New Orleans

Expect my next few posts to be New Orleans related as I have recently attained a newfound respect, curiosity and appreciation for the music and culture of New Orleans (Thanks in full to David Simon's new HBO series "Treme"). This video encompasses all that it is to be a musician from New Orleans. Dr. John, The Meters, and Professor Longhair playing Earl King's composition and a universally recognized anthem of New Orleans, "Big Chief".

In Repair

This is by far the coolest window into an artists writing process I've ever seen. I've always wished there was more footage of bands/artists in the studio writing, tracking, fixing and transforming songs. As an artist myself I'm no stranger to the creative process generated in the studio. It's a laboratory for experimenting with sounds, feels, mixes, effects, tempos, etc... I'm glad (and not surprised) that John Mayer of all people has given the public the opportunity to see into what life is like as a musician with the ability to do whatever you want. If I had John Mayer's status/money I'd be jamming with Steve Jordan and Charlie Hunter everyday.

Red Baron

This track was introduced to me by my ever so funky pal and long time contributor to the mid-town Toronto jam scene, Justin Binder. It features a young John Scofield and one of my personal favourite drummers Billy Cobham who I had the pleasure of seeing in New York several years ago with Sylvain Luc and Victor Bailey. Labeling that show "monumental" would be an understatement. Hold on to your hats folks.

John Mayer & The Guitar Solo

Say what you will about John Mayer, the man can play the guitar. The purpose of this post isn't to argue John Mayer's integrity as a musician nor his ability to write a song. The point I wish to make is that John Mayer has done more for the guitar than the majority of people give him credit for. Allow me now to support my conclusion with irrefutable premises, the likes of which will give the John Mayer haters a new perspective, the agnostics a push in the right direction and the lovers even more respect. My objective is to make those skeptics see the light.
Upon first hearing "Your Body is a Wonderland" I thought to myself, "He's like a boy band condensed into one single entity". So I chose to pass on the craze and stick to what I knew best, the blues. It wasn't until the John Mayer Trio album "Try" came out that I thought to myself..."!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!". Here's where the part about him doing more for the guitar than he's given credit for comes into play.
John Mayer undeniably holds one of the most powerful positions of any current artist. He's managed to generate such a large fan base that no matter what he does, the crowd will love him for it. This makes the fact that he plays the guitar phenomenally well a significant part of his influence. He can hold his own with the most celebrated blues artists still alive i.e. B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Eric Clapton etc...and because of this, he's drawn the attention of the masses back to the good stuff. The stuff that tears ur heart out of your chest, the stuff that motivates you to play, listen and appreciate musicality and passion. The stuff worth investing in.
My point is this, not since Van Halen has a single artist with as big and broad a following made the guitar such an important focus of his music. What a rare occurrence it is to witness an entire stadium full of people explode over a guitar solo. Or an artist as main stream as John Mayer choose to "jam out" a song with his band of veteran musicians.
As a musician myself all I can say is this, thank you good sir for bringing the guitar back to the people, and reminding them of some of the most influential artists, writers and players of all time.

Now enjoy these videos of John having a good ol' time with blues legend Buddy Guy. Videos that exemplify my point famously.