Living with War.

Last night i`ve heard for the first time the new Neil Young
album titled "Living with War".

It`s Free to download from his site one week before reaching the stores.
He is reffering to it as his metal-folk protest album and it was written and recorded
in a period of two weeks,sometimes writing three songs a day.

Mr.Young has the ability to write catching tunes while conveying accuretely
what he has to say.

And in this one he has to say a lot.

During the nine new songs he sympathizes with soldiers and war victims,
insists "Don't need no more lies," longs for a leader to reunite America
and prays for peace.

He is talking about "Mission accomplished"
in his blunt statement about the Iraq war;
"History was a cruel judge of overconfidence/back in the days of shock and awe," he sings,

In a song whose title alone has already brought him the fury
of right-wing blogs, he urges, "Let's Impeach the President."
It ends with Mr. Young shouting, "Flip, flop," amid contradictory sound bites
of President Bush.
But Mr. Young insists the album is nonpartisan.

He will be on tour this summer as a member of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young
in what's billed as the Freedom of Speech Tour.

Reflecting the weather.

The last two weeks have been crazy on the weather front.
The tepmerature is rising up to 85 F one day and the next is going down
to 50 F.
One day the sun is shining the next day is cold and rainy.

My mood is highly affected by these changes too.

When the sun is shining i feel great,the heat warms my body and mind,
while next day, when the sky is crying i feel drowsy cold and miserable.

But aparently iam not the only one affected, since i can see these changes
on people all around me.

One thing that bothers me the most is the rudness in behavior from
people i know,or thought i knew, till they reveal themeselves
in mysterious ways.

Students that i`ve had for a period of time and had developed
some kind of relation,seeing them once a week,
suddenly drop out without ever giving a hint of their intentions.

I beleive it`s very easy to write a note and notify me when
they want to take a break,or to cancel the lessons all together,
but to my astonishment i found out that they simply don`t care.

One day they just stop coming.

No notification of any sort. They just disappear.

I have never encounter such behavior before from my private students
while living in Europe.

I believe that is a form of cowardice.

Instead of getting into the trouble of writing a note
explaining why,they just vanish in thin air.

And that`s really bothersome!

The New York Public Library.

One of the many privileges you get living in N.Y.C is
The New York Public Library.

Once you get your New York Public Library Card
you have Free access to thousand titles of CD`s,Films,Books,Magazines
and everything else you can find in New York`s amazing library system.

You can borrow any CD you like for up to three weeks,which gives you
plenty of time to download it to your computer,to burn a CD, to make
a cassette copy or just listen to it and form an opinion about artists
you have never heard before.

The same time line applies for Books while for Videos or DVD`s
is one week borrowing time which of course you can prolong
by calling the library and let them know.

Last week i saw two very good movies.

Insomnia (2002) directed by
Christopher Nolan,
was a superb thriller with breathtaking views of
Alaska`s landscape starring Al Pacino giving a superb performance
as a crime investigator veteran,Robin Williams as a writer with
a quite disturbed personality,and Hilary Swank as a new investigator
officer in Nightmute-Alaska of all places.

Topkapi (1964) directed by Jules Dassin
is a classic thriller with panoramic views of Kavala-Greece,
and of the Top Kapi Palace
with brilliant performances from Melina Merkouri,
Peter Ustinov and
Maximilian Schell.
The music score is written by Greece`s beloved composer
Manos Hadjidakis.

Waterfront Ale House.

My gig on the Waterfront Ale House in Brooklyn last Friday
the 21st of April was a good one.

Margey picked me up at around 9:00 pm and after loading
my Fender late 72`s Strat
my Brian Moore iGuitar91.13,
my Crate Power Block,
my Crate GT112SL Cabinet and a bunch of stomboxes
in her adorarable Chrysler Cruiser vehicle we hit the road destination Brooklyn.

From 34th st. we took the FDR Drive with it`s panoramic views
of the East River and Manhattan,we passed the Williamsburg Bridge,the Manhattan Bridge and after some breathtaking views of Manhattan
we crossed the Brooklyn Bridge
and parked the car infront of The Waterfront Ale House after an additional five minutes drive.

The place was packed with people dinning and drinking.

We found two empty chairs by the bar and ordered our dinners.

Carlo my guitar student was there already at 9:30 pm
and i was glad to see him.

Soon the other two members of the band arrived and i offered my chair
to Steve Antonakos ,my guitar player,in order to move to a dinning table with
my wife Kathleen and two of our friends who just arrived.

By 10:30 pm the place was packed with familiar faces
who supported us and made us play a very inspired first set
that lasted more than one hour.

We finished at around 2:00 am and we were all very happy
and a little tired.

It had been while since i played together with another guitarist,
as a quartet, and it sure made things a lot easier for me than
the usual Power Trio.

I was tired but happy as i sat in the front seat of Margey`s car
driving back to Manhattan, listening to Kathleen and her talking
about the latest books they were reading and the writers they like.

B.B.King versus Bouzouki.

I am playing at B.B.King`s!
Sunday July 2nd from 8:00 pm to 1:00 am.
I am so thrilled.
I am so excited.

2003 was the celebrated year of the blues in the U.S.A.
It was the year i finally made my decision to leave Athens (Greece)
behind and come to live in New York City.

Greece is a heavily dominated Bouzouki music country.
It seems that people are hypnotized to like only one kind of music
that they can call their own.

Bouzouki is Greece`s instrument of choice.
They are very proud of it and they live under the false impression
that it`s a genuine Greek instrument.

Greeks have a passion about their nationality and they tend
to forget that it is a Turkish instrument as it is the music played
with this instrument that was imported from Turkey.

It`s like the Turkish coffee that they very proudly call Greek coffee.

Greeks don`t like the electric guitar .

They think of it as an imported American instrument.

Sometimes it makes you wonder about Their state of mind.

I never liked Bouzouki Music.

It has always been at the very bottom of my musical choices.

I find it very depressing and its culture totally foreign to mine.

I never ever borrowed,bought or owned any bouzouki record.
But it`s very hard to escape it when you live in Greece.
Bouzouki related music is everywhere.

In my teens i spent all my pocket money trying to find and buy
every Blues related album i could get my hands on.

The British Blues Explosion influenced me so bad that i decided
to become a guitar player myself and despite of my private
English language lessons,i learned the language by translating
and singing the songs on the records.

All of my guitar heroes stated B.B King as a major influence
and that`s how i discovered the Man and His Music.

Now I am Playing at Lucille`s and That makes Me Very Proud and Happy!

OPA!

Jeff Beck.

Tone is one of the most magical and beautiful aspects of the guitar.
It`s also the most mysterious and ,at times ,frustrating.

A player can chase after thechnical skills for years,and nothing
he or she plays will sound like much if the tone isn`t there.

Conversely,if a guitarist`s tone is happening,it doesn`t seem to matter
if that player is out of tune or out of time-their music will still sound inspiring.

Most everyone would agree that Jeff Beck`s
tone deserves to be listed as one of the 50 Greatest-but which tone?

From his silky slide work with the Tridents in 1963 to the devilishly twisted
sound spasms on 2003`s Jeff, Beck has consistenly navigated new and
uncharted tonal waters,routinely leaving other guitarists bobbing in his wake.

Markers tossed out along the way include his Yardbirds -era Tele/AC30
with fuzz sizzle ("Heart Full of Soul"), Les Paul/Marshall Major with wah
and Echoplex wailing ("I Ain`t Superstitious"),liquidly-yet-punchy
Strat/Marshall variations ("Rice Pudding",Goin`Down","Got the Feeling"),
spongey Strat/Sunn squalks("Superstition"),Machavishnu-inspired
Les Paul/Marshall blasts ("Air Blower"),biting-yet-sonorous
humbucker-loaded Tele lines ("Cause We`ve Ended as Lovers"),
snakey harmonic/whammy manipulations (Where Were You,Nadia"),
and flatulant Pro-Tooled splats ("Plan B").

There are lots more examples ,of course, and that`s why Beck
couldn`t be contained in any categories-he`s a class by himself.

Heart of Gold.

Yesterday was Kathleen`s birthday.

It was a beautiful spring day in N.Y.C. and after taking Butch
(our friend`s Bruce dog, whom we`ve been taken care for a week)
out for his morning walk, i sat down and made some plans for the evening
to celebrate my wife`s big day.

First thing i did was to go to our close by and very conveniently located
Virgin Megastore and get her the new
Derek Trucks Band CD titled "Songlines".

We both love Derek and his wife Susan Tedeschi
who`s latest CD titled "Hope and Desire" Kathleen brought home not long ago.

Later on we rode the N Train to Union Square
and spent some time wandering around the park and checking out the scene.
There are always so many things happening there and i`ts always fun to hang around.

We leisurly walked to 12th St. towards Cinema Village
for the 9:45pm screening of Neil Young`s
"Heart of Gold" picture by Jonathan Demme.

Since we had made plans for dinner, before the movie,
right across the street from the theater, at 15 East 12 St.
we spotted this very nice looking and inviting place called
"Marquet Cafe".


What a birthday discovery that was!

The food was excellent ,the wine was superb and we ended our meal with
the most delicious plate of fuits that we dipped in melted chocolate.

Neil Young was always in our hearts and after watching this
Magnificent Movie you will find out why.

Crate Power Block.

When i was living in Athens and i had my Ford Escort
it was very easy to carry my equipment around for a gig.

I have never had any problems carrying my heavy tube amps because i would
carry them to the car and put them safety on the back seat and drive around
places not worrying about the tubes getting damaged.

I would usually play them both in stereo depending on the venue.

I own a Mesa BoogieStudio22 and a
FenderDeluxe Reverb and i would use the Fender for the clean
and the Boogie for the lead.

When i first moved to N.Y.C. in May 2003 a friend borrowed me his Boogie
but not owning a car i found it very heavy and dangerous to move it around
on a carrier so i went and bought me a Marshall MG30 combo.

This thing sounds great and it`s a road worrior.
It`s light and easy to carry around and it did serve me very well
playing small clubs.

But i was always looking for a louder amp that i could use in
small and big venues,that would sound great, would be easy
to transport and it would look good,without having to pay a fortune.

I found all that and much more on my CratePower Block!

The CPB 150 stereo head packs 150 Watts RMS of rugged power
into a compact 4.6lb.package.
75 Watts Per Side Stereo,150 watts Mono Bridge.

I run it through a Celestion equipped Crate Cabinet in Mono
and it sounds Great....

People always come up to me wondering about this little Monster,
amazed about the size,the sound and the looks.

And it only cost me $400!
$200 for the amp and $200 for the speaker!

Now that`s a Bargain!

Robin.

The hardest desicion i had to make in order to leave Athens (Greece)
behind and come to live in N.Y.C. it was to leave my beloved dogs
Robin and Gilda behind.

We (Me and My Wife Kathleen) were also taking care of four
adorable pussycats when we were living in our summer house
some 25 miles outside Athens.

We had them all neutered,but they were for the most part living
a life of a stray with various generous people providing them food
when we or my parents were not living there.

We do have a lot of stray cats and dogs in Greece.

Robin i had since he was a puppy and when i left him to my parents
he was twelve years old but in a very good health,form and shape.

Gilda was a stray that had been neutered and was living
in Agia Marina where our summer house is and where
one or two families were providing the basics for her.

In 1999 after returning back from my visit to New York
i found her laying outside our front gate very sick.

After giving her a three month expensive and
painful treatment Kathleen and i decided to make our summer
house our home for a while and took her in to live with us.

Half a year after my departure for the States she was poisoned
and died in front of our door.

But she lived to be fourteen years old which is
unheardable for a stray.

After my two years immigration process, while i could not
leave the country, i applied for advanced parole for to visit
my elderly parents and Robin whom i was missing terribly.

But Ten Days before my arrival he totally collapsed
and my parents had to put him to sleep.

He was fourteen years old.

Now i live with the loving memories of him and her,
all the kidness i saw in their eyes and all the fun
they added to my life for twelve wonderful years...

Vibrato and Bends.

Bends and Vibrato are the mirrors of the soul.

That`s why some guitarists have this queer,quivering little vibrato
that makes you think to yourself,"This person is deeply troubled
and perhaps in need of counceling or hugs-not for me personally,
but perhaps from a medically trained professional."

Good vobrato on the other hand ,is why a guy with only a five-note
vocabulary can be an absolute demon on guitar.

One thing that always makes `ol Eric Clapton
such a savage beast is his vibrato.

That wail he had going is why people were callling him "God".
Of course ,Clapton still bends wirh great savagery,but needles
to say,he played witth a little bit more knife-to-the-throatedness
back in the Cream days.
He was really,pummeling the gristle with great vehemence.

If you want to achieve a similar vibrato yourself,
the first thing to do is bust out your trusty E minor
pentatonic scale and work on developing a solid 1st finger vibrato,
which can be a pain in the buttocks to get dialed right.

Clapton would really make this note sing,as his 1st finger
sat on the string,floating first up and then down
{i.e.,toward the ceiling and then toward the floor}
repeatedly to create vibrato.

Try bending notes 1/2 step then a whole step up
using your second and third fingers and apply
vibrato while the note is bend.

The key to developing a powerful vibrato is listening
to people that have one.

Slave over great recordings the way i did-with much haste
and eagerness-then record yourself and compare.
At first when you listen back to yourself,
you may find yourself saying,"That`s not quite right."
Eventually the more you practice with jam tracks
and albums you`ll start saying,
"Hey you know what?This is really coming along."

Good vibrato and bending takes a while to develop,
but it`s worth it.When it come to nuanced blues
and rock playing,these two things are what separate
the beasts from the boys.

Geoff Emerick.

My wife Kathleen went to Coliseum Books Store
on Thursday evening March 30th while i was having
some lessons at my home studio.

She came back with her usual stack of books,
she never brings home less than five at the time,
and one book as a present for me.

She always brings home a Book as a present for me,
and this one is called"Not Necessarily Stoned, But Beautiful:
The Making of 'Are You Experienced'" by Sean Egan.

It`s about the making of Jimi Hendrix Legendary album
that changed the course of Guitar Playing for ever!

She was dissapointed i was not there with her because Geoff Emerick
was giving a reading from his book,
" Here, There and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of the
Beatles"

I remember his name from the second Robin Trower
album titled "Bridge of Sighs" which had made an enormous impression
on me,not only for the amazing music Robin created
on this one but for it`s Brilliant Sound!

That was about the time i had started being interested
not only in the musicians playing but for everyone else
involved in the making of a very Good Album
and especially the sound engineer!

Other records with that crystal-clear, crisp sound
to which my ears were drawn was " Abbey Road"
and, much earlier, "Revolver" by The Beatles.

The recording engineer on both albums is Geoff Emerick!

Happy Birthday, Popa!

Last night of March found me at the Waterfront Ale House
celebrating Popa Chubby`s birthday!

Many fellow musicians from the Blues New York society were also there,
to honor his birthday and groove with the Black Coffee Band
that usually plays there the first Friday of each month.

After a first hot set that lasted one hour i had the chance to personally wish him
happy birhtday myself and to give him his present--a signed copy of my latest
CD, "Transblues."


I always speak some Greek with Dimitri, who sings and plays guitar with the band.
Said hi to Galea, Mr. Popa`s wife, who plays the bass and sings with the band.
And i hung with Margey my bass player who happened also to be there.

Mr.Big Ed Sullivan was there as well,
and he sat in for three songs of the second set before Dimitri took over
with Margey on the bass this time....

It`s always fun to see these guys playing not only because
they are great musicians, but because there's always sure to be
a guest appearance from another great musician as well.

Margey, Big Ed and I left together and Margey drove me home
in her great Chrysler automobile that i love!

Happy Birthday Popa!