummer Mark Greenberg.

Glenn Hughes at John Varvatos club.

Sunday night, in a middle of a thunderstorm, i took the F Train
to Bowery 315 where the old CBGB`S, now
John Varvatos is located, to a privately
held performance by the legendary ex Deep Purple
bassist-vocalist Mr. Glenn Hughes and his band.

They took the stage at 9:00 pm and played for almost two hours
including the two encores.

I have no idea why but i spent the last month listening to three albums
from the vast Deep Purple catalog that i really like.

"Come and taste the band" "Stormbringer" and "Burn"
featuring two different guitar players, but the same bass player and vocalist,
Mr.Glenn Hughes who adds this funky character to the mix that makes the difference.

Tommy Bolin plays guitar on "Come and taste the band"
and Ritchie Blackmore on "Stormbringer"and "Burn".

Two different guitar players with a very distinctive voice.

But boy i didn`t have any idea what a range Glenn`s Voice has.

It certainly covers three octaves and oh so many nuances it is almost unbelievable.

They played their hearts out and i spent the night grooving, dancing
and singing ,aiming on these high notes on "Mistreated" and "Burn",
among other goodies, side by side with a huge Rock fan himself
Mr.John Varvatos.

I left the place sometime before midnight and headed back
to my neighborhood Times Square and to
BBKING`s-Lucille`s where my friend
Nikki Armstong was playing and hung out with the band
for the rest of their show.

I came back home and continued working on my new yet untitled song.

What a night!

March Birthdays.

Well as they say in Greece, Kalo Mina,
which means "Good Month".

This month celebrates the birthdays of many musicians.

Starting with Lou Reed`s
and the late Rory Gallagher`s birthdays today Monday March 2nd.

On Thursday the 5th it`s John Frusciante`s birthday
followed by David Gilmour`s on Friday March 6th.

Then on Monday March 9th it`s Robin Trower`s birthday
and on Sunday March 15th it`s Ry Cooder`s birthday,
followed by Jimmie Vaughan`s on Friday March 20th
followed by Steven Tyler`s on Thursday March 26th
and at the end of the month on Monday March 30th we celebrate Mr.Slowhand`s Eric Clapton`s birthday.

At 2.30 this afternoon i am meeting with my student,
friend Chris and we are going to test the two David Gilmour`s black
Fender Custom Shop Tribute Series
signature guitars, and later i am planning on playing Eric Clapton`s
Blackie one of the 285 instruments meticulously crafted replicas,
all owned by Chris who is a collector of the finest guitars ever made.

I am gonna be in heaven!

Blow by Blow.

Jeff Beck`s 1975 album "Blow by Blow"
changed the musical landscape of the era and the new term "Jazz-Rock"
was introduced to the musical library.

It was also the last album where Jeff played this oxblood Les Paul
before he finally switched to the mighty Strat
for "Wired", his next offering of the same year.

Last week i`ve got the chance to play his signature Les Paul series model #2.

Jeff kept #1 to himself of course.

It is an amazing instrument which when plugged into
a Marshall handwired 2061X
becomes every guitar lover`s wet dream come true.

We spent one hour jamming on the tune "`Cause we ended as lovers"
and it was not hard to get the creamy sound Jeff has on this track.

I am privileged to have a student and a friend who has a great guitar collection,
and every time we meet i get to play another fantastic guitar.

Now i wonder if that`s the same guitar he used when he was recording "Truth".

Another classic album and a must have for every guitarist.

This album together with John Mayall`s
and the Bluesbreakers "Beano" featuring Eric Clapton,
"A Hard Road" featuring Peter Green
"Tons of Sobs" by Free and Led Zeppelin `s first album
are essential for every Blues-Rock guitar player to own and study.

Blow by Blow.

Jeff Beck`s 1975 album "Blow by Blow"
changed the musical landscape of the era and the new term "Jazz-Rock"
was introduced to the musical library.

It was also the last album where Jeff played this cherry red Les Paul
before he finally switched to the mighty Strat
for "Wired", his next offering of the same year.

Last week i`ve got the chance to play his signature Les Paul series model #2.

Jeff kept #1 to himself of course.

It is an amazing instrument which when plugged into
a vintage Marshall JTM
becomes every guitar lover`s wet dream come through.

We spent one hour jamming on the tune "`Cause we ended as lovers"
and it was not hard to get the creamy sound Jeff has on this track.

I am privileged to have a student and a friend who has a great guitar collection,
and every time we meet i get to play another fantastic guitar.

Now i wonder if that`s the same guitar he used when he was recording "Truth".

Another classic album and a must have for every guitarist.

This album together with John Mayall`s
and the Bluesbreakers "Beano" featuring Eric Clapton,
"A Hard Road" featuring Peter Green
"Tons of Sobs" by Free and Led Zeppelin `s first album
are essential for every Blues-Rock guitar player to own and study.

Mesa Boogie studio 22 and Fender Deluxe reverb.

Finally my two beloved amps arrived from Greece.

I shipped them at the end of September when i was in Athens
and they finally reached New York by the end of 2008.

It is a thrill to play with my Mesa Boogie and my
Fender Deluxe Reverb again.

They both sound awesome.

I bought my Fender in 1984 when i was living in Stockholm.

Although i love the sound of a vintage Marshall,
when i was testing amps for smaller clubs and studio work,
the combos that i`ve tried sounded kind of boxy to me,
while the then new blackface Fender deluxe combo delivered a wider sound
with much more headroom so i bought one and i still love it.

When i was living in Athens in the 90`s i met this guy
who was Mesa Boogie`s dealer and i got hooked to the sound
of a Mesa Boogie studio 22 so i bought it and i ended up using it
on all of the songs on my 1996 release "Fota Tou Ilggou"

When i was visiting Greece i did talk to different moving companies but i was not satisfied
with what they had to offer so i was postponing the move for years.

Then last summer a friend here mentioned Hercules
and this is the company i finally used and they delivered the goods.

All of my fragile stuff arrived in perfect condition and now i am a happy man.

John Varvatos Bowery.

Thursday night i was invited to John Varvatos Bowery
to check out a group called The Lufthansa Heist.

It`s always fun to be there, wandering around the same space where music history was written
sometime ago when the place was named CBGB.

John Varvatos has been true to the tradition and has restored the place in a brilliant way
that resembles all the past glory but armed and ready to write it`s own new history.

First time i was there i was amazed by all the memorabilia on the walls
as well as the beautiful clothes fit to dress any new aspired Rock`n Rollers
and yet trademark of the older glamorous and successful.

I was into John Varvatos clothes design even before i visited his Bowery
store and had the chance to see, touch and feel the glory first hand
and now i am saving money to buy whatever i can afford to.

It was his Greek name that drew my attention at first
then i found out that he was born and raised in Detroit,
Michigan where my wife is from
and that contributed to my curiosity to find out more about him.

Then of course his Manhattan store
was my highest motivation of visiting and rediscovering old glories.

When you are there you feel the vibes of the place and that might have been
the reason why yesterday on my visit to the Public Library,
i took out The Best of Blondie and
Marquee Moon