Happy Valentine`s day!

Love celebration in the Square of all Times.

Ivan (Funkboy) Bodley.

I first met Ivan (Funkboy) Bodley
in 2003 when made my Transatlantic move from Athens
to New York City.

He was playing bass with the house band in this amazing place,
club,recording studio,which was located in my neighborhood,
Midtown Manhattan ,
called Le Bar Bat.

I remember the freezing cold night i walked into this place,
and through the corridors and walls decorated with gold and platinum records
from artists and bands such as Jimi Hendrix,
John Lennon and
The Rolling Stones,
who used this huge, spacious, wooden room to get the best drum and live sound possible.

On their break i went up to the stage, introduced myself
and i gave him my Greek CD "Fota Tou Iliggou", so he could get an idea of what i was doing,
and asked him,if he liked what he heard,to contact me so we could do some gigs together.

That was that.

We have been playing together ever since.

He played bass on my "Transblues" record and for the last four years we regularly
play together at BBKING`s.

Last Friday,another freezing cold night, just as the first time we met,
he played with his own trio at the Blue Note,
songs form his recently released instrumental cd "Pigs Feet & Potted Meat".

His presence,music and bass skills warmed the room, our hearts and soul
and we left the place humming "Pigs feet and potted meat"
although we are vegetarians.

In the year 2010-2010.

So we are already in the middle of January but i still recall
the last days of 2009.

I spent Christmas Eve playing at BBKING`s,
my favorite blues club in the city, right here in my famous neighborhood
Times Square!

20 minutes long waiting list for a table, the place was crowded
with tourists from around the globe.

It was such a fun night to remember.

I sold so many Transbluescds too, which is always a good thing!

Sunday January 3nd i was playing the same room again
but with a vastly different crowd,many New Yorkers this time
and many friends too.

Actually my dear friend Helen shot some fun videos that she put up
on the U-Tube .

Check out the slow blues "Who`s loving you tonight",
one song i`ve heard a long time ago in an acoustic version
by Buddy Guy and Junior Wells,
but this is my electric version of the song.
Hope you`ll enjoy it.
Happy New Year!

Friday nIght.

Friday night i was invited to the Waterfront Ale House
where my friends The Black Coffee Blues Band was performing.

It was a very beautiful warm Indian Summer night
so Kathleen and I holding hands walked for half an hour
to the corner of 30th st. and 2nd ave, Waterfront`s
Manhattan location.

We arrived there at 11:30 pm, just in time before the kitchen closes at 12:00
and ordered dinner while the band was setting up.

Our friend Jill who lives close by joined us soon.

They started playing by the time we finished eating and we were ready to rock.

The band was smoking in a non smoking environment and everyone soon started dancing.

Mr. Big Ed Sullivan on lead guitar and vocals
was mesmerizing the audience with some crazy sliding, using ketchup bottles,
beer bottles and whatever else was available to nail those high pitched notes.

Galea on the bass and vocals,
was fun to watch and steady as a rock, and Dimitri Archip
was doing a great job on rhythm guitar and vocals.

We had so much fun listening and dancing to the originals and cover tunes
these guys were playing,when Dimitri announced my name and invited me
to the stage giving me his guitar to play.

On my second song Ed offered me his guitar and we changed positions,
he on the left me on the right of the stage and we continued playing
together till their brake.

By then it was 1:30 am and it was time to head home,
after a wonderful time of music,food and drinks.

Rock on!

Bowery 315.

Last night i was invited to John Varvatos Bowery live,
featuring The Crash Moderns.

Beer and whisky was free for the guests,the band started playing right on time
at 9:00 pm and did a 45 minute show of pop-rock originals older and new.

I met John Varvatos who always tries to be present
to his live events,and we exchanged few words
in the midst of the rock`n`roll noise,
and stayed there till the end of the show sipping my whiskey.

I love walking on Bleecker St.
and i ended up at West 4th subway station,
strolling my way through NoHo
and Greenwich Village
while checking out the live music scene on clubs such as The Bitter End,
Terra Blues, The Red Lion
and The Blue Note on my way to the station.

It was such a beautiful night out and being a little buzzed from the free drinks,
made it even nicer walking around my favorite grounds.

Crashocasters and Lucille`s.

Saturday i had a very busy teaching schedule.

Came back home at around five, late afternoon and i had made plans
to meet Chris and other guitar lovers and collectors at
John "Crash" Matos
Crashocasters opening at The Showroom
in East Village.

It was pouring rain when i entered the Showroom at 7:15 and i stayed there
admiring these beautiful instruments till around 8:00.

Sunday night i was playing at BBKING`S-LUCILLE`S
and when i got there i found out that i was competing against the Yankees play-off game, which was broadcasting on the screen behind me.

I managed to get a good crowd despite the major traffic delays caused by the game.

Special thanks to all my friends and students who showed up supporting live music and SOUKIS.
See you all again soon.

Robin Trower Live!

Friday night we went to see
Robin Trower
at BBKING`s.

He came up on stage at 8:45 and he played till 10:30.

His sound was superb, as one can only expect from a sonic architect as himself
and the band was tight and sounded great.

I have been a huge Robin Trower fan ever since his second album
"Bridge of Sighs" came out in 1974 and i own almost all of his records.

First time i saw him was at Tramps on my first visit to N.Y.C.
in 1997 when he gave me one of his picks, autographed his album
"Someday Blues" for me,took some pics together,
and i gave him my Greek album "Fota tou Iliggou".

Thursday night another big influence of mine
Mr.Johnny Winter played the same room
but i was too busy recording and couldn`t make it.

You win some, you lose some so they say and ain`t that the truth!

Thursday night.

Thursday night i knew i had to go out.

After riding my bike and doing the 3 mile run in Central Park
i was ready for a drink and some good music provided by my friends,
right here in my neighborhood in Times Square

At 8:30 i walked on 46th st. west, crossed 8th ave. and entered Don`t tell mama
where Mike Torres was doing an acoustic solo performance.

It was funny being on the inside looking out at the street i walk almost everyday,
the famous Restaurant Row
sipping on a glass of Jack Daniel`s on the rocks
and listening to Mike playing all these beautiful songs and sounding great.

Later on i passed by BBKING`s to check out my friend
Nikki Armstong and the boys,
and to a totally different scene where people were dancing and grooving to the band`s funky rhythms.

I was invited to play but i was not in the mood.
I just wanted to see and hear all these fabulous musicians laying it down.

Jason Green on the guitar was doing a great job as always.

Came back home at around midnight took out my Guild acoustic
and started singing and playing old and new tunes that came to mind.

A week in NYC.

Monday night at BBKING`s was a blast.

Many people came by, listened, danced, and friends musicians sat in with the band.

Tourists from Norway and Greece
gave me the chance to practice my Swedish and chat in my mother tongue.

Wednesday night i had an invitation to see Mr. Robben Ford at the big room.

Great show and at the end i spotted some familiar faces of other musicians in the first raw.

Steve Lucather, Johnny A and Oz Noy were all there.

Thursday night i won the "King of the Blues" prelims at Manhattan`s Guitar Center and that was great.
I am looking forward to the store finals on September 10th.

Saturday night i went to Mehanata where Magges were playing traditional Greek tunes,
and later on to The National Underground
where my friend Tom Papadatos was playing the drums.

What a week.
Lots of fun meeting friends listening and playing music.
That`s what New York City is about.

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!

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

From Lucille`s to the Yard.

Friday night i went to Lucille`s
where Nikki Armstrong was playing
and celebrating her birthday.

The band was cooking
with Jason Green on guitar
Rob Chaseman on sax
and it`s always fun to listen and watch
all these very talented musicians who were there
taking the stage making music and improvising.

Dave Fields played two songs he wrote
for her new upcoming studio album,
we did a slow blues together
and later while i was singing one of my songs,
i heard someone applauding me in Greek.

When i finished my set i met with this Greek guy at the bar
who was so thrilled to discover BBKING`s, the band and Me.
After talking with him a while he could not believe
i was the same person who had played with
Paulos Sidiropoulos
(The main riff of the song in this video was written by me and i also play the lead"
but by the time they videotaped it i was living in Sweden),
and recorded one of his favorite songs "I magissa tis Arapias".

I always meet interesting people there i must admit!

Monday night i went to see and jam with my friends
at Scotland Yard in Hoboken.

Big Ed Sullivan was hosting the jam
and when i walked in Arthur Neilson
was on bass and later played some amazing guitar too.

There were so many good players there as always
and i hung with Mike Torres
while talking to Christine Santelli behind the bar,
and later to Poppa Chubby and his wife Galea.

I left around midnight and i was so inspired i stayed up till the wee hours of the morning playing my
Strat.

Thursday night at Moma.

Wednesday night my student Craig brought me three
Bruce Springsteen CD`s.

The previous week he saw "The Boss" twice in concert and he was still grooving.

The 1984 "Born in the U.S.A" brings back memories from
Sweden where i was living at the time,
and the Greek Islands
where i was spenting my holidays.

Last night my wife Kathleen was teaching her meditation class
at home so i took a walk up 6th ave. to 53th st. and to
The Museum of Modern Art, where they have a "Live Music Program"
called Dali:Imagined Musical Lanscapes.

In an Attempt to describe the musical context in which Dali and his art existed and evolved,
musicians will interpret different aspects of the artist`s imagined musical landscape
every Thursday in July and August.

It is an experience like no other to sit at Moma`a garden surrounded by all these
modern age sculpture masterpieces and listening to
Pamelia Kurstin doing her own interpretation with her Theremin Solo""

Playing at BBKNGS.

Last Tuesday i played at BBKING`s.

This is definitely my favorite room in N.Y.C
and the more i play there the better it feels.

First of all playing in a room that bears BBKing`s
name is a thrill on to itself.

The man is a living legend and has influenced every
blues guitar player on the planet.

Lately i`ve been listening to Fleetwood Mac`s
"Blues Jam in Chicago Vol.2" where Peter Green
pays homage to B.B.King and it`s so inspiring.

I like the sound i get from the P.A. and the room,
i like the people who work there, i like the food,
the service and i always manage to have such
a fun night being able to see lots of my friends and students
who are always eager to come and see me when i play there
along with so many tourists form all over the globe.


Located on 42nd st. bet/7th and 8th ave in the heart of
Times Square it is so easy
to get to because all trains stop there.

You don`t have to think about parking or drinking because
a ride on a fully air conditioned subway car will safely get you there.

For me it is really a blessing because i live right here
at the heart of the city and although
i have to walk through millions of tourists
i can get there in five minutes.

So next time i am playing at Lucille`s come and see me,
speak to me and introduce yourself.

I will be more than happy to meet you.

Back in the studio.

I`ve started recording songs for my new album.

I use the same studio at Greenpoint
where i recorded half of my latest cd "Transblues".

I like the sound of that studio and the fact that
i can still record mostly analog.

This time my friend Bruce Gordon is not only engineering
the project but he plays the bass too.

The two new songs i completed yesterday are called
"Urban Embrace" and "She feels so Good".

By completed i mean that i recorded the vocals and i will now have to remix them.

But remixing is something i like doing so it`s gonna be fun!

Although the Fender Bassman reissue is not my ideal
amp for these two songs and i had to fight it to assimilate
the sound i had in my head the somewhat compromise
brought up some interesting results i was happy to hear
yesterday.

For the sessions i`ve used my early 70`s Fender Strat
and my early 90`s Blade.

For stompboxes i`ve used my modified
Ibanez Tubescreamer TS10
my Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face
and my Dyna Comp compressor.

The drums Tom Papadatos played
are Ludwig and they sound warm
and huge reminding me of John Bonham`s sound
on Led Zeppelin`s second album.

The lyrics for the first song "Urban Embrace"
were written by my wife Kathleen Cromwell
and they reflect life in my neighborhood Times Square.

"She feels so good" was written by me and
it reflects the triumph of Love over Time.

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"

Macedonia is Greece.

Macedonia

The view from Athens
By Dora Bakoyannis International Herald Tribune
Monday, March 31, 2008

Members of NATO are set to meet Wednesday in Bucharest to consider measures to strengthen the alliance, which may include invitations to three Balkan countries -Albania, Croatia and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) - to join the trans-Atlantic family.


As the region's oldest member of both NATO and the European Union, we feel a heightened sense of responsibility for our neighborhood, an obligation to be constructive, pragmatic and supportive. We will strongly back the inclusion of Albania and Croatia in NATO.


We will not be able to do the same for FYROM, however, as long as its leaders refuse to settle the issue of its name, which they promised the United Nations to do more than 13 years ago. Since then, however, they have refused every compromise suggested by UN mediators - in sharp contrast to Greece, which found promise for a solution in several of the proposals.


The leaders of this new land-locked country of 2 million insist on calling their homeland "Macedonia," even though that is a name that has been a part of Greek history and culture for 3,500 years and is the name of our largest northern province.


Why can't this new country call itself whatever it wants?


Let me explain the problem as Greeks see it. When Marshal Tito of Yugoslavia changed the name of his country's southern province in 1944 from Vardar Banovina to the Social Republic of Macedonia, he did it to stir up disorder in northern Greece in order to communize the area and to gain an outlet to the Aegean Sea for his country.


This policy was also linked with the Greek civil war that at the time claimed more than 100,000 Greek lives, brought untold destruction to our country, and delayed our post-war reconstruction for a decade.


The name "Republic of Macedonia," therefore, is not a phantom fear for us Greeks. It is linked with the deliberate plan to take over a part of Greek territory that has had a Greek identity for more than three millennia and is associated with immense pain and suffering by the Greek people.


Greeks believed that when Yugoslavia dissolved and FYROM declared its independence in 1991, its leaders would recognize our sensitivity to its use of a name it adopted during the Communist era and change it, as the Soviet Union did, to make a clean break with its past.


Not only did they fail to do that, but for 17 years now, the authorities in the country have continued to try to undermine Greek sovereignty over Greek Macedonia, which they call "Aegean Macedonia," and to portray it as "occupied" territory that will one day be "liberated."


While government leaders declare that they have no designs on Greek territory, they refuse to remove such claims from textbooks, speeches, articles, maps and national documents. In fact, by insisting on the name Tito gave the area, they perpetuate the goal he pursued.


Most distressing for Greeks is that the leaders of FYROM insist that their country use the designation "Macedonia" in their country's name without any qualification - in dramatic contrast to international practice and common sense.


When parts of a historical region fall into two countries, the newer area uses an adjective to distinguish itself from the older one - New Mexico and Mexico are one such example. But the leaders of Skopje have so far rejected all possible designations to do that proposed by current UN mediator, Matthew Nimetz.


Greece does not dispute that a part of historic Macedonia lies within FYROM and we are prepared to accept a compound name. But FYROM insists on being sole claimant to the name of a whole area, the largest part of which lies outside its borders.


This intransigence comes in spite of Greece's efforts to maintain good relations with FYROM and to support it economically. In the past dozen years, Greece has made the biggest investments (more than $1 billion) and created the most jobs (20,000) in FYROM of any country in the world.


Greece has also made great strides to try to resolve the name issue under UN auspices. It has sat at the negotiating table since 1995 and has shown willingness to consider a solution that the UN mediator advocates - a composite name that includes the geographical designation of Macedonia but attaches an adjective to it to distinguish it from the Greek province with the same name. That's sensible, reasonable and fair to both sides.


FYROM leaders declare that this is a bilateral issue with Greece, and it should not affect their country's prospects for NATO membership. But alliances and partnership can only be fostered among countries if there is mutual trust and good will. The best way for FYROM to show both is to settle the name issue now.


Greece has unilaterally gone more than halfway on the issue, closer to two thirds of the way, I would say, and we hoped FYROM would have started moving toward us by now. But they have not budged from their hard line. Not one inch.


We cannot go any farther. As long as the problem persists we cannot and will not endorse FYROM joining NATO or the European Union. No Greek government will ever agree to it. No Greek parliament will ever approve it.


Dora Bakoyannis is the foreign minister of Greece.

Blues Detour.

It was three months ago when i`ve got a friend request
on my Soukis space page,
from Blues Detour.

This guy John was taking a new direction
by starting a website Blues Detour
dedicated to blues fans and blues musicians.

A place where Blues musicians could sell their music
and Blues fans could find new music to buy
and new bands to check out.

I liked the idea and we bacame buddies on my space
while waiting for the new website to materialize.

Two months later John proudly announced the website`s launch
and asked me to send him my "Transblues" CD to sell.

Since i was still recovering from my ordeal
with another company K.T.Recortz
and a scumbag,crook and a thief company owner Jim Dill
i was sceptical to get involved into something new again
but after some serious thought and because i liked
the work he was doing and the musicians he was aproaching
i finally went for it and sent him my cd to put it on the shelves
and sell it.

In times like this, when cd sales have dropped considerably
and the big companies are suffering big losts,
we indie musicians are in need of online cites
like this to help us promote and sell our music.

So let`s keep our fingers crossed that more and more
blues lovers will find their way to Blues Detour
knowing that by buying our cds they help
blues music to gain popularity and blues musicians
to make a living playing the music they love.

Jon Paris and friends.

Monday nights at Lucille`s
you can see and hear a great guitar-bass-harmonica player-
singer songwriter Mr.Jon Paris.

And every Monday is a jam party going on there
where you can meet the who`s who of the blues
and rock New York society and many great players
from across the country.

And it`s not the usual kind of jam wher you go
sign your name and wait for your turn to play.

You have to know Mr.Paris or he has to know you
for to let you go up there and take his place and play his guitar.

The first time i saw Jon was in 1985 when i was living in
Stockholm.

He was playing bass guitar for Johny Winter`s
power trio.

Of course i had no idea that we`ll meet much later
in N.Y.C. and play together,
but that`s the beauty of it.

Life surpises you.

Everytime i go there i meet other local musicians i know
and then always someone new.

So the other night another great guitar player
came by with his guitar and played with the band
Mr.Chris Carter.

I hadn`t seen him for a while but i knew from my days
at "Ye Olde Tripple Inn" where he used to play with
Cracked Ice.

Then Jon invited on the stage a singer and they did
some old Free
and Led Zeppelin numbers.

When he came down we introduced ourselves and he told me
that he will soon perform at BBKINGS
with his band Cactus.

His name is Jimmy Kunes and he is the singer of the band.

When Jon asked me to join the band
and he offered me his Strat to play
we were both in shuffle mood so we did "Before you Accuse me"
and a Peter Green song
from his early Fleetwood mac days
called "Long Grey Mare" that Jon has covered
on a Peter Green tribute album titled "Rattlesnake Shake"
where he sings and plays harmonica together with
Mr.Harvey Mandel on the guitar.

That was a fun night out.

Robin Trower Live at BBKIngs N.Y.C.

I have been a huge Robin Trower fan since the 70`s
and now after 30 years his sound,playing and songwriting
still thrills me like no other.

So i was eager to attend his show at BBKIngs
which is my favorite room in N.Y.C..

Me and Kathleen arrived there at five minutes to eight
for his second sold out night on Wednesday February 19th.

The room was packed with people and anticipation.

At exactly 8:00 pm the band took the stage,
starting with a number from his first album
with the same title"Twice Removed from Yesterday".

From the first notes i entered a dream state of mind
and i let myself float in a sea of sounds coming out of Robin`s guitar.

As he went on with a list of songs from different albums
his sound was only getting better while the bass player
Glenn Letsch and drummer
Pete Thompson were getting tighter and funkier.

It was obvious they were having fun.

His sound is the most organic guitar sound i have ever heard.

The harmonics are jumping out off his Strat
moaning and screaming in a human kind of way.

Davey Pattison`s vocals were great
and he did an excellent job covering songs from the earlier
classic albums when the late James Dewar
was the singer and bass player of the band.

The set could not have been better,the sound was great
the band was smoking and we had a great time.

Robin Trower still rules!

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.