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Offramp (album)
''Offramp'' is the third album by the Pat Metheny Group, released in 1982. It won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Fusion Performance. It contains the popular ballad " Are You Going with Me?". ''Offramp'' is the first studio album on which Metheny used a guitar synthesizer, a Roland GR-300 controlled with a Roland G-303 guitar synthesiser controller. The guitar synthesizer became one of Metheny's most frequently used instruments. ''Offramp'' is also the first Group album to feature vocals, which became a fundamental component of the band's sound. When Metheny and Lyle Mays partnered with Brazilian percussionist Naná Vasconcelos on the album '' As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls'', they sought to expand the potential of the recording studio as an ensemble instrument and experiment with sounds they hadn't previously utilized. Some of the innovations introduced on ''Wichita'' carried over into ''Offramp'', namely Vasconcelos's vocals and percussion stylings. Bassist Mar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pat Metheny Group
The Pat Metheny Group was an American jazz band founded in 1977. The core members of the group were guitarist, composer and bandleader Pat Metheny; and keyboardist and composer Lyle Mays, who was in the group at its inception. Other long-standing members included bassist and producer Steve Rodby, from 1981 to 2010, and drummer Antonio Sanchez, from 2002 to 2010. Vocalist Pedro Aznar and drummer Paul Wertico were also long-time members. In addition to a core quartet, the group was often joined by a variety of other instrumentalists expanding the size to six or eight musicians. History 1970s Founder Pat Metheny first emerged on the jazz scene in the mid-1970s with a pair of solo albums. First was '' Bright Size Life,'' released in 1976, a trio album with bass guitarist Jaco Pastorius and drummer Bob Moses. The next album, released in 1977, was ''Watercolors,'' featuring Eberhard Weber on bass, pianist Lyle Mays, and drummer Danny Gottlieb. In 1977, bassist Mark Egan joined ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Guitar Synthesizer
A guitar synthesizer is any one of a number of musical instrument systems that allow a guitarist to access synthesizer capabilities. Overview Today's guitar synths are direct descendants of 1970s devices from manufacturers (often in partnership) such as Hammond Innovex and Ovation, Ludwig, EMS, 360 Systems, Norlin Music and Maestro, Ampeg and Hagström, Arp, Roland Corporation and FujiGen ( GR-500 and GR-300), New England Digital, Electro-Harmonix, Casio, Terratec/Axon, Starr Labs, Ibanez, Holt Electro Acoustic Research, Zeta Systems, and Yamaha. In the early days, there were three main types of guitar-synthesizers: * Multi-effects type * Frequency-to-voltage converter type (using guitar with pickups) * Guitorgan type (using guitar with fretboard switches) Later, the multi-effects type evolved into modeling guitar, and the other two types evolved into current devices. Presently, there are two main groups: * Guitar-synth using guitars: regular guitars equipped wi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Synclavier
The Synclavier is an early digital synthesizer, polyphonic digital sampling system, and music workstation manufactured by New England Digital Corporation of Norwich, Vermont. It was produced in various forms from the late 1970s into the early 1990s. The instrument has been used by prominent musicians. History The original design and development of the Synclavier prototype occurred at Dartmouth College with the collaboration of Jon Appleton, Professor of Digital Electronics, Sydney A. Alonso, and Cameron Jones, a software programmer and student at Dartmouth's Thayer School of Engineering. Synclavier I First released in 1977–78, it proved to be highly influential among both electronic music composers and music producers, including Mike Thorne, an early adopter from the commercial world, due to its versatility, its cutting-edge technology, and distinctive sounds. The early Synclavier I used FM synthesis, re-licensed from Yamaha, and was sold mostly to universitie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
80/81
''80/81'' is a double album by jazz guitarist Pat Metheny, featuring tenor saxophonists Dewey Redman and Michael Brecker, acoustic bassist Charlie Haden and drummer Jack DeJohnette, which was released in 1980. Metheny toured in the U.S. in fall 1980 with a quartet including Redman, Haden and drummer Paul Motian. In the summer of 1981, he toured Europe with the full 80/81 lineup featured on the album. Reception In a review for AllMusic, Richard S. Ginell wrote that "Metheny's credibility with the jazz community went way up with the release of this package", and called the album "a superb two-CD collaboration with a quartet of outstanding jazz musicians that dared to be uncompromising at a time when most artists would have merely continued pursuing their electric commercial successes." An overview at The Music Aficionado refers to the album as "a double LP album for the ages" resulting from "one of the most productive and inspiring recording sessions in modern jazz", and notes: ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Virgin Books
Virgin Books is a British book publisher 90% owned by the publishing group Random House, and 10% owned by Virgin Group, the company originally set up by Richard Branson as a record company. History Virgin established its book publishing arm in the late 1970s; in the latter part of the 1980s Virgin purchased several existing companies, including WH Allen, well known among '' Doctor Who'' fans for their Target Books imprint; Virgin Books was incorporated into WH Allen in 1989, but in 1991 WH Allen was renamed Virgin Publishing Ltd. Virgin Publishing's early success came with the ''Doctor Who'' New Adventures novels, officially licensed full-length novels carrying on the story of the popular science-fiction television series following its cancellation in 1989. Virgin published this series from 1991 to 1997, as well as a range of ''Doctor Who'' reference books from 1992 to 1998 under the Doctor Who Books imprint. In recent times the company is best known for its commercial ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
All Time Top 1000 Albums
''All Time Top 1000 Albums'' is a book by Colin Larkin, creator and editor of the '' Encyclopedia of Popular Music''. The book was first published by Guinness Publishing in 1994. The list presented is the result of over 200,000 votes cast by the public in record shops, universities, schools and the French music trade show MIDEM – and ranked in order. Each album's entry is accompanied by an annotation with a 100-word review, details of its creation, and notes about the band or artist who recorded it. The Beatles' ''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'' album made the top spot in the first edition, and the same band's '' Revolver'' made the top spot in the second, third and pocket editions of the series. Background In 1987, radio presenter Paul Gambaccini asked approximately 80 critics and disc jockeys from the United Kingdom and United States to list their ten greatest albums of all time. From these lists, he compiled the "Top 100 Albums" which was subsequently publis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Colin Larkin
Colin Larkin (born 1949) is a British writer and entrepreneur. He founded, and was the editor-in-chief of, the '' Encyclopedia of Popular Music'', described by '' The Times'' as "the standard against which all others must be judged". Along with the ten-volume encyclopedia, Larkin also wrote the book ''All Time Top 1000 Albums'', and edited the ''Guinness Who's Who of Jazz'', the ''Guinness Who's Who of Blues'', and the ''Virgin Encyclopedia Of Heavy Rock''. He has over 650,000 copies in print to date. Background and education Larkin was born in Dagenham, Essex. Larkin spent much of his early childhood attending the travelling fair where his father, who worked by day as a plumber for the council, moonlighted on the waltzers to make ends meet. It was in the fairground, against a background of Little Richard on the wind-up 78 rpm turntables, that Larkin acquired his passion for the world of popular music. He studied at the South East Essex County Technical High School an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Taylor
James Vernon Taylor (born March 12, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A six-time Grammy Award winner, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. He is one of the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling music artists of all time, having sold more than 100 million records worldwide. Taylor achieved his breakthrough in 1970 with the single "Fire and Rain (song), Fire and Rain" and had his first hit in 1971 with his recording of "You've Got a Friend", written by Carole King in the same year. His 1976 ''Greatest Hits (James Taylor album), Greatest Hits'' album was certified RIAA certification#RIAA Diamond certifications, Diamond and has sold 12 million copies in the US alone. Following his 1977 album ''JT (album), JT'', he has retained a large audience over the decades. Every album that he released from 1977 to 2007 sold over 1 million copies. He enjoyed a resurgence in chart performance during the late 1990s and 2000s, when he recorded ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ornette Coleman
Randolph Denard Ornette Coleman (March 9, 1930 – June 11, 2015) was an American jazz saxophonist, violinist, trumpeter, and composer known as a principal founder of the free jazz genre, a term derived from his 1960 album '' Free Jazz: A Collective Improvisation''. His pioneering performances often abandoned the chordal and harmony-based structure found in bebop, instead emphasizing a jarring and avant-garde approach to improvisation. AllMusic called him "one of the most important (and controversial) innovators of the jazz avant-garde". Born in Fort Worth, Texas, Coleman began his musical career playing in local R&B and bebop groups, and eventually formed his own group in Los Angeles featuring members such as Ed Blackwell, Don Cherry, Charlie Haden, and Billy Higgins. In 1959, he released the controversial album ''The Shape of Jazz to Come'' and began a long residency at the Five Spot jazz club in New York City. His 1960 album ''Free Jazz'' would profoundly influence the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Free Jazz
Free jazz is an experimental approach to jazz improvisation that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s when musicians attempted to change or break down jazz conventions, such as regular tempos, tones, and chord changes. Musicians during this period believed that the bebop, hard bop, and modal jazz that had been played before them was too limiting. They became preoccupied with creating something new and exploring new directions. The term "free jazz" has often been combined with or substituted for the term " avant-garde jazz". Europeans tend to favor the term " free improvisation". Others have used "modern jazz", "creative music", and "art music". The ambiguity of free jazz presents problems of definition. Although it is usually played by small groups or individuals, free jazz big bands have existed. Although musicians and critics claim it is innovative and forward-looking, it draws on early styles of jazz and has been described as an attempt to return to primitive, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Steve Rodby
Steve Rodby (born December 9, 1954 in Joliet, Illinois) is an American jazz bassist and producer known for his time with the Pat Metheny Group. Biography Rodby was born in Joliet, Illinois, into a musical family. His father was a music teacher who bought him an acoustic bass, electric bass, and amp when he was 12. He heard classical music from a young age and was educated in classical until high school when he learned jazz. During high school summers, he went to jazz camps, where he met Pat Metheny, Lyle Mays, and Danny Gottlieb, three of the four members of The Pat Metheny Group. Rodby played acoustic bass until he graduated from Northwestern University in 1977, when he taught himself how to play electric. He performed in the house band at the Jazz Showcase in Chicago, with local and visiting musicians such as Milt Jackson, Joe Henderson, and Art Farmer. He joined the Pat Metheny Group in 1981, starting on electric bass before spending most of his time on acoustic. He spent the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mark Egan
Mark Egan (born January 14, 1951 in Brockton, Massachusetts, United States) is an American jazz bassist and trumpeter known for his membership in the Pat Metheny Group and the Gil Evans Orchestra. He is co-founder of the jazz fusion band, Elements. Biography Mark McDanel Egan was born in Brockton, Massachusetts in 1951. Influenced by his father, he studied trumpet at age 10. He played the trumpet throughout high school, and began playing the bass when he was 15. While attending the University of Miami's Frost School of Music, initially as a trumpet student, he studied with jazz educator Jerry Coker. He switched from trumpet to bass part way through the program. While in Miami he also became friends and performed with Ira Sullivan, Pat Metheny, Danny Gottlieb, Clifford Carter. His teachers included Jaco Pastorius, Dave Holland, and Andy LaVerne. In 1975, after graduate school, Egan went on tour with Eumir Deodato and the Pointer Sisters and recorded with David Sanborn. Two year ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
