NYPL.

The New York Public Library is one of the
best things i have encountered since i moved to NYC in 2003.

It has been a constant source of inspiration and a great place
to spent time reading and borrowing CDS,Videos and DVDS.

Whenever i feel uninspired i go to the library and borrow
CDS to listen to.

Recently the Performing Arts Library Records Collection
at Lincoln Center Plaza
has been my new discovery since i have found there
an amazing CD Collection that would satisfy
my constant hunger and curiosity for new music.

I was sad that i left all my precious vinyl collction in Athens
but i cant` be that anymore since everytime i go there i discover
more of my old records and i get inspired by new.

I could not beleive it when i saw The Original Fleetwood Mac
there, a record that has been a major influence to me
and one of the reasons i started playing guitar,
remastered plus four bonus tracks.

Savoy Brown`s "Looking In" album
was another one i really liked listening to when i was growing up
and now i could enjoy it again remastered and without the scratches.

On my latest visit i borrowed the following albums that are now
constantly spinning on my CD player.

The J.Geils Band
Small Faces,
Roy Buchanan "Deluxe edition"
Big Bill Morganfield "Rising Son"
John McLaughlin "Thieves and Poets"
Freddie Hubbard "Red Clay"
Miles Davis "Sorcerer"
Stan Getz "The Best of Two Worlds featuring Joao Gilberto"
Grant Green "Ain`t it Funky Now!"
Herbie Hancock "Perfect Machine"

Allan Holdsworth.

Saturday night was a foggy one here in Manhattan.

I had reserved two tickets for the evening`s second show
at Iridium and i was so excited
to see and hear one of the most amazing guitar players
in recent history Mr.Allan Holdsworth.

First and last time i saw him live it was two years ago
when he was giving a guitar seminar at Manny`s.

But i first heard his guitar sound and amazing playing
way back in 1973 when i bought the first and only recording
by a group called Tempest
where he was recruited by ex Colosseum
drummer Mr. Jon Hiseman for his Cream-clone project.


Later on the same year i`ve got me a Soft Machine
recording titled "Bundles"
where his concept was fully formulated
and even got better on the 1975 Tony Williams Lifetime
first release "Beleive it"

I was thrilled to hear him play "Fred" from that album.

His playing on violinist Jean-Luc Ponty`s 1976 release
"Enigmatic Ocean" still sounds so fresh and so musical as it did
when i first heard the album and i love it.

Holdsworth`s concept continued to expand on the now-classic
release "Road Games" from 1983 and on 1985`s "Metal Fatigue".

Allan Holdworth`s sound is unique and instantly recognizable.
It has a violin like quality combined with oboe and saxophone
and his legato technique is legendary and highly imitated.

After the show i bought his latest release "Wardenclyffe Tower"
where his playing is even better than ever and a pure joy
to listen to.

You`ve got to check him out!

JIM DILL.(A CROOK AND A THIEF)

In May i submitted my SonicbidsE.P.K.
to a new indie label from Chebanse named
K.T. Recordz for to be considered on their roster expansion.

I paid $5 for the submission fee and half an hour later
i got a responce from the company`s owner Jim Dill
that he wanted my instrumental song "Kathleen"
for the upcoming compilation "Guitars of Tomorrow Vol.1".

Of course i was flattered and happy for his offer
so i said YES and paid the additional $5 fee for the song.

That`s when my troubles started!

He sent me the contract asking my permission for the song
and after i agreed with the terms and i signed it i sent it back to him.

Later on in May 2007 i was also accepted on the company`s
roster expansion which meant promotion,booking gigs,
arranging interviews and i was thrilled and excited.

I presented the new contract papers to my lawyer,paid his fee,
and after we both agreed that they were legitimate
i signed the papers and sent 10 cds,10 promo pictures,
1 dvd of a live performance, and two more cds with interviews
and live performances at radio stations
to the company`s owner Jim Dill.

While excanging e-mails with him i`ve discovered that the man
was complete illiterate, and after mentioning my worrying
to be represented by a total moron and illiterate dude was not
what i had in mind for my promotion, he reasured me that his
wife Lynn Dill was a writer
and that she was going to take care of all the serious
press releases and announcments and i was naive enough
to accept that that will be the case.

Ten days after he received everything i sent him,
and in the middle of September 2007, he sent a mass e-mail
announcing that K.T.Recordz was bought by other investors
and because he didn`t agree with their new policies
he is leaving the company and his dreams of the compiilation
and artists promotion behind for a while till he could be able
to finance and start a new one under the name "NUBLUERECORDS".

Meanwhile he was still collecting submission fees,
K.T.Recordz
as this document proves, till the middle of November!

I then contacted him noumerous times asking him to return
all of my material that by now he was illegally holding,
and after i finally got him on the phone in November
he lied to me that his "secretary" had sent everything back
to me and that was the last i`ve heard from him.

After that i contacted many frustrated musicians that
were on the compilation,who had never heard back from him either,
but through my investigation i found out that his main
artist Jimmy Warren was the one and same person as Jim Dill (every picture tells a story)
and that the whole scam of him collecting all these fees
from musicians around the globe was to promote Himself
and his "Music" by receiving songs from other artists
and making some serious bucks from stealing their money
and their intellectual property.

I also found out that the guy was a total LOOSER
with NO MONEY of his own to start a business
and totaly uncapable of promoting his artists
as his adds for financial aid posted in July of 2007
prove,Jim Dill!

I wonder and fear if mine and other musicians songs
have made it to illegally selling compilations around the globe.

Be alert and be aware of THIEFS=JIM DILL-LIERS-CROOKS like JIM DILL.

JIM DILL & K.T.RECORDZ SCAM!

In May i submitted my SonicbidsE.P.K.
to a new indie label from Chebanse named
K.T. Recordz for to be considered on their roster expansion.

I paid $5 for the submission fee and half an hour later
i got a responce from the company`s owner Jim Dill
that he wanted my instrumental song "Kathleen"
for the upcoming compilation "Guitars of Tomorrow Vol.1".

Of course i was flattered and happy for his offer
so i said YES and paid the additional $5 fee for the song.

That`s when my troubles started!

He sent me the contract asking my permission for the song
and after i agreed with the terms and i signed it i sent it back to him.

Later on in May 2007 i was also accepted on the company`s
roster expansion which meant promotion,booking gigs,
arranging interviews and i was thrilled and excited.

I presented the new contract papers to my lawyer,paid his fee,
and after we both agreed that they were legitimate
i signed the papers and sent 10 cds,10 promo pictures,
1 dvd of a live performance, and two more cds with interviews
and live performances at radio stations
to the company`s owner Jim Dill.

While excanging e-mails with him i`ve discovered that the man
was complete illiterate, and after mentioning my worrying
to be represented by a total moron and illiterate dude was not
what i had in mind for my promotion, he reasured me that his
wife Lynn Dill was a writer
and that she was going to take care of all the serious
press releases and announcments and i was naive enough
to accept that that will be the case.

Ten days after he received everything i sent him,
and in the middle of September 2007, he sent a mass e-mail
announcing that K.T.Recordz was bought by other investors
and because he didn`t agree with their new policies
he is leaving the company and his dreams of the compiilation
and artists promotion behind for a while till he could be able
to finance and start a new one under the name "NUBLUERECORDS".

Meanwhile he was still collecting submission fees,
K.T.Recordz
as this document proves, till the middle of November!

I then contacted him noumerous times asking him to return
all of my material that by now he was illegally holding,
and after i finally got him on the phone in November
he lied to me that his "secretary" had sent everything back
to me and that was the last i`ve heard from him.

After that i contacted many frustrated musicians that
were on the compilation,who had never heard back from him either,
but through my investigation i found out that his main
artist Jimmy Warren was the one and same person as Jim Dill (every picture tells a story)
and that the whole scam of him collecting all these fees
from musicians around the globe was to promote Himself
and his "Music" by receiving songs from other artists
and making some serious bucks from stealing their money
and their intellectual property.

I also found out that the guy was a total LOOSER
with NO MONEY of his own to start a business
and totaly uncapable of promoting his artists
as his adds for financial aid posted in July of 2007
prove,Jim Dill!

I wonder and fear if mine and other musicians songs
have made it to illegally selling compilations around the globe.

Be alert and be aware of THIEFS=JIM DILL-LIERS-CROOKS like JIM DILL.

Get inspired by the Blues.

The January 2008 issue of Guitar Player
arrived in my mailbox the other day.

On this month`s lessons they feature the great Johnny Winter.

Reading through the article made me remember all his albums
and what a big impact his playing had on me.

Jesse Gress who wrote the article
mentions "The Progresive Blues Experiment"
a killer "Live" album and i could not agree more.

And that voice!

I first heard Johnny on a radio station
from the American Base in Athens.

I must have been around 12 years old and it totaly blew me away.

Ever since that night i`ve got obsessed about finding that album
where this song came from.

It was on his "Second Winter" album -three sides of revolutionary blues
(yes,side four was blank) psyched-up with wah-wah,
electric mandolin, and plenty of
Hendrix-inspired studio effects-
that still remains a perennial favorite.

The song`s title "I love everybody" still sounds so fresh and full of high energy.

I love all his Rock albums "Johnny Winter And"
from the summer of 1970, "Still Alive and Well" from 1973,
"Saints & Sinners" from 1974 and "John Dawson Winter 3"
from 1975.


If you are a guitar player and want to study the Blues
and Rock & Roll vocabulary, look no further
than Mr.Winter`s vast knowledge in both genres.

In 1977 Johnny abandoned the rock scene
for a pure blues lifestyle recording one after the other
memorable and highly acclaimed albums.

So i was kind of surprised last night when my student Carlo
confessed to me that he had never heard Johnny`s playing
and i was more than happy to give him a compilation CD to listen to.

The blues have always been a constant source of inspiration
to me, but i cannot say that i am a strictly blues player,
as none of my big influences are either,
but you can certainly hear the blues in every note i play.

After all and as mr. Jon Paris sings
every Monday night at Lucilles
the blues had a baby and they named it rock & roll.

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.