Errors-To: admin at elephant-talk dot com Reply-To: newsletter at elephant-talk dot com Sender: newsletter at elephant-talk dot com Precedence: bulk From: newsletter at elephant-talk dot com To: newsletter at elephant-talk dot com Subject: Elephant Talk #570 E L E P H A N T T A L K The Internet newsletter for Robert Fripp and King Crimson enthusiasts Number 570 Saturday, 30 January 1999 Today's Topics: NEWS: From the moderator NEWS: Upcoming courses in Seattle NEWS: Trey Gunn Band NEWS: Adrian Belew in "Guitar Shop" magazine Artist Shop newsletter RED 10 Seconds A line or two regarding Centipede CENTIPEDE 2 suggestions: re: Closing of the Guestbook Keneally on Sadler & Soundscapes Gloming the Glut Remixed Cirkus on Def Eds? Deja VROOOM description and SxSW comment Sacred Songs slides from 1973 guestbook - anonymous cowards GIG REVIEW: LTE, Philadelphia (TLA) GIG REVIEW: Liquid Tension Experiment, Philly, 1/23/99 GIG REVIEW: CGT / TG in Austin -Borders & Cactus Cafe ------------------ A D M I N I S T R I V I A --------------------- POSTS: Please send all posts to newsletter at elephant-talk dot com To UNSUBSCRIBE, or to CHANGE ADDRESS: Send a message with a body of HELP to admin at elephant-talk dot com or use the DIY list machine at http://www.elephant-talk.com/list/ To ASK FOR HELP about your ET subscription: Send a message to: help at elephant-talk dot com ET Web: http://www.elephant-talk.com/ Read the ET FAQ before you post a question at http://www.elephant-talk.com/faq.htm Current TOUR DATES info can always be found at http://www.elephant-talk.com/gigs/tourdates.htm You can read the most recent seven editions of ET at http://www.elephant-talk.com/newsletter.htm THE ET TEAM: Toby Howard (Moderator), Dan Kirkdorffer (Webmaster) Mike Dickson (List Admin), and a cast of thousands. The views expressed herein are those of the individual authors. ET is produced using John Relph's Digest system v3.5b (relph at sgi dot com). ------------------ A I V I R T S I N I M D A --------------------- Date: Sat 30 Jan 1999 From: Toby Howard Subject: NEWS: From the moderator Hello everyone, I'm back in the saddle. I'm sure you'll all want to join me in thanking Mike Dickson for the excellent job he did moderating and keeping ET going while I was away on holiday for most of January. Thanks Mike! And now, if I can say this without the slightest trace of irony: no more posts on the topic of the DGM Guestbook, please. This is a dead topic now. Best wishes to you all for 1999. Cheers Toby ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 26 Jan 1999 16:16:27 -0500 From: Guitar Craft North America Subject: NEWS: Upcoming courses in Seattle Greetings! This is just a reminder that there are still a few spaces available for the upcoming SeattleCircle Weekend Retreat which will be held from March 5-7, 1999 on Bainbridge Island, near Seattle. The weekend retreat will include three parallel and interacting courses: The Beginners Circle is designed primarily for new and aspiring guitarists who are interested in an introduction to the Guitar Craft Standard Tuning, but it is also available for anyone who has attended a previous Guitar Craft course or New Standard Tuning weekend. "Circulation" is open to anyone who has an established personal practice and familiarity with their instrument. This weekend will also include "An Introduction to Tapping," a short, intensive introduction to the tapping approach of playing music. Open to all electric, fretted string instrumentalists. For further details, contact guitarcraft at usa dot net or visit www.seattlecircle.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 27 Jan 1999 02:35:52 -0600 From: Curtis Franks Subject: NEWS: Trey Gunn Band At recent California Guitar Trio/Tony Geballe shows, Mr. Geballe had a very welcome announcement: Trey Gunn, Bob Muller and he have begun recording a Trey Gunn Band (soon to be renamed) album at Bob's studio in New York. More recording is scheduled for this February, and we are to expect an album by early Autumn of this year. http://www.treygunn.com has some more information. Also, in case anyone loses as much sleep as me wondering about pronunciations, the G in Geballe is soft like Germany rather than Gertrude. Curtis ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 27 Jan 1999 15:12:32 -0500 From: Donal Wool Subject: NEWS: Adrian Belew in "Guitar Shop" magazine Adrian Belew is featured in the latest issue of GUITAR SHOP magazine (March 1999) and his picture appears on the top left-hand side of the cover. Take care, -Don- ___________________________________________ dwool at yesic dot com OR tubescreamer at hotmail dot com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 25 Jan 1999 22:42:09 -0500 From: Gary Davis Subject: Artist Shop newsletter Hi, folks: The latest Artist Shop newsletter is out and you'll find it in its entirety at . Here are some excerpts you'll appreciate. The latest issue of Expose is now out! 80 pages and stuffed with information, as always. Among the highlights of the new issue is: Interviews: - David Cross (ex-King Crimson violinist now enjoying a successful solo career), Liquid Tension Experiment has been making some very rare appearances. One still to come is: Monday, February 1st. The Roxy Los Angeles, Ca Other gig info you will find on the website include the California Guitar Trio and Tony Geballe. I think this has been in ET already, so I won't repeat it, but if any of you missed it the first time around, you'll find the dates posted at . On our import pre-order page you'll find the following from Mrs. Fripp. TOYAH-ANTHEM + 6 Reissue of the hit British pop vocalist's 1981 album for the Safari label, complete with the CD-ROM video to Godley & Creme's clip for 'I Want To Be Free' added, as well as six undisclosed bonus audio tracks that are on disc for the first time. TOYAH-CHANGELING + 7 Reissue of '80s album, complete with a CD-ROM video of Godley & Creme's clip for 'Thunder In The Mountains' and seven undisclosed bonus audio tracks that are on disc for the first time. And speaking of forthcoming imports, those Japanese remasters of the King Crimson catalog are slated to come out in February. If you've any interest in these, you should get them quick as they're special editions limited to the initial pressing! In our IRC section, I've finally got the chat logs from our Peter Hammill and Bill Nelson chats up, both of which are linked from . I'd also like to take a moment to mention The Artist Shop's co-host in these chats, Talk City. Talk City has recently started a new channel on their server called <#Music-Progressive>. The server is at . I strongly recommend you all check it out whenever you get a chance. Also we'll make it a practice to meet there after the IRC special events so that progressive chat can continue. Gary ************************************************************** Gary Davis The Artist Shop The Other Road http://www.artist-shop.com artshop at artist-shop dot com phone: 330-929-2056 fax:330-945-4923 SUPPORT THE INDEPENDENT ARTIST!!! ************************************************************** Check out the latest Artist Shop newsletter at http://www.artist-shop.com/news.htm ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 26 Jan 1999 10:50:50 -0800 (PST) From: Jonathan Eric Sindelman Subject: RED Hi everyone, First off, hope all is well. simple question.... Is there any material from the album RED, such as "One More Red Nightmare" and "Fallen Angel" ever performed live in the 70's? I know the central park show '74 comes way at the end of the Starless tour, so i would guess there's not any on that. Anyway, it's an interesting thing to think about considering how much live material is available now... if anyone knows anything, let me know!!! be well in your mischief, Jonathan ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 26 Jan 1999 15:45:00 -0800 From: "Scott Steele" Subject: 10 Seconds >I'd like to invite you to a live performance by Ten Seconds, > V2.1. Just tell the nice folks at the door that you heard about the gig from the Elephant Talk newsletter, and you'll be admitted as our guest. >Wednesday, March 10, 1999 9:00 p.m. >The Martini Lounge >5657 Melrose Ave. (2 blocks east of Vine Street). >Hollywood, CA >Tel: (323) 467-4068 >Kindest regards, >Bill Forth Best of luck to you Bill Forth. The 10 Seconds CD has been in the rotation at my house for quite a long time. I went to high school with Steven Scott Smalley but he probably doesn't remember me. Please bring your group north to Portland, Oregon at your earliest convenience. Another high school chum was Rory Kaplan, the DVD shepherd for Deja VROOOM. - S. np: Critters Buggin', "Bomb Ass Tick" scottst at ohsu dot edu ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 26 Jan 1999 22:25:03 -0500 From: John Wylam Subject: A line or two regarding Centipede Hi, Folks; I was happy to read Steve Dinsdale's comment in ET #569 regarding Centipede and *Septober Energy.* I agree. Considering the sheer size of the production alone, this is amazing music. By the by, the fourth side of the LP is a (much-expanded) version of "Green and Orange Night Park," from KT's second release titled *Dedicated To You, But You Weren't Listening.* The scope of Centipede's ambition is truly incredible: a nearly sixty-piece orchestra comprising, as Steve mentions, many of the finest musicians playing at that time. When you look at the lineup, it's hard not to be a bit awestruck. I was just thinking about how many members of the Soft Machine alone are represented here. Fripp's work in the booth ultimately kept him from playing guitar, which truly was a shame; it would've been wonderful to hear him solo with such a massive ensemble. I agree that *Septober Energy* would make a wonderful reissue on CD. As far as I know, nobody's taken that step altho *Dedicated To You....* has been issued on Repertoire Records, I believe. *Septober Energy* is truly a landmark recording and anybody interested in KC should investigate this album. By the way, I seem to remember that Centipede even gigged in London! *NME or *MM* may actually have run a photo of the musicians filling the stage and more. My memory on his is unclear, but: How I would've loved to see/hear that version. Presumably it was not recorded, but it certainly should have been. One more release of Tippett's that I'd personally love to see reissued on CD is his debut, *You Are Here...I Am There.* While it's comparatively straight-ahead, it's powerful and suggests what KT was capable of doing. Check out both versions of "This Evening Was Like Last Year" as an example. Oh -- one more suggestion for folks interested in things KT: *Frames,* while not easy to find on CD, is a fully challenging piece, breathtaking in some parts, almost frightening in others. It might be worth mentioning that Tippett has for many years been against the idea of electronic keyboards, preferring to work acoustic almost exclusively. About eleven years ago I was lucky enough to see him at White Hart, in the upstairs area of the London pub, sitting in with Nick Evans' wonderful group Dreamtime; Tippett brought an electronic piano, set it up, and began to play, saying to Evans, "I can't get used to this bloody machine...." Afterwards, over a beer downstairs, I asked him about this penchant, why he didn't like playing electric. He said, "I'm a pianist." In retrospect, this sounds vaguely familiar. While I'd love to see a reissue of *Septober Energy,* it seems (from a layperson's point of view, anyway)that two important factors mitigate against DGM undertaking it: A. Matters of copyright control. RCA first released the album (in the States as well as in England), so obtaining the copyright would, I imagine, be rather difficult, maybe impossible. The price tag might be one of the reasons no-one else has done this. I'm only surmising, of course. DGM likely wouldn't have the financial wherewithal to do this.... B. It would seem that DGM's philosophy, broad-based though it is, might not permit the release, even through the Collectors' Club, since the album's connection to KC proper could be seen as secondary. Still, I wholeheartedly agree with Steve that this is a landmark recording and richly deserves to be reprinted -- if not by DGM, then by another far-sighted entity. If Mr. Fripp was in fact willing to do this, it would be yet another important service for the musical community, and for the history of this artform. At the same time, Fripp must approach DGM with a clear understanding of the realities of the marketplace, as he obviously does. Steve, I'm with you all the way. I hope that this recording gets its due someday. I bought my first copy in Saint Petersburg, FL in '73 (KC played Bayfront Center that year, and that was the first time I saw them -- utterly incredible); that was the UK import. A few years later I bought the US version simply to insure a backup copy. I've done that with few LPs over the years, but *Septober Energy* has always struck me as an album that in some ways helped to define where a particular musical thread might go. KT would follow it himself, with *Frames,* but *Septober Energy* has a special place in my memory, as do the musicians who perform it, as does the man who was in the booth, and therefore, as Steve notes, was unable to play. Would that he could've. Steve, thanks for making me think of all this again. I appreciate it. John Wylam Creative Writing Program Dept. of English East Bowling Green State University Bowling Green, OH 43403 Ph: (419) 372-0591 e-mail: wylam at bgnet dot bgsu dot edu, or John Wylam at aol dot com Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible. -- Frank Zappa ***************************************************************** ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 27 Jan 1999 14:33:36 +1100 (EST) From: tps at merlin dot com dot au (The Performance Space) Subject: CENTIPEDE >CENTIPEDE 's `Septober Energy' yes...a truely awesome musical experience...the live concert presentation of the whole work was equally amazing at the Rainbow in London...i can't remember the year !?!..with smaller "bits" of the large band (like the late great band Patto) in support ..and did in fact feature RF sitting up the back as one of the guitarists playing the work live.... what a fine idea should DGM be able to re-release on CD ??....perhaps also there may even be live tapes from the concert..????...probably too much to hope for... ====================================================================== Zane Trow, Artistic Director. The Performance Space - Australian Centre for Research and Development of the Contemporary Performative Arts. PO Box 419, Strawberry Hills 2012, tel (612) 9698 7235, fax (612) 96991503 http://www.culture.com.au/scan/tps ====================================================================== ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 28 Jan 1999 04:11:26 +0300 From: "Sergei Kantere" Subject: 2 suggestions: 1. A name for a particularly terrifying Crim/ProjeKct tune: "One More DGM Guestbook". 2. A name for a band: "Bill Shea and Serious Music Lovers Over There". Good luck to you all, Sergei Kantere, from a weird place still known as "Russia" ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 27 Jan 1999 14:35:35 +0000 From: "Meadowcroft, Tim" Subject: re: Closing of the Guestbook Somebody: > January 19th will indeed be remembered as a sad day for many > of us that have lost such a unique opportunity. Spare me ! Can we kill this thread ... the closing of a guestbook is _NOT_ a great loss to humanity. Somebody else: > Fripp's learned a couple of lessons in the past year. Spare me again, how patronising can IT people get a musician enters their domain. Do RF's writings say "I guess you fans have got smarter and that's why you've bought this album" ? No. Another posting: > Those whose hatred and > intolerance had to find an outlet used the Guestbook as a > convenient vehicle for spitting out their bile, and they are > rewarded by the result. [snip] > It is the innocent who lose. Oh it gets worse... Don't mistake ignorance for malice. And I'm "innocent", so did I lose ? I think not... Can we get off our hero-worshipping self-righteous holier-than-thou high horses and return to something worth posting ? Dan, any chance of getting DGM to set up an announcements mailing list so I can get mailed just announcements about albums, tours, products etc. when I finally get tired of reading the ET rants ? (sorry Toby). Geez... Tim ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 27 Jan 1999 09:32:05 -0800 (PST) From: "D. Corrado" Subject: Keneally on Sadler & Soundscapes In connection with guitarist Mike Keneally's participation in Mr. Fripp's G3 Tour soundscapes, I've just found an amazing, newly released album by "composer keyboardist/percussionist" Neil Sadler. Keneally says of the album: "These charts are REALLY complex, and soloing over them wouldn't have worked if I had tried to actually "play over the changes" - I had to invent melodies that felt right to me over Sadler's constantly shifting soundscapes. Actually "soundscapes" is an appropriate term to use since I employed the same approach improvising with Fripp in '97: abandon intellect, trust that any needed technique will be there when it's needed, and fly." http://www.moosenet.com/sadler.html I certainly hope that the G3 soundscapes will be made available. The CD also features Zappa horn players Fowler Bros., Albert Wing & Kurt McGettrick. Sadler's site is at: http://www.apc.net/sadler/ D. Corrado ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 27 Jan 1999 21:16:13 PST From: "Du Bois" Subject: Gloming the Glut >> Am I the only one who sees a resemblance between >> Adrian Belew and Roberto Benigni? This is by far and away one of the more intelligent insights I've been able to glom from the newsletter lately -- gadzooks, enough with the guestbook already! Sheesh. There are much more important things. Like... Where RF stands on professional wrestling. Is he WCW or WWF? Or perhaps another organization altogether? If the man himself was a wrestler, what would his "move" or "finisher" be called? How about his favourite catchphrase? *These*, my droogs, are the burning questions! Them ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 28 Jan 1999 09:15:29 +0200 From: masse at geocean dot u-bordeaux dot fr (Laurent MASSE) Subject: Remixed Cirkus on Def Eds? I've read in the KC page of the Robert Fripp discography that the version of Cirkus on remastered Lizard is a "definitive edition remix". I am a little surprised as I've never heard this mentioned anywhere before. I cannot check as the only Def Ed CDs regularly available in french stores are ITCOTKC, LTIA and Discipline. Does any Eter have more information? Thanks from France ___________________________________________________________________ Laurent Masse masse at geocean dot u-bordeaux dot fr ___________________________________________________________________ ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 28 Jan 1999 10:49:24 -0600 (CST) From: vince Subject: Deja VROOOM description and SxSW comment Saw this on reel.com - MUSIC VIDEO King Crimson: Deja Vrooom (1998) (Not Rated) Music Director: Robert Fripp As King Crimson reaches age 30, he is honored by the latest DVD technology in this broad-reaching retrospective celebrating the stadium rock/make-up innovator. Make-up innovator? Anyway, the disc is pretty cool with a maddening menu system. There's quite a bit of difference between the dts and Dolby Digital(DD) mixes. The dts mix is much louder in the rear channels. The DD mix, while not as loud in the rears, seems to have more "discreet" sound coming from the rears(especially percussive). I really had to work to figure out how to get the dts sound from my Panasonic A110 player. I don't mind flash in the menus but these menus can be quite frustrating to navigate until you get the hang of them. The 21st Century Schizoid Band is cool, but again the menus conspire against you. Be sure you hit the "selection" button at the top middle of the screen after choosing each of your rhythm/vocalist/lead. My biggest complaint is that I can't change the audio from dts to DD on the fly. Not sure if this is a problem with the disc or my player. All in all, much beefier than the laser disc. Lots of written info, Tony's road movies, new audio tracks from the ProjeKcts. A bargain at $20US. Re: ProjeKct 3 at SxSW. Wow, the Electric Lounge is a pretty small club. I would guess 300 people inside might provoke the fire marshall. I take it that this will not be a "showcase" where the band plays for 45 minutes. Since the show is on Sunday, I'm guessing the format will be different. Buy a wrist band and get to the club early if you want to catch P3. vince ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 30 Jan 1999 10:09:37 -0700 From: Bill Lantz Subject: Sacred Songs Question for anyone with the CD version of Daryl Hall's Sacred Songs (produced and much more by Robert Fripp). Does the CD have the "fake" needle lifting off the turntable noise which preceeds the actual end spiral and needle lift off area at the end of NYCNY (side one of the LP)? I noticed this about Sacred Songs for the first time today, also the "fake" skip in the record which ends NYCNY just before the mystery recording of a needle lifting off at the end of a record. It's also interesting to note that White Shadow on Peter Gabriel II (prod.,etc. by RF) would play forever if you have a manual turntable. If all of this has been covered before, private email is appreciated. Bill ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 29 Jan 1999 19:39:54 -0500 From: gary j weisel Subject: slides from 1973 Elephant talk, This is not really a "posting" but I am not sure where to send an inquiry that I have had for some time. Perhaps you could advise me. I have 18 or so slides that I took at a King Crimson show at the Academy of Music in September, 1973. They are taken from two vantage points (on the floor and in the balcony) with a 35 mm camera fitted with a telephoto lens (and no flash). I would describe the photos as being of "good quality," at least. Do you know if DGM, Crimson, or Fripp would be interested in these? If the slides went to the right hands, the only remuneration I would ask for is money enough to first get the slides copied. If my pictures were enjoyed by the band, I would feel like I had paid them back for many years of help. In addition to my inquiry, it is true that I have had some desire to talk about Crimson. But my reflections always seem overly long and guilty of hero-worship, in its many diabolical forms. But I will venture something: Everyone seems to have a different idea of what Crimson was, or is, about. I will remember always the Academy of Music concert. As I climbed up to the balcony to get my snaps, I heard "Fracture" for the first time and was greatly excited and startled by the piece. It was hard for me to take it in and I felt like time was out of joint. It is a great thing to have such surprise at music. Crimson gave me my first experience of this (and continued to, on into the 1980s). I enjoyed the show that I saw on the Thrak tour (at the Tupperware Center in FL) but it made me feel sad. Somehow, the music business seemed nastier, the fans more demanding, and the new-age philosophy too thick. I will not elaborate further because I enjoyed the concert and was glad that the band had persisted and survived. But I couldn't shake the feeling that there was a "Crimson not taken" that led from 1973. The only way I can explain this is to say that the intense music of 1973 seemed to have a kind of political edge to it; I thought it was protesting an unjust world. Today, this has translated to talk about "the moral authority of the artist." This is not quite what I had in mind in 1973. Like I said, everyone has their own idea of Crimson. Perhaps that is what makes the band great and the fans difficult. If you have an answer to my query, drop me a line. In any case, let this message be my thanks to the band, the fans, and even the strange thing that is Elephant Talk. Gary Weisel ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 26 Jan 1999 12:58:55 PST From: "Eaton Messner" Subject: guestbook - anonymous cowards The article at http://slashdot.org/features/99/01/25/1713206.shtml is interesting in light of the recent mess at the DGM guest book ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 26 Jan 1999 12:55:38 -0500 From: "Troy ><> Fisher" Subject: GIG REVIEW: LTE, Philadelphia (TLA) Although I didn't go to the same show as Chris Van Valen, I have to say I rather enjoyed the LTE show. It is definitely a setup that you have to be in the mood for. I don't know too much Dream Theatre, but what I do know is characterized by soaring melodic lines fueled by a talented vocalist, or really grinding fast guitar lines...not much in the middle. I didn't find anything special in Portnoy's drumming, but the keyboardist and Levin were awesome. The simple driving force of a lot of the songs was really impressive....filled with rhythmic complexity that kept me wondering. And at times, I swear Petrucchi sounded like Brian May... Good show, well worth the $20.00 Of course I blew out a tire on the way home and decided to get all 4 replaced....so the net total came to about $300. It wasn't worth $300, but barring blowouts on the way home, you should enjoy it. ><> Troy Fisher Computer Science '01 The College of New Jersey RCC/PA for Travers Hall That's not a RES.net problem! ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 27 Jan 1999 12:48:44 -0500 From: "Matthew S. Mueller" Subject: GIG REVIEW: Liquid Tension Experiment, Philly, 1/23/99 Well, although, Chris Van Valen apparently did not enjoy the NY show (at all), I'm going to provide everyone with a positive review. I will also try and focus on Tony Levin's contribution to Liquid Tension Experiment (LTE, for short) since this is a KC related newsletter. Here it is: Tony Levin ran out of notes. My friend and I figured after the show that Tony would have to call Seal and say "Hey, sorry, man, but I can't do the tour with you. I'm outta notes!" This is not to say that Tony is a bad player -- he was amazing (as usual). However, the fact that Tony likely reached his Note Quota while playing with LTE is a testament to the speed with which the other players (John Petrucci, guitar; Mike Portnoy, drums; Jordan Rudess, keyboards -- all members of Dream Theater) can play. Petrucci is a shredder (I happen to enjoy shredders!). Portnoy is a pounder (I like them, too). And Rudess is a keyboard wizard (he reminded me of Rick Wakeman at times). Was Tony out of place? Does Tony belong with such a prog metal group? No and SURE, why not? Tony has shown throughout his diverse carreer his ability to play on bass/ stick/etc. whatever the songs NEED. For the LTE tour, he has chosen to stick to the Stick (although he uses other basses on the LTE album). He even admits in his Road Diary that the Stick makes it easier for him to keep up with the other guys. And keep up he did. He even got a chance to play a duet with Mike Portnoy which was fun. A couple of clams here and there, but, hey, they wrote and recorded the first album in a week and had very little rehearsal time before beginning the short tour. It's the new material they played from the soon-to-be-released second LTE album that was outstanding. All band members played these beautifully. One song, "Another Dimension," was all over the map -- the song even jumped into some Italian-sounding jam thing! All Tony Levin fans -- the second LTE album promises to be GREAT! Overall, I'd have to say that, yes, LTE contains a lot of shredding. But, these are four guys who know how to play and have taken the opportunity afforded to them by Magna Carta Records to get together, jam, and get their rocks off. There was no pressure for "hit singles" or pressure to make room for the vocalist -- just some time to have fun....and PLAY. And play they did. I noticed a couple of times when Tony would look up at Petrucci and give him a look like "Hey! We played that pretty well!!" The guys all seemed to be having a great time, and so did the audience. Their were many standing o's and a loud demand for an encore (which they, of course, delivered). LTE played many notes, fast and furious. Tony, although not the fastest player, did more than keep up. He may have used up all of his notes doing so, but the end result was a thoughly enjoyable showcase for a group of exceptionally talented musicians. If you live on the Left Coast, see them. _matt ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 25 Jan 1999 21:10:17 PST From: "Dick Ross" Subject: GIG REVIEW: CGT / TG in Austin -Borders & Cactus Cafe Dear Team, It was my pleasure to see both California Guitar Trio / Tony Geballe shows in Austin. They played Borders Books And Music (7pm) Thursday night and the Cactus Cafe (9pm) Saturday night. The Borders show was a thrill. To see these guys close in action was a joy. To make things cool for me, I got to bring my boy Paul, one year of age, to see his first concert. This show was short and sweet the people that were there really enjoyed the music. Paul was caught up in Tony's first song and wanted to get down and walk up to the stage. Mom had to take him off to go look at books. Later I could hear him singing along on the other side of the isle. Pat Mastelotto was there! He told me that P3 would be playing in Austin and maybe Houston and San Antonio as well! Come on down! Saturday night at the Cactus Cafe. WOW ! What a night: The Cactus is on campus in the student union at Texas University. A cool night club / pub with chairs, a few tables, good bar, a few stage lights, and no smoking. The place was packed and a good looking crowd it was too. Tony Geballe took the stage and greeted the crowd, paused, then hit the first note of the night at just the right time. We were all tuned in. This soft spoken gentle man in chair with 12 string and footplank took us up and swept us away. Tony's playing is like a high performance sports car speeding down the road then down shifting and going into a hairpin turn without screeching the tires. Like a cowboy would say of a good cutting horse,"Turns on a dime and gives you back nine cents change." But there is more to Tony's music than speed and agility. Tony's music is filled with passion, perseverance, pure joy and wonder. For me Per Moana and Dancing Inside were high points of the evening. The crowd was spellbound. Now to loud applause the California Guitar Trio! With the new guitars so rich in tone when they played loud or softly or very loud or very softly, these guys were in fine form and were received well. The third song into the first set was the Moonlight Sonata. The Adagio Sostenuto performed by these guys is the most amazing thing to see. Each player plays only a fractal of the tune. Here is a fine example of three players in a single spirit. Then the Presto Agitato! The danger of this tightly structured music is if one would trip another could stumble and the other could fall. But for the California Guitar Trio it's unity and independence. Independence strengthens unity. Unity makes them one. At the break between sets the crowd was a buzz. Texans are a loud bunch. I went and got myself a pint of the creamy tide. When the band came back the house was what a bar band would call ready to rock. With silence the band brought our focus in clear then took us up again. It was great. At times you could hear a pin drop. What love was in this room! The Bartok-esque Leap from Pathways, lovely Van's No. 5 , Classical Gas and Misirlou all to great applause. They also played Caravan with a drum solo played on three guitars and two peases from Mussorgsk's Pictures At An Exhibition. The tones of these new guitars really shined on this one. You've got to hear this live! You know, Stravinsky recorded a piano roll of the Firebird. I think these guys could take this on and do it well. For an encore Tony joined Hideyo, Paul and Bert. They walked into the crowd and played Yamanashi Blues much to the delight of one particular woman in the crowd. The night was a complete success. The forth leg of this tour is coming to Florida. I know you'll be there. See you at deja Vroom, Dick Ross p.s. Tony Geballe said that the new Trey Gunn Band CD is in the works and they may rename the band. ------------------------------ End of Elephant-Talk Digest #570 ********************************