Farewell to many 60-something musicians

What a poor start for the music scene in 2016! I simply cannot remember so many greats pass away in such a short period of time. It's as if the "other world" is trying to form an all-star band with David Bowie, Glenn Frey, Lemmy (they will take care of vocal, guitar and bass) and Dale Griffin of Mott the Hoople would play the drums. "Tower of Power" founder and trumpeter Mic Gillette could join them too. :( And the new band could be managed by the legendary Malcolm McLaren. Wish they all RIP.

Guitars at Yoshi's

It has been a good 2 month-ful of live (guitar) music for me, including 3 at Yoshi's (and the Memorial concert for my friend that I played in) I took my sis to Yoshi's for Mike Stern's concert last December (also featuring Randy Brecker on trumpet and Dennis Chamber on drums) I bet she has never seen such a powerful drummer. One thing I like about him is his moves were not flashy for flashy sake. On the other hand, they just seem natural for the stuff he played. And Mike Stern was vintage Mike Stern with his unmistakable sound on his Tele.

Then I got to see another great drummer on my first visit to Yoshi's on 2016: Simon Phillips, whom I last saw playing with Hiromi. This time he led his own fusion quartet: Protocol, with Danger Danger's Andy Timmons on guitar. Their sound reminded me of Cassiopeia, a legendary Japanese group with guitar/keys/bass/drums that I really enjoy. Their music had rich melodies and also showcase their great skills on their instruments.

And I saw two of my most admired musicians/instrumentalists last night at Yoshi's: Testament's Alex Skolnick on guitar and Stu Hamm on bass, 25 years after seeing them played together in Austin. I became interested in their music even before listening to Hamm and Testament (via the Hong Kong indie music publication 音樂一週, 還記得樂評人戲稱Hamm's Kings of Sleep為昏君！Very creative) For a jazz and metal head like me, it's hard not to like Skol: a guitarist equally excel in the legendary thrash metal band Testament as well as his own jazz trio and world music group! He also wrote well, in magazines, his blogs and his bio. I bet he got some of that from his PhD parents. And I started playing bass around the time Hamm released his ground-breaking Kings of Sleep, with his melodic and harmonically rich original compositions. His bass licks and accompaniment distinguished his music from those who merely "noodles" with their technical chops. From what I read in Skol's bio, they went separate ways after their tour in the early 90s. Skol soon recorded with another bass legend Michael Manring. I was so glad to be at this "reunion" show, which also celebrated Hamm's latest release, the Book of Lies. In addition to new tunes from the album, like the solo bass piece from his suite, they also played quite a few covers: "We will rock you", "Misty Mountain Hop" (with Skol on slide guitar!), "Lucy in the Sky with Diamond" (Hamm played it as a solo piece 6 years ago at Bassplayer Live in Livermore) and "Red house" (with Skol on vocal) The encore piece sounds like a Joe Satriani (Hamm's long time collaborator) tune and Skol showed his "lineage" to the mastro. Now, time for some criticisms: there were way too many covers! When I was a kid, I couldn't stand "Misty Mountain Hop" :P (but it's one of the few tunes that I completely changed my mind after I grew up) Hamm's playing sounded a bit muddy too. And finally, it's a personal thing but I am not a big fan of vocalizing with guitar solo (like what Skol did last night. Coincidentally, Stern also did it in his show! I do know it's a good practice routine for improv)

Looking forward to a great year of live music in 2016!