Monstrous Fire in Chatsworth

I'm practicing some tunes for the City Beat gig tomorrow night and I start smelling smoke - thick smoke, and it's not my fingers burnin' up the keys. There's a monstrous fire in Chatsworth, CA, about 30 miles from where I live. The smoke has travelled all the way over here and is so thick that it's difficult to breathe outside of our house.

Click here to watch a short video of the Reuters news story.

I found this slideshow and some individual photos:

Put Another Notch in my Keyboard!

Put another notch in my keyboard because another CD has been officially added to my discography of CDs that I have performed on! This one is particularly cool because it's done by, Jefferson Thomas. Jeff's a friend of mine who's a singer, guitarist and songwriter and all around good looking front man. The album is titled Come Alive, and the single hits the radio very soon.

Jeff trusted me enough to send me the rough mixes from New York on a CD-R and allowed me to record whatever I wanted -- not like he had a choice being 2,500 miles away from me! ;-)

I imported his tracks into my computer, recorded some organ and electric pianos on a couple of tunes, and then I uploaded them up to my server for him to download. Then he mixed my tracks in with his and voila! How convenient for the two of us! I love modern technology!

Congrats on the new CD Jeff!

Root Canal Pt. 2 and My Burning Hair

Today I sat through the 2nd part of my four-part root canal procedure. It was painless, but inside my mouth I could felt pressure, pushing, pulling, drilling, burning, dust, children running through the streets screaming, raping and pillaging, atonal music, etc. Just kidding...there was no atonal music. I learned that anesthesia is the bitterest stuff I've ever tasted, next to my own humility. Yuk! I also realized that the burning smell of my teeth being drilled is just like the smell of burning hair. How do I know? Let me tell you about the flashback I had as the rising odor of my teeth being drilled penetrated my nostrils.

In 1993 when I looked something like this,

(Palookaville - Santa Cruz, CA.
January 1995 recording of Shadowfax "Live")

I was in Cape Coral, FL playing with Shadowfax. After the concert, I ended up at a club and had three Sambuca too many. There I was, leaning on a hand rail listening to the music. I noticed this god-awful smell, like burning plastic. All of the sudden, the woman next to me widened her eyes and raised her hand as if she was going to slap me! (I swear to god officer, I didn't touch her.) As she raised her hand I saw a bright flash and noticed that as I was leaning over the railing, my curly locks were dangling over a candle and were getting singed! I was slapping my hair and the little ball of fire went out pretty quick. It all happened within a split second. There was ash from my hair stuck to the palm of my hand. What a horrible stench! Hey! What a cool new look for me! See, something good always comes out of something bad. Bartender, another Sambuca please.

Photos - Mystic Journey (Ford Theater)

Last night's show at the Ford Theater: The band sounded great, the musicians were all "on," the dancers were great awesome, and the stage looked cool with decorations and tea candels inside beautiful stained-mosaic glass vases adorning the stage. It was one of the coolest performances I've been in. Some pics from the sound check:

Suzanne on the talking drum


me, working hard during sound check


Gilbert on his hybrid percussion/drum kit


Fritz playing the sitar


Andrew on his didgeridoo


Bobbie Jo tuning her harp. Is she the coolest looking harpist, or what?


Malik on the djembe; Djelimady on the balafon


Some cool stage props


Newly received pics of live show!

Lexi Pearl and the MoMomentum Dancers


Prince Diabate Rockin' out on the kora

Orphaned Fan of the NFL

Being a fan of American football, this is a great time of year. The season is finally here, it's still young, there are lots of exciting players/teams to check out, and there are still 18 more weeks of football left to watch! Being a native of Los Angeles, I'm an orphan-fan of sorts because we don't have a team here and haven't had one for a long time.

I won't call this a predicament because of all the real-life problems occurring on this planet right now: war, disasters, starvation, etc., but which team is an Angelino supposed to root for? We have no team. People out here seem to pull for the Oakland Raiders because they were our most recent transplant. They did a pit stop here for a few years ago as they played in the decrepit L.A. Coliseum. Yeah, they're Super Bowl champs; yeah, John Madden -- who is amazing -- had coached them, but I just can't get past the fact that owner, Al Davis kept legendary running back Marcus Allen on the bench in his prime just because he had a personal problem with the guy. Plus, they're from Oakland for god's sake...not L.A. Q: Who's my favorite team? A: Anyone playing the Raiders.

Some Angelinos cheer for the St. Louis Rams because they were in L.A. for so many years. But they moved to Anaheim, then bailed and ended up back in St. Louis. Plus, they're originally from Cleveland, so forget them. Another not-so-local team is the San Diego Chargers. I have lots of friends down there. They can keep their team all to themselves.

It looks like I'm going to have to be creative in choosing a team. Man, that hurricane just chewed up New Orleans. Maybe I should root for the New Orleans Saints...you know...the team without a stadium...the mega-underdog!! Naw...they don't want a "charity fan"... they're professional warriors. They eat guys like me for breakfast. I'll cross them off the list.

I can take the easy way out and root for the New England Patriots. They won three of the last four Super Bowls and they may very well do that again this season. Hmmm...too easy.

How about the Green Bay Packers? You know, Vince Lombardi, tradition, fun quarterback to watch. I love watching Brett Favre play! But now that I think about it, he either pronounces his last name incorrectly or has been spelling it wrong, and that's just wrong, so forget the Packers.

The Buffalo Bills are totally out of the question...they've had their chance over and over and over again. San Francisco 49ers? Been there; done that. The Atlanta Falcons have probably the most exciting quarterback to watch in lucky #7, Michael Vick. But he's about the only guy I like to watch on that team.

Dallas Cowboys? Who started calling them America's team, the same people that call Julia Roberts America's sweetheart? Next! Chicago Bears? That team is a religion to its fans, and I'd just be crashing the party.

I used to like bumble bees a lot when I was a kid, and the Pittsburgh Steelers are a real good team! I remember the Steel Curtain. I like the Steelers, but I'm not feelin' it. And I'm not going to be a fan of a team just because I think they're good. That only works for me with people, food and music. This is sports, and that would be a cop out. We don't need a logical reason to cheer on a team, especially here in L.A.

You know, I've been really enjoying watching the Philadelphia Eagles over the past couple of years. I've been a fan. They have seven players on the roster that start with "Mc" - but Donovan McNabb is the coolest to watch. Plus, the guy oozes class and sportsmanship which is important for me. They also have Terrell Owens, one of the most dynamic and fun players to watch in the entire NFL. He's also the most "misunderstood" (to use his words) players in the league. But I like this guy. Plus, their coach, Andy Reid, played football at Glendale College with one of my brothers. My other brother's wife's sister's husband is Andy Reid's brother. All that's gotta count for something, doesn't it?

Owens is the same guy that hid a black marker in his sock, and after scoring a touchdown, he pulled it out, signed the ball, and handed it to a fan. That rocks! Of course, the league fined him for it, but that made me laugh when he did it. The commissioner of the NFL never made me laugh. And since we're on the topic, it also made me laugh when Joe Horn pulled out that cell phone from behind the goal post after scoring a touchdown and made a call (he actually was not able to get a signal). I was entertained. It was worth the 15-yard penalty. It was even worth it if he got fined. It's a tax write-off, right?

Watching sports is a diversion for me. I want it to be fun, and I enjoy laughing and being entertained. If I want something more serious, I'll watch IRON CHEF.

GO EAGLES!

Gigs: Mystic Journey, City Beat, Gashouse Dave

Sept 24: You can catch me on the keys and some percussion with Suzanne Teng and Mystic Jourey. at the Ford Amphitheater - 8pm (one set) as part of the World Festival of Sacred Music 2005. 2580 Cahuenga Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90068

Special guest artists include kora player Prince Diabate and the Lexi Pearl MoMomentum Dancers. Also performing will be the Naser Musa/Adam del Monte ensemble with flamenco dancer Laila del Monte. Click here for more info.

Sept 30: I'll be playing some soulful covers with my buddy Jonny Walker and his band City Beat at B.B. Kings. 9pm-10:30 (one set)
Universal City Walk, 1000 Universal Center Drive, Suite 222, Universal City, CA 91608

Oct 1: We'll be tearing up Jax again with blues singer and guitarist Gashouse Dave and the Hard Tails.
339 N.Brand Blvd., Glendale, CA 91203 (818) 500-1604 Sat. Oct. 1, 9pm-1am

Photos - Gashouse Dave & the Hardtails

As usual, the Gasman tore it up at Jax Saturday night! Here's an inside scoop of the antics: We were missing a drummer for the first set, so it was a trio of guitar, bass and keys. Bob Delgado, the bassist called up his bro, Steve, who is a drummer (check out Delgado Brothers). Steve was watching National Geographic on the tube w/his PJs on and falling asleep on the couch. But he packed up his car and showed up with the coolest 2-piece drum set this side of Mississippi - kick drum, snare, hi-hat. It was Steve's and my first time playing with Gashouse Dave & the Hardtails. Preston Smith dropped by and sat in with the band, singing a tune and playing some guitar. We had a blast!

Armen, Bob Delgado, Dave

Armen, Bob Delgado, Steve Delgado, Dave

Remembering 9/11...

...thinking about those towers that came crashing down on NY...the plane that was supposed to nail the Pentagon...all the people who died that day, their friends, their families, all those who's lives were effected.

Photos - Cambria, California

I just returned from a few days of relaxing in Cambria. We had a room looking right out onto the blue pacific and saw some gorgeous sunsets and a bit of wildlife. Check out the pics.

Cambria, CA

Root Canal

After having the first half of my root canal therapy done this morning, I've decided that they're not as much fun as I had anticipated. Ugh! And the one-mile walk home from the dentist's office was probably not the smartest thing that I had planned this year. However, I do love my dentist. Thanks Dr. Torgeson! I'm looking forward to my vacation in Cambria, California starting today!

And the Grammy goes to C-Bizkit!

I noticed that some rappers have given themselves names that could be mistaken names of a race horses. Anyone go by the name C-Bizkit yet? Sexy Terriet?

The Groove Makes You Move - Constant Motion

I came up with a motto once, and I keep it mind when writing most of the music that I compose: "Melody is God, but the groove makes you move."

Today I had such an interesting realization. I realized that nothing in the entire universe actually stays still. Everything is in constant motion all the way from the largest to the smallest particle. There is not one thing that doesn't move. Wow! That's lots of stuff!! Speaking of small particles, now I'm wondering if there's a finite number of fundamental particles in the universe or if the quantity increases and decreases. Hmmm...

Red Cross Banner Added

I added this banner to my home page today.

It's good to see people helping out. I was at the local Glendale College football game last night and the Red Cross was passing around containers for donations. Looked like they raised quite a bit for the Hurricane Relief 2005 fund.

Third World U.S.A. - Hurricane Katrina

I was glued to the television set last night watching the aftermath in New Orleans from Hurricane Katrina. My god...it's the first time in my life that I remember seeing video/images of any part of the U.S.A that resemble a third-world country. What a shock. These are some photos from CNN's website taken by local citizens.

I still wonder why so many people chose to stay and not leave the area when they had ample warning that this thing was coming their way. Then again, I remember working on the 11th floor of a Disney-owned building in Glendale when the fire alarm sounded. Our supervisor yelled something like, "Wait! Don't go anywhere. I'm going to find out if this is a false alarm." EXCUSE ME? "MIGHT BE..."? Out of about 30+ people in the office, I was the only one that said, "Fine, you find out while I get the hell out of here." and I bolted down the stairs and left the building (it was a false alarm). It was a big building. I don't remember seeing anymore than maybe 25-35 of us standing there in the courtyard looking up at the building waiting to see what was going to happen. So maybe it's human nature to stick around and wait to see what 'the other guy' is going to do.

My wife and I donated to the American Red Cross Hurricane 2005 Relief Fund. I invite you to do the same. Every little bit helps. They also have a link on the site for anyone that wants to volunteer.

Photo from August 29, 2005 8:20 a.m. EDT

Gashouse Dave Gig

I'll be at Jax Bar & Grill on Sat. Sept 10th from 9pm-12am playing keyboards with blues guitarist and singer Gashouse Dave and his band. Venue: 339 N. Brand Blvd., Glendale, CA 91203 (818) 500-1604. Here's a map. The Gasman is going to do some serious damage that night, so come on out!

Armen In The Middle

I got a call from the music supervisor of the TV show Malcolm in the Middle. They're going to use a section of Enchantress from my Ceremonies CD in a scene that's supposed to take place in a tent at Burning Man. The episode will air on September 30. This is the first time a track from one of my CDs will be aired on an internationally syndicated TV show!