Guitar Jam

Artist Interview: Lee Ritenour on The Jamcast - Session 3

In the final session of our interview with Lee Ritenour, Ken and Lee discuss the experiences of recording past albums, his approach and thoughts on melody and soloing, working with Jazz great Dave Grusin, and the direction of his career over the past twenty years. 

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Artist Interview: Jamie McLean on The Jamcast

Jamie McLean is a musician who’s most well known for being the guitarist for New Orleans own Dirty Dozen Brass Band. But McLean has a longer list of credentials and talents that make him much more than just a sideman in a famous act from The Big Easy.

In part one of The Jamcast, Jamie and Ken discuss his first, concert, first guitar, current gear, the people he studied with, and the compositions and recording of his latest projects.

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Artist Interview: Lee Ritenour on The Jamcast - Session 2

Lee Ritenour and Ken take some time in Session 2 of The Jamcast to riff on his approach to recording the new album Smoke n' Mirrors, as well as his guitar, amp, pedal, and mic set-ups.

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Artist Interview: Trey Anastasio on The Jamcast

By Ken Volpe
It's the day before Trey Anastasio's Fall 2006 Tour and I'm hanging with Trey's road crew before the final rehearsal in NYC. Trey is in the other room working with the String section getting them ready for the Webster Hall gig.

Brian Brown, who is Trey's guitar tech, is kind enough to show me Trey's  rig and answer my many questions about working with Trey's latest band and getting ready for the tour.

I'm also talking Yankee baseball with one of the other guys from his crew who is definitely a fan. I think deep down both of us knew that the Yankee ship was going down with A-Rod at the helm.   

Everyone is very friendly and down to earth. They order lunch and Trey breaks free to hang out in the lounge with me to do the interview. Orchestrator Don Hart sits in with us as well. We jump right into a deep discussion about improvisation, composition, and the creative process. Right away I get the sense that Trey is very open and honest and willing to share his insight to all my questions.

Listen to Session 1 with Trey >

Artist Interview: Lee Ritenour on The Jamcast

Lee Ritenour has established himself as one of the world's leading jazz guitarists with a series of accessible albums over three decades. Heavily influenced in his early days by the relaxed styles of Wes Montgomery, Joe Pass and Barney Kessel, he now has his own distinctive sound and fluid style. Lee has put out over 40 albums in his career featuring straight ahead jazz, fusion, Latin, and contemporary styles and his list of session work is long with more than 3,000 sessions. Some of Ritenour's most notable performances were with Herbie Hancock, Steely Dan, Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Rollins and Pink Floyd.

Ritenour has unveiled his latest album "Smoke n' Mirrors", inspired by his travels to South Africa. The CD was reviewed on Guitar Jam Daily last month.

Ken Volpe and Lee Ritenour connected on The Jamcast and discussed the current state of Jazz, creativity in the younger generation, how his musical career has changed throughout the years, and how he has reinvented himself.

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Artist Interview: Michael Brook on The Jamcast - Session 2

Plug into Session 2 of The Jamcast with guitarist, musician, producer and engineer Michael Brook. As an innovator, Michael invented the “infinite guitar” - prominently featured on U2’s Joshua Tree and played by The Edge with only two others in existence owned by Daniel Lanois and Brook.

In this session Michael and Ken discuss gear, production, recording techniques, his invention of the Infinite Guitar, and his work with Robert Fripp.

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Artist Interview: Michael Brook on The Jamcast - Session 1

Canadian native Michael Brook released his long awaited third solo disc titled RockPaperScissors in July featuring contributions from Richard Evans (Peter Gabriel), Lisa Germano, Paul Rogers (Blue Nile) and a posthumous collaboration with Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.

During his extraordinary career, Michael has worked as an engineer and producer for Brian Eno, Daniel Lanois, Youssou N’Dour as well as many others, and as a composer for such films as “Heat,” “Albino Alligator” and most recently “An Inconvenient Truth” and “Who Killed The Electric Car?”.

As an innovator, Michael invented the “infinite guitar” - prominently featured on U2’s Joshua Tree and played by The Edge with only two others in existence owned by Daniel Lanois and Brook.

In Session 1 of the Jamcast, Ken and Michael discuss composition, influences, creative philosophies and the current state of music.

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Artist Interview: Tommy Emmanuel On The Jamcast - Session Two

In Session Two of The Jamcast with Tommy Emmanuel, you'll hear about his favorite live venues, life on the road, his relationship with Chet Atkins, song writing influences and what inspires him. 

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Click here if you'd like to replay Session One.

Artist Interview: Tommy Emmanuel on The Jamcast - Session One

On The Jamcast today we have a very special interview with a true master of the instrument, virtuoso Tommy Emmanuel. Tommy, a finger style guitarist inspired by the legendary Chet Atkins - who became one of Emmanuel’s biggest fans, called him “one of the greatest players on the planet” and gave him the title c.g.p. —certified guitar player. Emmanuel combines folk, country, jazz, and other influences in his highly personal and emotive compositions.

In Session One of this week’s Jamcast, Ken and Tommy discuss the switch from electric to acoustic guitar, his playing style, practicing habits, and so much more.

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*Coming up in session two Tommy discusses his new album release on the Favored Nations label, The Mystery.

In case you missed it, read the review of Tommy Emmanuel's new release, The Mystery.

Artist Interview: Peter Thorn on The Jamcast

In Session 2 of this week’s Jamcast, Ken and star guitarist Peter Thorn discuss song writing, his latest projects, and the guitars and amps he uses.

Peter, who’s currently on tour with Jewel, has recorded and toured with many of music’s big names, including Five for Fighting, Chaka Khan, Courtney Love, and many others.

Enjoy Session 2 >