A Day In The Life Of A Professional Guitar Player

Music City - Nashville Tennessee

2019-11-15T17:05:00.000-08:00

I was down in Nashville last month with my friend and drummer David Mihal doing some Songs of the Southern Belles business. What a fantastic city and music centre.

Dave is now a permanent member of our country musical tribute show Songs of the Southern Belles and is not only a great drummer and musician but also brings a lot of experience in the music business.

We not only got some business done and made some great contacts but we were also able to hear some fantastic music. The Time Jumpers at 3rd and Lindsley was such a great night. The band is made up of Nashville music veterans like Paul Franklin on pedal steel and Vince Gill on guitar and vocals as well as everyone else in the band. They play old country swing and it's so well played.

Dave and I got a chance to hang with Vince Gill during the break. What a great guy.

I also got a chance to hang out and play some guitar with two of Nashville's greats Brent Mason and Guthrie Trapp. I've known Brent for about 6 years now and just recently met Guthrie. Both top drawer guitar players and really great guys.

Brent Mason

Guthrie Trapp

There is a club on Broadway that features traditional country music only (which is great) and every Weds through Saturday The Don Kelly Band plays. Don Kelly is famous for searching out the monster up and coming tele players and featuring them in his band. He obviously has a knack for it as greats like Brent Mason, Guthrie Trapp, Johnny Hiland, Daniel Donato and currently Luke McCreary. Wow this kid (19) can play! Such maturity and incredible chops.

I must say that the town is a Telecaster town for sure and a Martin and Gibson acoustic town for the most part. I saw some Strat players , a couple of Gibson Les Paul players and one PRS player but Teles are definitely still the mainstay.

I definitely plan to go back soon.

That's all for now.
SB

Playing in four bands

2019-11-04T17:38:00.003-08:00

Monday Nov. 4th/2019

It's been quite a while since I've posted an entry but nothing like fracturing your finger and being out of commission for a few weeks to remind yourself you have time......lots of time. Other than the inconvenience of having a cast on my left hand, the biggest drag is not being able to play guitar. I have probably played my guitar everyday, with the exception of a week here and there for vacations, since I was 12! It's really is a huge part of my DNA.

I have had a really busy year playing which is great. Touring a lot with Cod Gone Wild and getting ready for a 16 date Christmas tour which will be fun. Great band and really fun music. We recorded a Christmas CD last year called "The Neighbourhood Rounds". I wrote a tune for the record called (I'll Never Be) A Come From Away. Band lineup is Andrew Mercer - lead vocals, acoustic guitar and bodhran , David Mihal - drums, Susan Aylard - fiddle and vocals, Dan Fogarty - bass and yours truly - electric guitar and vocals. www.codgonewild.com

I have also been busy getting Songs of the Southern Belles busy for next year with a couple of tours. We were fairly busy this year but we had a couple of personnel changes so I'm kind of re-branding the show. This show is so much fun and I love playing vintage traditional country music. The band is vocalist Kinga Heming, Loni Moger - on acoustic guitar and vocals, David Mihal - drums, Dan Fogarty - bass and yours truly on Telecaster and vocals!! Visit our Facebook site https://www.facebook.com/SongsoftheSouthernBelles/

I have also joined a co-lead trio called Stringers w/ Gary Smyth - acoustic guitar and vocals, Jim Ryan - bass and vocals and yours truly - electric guitar and vocals. We do a very eclectic mix of tunes from Steely Dan, Eric Clapton, The Beatles and The Allman Brothers to Marvin Gaye, The Lovin' Spoonful, Ricky Nelson and originals by each member. Great band and lots of fun to play all of these great tunes. Visit our Facebook site https://www.facebook.com/Stringers-Gary-Smyth-Sean-Bray-and-Jim-Ryan-528965274260403/?modal=admin_todo_tour

I also have recently become a member of a great Americana band called Dirt Road Opera which has a new CD to be released. I'm not on the record as they put together the new lineup recently. The band consists of Rachel Matkin - vocals, guitar, mandolin, Barry Mathers - vocals, acoustic and electric guitar, Jim Ryan bass and keyboards, Scott Gamble on drums and yours truly on electric guitar. Check out the new recording Nowheresville! Check out the website for more details. https://www.dirtroadopera.ca

That's all for now!
SB

Retaining your style while playing in various musical situations.

2017-09-22T16:55:00.000-07:00

I haven't been blogging as of late but I really missed it. I plan on getting back to a somewhat regular posting schedule.

I have however been really busy playing and recording. Played on a couple of CD's (Craig Thomson and Cod Gone Wild) and have been touring a bit. I had the opportunity to be part of a Canada 150 (non Canadians this is the 150 anniversary of us becoming a sovereign nation) concert series collaboration with the Okanagan Symphony Orchestra and Ballet Kelowna. The choreographers were given the challenge of choreographing a ballet to some iconic Canadian music.

I played the famous Gordon Lightfoot song "The Canadian Railroad Trilogy" on my Martin D-18 with Neville Bowman singing along with the symphony orchestra. The ballet dancers moved across the stage creating stunning imagery of the forging of the railroad across Canada as we played. I also played some spirituals with blues vocalist Shakura S'aida along with symphony and dancers. Great experience for sure. They had us set up on scaffolding as they needed space for the dancers. There was two rows, 6 feet and 10 feet up, and I was luckily in the middle on the 6 foot row. I'm a bit scared of heights so that was a bit of a challenge at first. Amazing stage design.

I have also become a member of a modern Celtic rock band called Cod Gone Wild. This is a five piece band with a big following. We just released a new CD called "The Islander" which can be purchased at www.codgonewild or on i-Tunes. Great band and all new members with the exception of the leader vocalist and acoustic guitar player Andrew Mercer. The fiddle player Susan Aylard has been with the band for 2 yrs but the rest of us, bassist Martyn Jones and drummer David Mihal are all new since February. The nice thing about this new configuration is that we all bring different stylistic approaches to the band. I met Susan on the symphony shows I have played where she is in the violin section, so that was nice to see musical connections in action.
Here is a video of the band from this past March so the band is still new but sounding great. I am playing one of my PRS 408s through a Marshall JVM 215.

Here is a video featuring myself and my good friend bassist Bernie Addington shot at Frequency Wine and Sound in Kelowna. The song is an original of mine entitled "Cane". I am playing my PRS Custom 24 through a Fender Tweed Blues Jr.

That's all for now.
Sean

Country guitar, chord melodies etc.

2016-11-07T17:12:00.002-08:00

It's been a while since I've last blogged. Love that word "blogged". I've been really busy playing which has been fantastic. I produced a soft seat theatre music production along with two of my musician friends Anna Jacyszyn (vocals) and Loni Moger (guitar). The production is called "Songs of the Southern Belles" and is a tribute to the female country stars of the 50's - 70's. Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, Skeeter Davis, Connie Smith, Tammy Wynette, Kitty Wells etc were some of the singers we spotlighted. It was a lot of work but with the enormous help from Anna and Loni, we were able to put together a fantastic show. We are going to be touring it which will be a blast. Two singers which are Anna and Kinga Heming plus a four piece band with myself and Loni Moger on guitars plus bass and drums. We also had an MC who was Chris Walker from CBC and he did a fantastic job. We modelled the show after the Grand Ole Opry. Here is a TV interview for the show.

This show gave me the chance to play my telecasters for which I have 8 but also enabled me to really work on my country playing which I have been into for quite a while now. I know, "do I really need 8 telecasters?" but the answer is "of course". Learning and practising Chicken Pickin' and pedal steel licks are so much much fun but they aren't easy to pull off which is a nice challenge.

Here are some shots from the show.

I will post some country guitar tips and videos soon.

In the video that I did today talks about how to start approaching a chord melody.

I give SKYPE lessons if you are interested in learning more about jazz harmony, improvising, chord melodies, recording tips and country approaches like chicken pickin' and pedal steel playing on guitar. Just email me a braytunes@gmail.com. It's a great way to teach as the student doesn't have to live anywhere near you. You can also find me on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/Guitarist-Sean-Bray-134549703381710/?fref=ts

That's all for now. Thanks for checking in.
SB

Influences and inspirations Part 7 - (Ennio Morricone)

2016-06-12T15:38:00.000-07:00

I couldn't imagine compiling a list of musicians who have influenced and inspired me without including the brilliantly original and unique film composer Ennio Morricone. No other composer in my opinion has put a more personal signature to movie scores as Morricone has. When I hear a score of his I automatically know it's him. That's pretty unusual. Usually the first rule of film scoring is that the music should not distract the audience from what's happening on screen. The music has to almost be ambiguous sometimes. It is meant to enhance and sometimes direct but never distract. Composers will put their own stamp on the music but not too much in fear of making it more about themselves as composers than the scene. We hear John Williams or Bernard Herrmann or Max Steiner or Howard Shore and we know it's them but not as obviously as we can pick out Ennio Morricone, but he makes it work. He's not afraid to add instruments and noises to his scores that have absolutely nothing to do with the scene or the time frame of the movie.

His score to Sergio Leone's "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly" is full of chants, vocalizing themes, and even surf guitar. I know for a fact that Leo Fender hadn't created the Stratocaster back in the cowboy era of the 1850's to 1880's. It's a brilliant score and works so well with the film. The sound track to the movie was actually inducted into the Grammy hall of fame in 2009.

The score to Brian DePalma's "The Untouchables" is a brilliantly crafted score which portrays Prohibition era Chicago perfectly. The score also has the Ennio Morricone flute and haunting harmonica used in many of his movies which is definitely a personal signature and works so well.

The score to "The Mission", Roland Joffe's beautiful yet achingly painful look at the missionaries in South America during the Spanish Portuguese war of 1776/1777, is in my opinion one of the most beautiful crafted scores ever written. It is haunting, beautiful, sad, majestic, compassionate and definitely Morricone.

I have to include the score to a great film by Italian director Giuseppe Tornatore called "Cinema Paradiso". Again this score accompany's the dramatic arc of the film perfectly but after one note you know it's Ennio Morricone.

There are far too many films that have had the luxury of being scored by Ennio Morricone to include in this post but they are all worth watching and of course listening to.

Ennio Morricone was finally awarded an Oscar for Best Original Score for Quentin Tarantino's "The Hateful Eight"in 2016. Hard to believe that it's taken this long to award one of cinema's most original music craftsman. He did receive an Honorary Academy Award for his achievements in the field in 2007.

That's all for now,
SB

Influences and inspirations part 6 (Bill Frisell).

2016-05-04T17:45:00.002-07:00

I'm enjoying this series of blog posts, presenting musicians who have helped me and continue to help me on my life long musical journey. Bill Frisell is one of those musicians who I always look to for inspiration and he never let's me down. He's not only a fantastic guitar player, who has such a unique and personal approach to the guitar, but is also a musical chemist of sorts. His inspirations and influences reach way beyond just jazz as do mine and he's influenced by movie scores to some degree like I am. His music has always been very cinematic in it's approach and arranging. My trio "Sean Bray's Peach Trio" is mostly original music that I approached writing the the compositions as I would a film score. Each song is based on a memory or feeling or observation so it's also cinematic it it's approach.

Bill Frisell grew up in Denver as did I (grades 5 - 8) plus he lived in New York for a number of years before relocating to Seattle. He also has a penchant for Americana music and Telecasters like I do. What's not to like?

One of the things I really like about his approach to the guitar and what I've certainly been very influenced by is his use of harmony notes more that chords. It's harmonizing the scale more than just playing chords which makes it very liquid and gives his music spontaneity and motion.

Here is a great example of Frisell's spontaneity and genius. Very cinematic. He also shows his love for all kinds of music.

Here is another beautiful example of the genius that is Bill Frisell. This is a full length concert from Bill Frisell's band at Lincoln Center's Dizzy's Club in New York, playing music from his new CD "When You Wish Upon a Star". This recording and concert features Charlie Haden's daughter vocalist Petra Haden. Watch the whole concert because it's worth it. Beautiful take on music from film and television through the mind of musical mad scientist Bill Frisell.

Hope you are enjoying this series "Influences and Inspirations" and I am having fun sharing a glimpse into those who are the partial architects of my music tapestry.

That's all for now.
SB

Influences and inspirations part 5. (Brent Mason)

2016-03-08T17:51:00.002-08:00

Continuing this series on musicians ( not all guitar players mind you), that have and continue to influence me. I'm presenting these in no particular order of importance.

Country great and studio musician Brent Mason has been a big influence on me for a long time now. I remember seeing Brent on an old television music show on The Nashville Network back in 1988 or so. He was in the house band and he was just ripping it up. I was living in Calgary Alberta and teaching at Red Deer College during the week. I was getting really interested in country music in addition to my life long jazz study and when I heard Brent, it was another level of country guitar playing.

Brent moved to Nashville from his home town of Van Wert, Ohio after high school and his first big break came when Chet Atkins heard him in a club and asked him to play on his album "Stayed Tune" with Earl Klugh, George Benson and Mark Knopfler. Not bad company to be with. After that musical introduction Brent started doing sessions and never looked back. He has played on hundreds of records with the likes of Alan Jackson,Randy Travis, Ricky Skaggs, Clint Black, George Jones, George Strait, Martina McBride, Dolly Parton, Neil Diamond, Brooks and Dunn, Faith Hill, Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, Vince Gill, Shania Twain.......

Brent Mason has taken what they call "Chicken Pickin'" to another level. Chicken picking came out of electric players wanting to incorporate bends like steel guitar players. Roy Nichols (Merle Haggard), Don Rich (Buck Owens and the Buckeroos) and Jerry Reed all played a part in his guitar style along with jazz guys like George Benson and Pat Martino, but he has made it all his own.

Check out Brent in action playing his very well worn Tele.

I have been lifting Brent Mason solos for quite a while now and have found that they actually have become part of my overall guitar playing whether it's jazz or otherwise. I have always used hybrid picking (pick plus the other fingers and will quite often use my middle finger to pick some notes to a give them an accent. Brent uses a thumb pick and fingers so similar.

I had the chance to go down to Nashville and take an intense two hour plus lesson with Brent at his home. That was fantastic! Picking his brain about how he'd approach a dominant chord for instance. In doing so I got to know Brent and hung out with him a bit while I was there. Great guy and we still are in touch.

Check out this interview with Brent.

Brent also has a PRS signature model which is fantastic. This is that guitar in this interview.

Here he is demoing his sig PRS model and of course his awesome chops.

Some records to check out with Brent on them are George Jones "Cold Hard Truth", Any Alan Jackson record, Randy Travis "Always and Forever" and Ricky Skaggs "Life is a Journey". That's just a very small sampling of his brilliant guitar playing.

On a different note, I also had the chance to play with the Okanagan Symphony Orchestra for three concerts doing "Music of the Night". Songs from "Les Miserables", "Cats", "Phantom of the Opera", Jesus Christ Superstar" etc. Fantastic experience.

Here is a picture of my rig setup. I played acoustic (Martin D-18) and electric (PRS Custom 24) and was so much fun. Hope to do it again.

That's all for now.

Influences and inspirations part 4. (Bernard Herrmann)

2016-02-09T19:52:00.001-08:00

Continuing my blog series on musicians who have and continue to influence and inspire me. There is no particular order in my presentation of these and they all are ranked number one for me.

Bernard Herrmann is one of those film composers who broke all rules of instrumentation, instrument groupings, harmony and the "proper way" to compose for moving picture. The Golden Age of Hollywood standard was big, lush film scores. The "Hollywood Sound" they called it. Brilliant composers like Max Steiner, Alfred Newman, Dimitri Tiomken, Franz Waxman and Erich Korngold wrote in that style with a lot of Leitmotifs (character based themes or instrumentations) borrowed from Opera composers like Richard Strauss and Richard Wagner. When you see an English battleship for instance, Max Steiner wrote a leitmotif to tell you that an English battleship was coming. Bernard Herrmann on the other hand wrote a lot more in colours and textures I found. Very influenced by Tchaikovsky and Rimsky Korsakov.

The opening Main Titles for Orson Wells' 1941 "Citizen Kane" is brilliant and the combination of instruments he chose really made it dark and brooding. Lots of dissonance and clashing harmonic overtones really set the score apart from anything up to that point. It's still one of the best Main Title music to this day. He used four alto flutes along with low, bowed double basses. The brilliant opening five note motif ends with a tri-tone interval.

His score to Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 "Psycho" was all strings. No woodwind, no percussion and no brass, just strings. He wanted that sonority and feel for the black and white film because he wanted to reflect the starkness of the film's look and storyline. Wow it certainly worked.

Listen at the 2:00 mark because that is when the theme comes in. Again nothing but strings. Brilliant.

Herrmann also wrote one of the scariest and most influential music cues of all time. It is also one of the most copied and parodied. He uses the most dissonant harmonic intervals ( a minor 2nd) and has the violin section play them. In this cue it's a D and an Eb.

**Notice the flushing of a toilet before she gets into the shower. A first for a movie up to that point. There was never a toilet in any scene of a movie let alone it being flushed before "Psycho" plus a naked woman gets stabbed to death in a shower. That film really pushed the envelope. I feel the only reason the film board let it be released was because Hitchcock decided to film in black and white. Colour would have been too realistic for the time.

The things I loved about Bernard Herrmann and what has influenced me a lot, was his composing music for the task at hand and entering into that with no preconceived rules or concepts. The music is the most important thing and if it breaks rules, so be it. I try to write and improvise with that in mind. Usually my best compositions and my best playing happen when I try to be free of any preconceived approach. I also loved his use of dissonance and that is another thing I've definitely been influenced by. I try to boil down a chord to it's barest form to create space, so I quite often will use intervals that are dissonant. They fatten up the chord and make it sound bigger than it is as I am only using two notes sometimes. Herman also used a lot of space in his music. Watch "Gone With The Wind" 1939 with Max Steiner's beautiful score then watch "Citizen Kane". Both great movies and great scores but Steiner composed music for every single scene. It sometimes even segues from one scene to another. Herrmann's score has so much space. The use of space is another thing that has influenced me.

That's all for now.
SB

Influences and inspirations part 3. (Eric Clapton)

2016-02-02T15:50:00.000-08:00

This is another post on the topic of musicians who have and continue to influence and inspire me.
Again this list is in no specific order of importance or self discovery.

Since high school, Eric Clapton has been one of those guys for me. I even played and sang "After Midnight" at my Mount Royal College final jazz recital. It was the only non-jazz piece in my recital. I felt that excluding Eric Clapton in my final recital in a post secondary music setting, would not fully represent me as a musician.

Eric Clapton has done a bunch of things for my musical growth.

1. For starters, he introduced me to the blues. He is still one of my favourite blues guitarists and through him I discovered a whole world unknown to me. Through Clapton I was introduced to Buddy Guy, B.B. King ( who I had heard), Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson, Howling' Wolf, Hubert Sumlin, Robert Cray, Elmore James and the list goes on. Wow, what a discovery! Thanks Eric! I know I'm not alone because he along with Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck and Keith Richards helped a whole generation of kids discover their idols and these blues men got a second career in some cases. His sound and playing on John Mayall and the Blues Breakers "Beano" record is some of the best blues guitar playing I've ever heard. He also sounds fantastic playing on the two Howlin' Wolf recordings made in London in the early 70's.

2. He is the ultimate rock star in my opinion. Cool, collected and is extremely talented. He never jumped around on stage and did windmills or anything like that (sorry Pete) and because of that, he still looks cool playing on stage at age 70. I think one of the greatest rock songs ever is "Layla"( the original version). When that opening riff starts, the hair still stands up on the back of my neck. I also love Duane Allman's slide work on that record (Derek and the Dominoes - "Layla and other Love Songs"). He and Clapton played very well together. Clapton has always had such a great tone whether it was his Les Paul through a Marshall sound which he demonstrated from his early years with John Mayall's Blues Breakers through his years with Cream, to the great Strat tone he still has. You can always tell it's him.

3. Clapton always has a fantastic band on recordings and on tour. I remember hearing Jamie Oldaker on "461 Ocean Boulevard" and "Slowhand". Wow, what a great drummer! His feel was great and even though the band played pretty loose, he grooved hard. I've always been a big fan of the drums and find myself really listening to the drummer on recordings and of course when I am playing as well.
Clapton had world class drummers like Steve Gadd, Steve Jordan, Steve Ferrone (likes Steves for some reason) Jim Keltner and of course his association with the great Ginger Baker in Cream and Blind Faith.

4. Clapton is not only a fabulous guitarist but has a great voice. I love Clapton's voice. So soulful and his phrasing is great. He is one of my favourite singers as well.

Here is Clapton singing and playing Ray Charles' "Hard Times" on the David Sanborn Show in the late 80's called "Night Music". Great show and great band. Not only Clapton, but David Sanborn on alto sax, Omar Hakim on drums, Hiram Bullock on guitar, Tom Barney on bass, Don Alias on percussion etc.

Here he is playing "Layla" with Nathan East on bass, Steve Gadd on drums, David Sanborn on alto sax, Greg Phillinganes on keyboards etc.

That's all for now.
SB

Influences and inspirations part 2. (Ed Bickert)

2016-01-26T15:50:00.000-08:00

In my last post I talked about Pat Metheny being an influence and an inspiration musically for me. He is just one of many. I will be doing a series of these posts in the coming weeks and again in no particular order of importance or personal discovery.

Ed Bickert is an influence and a musical inspiration and I first discovered him when I was enrolled in my first year of post secondary music study at Mount Royal College in Calgary. First of all, Ed Bickert played a Telecaster rather than the usual hollow body, which fascinated me as I was still a teenager and heavily influenced by rock guitar players.
I was playing a Strat and had just bought a Tele, so I was a fan already. Once I heard his comping chordal ideas, he became a lifelong inspiration to learn more chord voicings!
Ed Bickert has such a beautiful way of playing chords and melody and he is definitely one of the hippest players I have ever heard. His rounded tone and soft touch can sometimes be deceiving and mask his inventiveness on the initial listen. However, with a closer listen, you will be blown away by the complexity of his approach. The same thing happens with pianist Bill Evans. Ed also plays with a combination of fingers and pick which I definitely stole from him and I have been playing that way ever since.

Ed didn't get the same international recognition as Jim Hall, Herb Ellis, Tal Farlow, Joe Pass or Barney Kessell, but he was satisfied to play mostly in Canada. People in the know, certainly rank Ed Bickert up alongside everyone of the previously mentioned guys.

Here is Ed Bickert with Dave Young on bass and Terry Clarke on drums playing "Street of Dreams".
Marvelous trio.

Funny story about Ed regarding his music set up. Most players are pretty savvy at describing what amp they are using and what guitars they play and basically how they get their sound, but not Ed. When asked about how he gets his sound from his amp he responded "I just look for the sounds like shit knob and turn it down". Awesome response!

Ed Bickert is from Toronto and I have had the pleasure of talking to him on many occasions over the years and even hanging out at his house while my daughters swam in his pool. Great guy and fantastic guitarist.

That's all for now.
SB

Influences and inspirations part 1. (Pat Metheny)

2016-01-20T13:24:00.000-08:00

Influences and inspirations part 1.

We all have people in your lives that inspire us and help us along our path of discovery and as a musician, there are other musicians that influence our musical knowledge. We listen, transcribe and emulate until it seeps into our musical DNA and hopefully comes out of us as original content. As Tony Bennett says "if you take from one musician it's stealing but if you take from a bunch of musicians it's research". Wise words. I am going to be talking about the players that have influenced and inspired me to date and hopefully explain why. I will be presenting them in no particular order of personal discovery.

Guitarist Pat Metheny has been one of those players for a long time and continues to be an influence. Pat's a guy who never rests. He is always writing, recording, collaborating with other musicians and touring but his playing and his music never gets old or worn out for me. He's one of those players that when he improvises it just flows out of him and in such a musical way. His sense of melody when he improvises has been a huge influence on me. I try to always play melodies when I improvise and not have it sound like a scale and arpeggio exercise. Pat can play over any changes and make it sound melodious and story telling. Listen to "Lakes" from "Water Colors" on ECM for an example of what I'm talking about. "Lakes" is a tough tune but he just soars beautifully through the changes and makes it sound like an easy tune. This record came out in 1977 and had Danny Gottleib on drums, Eberhart Weber on bass and longtime associate Lyle Mays on piano.

Another thing that attracts me to Pat's playing and writing is that his mid west influences come out in his music. The duo record he did with the late bassist Charlie Haden called "Beyond the Missouri Skies" (1997) for instance really imagines that part of the world in both of their playing. They are both from that part of the United States. Charlie Haden was born in Shenandoah, Iowa and Pat was born in Lee's Summit, Missouri.

The music of the southern States has had a huge impact on me and has for a number of years. That music educates and instructs my playing and writing in a big way. Even though I'm known as a jazz guy, I love Country music, Bluegrass, Blues etc., all of which came from that part of the United States. I grew up in Calgary, Alberta for a big part of my informative years (grade 9 through college) and that part of Canada has very strong roots in country music. The Calgary Stampede is the biggest Rodeo in the world and the city is filled with country music for 10 or so days. That definitely seeped into my DNA.

Here is a solo guitar arrangement of "Shenandoah", which is an old folk tune originally credited to "Traditional", played on my PRS 408 through a Fender Tweed Blues Deluxe 40 watt tube amp.

That's all for now.
SB

Moving to a smaller music centre.

2016-01-11T15:57:00.000-08:00

Moving to a smaller music centre.

It's been a while since I've blogged (great word) and I look forward to getting back at it regularly.
My wife, youngest daughter and I moved from Toronto to Kelowna BC which is in the Okanagan Valley of interior British Columbia. It's absolutely gorgeous here. My parents live here and I haven't lived anywhere near them for over 27 yrs, so my wife and I thought it would be a nice place to relocate. My wife Marilla took an early retirement from teaching and is now taking wine courses to get into the wine industry out here. Great place for that. I am obviously continuing being a working musician.

It is a bit of an adjustment moving to a smaller music centre from a large music centre like Toronto, where I was based for 25 yrs, but I am surprised how much of a scene there is here. There are some really good players and there are cities of varying sizes near to Kelowna where there are opportunities to play as well. There are over 200 wineries in the Okanangan so there are lots of performing opportunities there. There is also Big White Ski Resort which is just basically up the highway from my house where I have been able to play twice since moving here at the beginning of October. Just played there this past Saturday for The International Wine Summit with a five piece band. I hired a fabulous singer named Kinga Heming, who also moved to Kelowna from Toronto about two yrs ago. Craig Thomson on tenor, who is an important part of the scene here. He is not only a very fine tenor player but he nurtures the young high school students to whom he teaches band and he co-hosts a weekly jam downtown which encourages young players to come up and play with some pros. I also hired Bernie Addington on bass, who is the first call bassist in the Okanagan and a young drummer named Chris Collier, who not only plays well but is getting his PHD in Electrical Engineering at UBCO here in Kelowna.

I have put together a west coast Sean Bray's Peach Trio since moving here and both Bernie Addington and Chris Collier make up the trio. We just played for the Salmon Arm Jazz Society this past Thursday and what a fantastic listening audience. We even received a standing ovation. Salmon Arm is about an hour and a half north of Kelowna in the Shuswap lakes area. We are also playing here in Kelowna on Wednesday at The Minstrel Cafe and Bar which is a great venue. I had played there a couple of years ago with an old friend and fantastic guitarist Loni Moger, who also happens to live in Kelowna. We knew each other years ago in Calgary but hadn't seen each other since I moved to New York and then to Toronto years ago. We ran into each other at Wentworth Music here in Kelowna while I was visiting my parents one summer.

I am proud to announce that I just signed an endorsement deal with PRS Guitars. I am very pleased as they are the best guitars I have played bar none. Brent Mason was a big help in getting the deal as he referred me to the director of artist relations at PRS. I have three PRS guitars. I have a 408 which is such a beautiful and versatile guitar, an SC-245 which is a fantastic guitar as well and uses the Gibson Les Paul as an influence but still very much a Paul Read Smith design and innovation and a Custom 24 which is also very versatile. It has 24 frets instead of the usual 22 for modern guitars and 21 for older designs. A whole two octaves on every string!

I have been listening to:

John Patitucci- "Brooklyn" which is a new recording for the bassist. It's a two guitar, bass and drums quartet. What's not to like right? Adam Rogers and Steve Cardenas on guitars, Patitucci on electric bass and Brian Blade on drums. Nice band!

Rogers and Binney - "R and B". The Rogers is Adam Rogers on guitar and the Binney is David Binney on also sax. Great record! Reuben Rogers (no relation) on bass and Gerald Cleaver on drums.
It diverts from their usual original material, which is great, and includes bebop, ballads and standards by Thelonious Monk, Wayne Shorter, Miles Davis, Freddie Hubbard and Gershwin.

John Scofield "Past Present" reuniting the guitarist's famous and fantastic quartet of the late 80's and early 90's. Joe Lovano on tenor, Bill Stewart on drums and Larry Grenadier replacing the late Dennis Irwin on bass. Fantastic band and such great interplay between Lovano and Scofield with their weaving in and out of each others lines.

That's all for now.
SB

Trip to Nashville

2014-09-29T13:12:00.000-07:00

Sorry it's been a while since I've posted anything. Looking forward to getting back to it thought.
I've been busy teaching and playing which is good. I also had a great summer of travelling one of which was a family trip down to Nashville Tennessee. Man I love that city. It's like New York for me in the sense of it being a serious recharge button musically. Music is such a big part of both of those cities and it always confirms that deciding to do this crazy thing called a music career was worth it.

Got to see the great dobro player Jerry Douglas and the Earls Of Leicester at the famous Ryman Theatre. This group is basically a tribute to the Flatts and Scruggs band. Amazing bluegrass playing.
I also lucked out and stumbled upon a great new restaurant/music club on Broadway called Acme Seed and Feed which just so happened to be presenting the first of a new regular series called "Trapped Above Ground" which is hosted by a great guitar player named Guthrie Trapp. It's basically him and his band with several guests per week that sit in. Great idea and Guthrie Trapp is a monster guitar player. Big session guy in Nashville.

I also went to the Grand Ole Opry and saw Connie Smith, the Whites and many others. Great time and it was nice to see the famous show. Another treat was being able to see Marty Stuart and the Fabulous Superlatives at the Frist Center for the Visual Arts. We not only saw Marty Staurt but his photography was featured. He has some great shots of people like Loretta Lynn, Johnny Cash, Connie Smith, George Jones, Bill Monroe and many more. The band sounded fantastic with Kenny Vaughan along with Marty tearing it up on their teles.

On a tech note, D'Addario strings, who I have an endorsement with, has come out with a new electric string series called NYXL and they are even better than past D'Addario strings which is a hard thing to achieve. I made a promo video for them shot by my daughter Quinn Bray.

I've been listening to a real varied set of recordings which is pretty usual for me.

Wayne Shorter - Speak No Evil (1965)

Amazing record that I have listed to hundreds of times over the years and it never ceases to impress and inspire. Wayne Shorter's tenor saxophone playing and composing is in top form plus Freddie Hubbard just tears it up on the trumpet. Love his playing. The rhythm section is also top tier with Herbie Hancock - piano, Ron Carter - bass and Elvin Jones -drums. If you don't have it buy it now. I mean it!!

George Jones - Cold Hard Truth - (1999)

I love George Jones who unfortunately past away recently. This is a great, real country record with well written tunes and features the great Nashville A-Team with Brent Mason on guitar, Glen Worf on bass, Eddie Bayers on drums, Paul Franklin on drums, Stuart Duncan on fiddle and the list goes on. Well worth getting especially if you are a fan of country music but have been a little disillusioned of late with the "grab a bud and hop on into my pick up truck baby" country. This is the real deal.

That's all for now.
SB

Playing originals with different people.

2014-03-16T14:40:00.000-07:00

Had a great couple of weeks playing music. The first two gigs were in Toronto with my trio "Sean Bray's Peach Trio" with David MacDougall on drums on both gigs and bassist Mark Dunn on the first one and bassist Chris Banks on the second. The first gig was at The Home Smith Bar at The Old Mill and Mark Dunn is the regular bass player in the trio and has been for a long time so he obviously knows the tunes inside and out and plays with beautiful interaction with both Dave and me. The three of us have been a band for a while now and it really shows in the music.

The second trio gig was at The Rex Jazz and Blues Bar and Mark couldn't make it so I used Chris Banks on bass who is also a wonderful player. I have played with Chris a bit over the years and also played with him on Tracey Dey's CD "Tightrope Walker" so I knew his playing. When you hand someone an original piece of music to play you give some verbal description of feel etc but that's about it. The rest is the players interpretation of not only your description of the way the song goes feel and style wise but of what they react to when it is being played. Chris played beautifully and the sounds sounded slightly different than when Mark plays them which is great. Both sounded fantastic but it really shows you how great players will interpret and play a piece of music differently. Good players always sound like themselves.

The third gig was in Kelowna BC with a wonderful guitar player and old friend Loni Moger at a great club called The Mistrel Cafe and Bar. I hadn't seen Loni for probably 25 years since we both lived in Calgary Alberta. We bumped into each other at Wentworth Music in Kelowna this past December and both expressed how interested we both were in playing together so Loni set this gig up for us. Two guitars! Love that configuration if it's with the right player and it certainly was. We played standards as well as several of my tunes and with the same sort of verbal descriptions of the feel and vibe of the tune Loni played them beautifully but again differently which is great.

That's what I love so much about music is that the same song played by different players will sound different and each player will bring their own thing to it. Nice gigs for sure. I had just bought a '58 Fender American Vintage Telecaster so I got a chance to play it on the Kelowna gig. Wow what a fantastic guitar.

Here is that guitar on The Tennessee Waltz. Video and editing by my uber talented daughter Quinn.

I've been listening to:

George Strait "Twang" and "Love is Everything" which are the last two records he has put out. Great writing, fantastic singing by George Strait who is always the real deal and of course world class playing from Nashville's A-Team which of course includes the great Brent Mason on guitar.

Ricky Skaggs "Highways and Heartaches"which came out in 1982 and features the fantastic Jerry Douglas on Dobro and the great Ray Flacke on guitar. Fantastic record!

Robben Ford - "A Day In Nashville" which is his newest record. I love Robben Ford's guitar playing. He really nails that blues/jazz playing and this record doesn't disappoint. It was recorded in one day in Nashville. Tracking 9 tunes in one day is really hard to do. Check this one out.

That's all for now!

Life in the pit. Playing musicals.

2014-01-23T14:20:00.001-08:00

Sorry for the long delay between posts. I've been busy playing and teaching which is good in this industry.

Just finished a run of the musical "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" here in Toronto and man was that fun. The band was in the pit which means we never actually saw the play. We would hear it above and behind us but I have never seen the musical "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels"! It was a fourteen piece orchestra with strings, horns and percussion along with a rhythm section consisting of the usual electric bass, drums, keyboards and yours truly filling the guitar chair. Challenging charts with lots of stylistic changes. Country, rock, jazz, samba, and even a tango. That makes for an interesting night and keeps it interesting. I used my Fender Blues JR. tube amp with my Boss "63 Fender Reverb pedal, Boss DD-3 delay, Seven Sisters "Eve" tremolo pedal, Wampler "Hot Wired 2 " Brent Mason Overdrive/distortion pedal and a volume pedal. The Wampler Hot Wired is basically two pedals in one with an overdrive and a distortion section plus you can blend both if need be for a "peel the paint off the wall" sound. Great pedal which I used to it's fullest on this show. I also used nothing but telecasters because I think they are the most versatile guitars and easy to switch between pickups and volume etc. Leo Fender really nailed it when he invented the Telecaster. I have 4 teles and used all of them for the show but just one per night. The butterscotch '52 re-issue (third from the left) I've had for twenty years and has probably been on almost every session I've done and countless gigs with the road scars to prove it. They are all great teles.

As far as listening goes, I have been really enjoying two Marty Stuart CDs "Tear the WoodPile Down - Nashville 1" and "Ghost Train" ,both with his band the Fabulous Superlatives". Marty Stuart is not only a killer guitar and mandolin player but a great singer. He used to play guitar with Johnny Cash in the 80's as well as being a successful solo artist since the 90's. The band features Kenny Vaughan on guitar and this guy's fantastic. Chicken picking' at it's best! Great tele sounds. Harry stinson plays drums and Paul Martin on bass. Well worth checking out. No songs about "cracking open a Bud and sitting' on any pickup trucks", just good country music. You notice the best modern country artists like Marty Stuart, Vince Gill, Ricky Skaggs, Randy Travis, Steve Warner, Dwight Yoakam etc don't feel a need to tell you they are country guys?

Also listening a lot to "Bakersfield" by Vince Gill and Paul Franklin which is a fantastic tribute to the Bakerfield sound (Bakersfield California) of Merle Haggard and Buck Owens. Paul Franklin is probably the best if not one of the best pedal steel players to ever touch the instrument and Vince Gill plays all the guitar parts on the record, and very well I might add as well as sings beautifully.

Check out all three of these great recordings if you like or want to get to know good country music.
Glad to be back in blogland!
Take care.

American Idol and the like....the demise of the artist?

2013-04-11T18:07:00.003-07:00

Sorry for the long lapse of time between postings. Been busy with gigs, sessions and teaching.

I must say that I am saddened by the enormous popularity and influence shows like American Idol and the like have on the general public. 30 years old is the cutoff age to be on Idol. Really 30? Wow. The concept of what good singing and performing is has been so warped by these shows. Can you imagine if a young Joni Mitchell or Emmylou Harris or Billie Holiday were to appear on those shows? They wouldn't get past the audition. There would be comments like "I'm not feeling the energy" or "smile and move more". These shows are all about knocking every song out of the park and nothing about texture, emotion and dynamics let alone musicality. Looks and youth are the goal here and this is sending a terrible message out to the general public that they can become a big singing star because they can warble away on an Alicia Keys song and they deserve to make it big. No dues have been paid, no experience or training under their belts, not to mention the hundreds of hours it takes to be really good at something. The difference between the teen girl that warbles and over sings the Alicia Keys song and Alicia Keys is talent and a lot of hard work. Alicia keys is very talented and sings and plays great through hours of dedicated practice and wait for it.....she's over 30.

I never get tired of great music. Any genre. I've been listening to the Beatles a lot lately as well as Ray Charles, Eric Clapton, Neil Young, The Rolling Stones, Crosby Stills Nash and Young, Willie Nelson and Boz Scaggs. There is no hype here, just good music.

I have made a lesson video on how to play George Harrison's "Something" which is from The Beatles "Abbey Road". Classic record and beautiful song. I also demonstrate how to play the great George Harrison guitar solo. Enjoy.

Improvising over a 12-bar blues with jazz changes

2012-11-28T14:06:00.000-08:00

Sorry for my long absence between postings. I've been busy, which in this business is a good thing.
I've had a few nice recording sessions and some nice gigs with a variety of people. Played with vocalists Tracey Dey and Vincent Wolfe as well as the Bob Cary Big Band just to name a few.

I've transcribed 12 bars of a blues solo that I played and will discuss a few points about it. The music and video are below.

One approach that works very well is to use the #4 or b5 over a 7th chord. If you use it on an offbeat it helps add spice and chromaticism to your lines. If you notice in bar 1 I use the E natural which is the #4 or b5 of Bb. I place it on the and of 1 which creates a nice spring board for the rest of the line. I also use the b7th of Bb to the b7th of Eb going into the second bar which helps establish the new chord.
*note the E played on beat 4 of the first bar should be an Eb.....sorry about the copy error.
Another approach that works well over minor 7th chords is to use the maj 7th on an offbeat again adding spice and chromaticism. That's part of the minor bebop scale anyway but we'll talk about that a bit later.

Play through the 12 bars at a slow tempo and then when you feel comfortable try playing along with the video. Always use a metronome!!!

*click on sheet music once to enlarge.

Big Bands etc

2012-10-17T13:45:00.002-07:00

Sorry for the long spell between posts. Been busy, which in this industry is good. I have recently been playing in a big band in addition to the other projects I play in and it's been a lot of fun to say the least. Playing in a group as large as this requires a different set of musical approaches. First of all it's a good butt kicker because of the reading involved. Secondly it's always somewhat loud to really loud and fitting in without being too loud yourself can be tricky. I find it advantageous to always have a bit of headroom on my guitar volume so that I can always kick it up a notch if needed. Third thing is when you get a solo there is no time to relax and develop your solo like you would in a small ensemble setting. It's more like playing behind a singer or on a pop session. Nothing better or worse about it but it's just different. You have to get to the point quickly with a lot of sound behind you. I highly recommend going out and seeing a big band play as it's something to see.

I've been listening to:

"Barney Kessel, Ray Brown and Shelley Manne - The Poll Winners"
Great record with guitarist Barney Kessel leading the trio through 40 minutes of beautifully played trio jazz. Bassist Ray Brown is definitely one of the most celebrated and respected bassist in jazz and Shelley Manne was a fantastic drummer who has played with everybody from Coleman Hawkins to and Woody Herman to playing on lots of film scores and even acted in "The Man With Golden Arm" with Frank Sinatra. This recording is full of interplay and tight trio playing. Tunes like Duke Jordan's "Jordu, "It Could Happen To You", "Green Dolphin Street", Satin Doll and more. Worth getting

That's all for now.

Here's some of the great Barney Kessel.

Harmonizing Scales to fill out your single note lines

2012-09-14T12:47:00.002-07:00

Sorry it's been a while since my last post. Busy summer. Lots of teaching and gigs plus the family took a nice vacation out west to Alberta and BC where we also took my daughter Michaela to start her first year of university. She decided to go west for university.

I have attached a video where I talk about and demonstrate harmonizing a scale to fill out your single note lines. It's not the conventional way of thinking about it where you play your single note line and then add a chord and then repeat. This is taking a scale like C dorian (b3rd and b7th) and playing two or more notes of that scale to fill out your lines. I find using two or three is usually best as you can grab them quickly without interrupting your single note line. I find if you are very specific as to where you practise these you will get a lot more out of it. For example practise harmonizing the scale within open and fret 5. Try different string combinations etc plus different rhythmic groupings like whole notes, half notes, etc.

I've been listening to:

Bill Evans "You Must Believe in Spring" with Eddie Gomez on bass and Eliot Zigmund on drums. Came out in 1977 and is a beautiful record. Great interplay within the trio and they play the Theme from MASH which is cool. Great song.

Lyle Mays "Fictionary". Pianist Lyle Mays might be the most under celebrated piano player around and it baffles me why. Among musicians he is extremely well thought of and well known as Pat Metheny's right (and left) hand man in the Pat Metheny Group but to the general jazz audience not so much. Lyle Mays is a great player with lots of depth and imagination. This record is with Jack DeJohnette on drums and Marc Johnson on bass. Great straight ahead acoustic jazz record. Highly recommend it.

That's all for now!

www.guitaristseanbray.com

Transcribing solos

2012-07-23T18:28:00.001-07:00

It's been a busy summer thus far. I moved, which is always stressful and time consuming, plus my wife and I went to New York for a quick three day getaway. We love our new house I have a great office/studio which I am enjoying a lot. New York was great. I absolutely love that city. I always get re-energized when I go there and the city always re-comfirms my reasons for pursuing music as a life long journey. Music is a hard pursuit if done as a means to make a living but it is very satisfying and I think worthwhile endeavour.

In New York we saw some great music and some great jazz clubs. Smoke is a fantastic club on 103rd and Broadway and used to be called Augies when I lived in New York over twenty years ago. We saw organists Mike LeDonne's quartet with Vincent Herring on alto sax, Paul Bollenbeck on guitar and Joe Farnsworth on drums. Smokin' band....no pun intended. Paul Bollenbeck plays his ass off and was a really cool guy when I spoke with him after the gig. We also saw the Christian McBride Big Band at Dizzy's at Lincoln Center. What a great band and the venue is beautiful. It overlooks Columbus Circle and Central park. Good acoustics too. I also got a chance to hang out and play with Adam Rogers for a couple of hours. Really nice guy plus he's a fantastic guitar player.

I used to transcribe solos a lot and found that to be a great way to learn how someone like Wes Montgomery or Jimmy Raney or John Coltrane......constructed a solo. I have started to introduce transcribed solos to my lessons and am having the students learn them. Maybe not the whole thing but at least a chorus or two. It's a great way to not only learn the melody to harmony relationship that's possible in improvising but as importantly the phrasing and rhythm of the lines.

If any of you live in Toronto or plan on being here for three months in the fall I am conducting a jazz guitar improv and ensemble course starting in September.

Jazz guitar improv and ensemble classes

Jazz guitarist Sean Bray will be offering classes in jazz guitar techniques. Improvisation, chord analyses, comping techniques and repertoire will be discussed in an ensemble setting. Transcribed jazz solos will be looked at and learned to give further insight into jazz improvisation.

Classes run for 14 weeks starting in mid September until mid December. Classes are two hours each and students will have an opportunity to play their repertoire with a professional bass player and drummer during their final class.

For more info including start date and fees contact Sean at braytunes@gmail.com

I've been listening to:

Kenny Burrell and John Coltrane released in 1963 but recorded in 1958 at Van Gelder Studios in Hackensack New Jersey by the famous audio engineer Rudy Van Gelder. Man he knew how to record jazz. Great record with Paul Chambers on bass, Tommy Flanagan on piano and Jimmy Cobb on drums.

Kenny Burrell is such a great guitarist with great, fat, swinging time and that full but discernible arch top tone. He plays very well with John Coltrane who was and will always be one of the most important figures in jazz. Tenor saxophonists are still influenced heavily by his tone, phrasing and improvising.

Nat Adderley - Work Song was recorded at Reeves Sound Studio in New York and released in 1960 on the Riverside label. Nat Adderley on cornet along with Wes Montgomery on guitar, Bobby Timmons on piano, Sam Jones, Percy Heath and Keter Betts on bass and Louis Hayes on drums. Another great jazz record on the Riverside label. The Work Song starts off the recording and what a great tune. Wes plays amazing as always and Nat really plays great on this record. Rhythm section is top drawer as well. Check it out for sure.

That's all for now.

Parallel Processing

2012-06-19T20:45:00.002-07:00

Here is a Pro Tools tip that I use a lot and is really effective. It's called parallel processing. The theory applies to any music software program, I just happen to use Pro Tools. When using a plug-in like reverb for instance, you can access that plug in from multiple tracks. This accomplishes two big things. The first is that you are saving DSP (Digital Signal Processing) because you don't have multiple plug-ins open and draining your processing power. The second is that you are placing your tracks in the same environment (reverb) which is the way I like to mix. You can then alter how much of the effect is applied to the individual track. It sounds like all the tracks are in the same room but some are closer than others.

1. Choose which tracks you want to access the plug in.

2. Open up an Aux (auxiliary track) and in the insert section insert a reverb plug-in.

3. In the send section of the audio tracks that you want to access the reverb send the tracks on a bus. Make it the first available bus and a mono bus as the tracks are mono.

4. Have the input of the Aux track be the same bus used in the send sections of the audio tracks. Here I have used bus 1
and am sending the Gtr 1 track and Audio 2 track to the reverb.

5. By placing the cursor on the send box and pressing Apple or command (Mac) or Control (PC) the little send fader will appear. By moving the fader up you will be allowing more signal from that track to be sent to the reverb.

6. You are splitting the signal hence the name parallel processing. Think of it as 10 people are walking in the forest. 4 go one way and 6 go another way but will end up at the same location at the same time. The 4 that took the alternate route get rained on (reverb wet signal).

7. Make sure all the outputs on all the tracks are going to the Master Fader. Out 1&2.

This is an effective way to have a lot of control of your tracks and by varying the amount of send fader you are sending to the reverb, you are placing the track exactly where you want it. Closer (less reverb). Farther away (more reverb). Then by using the pan control you can place the track horizontally giving you even more control of your mix.

Still mixing the "Sean Bray's Peach Trio" double live recording and it's sounding fantastic. I will let you know when it will be available.

Listening to:

Michael Brecker's "Two Blocks From the Edge"
Tenor saxophonist Michael Brecker is the continuation of John Coltrane. Period. He unfortunately died very prematurely from a rare form of leukemia at age 57. This recording features the great Jeff "Tain" Watts on drums (one of my favourite drummers) who plays his ass off, Joey Calderazzo on piano, James Genus on acoustic bass (know more for his electric playing) and Don Alias on percussion. This band just cooks and the interplay is amazing. Add Brecker to the mix and it's a fantastic recording. This recording features three songs by Joey Calderazzo which are great. I saw Joey when he first joined Brecker's band when he was just 22 yrs. old. He has always played with lots of fire and imagination. Out of the McCoy Tyner/Herbie Hancock school of playing. Brecker is missed very much. I met him a few times and he was the most humble and personable guy. You would never know he was one of the most influential saxophonists in the history of jazz by meeting him. Buy this recording!!!

That's all for now.
Check out the new website.
www.guitaristseanbray

Social media and your music career

2012-06-01T12:24:00.001-07:00

This is such a different time for being a professional musician. When I first started my career back in 1984 when I was 18 there wasn't internet and blogs and facebook etc. There was the old fashioned telephone and not cell phone but home phone. Promoting yourself was hard and putting out a recording independently was almost impossible.

We now live in a time where everybody is on some sort of social media site. MySpace was the first big social networking site and was great for musicians because you could have a band site which had a music player and it was super easy to make and update yourself. The DYI web site. Facebook came along and for a while MySpace still offered a great alternative to having to have a web site but it eventually became really hard to update because they were always changing it and it is now basically obsolete. Facebook has band pages which now also have music players and it works well. Reverbnation is the new DYI web site for musicians and is pretty good but it seems more about being popular than being good. Actually that pretty well sums up social media for that matter. How many friends do you have? Really, are they friends?

Having a presence on social media sites I think is very important for a professional musician. Why? Everybody is on it. You get seen and it keeps your name out there. Do I like facebook etc? No. I think it is very superficial for the most part but as a musician I feel I am missing out on the exposure and the social hang if I'm not on it. I have a Sean Bray's Peach Trio facebook page and it's great for updating my "likes" or "followers" or whatever they are called, as to what the band is up to. We'll call them music fans.

I have a new website www.guitaristseanbray.com so please pay a visit. Tracey Dey designed it. I will have information on the soon-to-be released Sean Bray's Peach Trio - Live. This will be a double CD and also available on i-Tunes and the like. Trio is made up of Mark Dunn on bass and Dave MacDougall on drums. The recording turned out really well. I can't wait for everyone to hear it.

I've been listening to:

Wes Montgomery's So Much Guitar on Riverside. (1961)
I love this record and Wes plays so beautifully and with such lyricism. Ron Carter is also on the record and plays bass like no one else. Two notes from either Wes or Ron and I instantly know it's them. The great Hank Jones is on piano as well as Lex Humphries on drums and Ray Barretto on congas. Burning version of CottonTail on this record. Great record!!

That's all for now.

Nashville - Music City

2012-05-09T11:04:00.002-07:00

Just got back from Nashville Tennessee and man what a city. Loved it. So much music happening there and it seems like a lot of musicians have moved there from Los Angeles. Great studio scene in Nashville and while I was there I met with studio ace Brent Mason and we played for a couple of hours. What an amazing player and a great guy. Brent has been the first call session guitarist in Nashville since the late 80's and I can see why.

I also got a private tour of the Gibson Custom Shop, which is a separate division of Gibson, and it was great to see every step involved in the building a guitar. Very talented people working. There are only about a hundred people working there, which is small for a factory, and each person has a very specific job. There were finishes that I had never seen before and that aren't available in the Gibson catalogue. I was told that Japan is a huge client and scoops up a lot of these guitars before they even hit the ground. I saw the two Les Pauls that Joe Perry is having built for the upcoming Aerosmith tour, the Beano guitar (black Les Paul that Clapton played on the John Mayal and the Bluesbreakers record) that Gibson is issuing in a small run and I also got to see Jimmy Page's '59 Les paul re-issue and Kirk Hammett's Exployer that are also being issued in a very small run. These are aged exactly as the original. Every cigarette burn, wear mark, scuff and scratch identical to the original. Thanks to Steve Christmas at Gibson Custom for the 2 hr tour and to Brad Fillatre at Gibson Canada for setting that up.

Here is a television interview I conducted in March.

That's all for now.

Flying

2012-04-19T13:29:00.001-07:00

I used to love travelling and especially air travel but I got to tell you, I really don't like flying anymore. I travel a fair bit and it gets worse every time. First off they charge you for everything! Charging for blanket...really? New planes seem to be smaller so they can fit more people in so you are cramped the whole trip plus it takes longer to get off the plane if you are stuck in the middle or back of the plane.

I always carry on my guitar because I don't want the baggage handlers to destroy or lose my guitar which has happened, luckily not to me although I did have a beautiful Mesa Boogie amp destroyed on a flight. I had a Calzone travel case for it too but they found a way I guess. I recently bought a Reunion Blues gig bag which fits all of my electrics which is great. This thing is amazing. It's light but really well padded and is really a flight case but in soft shell form. I always put my guitar above the seats and it ALWAYS fits. The ticket person always expresses concern that it won't fit and I tell them that I do this a lot and it fits every time. It doesn't take up anymore room than a carry on luggage bag, just different dimensions.
I wish train travel would improve and North America would catch up to Japan and Europe. Trains travel at incredible speeds and are clean and modern. Oh well maybe one day.

I've been listening to:

Johnny Cash "Live at Folsom Prison" which came out in 1968. What a great record and great band with Al Casey on guitar, Marshall Grant on bass and W.S. Holland on drums. Al Casey was with Cash from the beginning and later went on to be part of the infamous Wrecking Crew in L.A. which were the session musician A-team in the 60's and into the 70's. This recording really captures Cash's irreverence and bad ass demeanour, which by itself means nothing but he was a also very special artist. He had a way of delivering a song and it's message like no other. If you don't have this recording definitely get it.

Alan Jackson - "What I Do" which came out in 2004. I really like Alan Jackson's voice and his recordings are always filled with great songs except a couple which have really stupid lyrics and story lines. This recording features the Nashville A-team. Brent Mason on electric guitar, Eddie Bayers on drums, Glenn Worf on bass, Matt Rollings on piano, Stuart Duncan on fiddle and Paul Franklin on pedal steel and lap steel plus others. Nice record for sure.

That's all for now.
SB

Live recording

2012-03-28T20:01:00.002-07:00

My Peach Trio recorded a live soon to be released CD this past Saturday night. We performed as part of the Jazz Masters series at The Old Mill in Toronto. Great audience for the most part with the exception of two really noisy women that came in about half way through our last song. Can't use that one. Jaymz Bee and the Jazz FM jazz safari came by for a set and were a great audience. The jazz safari is something that Jazz FM offers to donors of a certain amount when the station does it's semi annual pledge drives. Jaymz Bee is a popular Toronto personality and DJ at the station and he takes the group of donors on what they call a jazz safari which is basically a pub crawl for jazz lovers. The safari visits about 4 or 5 clubs in a night.

Live recordings are really a crap shoot because there are so many variables, even beyond the actual performance of each musician. Noisy customers, bar staff and drink making noises etc plus the one take aspect of such a recording.
Having said that I am very pleased with it. The band sounds great and Darrel Moen (audio recorder) did an amazing job really capturing the band and the in the moment energy of the music. Mark Dunn (bass) and Dave MacDougall (drums) played there asses off. Looking forward to mixing it with Darrel and releasing it.

I played my Gibson Es 339 through my ZT Lunch Box and it sounded great. The Lunch Box really surprised me how well it recorded. It sounds big and warm. I ran it through a ART reverb mini rack unit and a Boss DDD1 delay pedal and that's it.

Also played with my good friend and great jazz singer Vincent Wolfe today. Nice time. Daytime gigs are always odd but fun.

I've been listening to:

Willie Nelson - It Always Will Be.
I've always loved Willie. A true original and very talented. He is a good guitar player and a good singer and sounds like no one else. He composed "Crazy" and sold it for $50 and a bottle of Jack Daniels rumour has it. Didn't hurt him that's for sure. He has written a lot of big hits and has been an international star for years. This record features Paul Franklin and Dan Dugmore on pedal steel, Brent Mason and Kenny Greenberg on electric guitar, Eddie Bayers and Shannon Forrest on drums, Michael Rhodes and Glenn Worf on bass and Matt Rollings on piano among others. Nashville A-team for sure. Willie also plays his old Martin nylon string guitar to great success as usual. Really dig this record and definitely recommend it.

John Scofield - Grace Under Pressure
Big Scofield fan and big Bill Frisell fan and they are both on this record along with Charlie Haden on bass and Joey Baron on drums. There is also great horn writing on this recording and features Randy Brecker on trumpet, Jim Pugh on trombone and John Clark on French Horn. I love that horn combination. This is a great CD and shows why Scofield and Frisell are among the worlds most respected jazz guitarists and are both so unique. Two notes and I know who it is. Great recording!!

That's all for now.