Guitar Town

Funkdawgs join StudioTraxx

noreply@blogger.com (bub) — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 12:33:00 -0700

Band News [06-17-2007] more news

The Funkdawgs Join StudioTraxx.com’s Online Musician-for-Hire Network

Url: http://www.studiotraxx.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

New York, NY – June 18, 2007 - StudioTraxx.com, a leading provider of musician-for-hire online collaboration services, is pleased to announce that the Internet’s premiere virtual band, The Funkdawgs, have joined the StudioTraxx Online Musician-for-Hire Network. This addition further bolsters StudioTraxx.com’s commitment to making high quality musicians accessible and available for online work.

Funkdawg saxophonist, Bob Johnson, stated, "I firmly believe that the StudioTraxx concept is one whose time has come into its own. In my own experience as a recording saxophonist, I've been doing cyber recording for 7 years with my band, The Funkdawgs. The thing that has been missing is an organization like StudioTraxx with the right business model to help musicians like myself break through and achieve some financial success by recording in their own studios and flying the tracks out to paying clients."

The Funkdawgs (www.funkdawgs.com) produce music exclusively via the Internet and have recorded for many musicians around the world. They are a 5 piece band that formed in 2000 with members located in the US, Canada, and Italy. Their endorsement of StudioTraxx.com signals a shift in the manner in which successful commercial recordings can be produced. The Funkdawgs recently won the NetMusicMakers contest as best virtual band in 2006 ($10,000 first prize) and continue to establish themselves as a formidable musical force with many satisfied clients and several self-produced CDs.

Officially launched on March 1st, StudioTraxx.com is actively building its talent network and is encouraging users to sign up and register. There are no costs to join the site. Creating an account is FREE.

StudioTraxx.com is the flagship service of Digital Media Global, LLC, an online digital media services company that provides online solutions to the music and film industries.

link to the actual posting:

http://www.mi2n.com/press.php3?press_nb=101065

Funkdawgs Contest Winners

noreply@blogger.com (bub) — Thu, 31 May 2007 04:46:00 -0700

TRP review

noreply@blogger.com (bub) — Thu, 31 May 2007 04:42:00 -0700

From: Harry Drum

Subject: Concert Review MUS 1230

Date: March 3, 2007
Location: Iron Lantern, Bomoseen, VT
Artists: The Reese Project

The opportunity to listen to any type of “good” live music seems to be diminishing (outside of major populated areas) due to many economical factors. This is nothing new. To further magnify this problem certain types or styles of music divide and lessen the audience for that particular type of music. In this case let’s talk about Jazz. Hear the joke about the great sax man playing at a club. A member of the audience comes up to him during his break and asks…. “You’re such a great musician why did you pick jazz to play”? The sax player turned around to the man and responded “I picked jazz because I don’t like crowds”! Humor is based on the truth. Here I am at The Iron Lantern Restaurant located hours away from any major city, and what do I hear? Great, not good, but great world-class jazz!

I had the great opportunity to be in the presence of The Reese Project that night. This was a first time intro for me as I sat listening in awe to beautiful jazz and blues. The group was a quartet: Tom Reese on flute, including alto flute; (when was the last time you heard an alto flute live?); Laurie Haines Reese on cello, yes cello; Bob Brewer on guitar and Aaron Walker on drums.

First of all I want you to imagine listening to a fantastic CD recorded live. That’s what the group sounded like. If you closed your eyes, you listened to these four great musicians and they were as one, in perfect harmony, in perfect balance, all sounding as one as if one person was, somehow, playing all the instruments.

To hear Tom Reese play his instrument makes one want to play the flute. If you do play flute it makes you realize where you are as a flutist. It may be a humbling experience for you or a great inspiration to go on. I hope the latter. Tom played continuously, flawlessly and with probably the purest sound I have ever heard on flute. The only time I heard “blowing air” is when it was totally intended. He had complete control of his instruments at all times from the lowest to the highest notes. He played “around the horn”. Great techniques! Tom has great agility and speed when needed. You could hear all the notes, not just quick riffs. Some say playing slow ballads is harder than shouting out thirty-two notes a beat. Well Tom handled that too. Just great!

Before I go on, I should say that the group always had solid communication with each other. Not only listening as all musicians should, but eye contact when ever possible. I didn’t see any music. All material was memorized. The perception I got as a listener and an observer was that they were having fun. They were relaxed, playing and even smiling throughout the gig. Is that great or what?

When was the last time you heard jazz being played on a cello? “Never” would be the most common response. Again, close your eyes and listen to Laurie play the cello. What did I hear? I heard more than one instrument. I heard three. Of course the most obvious is the cello, the second being, maybe a violin/viola when the cello is played in the upper register and third a great bass. Laurie has a bass pick up on her cello and yes it does sound like a bass - three instruments in one. What a treat it was to hear Laurie go from a bass to a cello with her bow just filling the room up with her pleasing sound.

When Bob, on guitar, played back and forth with Laurie you could see them focus their playing from a jazz rhythm to actually something a little more classical such as an etude, but with a flavor of jazz and blues. Bob in his own right is a virtuoso guitar player. If I have another opportunity to see him again I would ask what musicians influenced his playing. Bob was in tune; pardon the pun, with the sound and the pulse of the three others. He created intriguing soloing all over the place with tension and release. Great phrasing! Tom Reese said to me that Bob only played a few gigs with them. I’m sure he was pulling my leg. They all played as one.

What can I say about the drummer, Aaron Walker? Well, I can’t say enough. He played with the hands of a surgeon (Tom said do you mean sturgeon?). There’s nothing fishy about it. Probably the best drummer I’ve heard in years. Aaron caught all the action of the other players while keeping the group going. Aaron has such a great touch! He can play hard and driving without playing loud drowning out the other musicians. He was playing his instrument as an instrument, crisp and delicate, not just keeping beat.

I felt one of the best tunes of the night was “Norwegian Wood” played, of course, in three. They played at least ten minutes or longer doing all the things I described above, trading fours, soloing, changing the rhythm and feeling. Tom did a great job where the audience could hear the melody line in his soloing. Tom doesn’t just rest on his laurels playing the “head” and soloing. He also fills in, playing background too, keeping the group full.

The repertoire of the group was listener friendly to those in the audience who were not jazz experts. Most of the songs were written by Tom but they added songs like “Memphis Underground” by Herbie Mann, “Satin Doll” and a few others the crowd could relate to. Their Grammy nominated song “Levi’s Blues” was played along with “Evening in Vermont” which caught every one’s ear for more than the obvious great music.

The Reese Project was the best group I heard play at The Iron Lantern (without a sax) in the last three years. The food may be plentiful and delicious but it is a divided room. Most come for dinner, some for music and as for me and my wife for both. I wish the dinner crowd was more receptive to the music but they were the people who came to eat. Little did they know they were listening to world-class musicians in a small town in Vermont. The Reese Project was back on the road after the gig looking at an eight hour trip to Harrisburg, Pa. What dedication! I had asked Tom what was the band’s goal, mission? He said to spread the music of jazz. They did it that night. Thank you The Reese Project. Come back soon!

noreply@blogger.com (bub) — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 05:27:00 -0800

For Immediate Release

Funkdawgs Win Net Music Makers ‘Best Virtual Band of 2006’ Award

Ottawa, Canada (January, 2007) – The Funkdawgs, the world’s first Internet jazz fusion band, have supported this claim to fame by winning the prestigious inaugural award for Best Virtual Band of 2006 from Net Music Makers (NMM) as part of its first ‘Battle of the Bands’ competition.
NMM announced the Battle of the Bands winners on January 12th at the 34th Annual International Association of Jazz Educators conference held in New York City. The NMM on-line competition also gave a Best Live Band award to the Fire Apes.
NMM’s winners announcement coincided with the beta launch of its next generation Web 2.0 music website, www.netmusicmakers.com, providing users with a personalized virtual studio connected to a fan-driven, multi-channel internet radio network.
For the Funkdawgs, the award also came with a major prize of $10,000 in music gear, including top-of-the-line studio recording equipment, studio mixers, USB pre amps, programmable drumsets and studio recording mics from leading U.S. manufacturers.
In addition, the Funkdawgs will be featured on a special compilation ‘Battle of the Bands’ CD to be distributed through an NMM partnership with Guitar World and Guitar One magazines to nearly one million musicians and readers worldwide.
Funkdawgs’ founder and saxophonist Bob Johnson was blown away by the surprise win. “Our drummer Filippo in Italy had made the entry for us and then forgot about it. When I found out we had won, it was like icing on the cake. I knew our band has made a major breakthrough on the recording scene with the success of our three virtual CD releases, but this only confirms our achievement by winning an award from NMM’s truly breakthough website and multi-channel Internet Radio Network,” Bob remarked.
Jeff Tamelier, President of Net Music Makers.com and former guitarist for R&B band, Tower of Power, was enthusiastic about the Battle of the Bands winners and NMM’s pioneering website. “We’re ‘rebooting’ the music industry,” he commented.†“We want to thank all of our friends and fans for helping us get positioned to leapfrog over traditional labels, terrestrial and satellite radio.”
Top ranked contestants from the ‘Battle of the Bands’, including the Funkdawgs’ tracks, may be currently heard on the NMM Radio Network at†:
http://www.netmusicmakers.com/WebForms/Radio/Radio.aspx

-30-
For further information contact:
Stephen J. Hards, publicity hound
e-mail: stephen@kolegram.com

Skeltones Bluesband Video

noreply@blogger.com (bub) — Mon, 6 Nov 2006 05:46:00 -0800

Video of the "Ske-Tones" bluesband live at the "Thirsty Turtle" in Lebanon TN.

Skel-tones "LIVE"

Un Poco Tiempo

noreply@blogger.com (bub) — Mon, 6 Nov 2006 05:28:00 -0800

Jazz guitar bossa nova by Bobby Brewer

Un Poco Tiempo

Wakin' After Dark

noreply@blogger.com (bub) — Mon, 6 Nov 2006 05:24:00 -0800

Smokin' new tune from the "Blind Willies" bluesband featuring Bobby Brewer.guitar-Bill Lawrence,bass-Howard Mayberry, drums
hear more at www.bobbrewer.info

Walkin' After Dark

Skeltones

noreply@blogger.com (bub) — Mon, 6 Nov 2006 05:16:00 -0800

Jazz Guitar Fusion tune by Bobby Brewer...if you like Sanborn or Carlton you'll like this tune. find out more at www.bobbrewer.info

Skeltones

Blind Willies podcast bumper

noreply@blogger.com (bub) — Sun, 5 Nov 2006 19:02:00 -0800

Malibu Howie introduces "The Blind Willies"

Satisfied Mind by the Blind Willies

noreply@blogger.com (bub) — Sat, 4 Nov 2006 13:59:00 -0800

BluesBand, The Blind Willies first podcast of thier track "Satisfied Mind" high powered blues from the new trio.

Satisfied Mind