Steve Karas of SKH Public Relations informed us that the Mascot Label Group has announced a March 27 release date for the debut from Flying Colors (available the day prior overseas) on their Music Theories Label. The formation of the ensemble began with a simple idea: virtuoso musicians and a pop singer joining together to make new-fashioned music the old fashioned way. Refreshing, classic, old and new, the recordings are saturated with the many styles, tones and hues of the players who in becoming a band have delivered a unique fusion of vintage craftsmanship and contemporary music. Flying Colors is Mike Portnoy (drums, vocals), Dave LaRue (bass), Neal Morse (keyboards, vocals), Casey McPherson (lead vocals), and Steve Morse (guitar). Portnoy shares, “This album has bits and pieces of what you’d expect from each of us. However, the sum of all its parts led to brand new, unchartered territory for all involved.”

In 2008, executive producer Bill Evans brought the idea to the world renowned musicians and producer Peter Collins. Intrigued by the idea, and the prospect of working together, the four signed on to form a band and record a first album. Steve Morse and Dave LaRue have developed a magical music chemistry over the years, that began early in their careers as partners in Dixie Dregs. Morse subsequently became a member of Deep Purple in 1995, while LaRue’s ongoing musical adventures include Joe Satriani, John Petrucci, Jordan Rudess, Steve Vai, and the aforementioned Portnoy. Multi-instrumentalist, composer and singer Neal Morse is one of the leading figures in progressive rock, who’s significant notoriety follows his co-founding of the seminal band, Spock’s Beard in 1995, recordings as a solo artist, and contributions to the super-group Transatlantic. Mike Portnoy is one of the most popular and respected drummers in both metal and rock, and an accomplished writer and producer. He is the recipient of numerous industry accolades, including 26 Modern Drummer awards, Revolver Magazine’s Golden God award for “Best Drummer” and Drum Magazine’s “Drummer of the Year”. He rose to prominence as the leader, drummer, producer, and co-writer for metal/prog juggernaut Dream Theater, before moving on in 2010. That same year, he worked on Avenged Sevenfold’s #1 album Nightmare and their subsequent tour. And, it was Portnoy who recommended Alpha Rev’s emotive singer Casey McPherson as a contender to join Flying Colors.

McPherson, who’s 2010 Hollywood/Disney album New Morning debuted in the Top-5 on two Billboard charts, enjoyed major success at radio with multiple hits. The track “New Morning” spent 17 weeks in the Top-10 on Triple A Radio, and enjoyed a run on Vh1’s Top-20 Countdown for months. Steve Morse offers, “Casey was a glorious find, because he could make anything sound fantastic, and is a multitalented like the others.”

Flying Colors convened for just nine days in early 2011, and composed and recorded this album during a short and intense session. Dave LaRue recalls, “It was quite an experience – the band moved at a fast pace, ideas flying around the room at all times. Sections of tunes were arranged, then re-arranged, ideas were tried every which way until we made them work, or, in some cases, discarded them altogether. Just keeping track of everything was a challenge!” McPherson adds, “This record is filled with trial and triumph. Raw and delicate songs alike amidst the swirling and daring orchestration of Steve, Neal, Mike and Dave. It’s been such an inspiring challenge melding folk, prog, pop, and metal all into one big recording.”

Touring plans for Flying Colors will be announced in the coming months.

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If you believe the gang over at the Grammy Awards, it’s whatever sort of music is being made by anyone who happens to be a member of The Allman Brothers Band.

Earlier this month, new albums by Gregg Allman, Warren Haynes and the Tedeschi Trucks Band (featuring Allman Brothers guitarist Derek Trucks) were nominated for Best Blues Album Grammys. Of course, only one of those releases — Gregg Allman’s Low Country Blues — was a straight-ahead blues record.

But to be honest, we like the Grammy approach because it opens the door to blues, roots-rock and blues-rock albums — and it makes for a more interesting and dynamic list that highlights blues in all its ever-evolving forms.

Looking ahead, it’s safe to say we’re looking forward to a full album by Gary Clark Jr., who made it onto this top-15 list with just a promising four-song EP.

And, of course, no talk of blues in 2011 would be complete without remembering two true legends of the genre who passed away this year: Delta bluesman David “Honeyboy” Edwards, who died in August at age 96; and Hubert Sumlin, Howlin’ Wolf’s storied guitarist, who died earlier this month at age 80.

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Eddie Van Halen, Photo: Wikipedia

One of the most influential artists in the history of rock made a significant contribution today to help support public school music programs. According to a press release, the Van Halen founder and guitarist Eddie Van Halen donated 75 electric guitars from his own personal collection to the Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation, a not-for-profit organization that provides schools across the country with quality musical instruments.

Per Van Halen’s request, the foundation will dispense the guitars to music programs in public schools throughout the Los Angeles, CA area where the demand of students enrolled exceeds the number of instruments.

“Music is the universal language. It has the ability to transcend and convey every human emotion that exists without saying a word. Music kept me off the streets and out of trouble and gave me something that was mine that no one could take away from me,” Van Halen explained. “Music education and families are dealing with the economic times, and I wanted to help them. If I can help a kid discover a liking, or even a passion for music in their life, then that’s a wonderful thing. Music has provided a good life for me and hopefully it can help make life better for others with this donation.”

The Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation donates new and refurbished musical instruments to under-served schools in an effort to give kids the myriad of benefits provided by music education, help them to be better students in general and inspire creativity and expression through making music. Hundreds of thousands of students across the country have benefited and thousands of instruments have been donated to more than 1,100 school music programs across the country. More information can be found at www.mhopus.org.

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Clapton: The Ultimate Illustrated History by noted rock author, Chris Welch, landed in our shop a short while ago and at first glance, we knew it was worth checking out. Sure, there’s the Clapton connection, but the book exudes high quality and we’re familiar with past books by Welch that have always been well-done and highly regarded by music enthusiasts.

The heavy hard bound book presents a quick look at Eric’s history on its cover with a fine triptych photo display of Clapton during his Cream days, his time with Delaney and Bonnie and his contemporary solo days.

Sometimes you actually can tell a book by its cover, contrary to the old saying that says you can’t. Between the covers the book proves to be as classy and well done as its first impression.  Clapton: The Ultimate Illustrated History does not disappoint with an insider’s account of the life of Clapton tethered to over 400 photos of Eric and his fellow music brethren that have included The Roosters, The Yardbirds, John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, Cream; Delaney and Bonnie; Blind Faith and a constellation of other notables who fall within the inner sanctum of music royalty.

Some of the more fascinating photos include early shots of The Yardbirds with Keith Relf, Chris Dreja, Paul Samwell-Smith, Jim McCarty and Eric, a group that helped define British Blues and later evolved into what is considered by many to be more commercial rock,. It was a move that would disappoint Clapton and cause him to split from the group in order to grow as a blues man, and to remain true to his roots. There are other photos of Clapton during his days with Cream, a group that many consider one of the best rock groups of all time. Throughout the book, Welch offers up a remarkable stream of photos that reflect Eric’s musical journey.

Chris Welch has known Clapton since 1964, when Chris landed a job at Melody Maker in the U.K. and met during his first week on the job. Eric was with The Yardbirds and where Yardbird’s vocalist and harp player, Relf, told him that the band hoped their first single wouldn’t be a hit.

Welch carries the story along by having an inside track on the life and times of Eric, at a time when music became an insatiable cultural staple and kids would find their way to places like The Fillmore (East and West), The Grande Ballroom, and other concert halls to see the likes of Cream, Vanilla Fudge, Blue Oyster Cult, Jefferson Airplane and other groups for a few bucks.

Click to Buy Clapton: The Ultimate Illustrated History from Amazon

The selection of photos and images of album art, concert photos and photographs of rock royalty adds a colorful and period texture from the early days of the British Invasion, to an era of flowers, paisley and mind expansion, and on to Eric’s own journey that has led him to become one of the most masterful of blues musicians on the planet.

Although the book is highlighted as an “illustrated” history, there’s a strong balance of biography that parallels the hundreds of photos. And the history not only gives us Eric Clapton, but, tells us about the world of music that engulfed and influenced him. The author takes us back in time and feeds us the emotions that are at times exciting, but also traumatic; times and experiences that forged the man that we’ve come to admire and respect and one who is not merely a musical icon, but one who has fought his own demons, and fought hard to recover and reclaim his dignity.

Clapton fans will probably be compelled to seek out other books to discover more about the legendary Eric Clapton, especially hardcore fanatics. But, for most of us,  Clapton: The Ultimate Illustrated History is so exceptionally well done and comprehensive that it’s enough for us to consider our Eric Clapton reading appetites satisfied and digested – allowing us to find our way back home to his music.

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Guitarist and educator Matt Warnock has recently announced that he will be giving away his new eBook “5 Essential Jazz Guitar Scale Techniques” free to readers who sign up to his free weekly newsletter.

Readers will also get a free copy of his previous eBook, “10 Essential ii-V-I Licks for Jazz Guitar,” when they sign up to the newsletter, which goes out every Monday at 6am EST.

The weekly newsletter contains lessons, which are not published anywhere else, that discuss topics such as:

• Improvisation
• Technique
• Ear Training
• Rhythm Playing
• Comping
• Chord Voicings
• Playing in the Style of Legendary Players
• Licks and Patterns
• And much more

“You really need to know every detail of your song, and you need to be able to translate that into language terms that musicians will understand,” said Dr. Joe Ferry, a faculty member of SUNY Purchase’s Conservatory of Music who has been producing records for over 30 years. “The outside world is not like making beats inside your house; you have to interact with other human beings.”

Ferry, whose work has earned him multiple Grammy nominations, chairs the Studio Production department at Purchase College and had worked with artists such as The Skatalities, John Hammond, and even The Beatles’ George Harrison.

“What George Harrison started out with and what ended up on the album are equally great, but worlds apart,” Ferry said. “What happens when you get into the studio is that your song begins to evolve.”

Once you have your material well rehearsed and are able to communicate it thoroughly, record a rough demo. This can be done with software such as Pro Tools and Apple’s Garage Band, and doesn’t have to be fancy.

“When you’re in a rehearsal space, you don’t hear things the same way,” said Dan Berry, a Studio Production senior at Purchase who has recorded other students’ work in the on-campus studio spaces. “That’s the biggest problem for bands that have never recorded before. You don’t hear every little thing each person is playing, and when it’s recorded everything is exposed.”

Before booking studio time, it’s important to do your homework and research different recording engineers. According to Berry, there are engineers that are specialized in different genres, so it’s important to find one that can produce the sound you want.

“There are some genres, like indie rock for example, that have different engineering techniques and tricks specific to that genre,” he said. “Someone else might not be able to get those tones.”

Since time is money when it comes to studio recording, it’s crucial to do the most you can with the time you have. Guitar players should position themselves in the control room whenever possible while recording, says Richie Castellano, who has been playing guitar with Blue Oyster Cult for the past seven years.

“You and the engineer are looking at the same thing, so it’s a time saver,” said the Purchase alumnus, who recorded Regina Spektor’s first album, and recorded his first CD from home at the age of 17. “You can just say ‘bring it back to measure 59’ instead of struggling with the language. And a lot of studios will let you do that.”

Other than a suitable engineer, another factor when looking for a studio is latency, which is the time it takes for the computer to process a sound and spit it back out to the artist or engineer.

“Make sure you ask about latency and how you’re going to be hearing the guitar,” said Castellano. “You can barely perceive it, but that millisecond is a enough to throw of your timing. And as a guitar player you’ll compensate for that.”

And above all, be comfortable. Work with people that make you feel comfortable in a space that isn’t intimidating.

“Sometimes you’ll get an engineer that does everything you’ve hired them to do, but you’ll just get a vibe that they don’t care,” said Berry. “That makes you feel rushed, and it’s very much an atmospheric type of thing. If a recording is technically done horribly but its one of the best performances the band has ever done, it’s still going to sound awesome.”

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