Uptight jazz instrumentals for a Sunday morning.

6 Down

5 Monday Morning

4 All That's Left

3 Big Bossa

2 The Greenview Laundromat

1 Livingroom Blues

So once again my writing takes me back to the 80's and the influences of Larry Carlton (sound) and Michael McDonald (writing/arranging). I just love playing this stuff!

Private Songs 2023

Extenuating Circumstances

ROOM 335 Jam

I have loved Larry Carlton since I first heard him play back in the early 80s. I especially love the sounds he's getting so when I got the Tone Master Pro I've been working on a preset that allows me to play with dynamics both from touch as well as from working a volume pedal. 
I know the Mr Carlton uses a Dumble ODS style amp since many years and I also know that at this time there's no Dumble model in the Tone Master Pro. But there was a time before Mr Carlton started using the Dumble and IIRC he was using a Mesa/Boogie with an EV speaker or a Fender Princeton.
So for this preset I used the Boogie amp for a warm and clean rhythm sound and then I set up other pedal models to create the overdrive so I would get a dynamic mid focused and smooth overdrive. An overdrive so smooth that it's almost clean in how I perceive it. I know it doesn't have that initial "chirp" in the attack but feel wise I think this is very close to most of the ODS-style amps I've played over the years. Above all it's a very enjoyable preset to play. At least to me.
When I was done making the preset I wanted a tune so I could tweak it in a musical context and thus I wrote this tune. All guitars in this tune used one and the same preset for both the OD lead and the clean rhythm.

Morning Train To Arizona

What You Fight For

I've always admired Larry Carlton and according to others that has influenced both my composing and my playing.
This track was an effort to write a tune where I decided to focus a lot on chord tones both for the melody and the solo.

Private Songs 2024

Living With A Memory

Here's a demo of two semiacoustic guitars based on George Benson's classic track "Breezin'":
• Ibanez AS73G
• Sire Larry Carlton H7
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• Amp used: Bluetone Black Prince Reverb
• Mic used: Shure SM7B
• Preamp used: Cranborne Audio Camden EC2
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Testi tulossa: 
https://blogi.rockway.fi
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Kitarablogi.com

RW24 – Ibanez AS - 73G + Sire H7 – Demo Song 2 – Guitars + Bass + Percussion

RW24 – Ibanez AS-73G + Sire H7 – Demo Song 2

Take a break from the noise. 
Sit back and close your eyes.
Take a deep breath and try “Catchin' the Vibe.”


Catchin' the Vibe

A song of science fiction - or is it?

POSTCARDS OF PLACES AND THINGS

Life here at the campsite
Sixty thousand miles from home
I can’t believe the caves
I can’t believe the graves
Meanwhile in a city so very far away
He takes a glimpse through Venetian blinds
And views this picture in his mind
And just when I feel neglected
He cooks it up - sends it off - delivers it soon
And then I show the folks the wonder
and the gift he has for drawing up those

Postcards of places and things he’s never visited before
Postcards of places I know he’s always gonna be a star
with those Postcards of places
Nice to know he’s watching when I’m feeling small

Met him through a window on some lonely barren plane
Where words are never spoke and dreams are never broke
I - I was a blank space lost and feeling cold
He pulled me in through his color wheel
I lost my sense of what was real
And just when I felt sedated he grabbed a pen,
He pinned me down caressing my face until it brought me back the wonders of a child in a floating frame, he drew :

Postcards of places and things he’s never visited before
Postcards of places I know he’s always gonna be the star
with those Postcards of places
Nice to know he’s watching when I’m feeling small
Nice to know he’s watching, keeping me at home

Credits
JT : Oberheim Keyboard, Bass, Percussion, Re-mixer
Chris Pati : Guitars, Backup vocals
Sherry Jean Waite : Vocals
Produced, engineered and mix at Backdoor Studios, Huntington Station, NY, by Chris Pati and John Tabacco
1991 Re-mix by JT at Modern Voices Recording Studios, Centerport, NY 

Postcards Of Places And Things

My musical roots are quite firmly planted in the music coming from the Los Angeles studios in the 80s and 90s. 
Some call it smooth jazz and I really don't disagree.

Worthwhile

Back in the 80s I listened a lot to Lee Ritenour and whenever I play clean I think that influence shines through. Not the least in this tune.

Five Days Hence

My goal with this track was to create a tune that would reflect my influences from the 80s. Larry Carlton for guitar and Michael McDonald for the arrangement.
Many people would probably call this Smooth Jazz but, personally, I'd call it Smooth Pop as the jazz influence is fairly minimal.

None The Wiser

Berklee College of Music Almuni. Over 10 albums works in a decade. Demos are here.

John Tabacco is an American composer, singer songwriter, producer, recording engineer, multi instrumentalist and graphic artist. He has engineered /mixed and mastered music for hundreds of New York recording artists as well as projects released on BMG: The Kemelions, RCA: Faze, Rampage/Rhino: Rhett Forrester, Columbia: Rebbie Jackson, Rykodisc : Bob Marley, Columbia: Chris Jasper, Electra: Sonia Dada and Nickleodeon’s Are You Afraid Of The Dark? He is the CEO of It Iz What It Iz Music Publishing which currently holds over 750 songs in its catalog. He has been an associate producer for IndiMusic TV and hosts a bi-weekly radio program (CLAM RADIO) on college radio WUSB.fm since 1999. He is currently the head of A&R at Modern Voices Digital Distribution.

His musical background consists of extensive study of orchestration with noted 20th century composer John Lessard, harmony with the late electronic music maverick Bulent Arel, and composition with Stony Brook University professor Peter Winkler. He received his BA in Music from Stony Brook University in 1983. 

Like an unfolding musical diary / puzzle, Tabacco’s music and art are constantly being re-worked, juxtaposed and intertwined. His style is a melding of pop - jazz -rock - avant garde / aleatory, classical and comedy.  He has been recording his music non stop since 1979.

Of note: In 1989 the satirical, absurd house song "Go House Yourself" co-written by Tabacco, Pati and DiMauro reached position 39 on Billboard's dance chart. 

In 2014 Tabacco signed a record deal with Texas, indie label, Muffin Records. They released his CD “Unfulfilled Shopping Carts Syndrome” internationally.

Go to kmsmuzic.com for liner notes, lyrics, merchandise and more fun stuff!
What is Kevin Smith's Onion? The simple answer is- my music and life have always felt like layers, flavors,
sensations gained from personal experiences, and from what I could gleen from the world around me.
We all have these layers, like an onion, and this is just me sharing mine. These experiences can make you cry,
make you feel hunger, make you happy, make you excited to see the results after you've peeled back the layers.
The onion metaphor is my way to break down the possibly complicated, and reveal how simple and amazing
seeing and sharing the layers can be.

New tracks tagged #Larry Carlton