John McLaughlin.

Last night we went to Town Hall
to attend Mr.John McLaughlin`s first
electric fusion concert in ten years.

His recent touring band is the same one as on his latest release
"Industrial Zen" and it`s called the 4th Dimension.

It`s a quartet with John on the guitar along with three amazing musicians.

Mr.Gary Husband on the keyboards
and on jungle drums,since John is a master of a counterpoint
thing happening in which there are often two melodies
and a superimposed time signature,
Mr. Hadrien Feraud a 23 years old musical phenomenon
on Bass and one of the most astonishing drummers Mr.Mark Mondesir.

John McLaughlin`s 70`s album has had a huge impact on me
as a musician.

I was totally blown away when i first heard version two
of the Mahavishnu Orchestra ,
on "Visions of the Emerald Beyond,1974", which
my sister brought me as a gift from her first trip to London.

His playing was like nothing i had experienced before and
command of the instrument short of amazing.

I later bought "The Inner Mountain Flame,1971","Birds of Fire,1972"
and a live recording, "Between Nothingness and Eternity,1973" featuring
the first version Mahavishnu Orchestra, one of the greatest bands ever!

Later on i got into his acoustic albums "My Goal`s Beyond,1970"
with side one being one of the first world-music experiments,
as the two pieces resolved around a drone,and side two
was dedicated to the guitar exclusively,
either solo or multitracked.

Fascinated by his acoustic guitar work
i`ve got me two more albums
with an Indian group of musicians called "Shakti",
the first one "Natural Elements,1975" and the later
"A Handful of Beauty,1976" both of them i treasure deeply.

His command of the acoustic guitar ans his picking
technique is simply astounding.

The concert last night left me and kathleen in a trance
and I believe most of the people in the audience felt
the same way.

What an inspiration he has been and he continues to be
now at his 65 years of age with a physique of a 20 year old,
and that`s due to Meditation
and to dedicated Vegetarianism.

He is a living legend and an example to us all.

My Birthday.

Was on September 7th.
It was a day full of surpises that hade been arranged
by my wife Kathleen!

The sun was shining the skies were blue and the temprature
delicious so i decided to take a walk
in the early afternoon towards Central Park.

After i walked around for a while in this very beautiful park
i ended up at Time Warner Center bulding
where i picked up the September program for the
Jazz at Lincoln Center shows.

Later on kathleen and i went to MoMa
where we had the oportunity to see the huge pieces
by Richard Serra.

The restaurant of her choice for that special evening totally
blew me away as we entered the renowned for it`s Swedish cooking Aquavit.

Kathleen still has friends from her cooking writing days
and after a while there Mr.Marc Samuelsson himself
came to our table and we had the chance to speak Swedish.

The food was excellent and the delicious deserts
were offered by him.
What a treat!

We left there around 9:30 to catch Larry Coryell`s show
at the Iridium.

What a way to end the evening listening to an amazing Trio
with Larry playing a hollowbody Parker
that i had never seen before.
His signature model maybe?

I had the chance to shake hands with him and talk about his
summer show in Athens
about his son Maurel Coryell who plays
the same venues i do and he signed his cd "Traffic" for me.

Thank you kathleen for that wonderful day.

If Not For You!

WPKN FM.

September 9th i did a live show
at the WPKN FM radio station
located in Bridgeport.

I was invited by the host of the show "Antique Blues"
Mr.Bill Nolan.

My bass player Margey Peters and i drove together
on this beautiful afternoon and for my first time ever
i crossed the Connecticut borderline.

The station is located at the Univercity of Bridgeport
campus where we met with our drummer Mr. Bill Rankin
the sound engineer Mr.Dave Schwartz and our host Mr.Bill Nolan.


The room where we were going to perform was
a spacious classroom on the third floor of the building
and by the time we finished our sound check some people
had already arrived for to watch the Live Show.

We had so much fun playing for an hour
while Bill Nolan was busy receiving many compliments
from listeners.

Actually there were so many people
trying to log in the show on line that many of my
loyal fans didn`t even get through.

After the show we did another hour interview
and we left the station as long time best friends.

My deepest thanks goes to Bill Nolan for inviting us.

September in N.Y.C.

It is so beautiful.

My birthday is on September 7th, and i must admit that
this is the best month to be in New York.

First of all it is the good weather with the delicious light
and a blue sky that`s one of the most beautiful i have seen.


And beleive me i know what i am talking about
since Greece is famous for it`s light and blue skies.

Second it is the enormous energy this city is filled with
especially this month when everyone is back from holidays
and ready for a new start.

I`ve been so busy!

The choices are endless and you have to be most eclectic
not to miss the ones that are important to you!

My journey started last Saturday when i went to Lucilles
where my friend Nikki Armstrong and her band
was playing.

The show was excellent, as always and i`ve got the chance to jam
three songs with these amazing musicians.

Monday night i took the Path Train
to Hoboken to one of my
favorite blues clubs Scotland Yard Bar.

Arthur Neilson was hosting the Monday
night Jam,and the band was cooking.

I sign my name for the jam and then i spent some time at the bar
talking and meeting many good friends musicians
whom i hadn`t seen for a while and that was so much fun.


Christine Santelli,Mike Torres, V.D King
Matt Mousseauand Karan Serafin were all there contributing their talents to one of the best jams around.

Wednesday night i walked over toSmith`s Bar
invited by my friend Susan D who was playing
there with Askold Buk, Robin Gould and Dave Anderson.

I stayed for one very good set of originals and some classics
and then i headed over to BBking`s
where Joe Taino was playing .

His playing is such an inspiration and i ended up coming home
and jamming till the wee hours.