SEND IN THE JAMS

Note: WE HAVE JUST UPGRADED FOR MUCH MORE BANDWIDTH! Our site uses a LOT of bandwidth to host so many music files for our product samples and our showcase entries, so we have been forced to remove entries from time to time. If your entries have been removed, feel free to send more and we will post them, and now they can stay up much longer!

Dan was one of the first instructors to sign on as an official endorser of Band In The Pocket products when we started our company years ago. He is a saxophone instructor in Stockbridge, Georgia, our former home base. We are so glad Dan finally got around to sending in some tracks for our showcase!

Ed signed his email Ed "Harp Hack" Sundstedt, but he's hardly a hack! He says he fell in love with "6/8 Blues" from BITP #1 and jams with it once in a while when he can find the time. He recorded this right into his computer using Audacity software. Great job, Ed, keep on jammin' and send us more tracks!

Well, wouldn't you know, after I move away from Stockbridge, Georgia, I find out about this guy! I sure could have used him on some Blues sessions! He has been playing harp since he was 15 years old, and has been playing over 40 years! I like the way he listened to the tracks and picked up on melodies and made his jam have "parts" and melodies. Great tone, great attack and control, great timing, just a real top notch harp player!

Richard Schrei is a world class player of Native American Flute, though he himself is not Native American. Richard has received many honors from Native American peoples across the country, and is performing in many special ceremonies with different tribes, which speaks volumes about not only his playing, but his character - precisely since he is NOT Native American and is yet so honored. He actually makes all his own flutes, each one specifically for an intended use. Besides being a great flute player, he's just a super guy, and finally got around to his first efforts at mixing his music with our Band In The Pocket tracks!

David has been a drummer all around the Southeastern US music scene since the seventies. He had shifted his focus from drumming full time to taking care of trees as an arborist. He teaches property owners how to manage their trees and native mountain landscapes. But now that he has that business set up with the flexibility he needs, he is now once again VERY focused on drumming and plays at least four hours a day in his rehearsal space, and is available once again for sessions and gigs, particularly in North Georgia! I can tell you one North Georgia studio he'll be working in as much as possible! You can contact David through email at thearborist@tds.net.

Understandably, David is very much into wood in both his careers - and as it applies to drums, particularly Bubinga wood. These gorgeous Tamas are all Bubinga. They surely do sound good, as you are about to see! We are so happy David took the time to contribute to our showcase!

As you will hear, Roy is what our products are all about - "IN THE POCKET!" Good feel, good groove - Roy is just a downright GOOD DRUMMER! Marvin said that his immediate thought was that, if he was looking for a drummer, he would hire Roy just from hearing these tracks. We are so pleased to start of our showcase's drum section with a fine drummer!

(Marvin's note: "I happen to know that these were practically first takes - Roy JUST bought the CD, so he can't have heard the songs more than a couple of times!")

Roy writes "My thing has always been with playing along to pre-recorded music. It helps to develop a pocket. I very rarely practice rudiments or exercises out of books. When I play to music the music gives me ideas and inspiration.

A little bit about myself...I'm 45,grew up in New Jersey. Music has always been a serious passion for me. Been playing Drum set since I was around 20, and got my first drum which was a snare when I was about 9. I'm not a schooled drummer - for the most part self taught. I currently live in Richmond VA. My full time gig is a Refrigeration Tech. I'm not in a band right now, so I guess you can say I'm a true wood shedder.

As far as equipment goes...the drums I played on the tracks were DW Collectors Series. Zildjian "Terry Lynn Carrington signature ride," Istanbul high hats, Mehemet series. The snare is a John Craviatto Solid Maple 6"x14". The crashes - right was an 18" Zildjian K series Constantinople, left side crash is a 17" Sabian HH. In between those two is a 16" Constantinople also.

As far as Drum Heads. All Evans heads on this kit. G1 on snare. Hazy 300 weight on bottom. J1 etched series on toms top and bottom. E-Mad on kick with wider tone ring and Evans pillow inside resting about a third on the batter side head. Front head has the DW resonant closed head. There are four holes about the size of a dime placed about 3 inches from the rim. This allows air to escape but still retaining the sort of round resonant sound.

Other kits I have are wood Hoop Ayotte 4 piece Jazz kit in African walnut finish. These are maple shells just like the DW. I have a Gretsch Broadkaster 4 piece Jazz kit. Also a 6 piece Baltimore custom kit which are now called Maryland drum. Plus a bunch of different snares, Gretsch brass "New Classic" Series which is really sweet, Pearl Sensitone 6.5. I have almost the whole line of the Constantinople Rides including the new flat ride. Right now my prized possession for rides would have to be the Sabian 22" light Artisan! What a really great cymbal... hats off to Sabian! Also have Bill Stewart Dry Complex Ride which is really trashy but maintains good stick articulation for Jazz. So yeah I admit it I'm a gear head.

Looking forward to more "Band in the pocket" Cd's for drummers. What a great idea! I have been looking for a practicing tool like this for quite some time. There is another company that is doing something similar but they are just Bass track grooves which I didn't find very inspiring.

We are very pleased to have a fine Jazz pianist join our showcase! We hope this is the first of many. I think David tells his own story best:

"My last name- Musicant- is the American spelling of a Russian last name- Muzykant- which means �musician�.

My grandparents emigrated from Kiev in the early 1900�s. In Russia the Muzykant had been musicians for I don�t know how many generations. The name can be traced back to around the mid 1600�s. My grandfather, who I remember well, played violin every day, and my Dad, who is in his 80�s, still plays piano every day.

I�ve been playing jazz since the 70�s, and I�ve been in a couple of bands and jazz workshops over the years. I love playing in a group, but when I�m not (like these days) BITP is my band. The playing is really alive, and I feel part of a group when I play along with my favorite tracks. I get more done with my practice time, because I can play a tune as many times as I like, and my playing has improved a lot as a result.

Hip Pocket was recorded at a studio in Boston. I�m playing a Yamaha P-80, which is an 88 weighted-key digital stage piano, using a basic acoustic grand piano sample for the sound."

Emanuel
Emanuel says he started playing relatively late as a teen, listening to the rock music most teens were listening to in the day, when he discovered the Mahavishnu Orchestra's album Birds Of Fire, and it opened his ears to a world of musical possibilities! He studied music in college but decided he would benefit more from teaching himself, drawing from what inspired him most.

He now leads his own band, devoted to old classic Soul, R&B, Funk and Motown music. In his personal time he is more drawn to Fusion, which he says gives him the harmonic and improvisational freedom of Jazz, coupled with the intensity and timbre of Rock. He concludes his post with "Best wishes to all that have set foot on this wondrous musical journey!" Well said, Emanuel!

Emanuel played a 1980s Yahama SBG and a 1980s Japanese Strat on his track, recorded using Sonar 3 and a Boss ME-50. He played it "on the fly" and then overdubbed the clean guitar in the intro.

Curtis grew up in a small town in Washington state. He took guitar lessons for about six years and has been playing for around twelve years.. He says his mom picked up a copy of Band In The Pocket at Guitar Center and he has been jamming with it ever since! That's what we like to hear, Curtis!

Curtis recorded these tracks using a Fender Stratocaster through his pedal board, which has a Boss DS-1 distortion, a graphic equalizer and a compressor. His amp is a Fender Pro Junior on which he has done some modifications with speakers and tubes. He used a Shure SM58 mic into a Behringer EURORACK UB802 in the FX loop of his computer using all free software he found on the Internet! Man, Curtis, way to go Dude!

Leo is originally from the San Francisco Bay area, but played Blues around Arkansas, Missouri and Tennessee as a drummer. He is self taught on guitar and his influences range from Buddy Guy, Robert Cray, and back to Albert King and John Lee Hooker. He mostly records on his own now for fun, but is always looking for people to jam with in the Knoxville Tennessee area where he lives now. He recorded this track on Acoustica Mixcraft 2.

Steve writes that he hadn't touched his guitar in years and recently decided to pick it up again. He came across Band In The Pocket tracks, bought a couple and started jamming. He liked them so much he went back and bought more. He's having fun playing again and would now like to find a Blues band to jam with. He lives in Lockport, IL, near Joliet, and his email is Crc438@aol.com . Anybody with hookups for Steve, shoot him an email! Meanwhile, he says he is having a lot of fun jamming with our tracks. That's what we like to hear, Steve!

Don says that as a guitar player he is only one year old, but as guy he is older than dirt! lol He has made several trips to Guitar Center to pick up more BITP CDs and enjoys jamming with them. Hip Pocket was the first song he ever tried jamming to someone else's music. "I play acoustic for now, but have my eye on a Gretsch Electromatic. (Someday....) I have a Taylor 110E and recently acquired a Martin 000CX1E. I'm mostly interested in jazz, blues, and rock. I also like Setzer, and really enjoy some gospel. Actually, I'm one of those people who really like just about every "type" of music, but I want to focus on jazz, blues, and maybe rock, (Satriani-style), for my playing."

Don is very interested in meeting other players in the Kansas City and Overland Park, KS, area, and even provided his email, which is xoomie@ozmonsters.com . I think he's right in that - although jamming with Band In The Pocket is a great way to practice, interacting with and learning from "live" musicians is a real plus!

This is something very new and different for our showcase, but I think it is too wonderful to pass up! Don DePaola is a wonderful guitarist, guitar teacher, and video creator from New Jersey who is a big fan of Band In The Pocket tracks, and we have become a big fan of his work! Our web managers caution about "linking out" of our site, but I insist you go see these utube clips - and I will just trust you to use your browser's "back" button to return here. But by all means enjoy all of Don's clips while you are there. It is a wonderful treat to not only hear, but also see some excellent guitar work! As a matter of fact, we use clips from these videos in our You Tube advertising campaign.

Don has a wonderful CD of original music that is worth checking out as well! Go to http://cdbaby.com/cd/dondepaola and get one! It is absolutely TOP NOTCH!

Lance Allen
Lance is a fine player and guitar teacher from the Nashville area who also happens to work in a music store that sells Band In The Pocket products. Lance has been featured in Fingerstyle Guitar magazine as well as Nashville Public Television. He has a great new CD of acoustic fingerstyle guitar that is available at CD Baby, where you can also hear samples - just follow this link http://cdbaby.com/cd/lanceallen . Lance sent a couple of cool Blues tracks for our showcase!

Marvin Taylor and Francine Reed, Smith's Old Bar, Atlanta GA Memorial Day show 2007
Photo courtesy Vincent Tseng

The "old man" finally sent in a couple himself. Marvin is the creator and producer of Band In The Pocket CDs, and people constantly ask why he doesn't contribute to the showcase page. In a recent promo for the products, Marvin took a "one pass" shot at some jams. "I don't mean to cop out here, but we were only going to edit small clips from these, so I didn't go for a flawless performance! Any mistakes and flubs were just left alone - and there are plenty. But I have to say, jamming with these tracks is really fun - I should do it more often and maybe there wouldn't have been so many clunkers in these!"

"I was playing these tracks using the G&L Legacy that's in the photo. It has regular old EMG pick ups, and I was playing through a Boss Compressor stomp box with just a little compression and a little extra output gain into a Fender 100 Watt Twin in the studio with the switch flipped to 25 Watts. We used a Sure 57 mic on one speaker with a big CAD tube mic on the other side of the room, and that was our "room sound" with no reverb or effects."

Seth just set up a My Space page using Band In The Pocket tracks and did the right thing by asking permission. In the process he noticed our showcase and sent a track. I LOVE this track! Seth plays with a lot of passion - and he "waits for it" as we say in my circle of friends - a friend of mine also says this is like keeping the lid on the pot until the steam blows it off! That's a good analogy for Seth's playing.

Seth says he is playing a Fender Squier Affinity Telecaster through an old Zoom GM200 set to emulate an ever-so-slightly overdriven Twin Reverb, recorded on a Tascam MFP01 Portastudio. He is generally a guitar-straight-into-the-amp kind of guy, and uses no effects pedals as such.

Seth is 57, played a bit in college, put it aside, came back to it when he turned 50. His wife bought him a Les Paul for his birthday, which is certainly cool, but his guitar hero is Roy Buchanan, so he finally broke down and got the Tele, and now can't put it down!

Seth is from Brooklyn, NY, and belongs to NYJam, a kind of Match.com for amateur musicians. He is in a band of hobby players who play out when they can, especially showcases sponsored by NYJam. What a cool idea! Every city needs that!

Chris sent this link to his U-Tube clip. Chris has only been playing for THREE MONTHS folks! Very nice! We are really impressed. You go, Chris! He just got a new amber American Deluxe Fat Strat, and he is playing it through a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe 40 watt tube amp. Nice rig! No wonder he is on top of things so quickly!

Harry sends this cool track with guitar and vocals from the suburbs of Philadelphia. He tells us he used to play in Rock bands in the sixties and took about a 25 year hiatus and just started playing again about a year ago. He credits Band In The Pocket for supporting his efforts until he is able to possibly put a band together again. Anyone interested can email us here and inquire, and we'll hook you up! Meanwhile - here's Harry...

Youssef is from Morocco but has lived in the United States for 17 years. He was one of the earliest entries in our showcase, but due to lack of space, we lost his early entries. We are very pleased that he has continues to support our showcase with new tracks!

His main influences are SRV, Satriani (mostly his ballads), Buddy Guy, and Larry Carlton, and the music he grew up listening to �back home�. I�m thinking that this is the magic ingredient in Youssef�s melodies � the fact the he has many older influences before his current guitar hero influences � he has a wonderful approach to melodies and voicing that is partially due to the fact that he can be happy listening to many styles of music, like Chinese, Greek, Blues, Jazz or whatever. Add to that the fact that he is obviously more about playing from the heart than he is about just playing hot licks, and the end result is really nice! We welcome Youssef back to our showcase!

He says he used a 1996 fender stratocaster - 50th anniversary special edition: lace senser pickups, going into a SansAmp GT2 Tech21 NYC to a Boss Delay to a practice Marshall Amp:MG15DFX -some effects are picked here. Then the signal out of the headphone jack to a EURORACK UB1204fx-PRO MIXER. The mixer is set on phaser setting but very low. out of the mixer to the computer.

Richard is from Gardena, California, and he sent us two wonderful tracks! He says he is 50 years old and has been playing since he was 15. You can certainly hear the experience in the sweetness of what he does! He says he owns all the BITP CDs, loves them, and plays with them almost every day! That's what we like to hear, Richard!

Richard said "I'm sending two songs from BTP 5 that I did back in Nov, 2005. These were done in one take (thus a few bad notes) using my 2003 Les Paul Standard into a '59 bassman reissue with a tube screamer pedal and a boss RV-5 digital reverb pedal. I tried to put a little Motown influence in the slower of the two tunes."

Richard also said he had two more versions of these songs he did on his Jackson guitar, and promised to send those in as well. We'll be waiting, Richard!

Tony is from Plymouth, Indiana. He and I chatted a while back when he let me know he was sending some showcase tracks, but when he learned that Band In The Pocket #6, Mo' Blues, was just released, he immediately acquired one so he could include tracks from that as well.

I like Tony's approach to making "hooks" for the songs - catchy melodies that come back around. Some of his ideas remind me of some of the cool instrumentals that were early influences for me by groups like the Ventures. In fact, several of the lines Tony has done, especially in Rock Till Ya Drop, Minor Dozen, and New Blue Tatoo, all have the neat sound of the old "Surf Music" instrumentals of Dick Dale and others. But Tony also throws in his other influences to make it more "Tony"! Nice work, Bro!

Pete sent in a great track! Pete writes "I am Pete Jauch, 47 years old, and started playing at age 8. I played lots of keg parties through out high school. I didn't play very much for about 18 yrs., until about 1.5 years ago when I bought an American Deluxe Ash Strat 2005. I practice several times a week now. I recorded this track at 6 am one time using a Korg PX4 directly into a computer on Cubase LE."

Don started out as sort of a mystery guest. He plays so well I was about to start looking on CD credits of famous people to see is he might be a ringer! No joke - wait until you hear this guy! It turns out he does have an impressive history from the seventies and eighties, but is very modest and humble about it, so I will honor that. As is so often the case, some years back his family responsibilities led him down other roads in his professional life, but he is now considering giving music a bigger part in his life. I can't imagine it any other way when I hear the way he plays!

I was immediately blown away by the harmony parts on "Swing" and at first assumed it was some sort of harmonizing machine - it's not - those are all overdubs folks! The only effects used are spring reverb and a little compression!

He said he was playing a '62 Relic Strat through a '59 Bassman Re-issue, using a Sure SM57 mic into a Tascam 788. After I questioned him further, turns out he has been making Relic guitars since the eighties, and sent these pictures! He carefully chooses the necks, bodies, pick-ups and parts from trusted sources, and does the finishes himself. Most of these are already sold. This gets better by the minute!

If anyone besides me is interested, Don sells these wonderful guitars, mostly on eBay. His email address is dondenson@comcast.net .

And now for something completely different! Don said he was yanking around on that red Hamer through a J-Station guitar processor and it made him pull out some old harmonic riffs. Again, all these harmonies are overdubs, Y'all! Sheesh!

Pat ordered Band In The Pocket and immediately recorded a track for us! Way to go Pat! Pat said "This was recorded via a Behringer B-1 condenser mic, into an ART Tube Pac, into a Behringer Fire Wire interface to the computer. The CD was played through an old HH SCOTT 222C into Advent loudspeakers. One take, no post mix, just hung the mic in the middle of the room here. I play a 1987 USA Fender Stratocaster into a very warmed over Peavey Classic Thirty. Basement Blues includes a Morley wah/volume pedal, and is angry, or so my friends say!"

Marvin said "I just love it that Pat approached this from his own point of view. From the beginning he is making it his and playing from the heart. He let's the track take him wherever it does, and mixes original melodies with scales and licks, whatever. And the guitar and amp really work for him! I think about the three trips to my car I sometimes make for loads of junk to do a session! Where is my old Peavey Thirty anyway?"

Pat had several tracks posted above that we replaced as he sent new ones. Pat is a great contributor to our showcase and we are always happy to get the new posts. We only wish we had room to leave all his great tracks up! Here are some newer ones from Pat - he used a Zoom MSR-1266CD (discontinued) for the recording, then a bit of mastering on the computer via Goldwave.

Mark Indelicato

Mark is from Bloomfield, New York, and just a super nice guy. Mark is another "full house member"- he has all versions of Band In The Pocket! We have spoken by phone several times, and he has finally sent me some tracks! I couldn't wait to post them.

Mark actually sent two different tracks of one song using different guitars, which is very cool! I love hearing what a different instrument has to say through the same player's hands! Especially when both sound this good!

"For Minor Blues: An American Fender Strat w/ EMG active PU's. The Tone POT is a Mid Range Boost set at around 5 - I used the Neck and Middle PU's. I used a Line 6 POD 2.0 w/AMP Model = 1968 Marshall Plexi. Cabinet Model = 1968 4 x 10 Basket weave w/ Greenbacks. Drive set low - about 2 or 3 and not much reverb

For the 6/8 Blues Squire Track - I used that $149 Fender Squire P-50 model. It is a screamer! Loads of tonal combos. I was all over the PU's selector and bridge humbucker coil tap. I recommend that guitar for anyone. I did not have to add any more Drive - the PU's just sound that way!

For the 6/8 Blues Strat Track - all the same but I used the Neck PU with a little more reverb - about 4.

I recorded all the tracks into a KORG D8 HD recorder and plugged the POD in direct mode to it. The POD is a fine piece of gear. I use it to play out and it sounds just as good through my 1968 Fender Twin Reverb." (Be sure to read Marvin's note below)

Marvin's note:

Mark came across another version of 6/8 Blues he had done earlier and sent it to me just to get my opinion. I really think he had a lot of heart and feeling in it. I am a big fan of witnessing the player "waiting for it, feeling it, then playing it" and I think that's what Mark was doing in this track so I convinced him to let me post it here. For this track he says "I used my American Strat - with EMG active PU's - set to neck PU most of the time. Tone (Midrange Boost) set to 5 or so. I added the bridge PU for the Tele sound. Not sure if I used the Bridge PU alone or with Neck PU. This guitar has throw switches - one for each PU. So it is easy to switch around while playing. I played through the POD 2.0 with AMP = Marshall Plexi and Cabinet model = 4x10 Basket weave with Greenbacks. A little Drive (2) and not much reverb, except on one part for just a moment and then back to 2. I recorded directly into a KORG D8."

So far, all I know is that someone named JD sent a nice track, and if and when he sends more information, I'll post it! I emailed JD to ask what kind of guitar this is - it sounds great - so I hope he'll write back soon with the particulars! Meanwhile enjoy JD's Upper East Side Shuffle from BITP 1.

George retired from a career far removed from being a musician, but though he won't officially claim it and doesn't do it professionally, he has become a good musician at this stage of his life. He has all five Band In The Pocket CDs and likes jamming with all of them, but has chosen to send tracks from Band In The Pocket #4 Country/Bluegrass and Band In The Pocket #5 Jazz Flavors. George plays all the tracks on either steel string acoustic guitar or nylon string acoustic, which is a really nice touch. As a kid growing up in some of the mean streets of New York who, as George said, thought "the country" meant Central Park or New Jersey, he could sometimes late at night pick up a distant radio station in Wheeling West Virginia that exposed him to a very different kind of music than he normally heard. Well, George, we think it worked nicely. George's relaxed and heartfelt approach to the guitar flows nicely over these tracks.

Bob has one of those great stories that makes this job so rewarding. In his own words:

"Hey guys!! Love your CDs! My name is Bob Kearns and I live in Levittown, PA.. I played bass in garage bands years ago in the early seventies. I am 49 now and decide I missed the music in my life. I picked up a Strat about a year ago, put a set of Texas Specials in it and decided to teach myself the blues. Your CD collection has been a great help! I am sending along my first swipe at recording myself along with a tune from your first release."

Bob, we love hearing that our products have accomplished exactly what they were created to do! Keep up the great work!

These two smoking tracks just arrived by email from Phil Bruno in Nutley, New Jersey! Technology is such a cool thing! Judging by the photos, Phil has a bunch of smokin' guitars as well! In the first row of photos, top left, he plays his '73 Les Paul, and top right he plays a Fender Strat the same color as Marvin's G&L Legacy. Marvin says "Yes, but I'd run a foot race with Phil for a pick guard that looks like that!" In the next row on the left are his Fenders, center photo, his Gibsons - the '73 Les Paul and a ES-335. The third picture on that row is a close-up of Dickey Betts' signature on the Les Paul!

Phil writes: "My guitar influences were Duane Allman and Dickey Betts. I am using a 1973 Gibson Les Paul Deluxe on 6/8 Blues going direct into a Tascam 488 Porta Studio, with a Boss Blues Driver pedal in front. On Minor Blues I am using the same setup with a Gibson ES-335."

Larry started playing guitar in 1957. He got married in 1960 at the age of 18 (and is still married to the same woman!) went into and came out of the Navy, had a family to support, and playing guitar sort of took a back seat to life. Three years ago he decided to get serious about guitar again, learned a minor pentatonic scale and discovered Band In The Pocket CDs! He has written a couple of times over the years to let me know how much the CDs have helped his playing, but has now finally sent in a couple of songs!

I was so impressed with the tone and tasteful approach on these tracks that I immediately emailed them to a couple of my friends who are professional studio guitarists, and both guys flipped over Larry's tracks!

Due to an editing error, some of Larry's information was lost. Larry, or anyone who has Larry's email, I need to get in touch! There is a fabulous story about that old Strat and I need to hear from Larry again. This is the good stuff, and I can't stand to lose it! Meanwhile, just enjoy his great playing!