Jamie Kime exits Zappa Plays Zappa

Guitarist Jamie Kime, a member of Zappa Plays Zappa since its inception, has announced his departure from the group after nearly six years. From his Facebook page:

This group consistently kicked ass and played on a level higher than any band I’ve ever known or been a part of. There wasn’t a single show that I didn’t get chills playing “Peaches..”, or “Sofa”, or “Village Of The Sun”, or “Andy”, or….., and I’m leaving this band 50x the musician I was coming into it as a result.

Kime expressly thanks Dweezil and Gail Zappa and predicts that he will collaborate with ZPZ members in the future.

 

AD: Al Pitrelli for Peavey

“A Classic Moment” Ahh. Ok.

There have been people who wanted to fling a Peavey amp out of an aircraft, but not likely one attached to Al Pitrelli. The much traveled guitarist may be best known for his ongoing stint in Trans-Siberian Orchestra, but when this ad ran in Guitar for the Practicing Musician, July 1994, Pitrelli had just appeared on Asia’s Aria album.

 

RIP Pete Cosey

This is not my idea of a good news cycle: The death of Doc Watson has been immediately followed by the departure of Pete Cosey at 68. Cosey was a longtime house guitarist for Chess Records but may be most widely recognized for his contributions to Miles Davis’ most adventurous electric albums such as Get Up With It and Agharta. TheChicago Reader paints an appropriate picture:

He used his guitar like an abstract expressionist painter, creating thick, richly textured solos with fierce rhythmic power, dazzling colors, and nonchalant violence.

Read the rest at CR.

Right here.

 

The guitarist as restaurateur

In news you probably didn’t see coming, Sacred Reich guitarist Wiley Arnett has entered the food service game. Blabbermouth explains:

Rehab Burger Therapy was founded on the idea that everyone deserves a break and the belief it’s actually therapeutic to slow down and celebrate life’s simple pleasures like good music, the company of friends and a delicious burger grilled to order.

Oh, alright.

Read more about the Arizona establishment at Blabbermouth.

Right here.

 

 

RIP Doc Watson

Arthel Lane “Doc” Watson has died. The 89-year-old folk guitar legend had been hospitalized following a recent fall at his home and had also undergone abdominal surgery. The New York Times had this to say about the pioneering musician:

His mountain music came as a revelation to the folk audience, as did his virtuoso guitar playing. Unlike most country and bluegrass musicians, who thought of the guitar as a secondary instrument for providing rhythmic backup, Mr. Watson executed the kind of flashy, rapid-fire melodies normally played by a fiddle or a banjo.

Read more at the Times.

Right here.

 

AD: Al Jourgensen for Ibanez

Hypo Lux

The summer of ’94 was a confused period for popular music. Kurt Cobain was dead, shred was on life support, and meanwhile metal, grunge, and alternative collided to form … whatever. Otherwise how would Ministry’s Al Jourgensen appear in a full page ad for Ibanez?

This piece, scanned from Guitar for the Practicing Musician, July 1994, features the Talman and Ghostrider models along with a slyly placed copy of GFTPM, if you look closely.

 

AD: Kirk Hammett for Dean Markley

KRK

This Dean Markley ad comes from Guitar School, September 1992, during that protracted period between the Metallica and the makeovers of Load and ReLoad. Interesting that the subtext is “The Sound of American Rock & Roll,” as by this point Metallica were well on the way to transforming themselves from thrash metal icons into … whatever it is they became.

 

AD: Richie Kotzen for Starfield

Starfield America

Here’s Richie Kotzen for the Starfield Cabriolet American Standard, a somewhat rare ’90s guitar. How rare? A similar model is listed for nearly $1,900 right now on eBay. The ad, still before Kotzen’s time in Poison, pimps his Electric Joy album.

Scanned from Guitar School, September 1992.

 

Vintage Gibson ads

In a very Pointy Guitar vein,  the Gibson website is now featuring a gallery of old guitar and amp ads. As they set it up:

As with any advertisements, vintage guitar ads capture a time and a place. Many Gibson fans hanker after a bit of “vintage” – if only as an investment – but how were they first advertised? Here’s how.

See a ’58 Flying V, a fake Velvet Underground, the original RD Artist ad and much more.

Right here.

 

The noise of Adrian Belew

Guitar Moderne has posted a video from Adrian Belew’s 2011 appearance at the Chicago Humanities Festival. Here’s what it’s all about, according to GM:

Great stuff here including midi instrumentation, layering and combining effects such as echo lengths with pitch shifts, loop pedals, compound rhythm structures, and time signatures.

Jump on over to Guitar Moderne and check it out.

Right here.