A brief head's up on some of my artists.

Deni Bonet is an eclectic pop/singer-songwriter that both Jann Klose and Joe Deninzon turned me onto. Her album, IT'S ALL GOOD is coming early 2012, and was produced by a mutual friend, Richard Barone, who you know from the Bongos. I'm just going through photos of the album's sessions that included B-52s Fred Schneider, REM's Peter Buck, John Wesley Harding, and Wings' Steve Holley. Deni has excerpts of her songs at her web site http://www.denibonet.com.

Tim Fort is best known to people (especially those who watched this season's AMERICA'S GOT TALENT) as the Kinetic King. He's planning on beating the Guinness World Record of knocking down 5067 tongue depressors with the knocking down of 6000 tongue depressors this Oct. 7 in Saint Paul, MN. More info by Monday. This is Tim's youtube page: http://www.youtube.com/user/lunatim and web site is http://www.lunatim.com

The photo for Joe Deninzon's electric violin method book, “Plugging in: A guide to Gear and New Techniques for the 21st Century Violinist," on Mel Bay books over the holiday season is up at http://www.flickr.com/photos/8320698@N05/6194339498/in/set-72157611847817960

Joe Deninzon is the music world's "go to" guy for all things strings and violin, doing sessions, arrangements, live performances. Some of the acts he's worked with: Bruce Springsteen, Sheryl Crow, Everclear, Ritchie Blackmore, Smokey Robinson, President Clinton, Johnny Matthis, Les Paul, Phoebe Snow, Robert Bonfiglio... http://www.joedeninzon.com

Ed Arnold Heads to Gentle Giant in-store in Philadelphia, October 1

Phoenixville, PA's Ed Arnold once met Gentle Giant guitarist Gary Green ("he's great, laid back"). Now Ed wants to meet the group's leadsinger Derek Shulman, "he was an interesting vocalist; I'm gonna encourage him to play live again. He always seemed so intense... it might be intimidating."

Back in the late 1970s, Ed discovered the music of Gentle Giant, a progressive rock band whose Octopus and Three Friends are available as special digipacks on the band's label Alucard and distributed through EMI Records. These re-masters are from the original 1/4 inch tapes of these Seminal British Progressive Rock Recordings. As he did for Gentle Giant's earlier re-releases, Fred Kevorkian re-mastered these two additions to the available Gentle Giant catalog. Ecstatic music fans of many generations, most notably contemporaries of the UK-based group who recorded and toured from 1970 till 1980, have been excited about the new releases.

In the case of Ed Arnold, it was in homeroom, 1978, "I had a cool teacher who had a record player, and he always brought in interesting music for us."

This Saturday, October 1, at 2 PM, Ed will have taken the bus, train or maybe have driven in to "Philly." He hasn't quite decided how he's getting to the City of Brotherly Love, but he will be at F.Y.E. Music, 100 South Broad Street, Philadelphia, for Gentle Giant's first in-store in 30 years. Gary and Derek will be on hand to autograph THREE FRIENDS and OCTOPUS. The phone number for F,Y.E. is 215-496-8338.

The albums are available on at
http://www.amazon.com/Octopus-Gentle-Giant/dp/B005G0YP3M/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1312829910&sr=1-1

http://www.amazon.com/Three-Friends-Gentle-Giant/dp/B005G0YP3C/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1312828329&sr=1-1

One of the most renowned bands that came out of the British Progressive Rock Movement, Gentle Giant spent their decade together pushing musical boundaries and continually taking chances. Their music, while rooted in rock, had overtones of classical European composition, American jazz, British soul, medieval and even blues. They seamlessly integrated these disparate styles into the melting pot that epitomized the essence that was Gentle Giant.

Gentle Giant fans range from Ozzy Osbourne, Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson, Trey Anastasio of Phish, Mike Portnoy and Jordan Rudess of Dream Theater, Avenged Sevenfold, Kerry Livgren of American progressive rockers Kansas to guitarist Peter Banks of Yes, and--of course--Ed Arnold!

Gentle Giant's media tour

Gentle Giant will be making a number of public media and marketing appearances that fans world-wide can tap into in support of new re-releases of the group's OCTOPUS and THREE FRIENDS (coming out on Gentle Giant's imprint Alucard through EMI on September 27).

OCTOPUS and THREE FRIENDS are already listed as pre-sales on Amazon at
http://www.amazon.com/Octopus-Gentle-Giant/dp/B005G0YP3M/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1312829910&sr=1-1

http://www.amazon.com/Three-Friends-Gentle-Giant/dp/B005G0YP3C/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1312828329&sr=1-1
Ray, Derek, and Phil Shulman, Kerry Minnear, Gary Green, Malcolm Mortimer and John Weathers are available for interviews on these blockbuster re-releases.

Confirmed so far:
September 21: 12 noon EST: Gary Green and the band's catalog marketing gal Anne Leighton
online radio interview, INSIDE THE MUSIC with Nick Katona and John Orr Franklin at http://aiiradio.net
iPhone or other smart phone 3g plus or higher: http://mobile.livestream.com/aiiradionet
here is the show link https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=193991367335625
(Join the radio chat board at http://chat.aiiradio.net/)

September 25: 11 AM EST: Band member: John Weathers
WLVR-BETHLEHEM, PA's Ear Responsible Radio w/ Jon
http://www.wlvr.org and at 91.3 FM in the LeHigh Valley, PA

September 25: 4:07 EST: John Weathers
with Mark From Holland
104.5 Mhz (cable) and 107.4 FM in the Ijmond Region of N. Holland
http://www.markfromholland.com/

THIS WILL BE RESCHEDULED: Derek, Malcolm
Yowie, on line video conference
http://www.Yowie.com

October 1: 2 PM: Derek and Gary
FYE Music, 100 S. Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA

Oct. 2: 10 PM PST, Derek
Danny Zelisko's show, KDKB-Phoenix

PM EST: Derek: TBA
East Village Radio's "Beyond is Beyond" w/ Mike Newman
http://www.eastvillageradio.com/

October 11: 10 PM EST: Band member: Gary
WBWC Radio-Cleveland's "Somewhere Between Sunrise & Sunset, your program of progressive rock,
88.3 FM, http://www.wbwc.com


TBA: ECHOES with John Diliberto, NPR
One of the most renowned bands that came out of the British Progressive Rock
Movement, Gentle Giant spent their decade together pushing musical boundaries
and continually taking chances. Their music, while rooted in rock, had overtones of classical European composition, American jazz, British soul, medieval and even blues. They seamlessly integrated these disparate styles into the melting pot that epitomized the essence that was Gentle Giant.

Please stay tuned to this page for updates!
###

MIKE KENEALLY BAND & BRYAN BELLER BAND TO TOUR WEST COAST IN OCTOBER

World-renowned virtuoso guitarist and multi- instrumentalist/composer Mike Keneally is set to launch his first West Coast full-band tour in years, bringing his remarkably inventive musical vision to nine cities in October in support of the Keneally Band's latest Exowax Recordings DVD/CD live release, bakin' @ the potato!

From Keneally’s well-documented recorded work as a guitarist/keyboardist/vocalist in Frank Zappa’s last touring band, to his recordings and performances with Robert Fripp, Dethklok, Wayne Kramer, Steve Vai, Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, Joe Satriani, Andy Partridge and many others, he’s earned a reputation as someone who brings an intense, original musical voice to any and all musical happenings. His extensive and wildly diverse original catalog of 20 albums (and counting) defies traditional classification, and concertgoers are regularly left awestruck by his band’s high-wire-act execution of the eclectic material. Time Out New York says "this band, with such a peculiar genius leading it, is a thing to savor."

In a unique twist, this tour’s Mike Keneally Band members also comprise the opening act, the band of Keneally’s longtime bassist Bryan Beller (Steve Vai, Dethklok), whose intricate jazz/rock compositions and tasteful playing earned his third and latest album Wednesday Night Live widespread acclaim (“Beller is part of a new elite in the world of jazz-rock fusion.” – Jeff Miers, The Buffalo News.) The Keneally/Beller Band West Coast 2011 Tour features Keneally, Beller, drummer Joe Travers (Zappa Plays Zappa), and guitarists Rick Musallam (Ben Taylor, Byrd York) and Griff Peters (Billie Myers, Anika Paris).

Tour dates:
October 12: Don Quixote's International Music Hall, Felton, CA
October 13: Biscuits & Blues, San Francisco, CA
October 14: Music Max, Palo Cedro (Redding), CA
October 15: Humbrew's, Arcata, CA (Presented by the Arcata Eye, the weekly newspaper
October 17: Mt. Tabor Theater, Portland, OR
October 18: The Rendezvous, Seattle, WA
October 21: Winstons, San Diego (Ocean Beach), CA
October 22: The Baked Potato, Studio City, CA
October 23: HOUSE CONCERT: Anaheim, CA

###
Tour press info, posters, videos and hi-res photos can be found at www.keneally.com/promo
http://www.keneally.com

GENTLE GIANT'S DEREK SHULMAN AND GARY GREEN AT IN-STORE, FYE MUSIC, PHILADELPHIA, OCTOBER 1

Former Gentle Giant Lead Vocalist Derek Shulman and Guitarist Gary Green to make rare appearance in support of new digital and physical re-masters of OCTOPUS and THREE FRIENDS

Gentle Giant's Derek Shulman and Gary Green will be hosting their own in-store at FYE Music, 100 South Broad Street, in Philadelphia, on Saturday, October 1, at 2 PM. The store's phone number is 215-496-8338.

Gentle Giant's Octopus and Three Friends are being released as special digipacks on September 27 on the band's label Alucard and distributed through EMI Records. These re-masters are from the original 1/4 inch tapes of these Seminal British Progressive Rock Recordings. As he did for Gentle Giant's earlier re-releases, Fred Kevorkian re-mastered these two additions to the available Gentle Giant catalog.

The albums are already listed as pre-sales on Amazon at
http://www.amazon.com/Octopus-Gentle-Giant/dp/B005G0YP3M/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1312829910&sr=1-1

http://www.amazon.com/Three-Friends-Gentle-Giant/dp/B005G0YP3C/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1312828329&sr=1-1

One of the most renowned bands that came out of the British Progressive Rock Movement, Gentle Giant spent their decade together pushing musical boundaries and continually taking chances. Their music, while rooted in rock, had overtones of classical European composition, American jazz, British soul, medieval and even blues. They seamlessly integrated these disparate styles into the melting pot that epitomized the essence that was Gentle Giant.

Gentle Giant fans range from Ozzy Osbourne, Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson, Trey Anastasio of Phish, Mike Portnoy and Jordan Rudess of Dream Theater,
Avenged Sevenfold, Kerry Livgren of American progressive rockers Kansas to guitarist Peter Banks of Yes.

After Gentle Giant disbanded in 1980, Derek became a hugely successful A&R Executive, starting careers and signing Bon Jovi, Cinderella, Edwin McCain, Slipknot. He is available for interviews in advance of the in-store.

####

LITTLE STEVEN WELCOMES THE YARDBIRDS

Left to Right: Yardbirds singer: Andy Mitchell, bassist David Smale, guitarist Ben King, rhythm guitar Chris Dreja, Little Steven, and Yardbirds' drummer Jim McCarty

Little Steven will always rave about the Yardbirds, singing the group's praises from the rafters and to the world. Generally he plays the band in heavy rotation on his Sirius XM channel, Little Steven's Underground Garage. On Wednesday, September 7, he was declaring the band's place in music history when he emceed the Yardbirds at BB King Blues Club and Grill, in New York City. In fact Steven's "rave up" of the band was caught on youtube at www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pu8TtILThUw&feature=share

GUITAR WORLD editor Brad Tolinski was also in attendance at the show, and he immediately reviewed the show on his blog, stating, it was "one of the best gigs I've seen this year."

ALL YARDBIRDS NORTH AMERICAN DATES

Sept. 1: Summer Music Series, Springfield, MA
Sept. 2: Infinity Hall, Norfolk, CT
Sept. 3: Tupelo Music Hall, White River Junction, VT
Sept. 4: Tupelo Music Hall, Londonerry, NH
Sept. 5 Wolf Den, Mohegan Sun Casino, Uncasville, CT
Sept. 7 BB Kings, New York, NY
Sept. 8: Penn's Peak, Jim Thorpe, PA
Sept. 9: NYCB THEATRE at WESTBURY, Westbury, NY
Sept. 10: Parilla Center, Rockville, MD
Sept. 11: Rams Head, Annapolis, MD
Sept. 15: New Showroom, Hawaiian Brians, Honolulu, HI
Sept. 16: Maui Arts and Cultural Center, Maui, HI
Sept. 17: Horoka Peoples Theatre, Big Island, HI
Sept. 21 Key Club, Hollywood, CA
Sept. 22: Coachhouse, Santa Ana, CA
Sept. 23: Canyon Club, Agoura Hills, CA  
Sept. 24: El Rey Theatre, Chico, CA
 
 

CHAMBER POP SUMMIT: JIM MCCARTY, JANN KLOSE AND JOHN HAWKEN PERFORM AT HUGH'S ROOM, OCT. 5

Jim McCarty headlining at Hugh's Room w/ bassist George Koller and guitarist Jean-Michel Kajdan.
photo by Jon Richard, © 2011

Panoramic of Jann Klose performing Yardbirds songs at Hugh's Room, Toronto, the 2nd date of the Canadian tour 2011. L TO R: John Hawken, Ron Korb, Jim McCarty, Jann Klose, Larry Crowe, George Koller, Jean-Michel Kajdan. (October 5th, 2011).
(C) 2011 Jade Yeh


John Hawken, Jim McCarty, Chris Dreja, and Jann Klose at BB King Blues Club, New York, NY, Sept. 7

Jim McCarty, Jann Klose, and John Hawken will be performing at Hugh's Room,2261 Dundas Street, W., in Toronto, on October 5 at 8:30 PM. Admission is $20 in advance and $22.50 at the door. The web site is http://www.hughsroom.com, and the phone number is 416-531-6604.

Jim McCarty and Jann Klose, and their bands create unique styles of "chamber pop." This style uses interesting musical instruments, classical and other genre influences (blues, jazz, multi-cultural, folk, theatre) to create beautiful melodies with international overtones. Their works, which have unintended parallels, have been critically acclaimed.

The Yardbirds’ Jim McCarty's history is phenomenal, having been partially responsible for discovering Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, and reuniting with Page in a 1980s group called Box of Frogs. He's been making music every decade, with emphasis on creation. He and the other original Yardbirds members have been inducted in to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Jim founded Renaissance with Yardbirds' mate, the late Keith Relf in the late 1960s. This band was a classical rock band that was fronted for the first album by Keith's sister Jane. After Jane left, Jim and Keith auditioned Annie Haslam, who fronted the line-up of Renaissance that became popular in the States.

Jim McCarty's current album SITTING ON THE TOP OF TIME features Toronto flautist Ron Korb, pianist Donald Quan, guitarist Ray Hickey and bassist George Koller. Much of it was recorded in Quan's studio, Q Music, “There seemed to be a good group of session players available, very much like in London in the ‘60s and thanks to Ron, I soon had a good team together: Ron, Donald, Ray, and George.”

Joining Jim’s band for this show is John Hawken. John was in Renaissance and Illusion with Jim (2001), and most recently in the Strawbs. He has also played with The Nashville Teens, Spooky Tooth, Vinegar Joe (with Robert Palmer), Third World War, and Renaissance Illusion.

Renaissance's Annie Haslam was one of the music business people who discovered Jann Klose, and collaborated with him and John Tout (from Annie's Renaissance lineup) in the fall of 2008. Jann then opened for Renaissance's 40th Anniversary comeback tour, Fall 2009. He has opened for the Strawbs a few times, and has shared the stage and/or opened for Pete Seeger, the late Les Paul, Rusted Root, Shawn Phillips, Marty Stuart, Roger McGuinn, Rosanne Cash, Marshall Crenshaw, Vonda Shepard, Elliott Murphy.

Genya Ravan, who recently featured Jann's "Waiting For the Wave" on her Sirius XM show "Goldie's Garage" on Little Steven's Underground Garage channel says, "Gee, if I had a label I would sign Jann immediately, this is a hit song.  I am going to play it, even though its not garage, too damn beautiful to pass on." Jann music is on the GRAMMY-nominated album, HEALTHY FOOD FOR THOUGHT, his music's been featured on MTV's CRIBS and Paul Sorvino's movie, DEAD BROKE (Warner Bros.) His most recent recordings are REVERIE (2008) and SACRIFICE EP (2010). and he's releasing a new album in 2012.

Jann Klose & Jim McCarty, photo by Steven Triolo