Hey Jay,

I had the pleasure of meeting and studying briefly with you at a Don Ellis Jazz clinic at Redlands U. back in the summer of 1972.

At the time you were rehearsing material for the "Connection" album. I'll never forget hearing you guys run through "Roundabout", "Lean On Me",& the Carpenter's tune that featured you.
I guess Columbia needed another "Rock Band"!

You were my hero then..........and still are.......

Please E-me if you can > APorton@aol.com

Surreal (Alan)

Say Jay,

So cool to have you posting around these parts! Of course, if Myles says your ad is cool, it certainly is with us.

Can I put in a vote for the George Martin story?

Thanks,

Yo Tedster,

This, as well as the following posts, I tried to load with problems. If they did make it on the site, sorry for the redundancy. Here we go.

Please let me state that "Yo" is a term used by studio players since the early 70’s and has nothing to do with "rap".

The web site is http://www.jaygraydon.com. My web master Kerstin knows more about my career than I do! A full discography and so much more. The input is extensive and the odds are good you will find stuff that will lead to many questions.

Regarding Al Kooper, I have not hung out with him since around 1969. I was in the Don Ellis band and Al was producing. Al played me the BLOOD SWEAT AND TEARS album (the one with Spinning Wheel). I was totally floored since jazz and pop was intertwined!

Regarding Craig Anderton, he is my recording technique book writing partner. We have been on this project for years and we are now finally finishing the stuff! Craig has incredible rhetoric skills and is absolutely brilliant!!!

Regarding George Massenburg, another person that is absolutely brilliant. We have been friends for nearly 20 years. His parametric EQ’s and limiter/compressors are incredible!!! I continue to use more than any other brands!!!

Later, Jay

Yo Chad,

Man, I do not read newspapers since I hate getting the ink on my fingers. Here is the story. I got a call from David Foster to play on an album as to generate monies for charity. Steve Cropper was the producer and played guitar as well. Foster on piano, Mike Baird on drums, Duck Dunn on bass for a few tracks and maybe Lee Sklar on some tracks.

In any case, I met Garry on the gig and had no idea what he did for a living. A very nice person!!! All I knew it was his project and I was glad to help the charity cause.

A few weeks later, I get a call from my Dad telling me I was in a comic strip called DOONSBURY. Dad ran down the text and I was laoughing my ass off!!! The phone kept ringing and all my pals stated the stuff was very funny.

I purchased the newspaper and was cracking up when reading the rap. Garry kept this going for a few weeks and I would ocassionaly show up from time to time. Some of the stuff I did say as I was always trying to have fun on sessions. Garry did elaborate on stuff like calling me WAH WAH. Some of you may know of WAH WAH Watson (Melvin Raggin). He was the guy that played all the wah wah stuff in the 70’s — kind of like a rhythm instrument without melodic content. I sat next to WAH WAH on many R&B; sessions and after the DOONSBURY thing came out, I thought he might be pissed off. I told WAH WAH that it was not my idea to call me WAH WAH. His response was classic! He said, "It didn’t hurt my money". I laughed my ass off!!!

In answer to your question, being immortalized in a comic strip is surely cool!!!

Later, Jay

Yo Henry,

Man, I have written out a full blown description on this used in at least a few guitar mags. The odds are good it is somewhere on my web site. Please check and if it is not there, I will go on the hunt for the file and paste on this site.

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Check out the next post for the answer on that stuff.

Bro, I hope you kept the list on the story topics since I thought out. I am now in such a major work mode, I will need to be reminded. One a week would be a good idea as to not get overloaded.

Later, Jay

Yo d,

Man, this is in real time but I tpyically take posts to off line as to respond. Sometimes I get a prompt it wont load. I sent a few posts to Myles as to load since I can't make the time burner figuring out the problem. Man, In the studio, I have enough crashes and when for fun, I can't deal with such stuff.

In any case, I will habg out here and note stories as long as Myles will take my e-mail and add as a post. If yoo much hassle, maybe someone else wnats the gig.

Later, Jay

Man, I am just a guitar player that got lucky.

Later, Jay

Yo d,

I joined the band just after the electric bath album. I did not need to deal with the 1/4 tones unless I was playing out of tune. Don's trumpet had 1/4 tone valves and he did not over use. Btw, the trumpet section also had 1/4 tone horns but only used when it was written.

I must say that the band was so much fun!!!

A quick story. Don wrote a chart for HEY JUDE. The chart started out with Don playing the first phrase. I jumped in and answered using full distortion. Don would play the next line and I would answer and so on for the fist full chorus.

After the first few performances, we both took the melody outside!!! On a gig a few months later, I decided to get totally crazy!!! I bought a guitar for 20 bucks and brought to the gig. During the front part of HEY JUDE, after the first few lines with Don, I strated smashing the guitar on the floor in a Jimi fashion. All ofthe guys in the band did not know the guitar was a pile of crap and thought I had gone crazy!!!! On the break, I mentioned the story and more laughs!!!!

Many Don Ellis stories!!!!

Later, Jay

Wow! When "Connection" came out I flipped for "Theme From French Connection" and "Chain Reaction" and especially pianist Milcho Leviev. I had no idea you played with him. I even remember when "Live at Monterey" came out with "19" and I flipped. I was about 9 at the time. Although that was long before you played with him.

This is my favorite current musicplayer thread.

Thanks for the great stories, and keep them coming.

Yo Henry,

Man, I know Myles is busy dealing with the site so I do not blame him for taking the time to post the stuff I sent to him. Maybe some one else could collect the questions and e-mail to me. I could respond and the person could post. Do you want the gig? If so, easy. Just go to http://www.jaygraydon.com. My incredible webmaster Kerstin will for and reply to the sender.

In any case, here is the Milcho story and it is VERY DEEP!!!!

Milcho is from Bulgaria. In the 60's, jazz music albums were not legal to own!!! OUCH!!! it is just music!!! Milcho has sent a recording of a folk tune from Bulgaria to Don. It was in 33/16 and alternated with 36/16. Yea, you know the song it was recorded by the Ellis and called the BULGARIAN BULDGE.

Now things get deep! Milcho had his bags packed for two years looking to escape from the commie territory and eventually found a way out!!! He left his wife and kids!!! So hard to imagine on that level alone!!! Further, we have no idea what it was like to live in such a repressed environment!!!

The first day Milcho arrived in the US, he contacted Don even though he hardly spoke any English. Don allowed Milcho to say at his house and I met him the next day at a band rehearsal. Ironically, there was no piano player in the band at that time.

Milcho was obviously confused as a foreigner and could not speak the language as mentioned As soon as he started playing the piano, the language was no longer a problem since he played his ass off!!!!!!!! All the cats in the band did their best to make him feel comfortable using child like hand language or anything that would work as to communicate.

Check this out. Milcho learned to speak English watching Laurel and Hardy films since they spoke slowly!!! The best part is he dug the humor!!!

So much more that happened in the next few years but a few things to note. I played in a few other bands and Milcho and he was so far beyond all of us musically!!! His composition was amazing!!!!! We played in a Fred Seldon’s band and one of Milcho’s songs is entitled Lydian Riff in 7/4. I must say to this day, it is absolutely genius!!!!!!!

I had a 4 track-recording studio in my house and would record jam sessions. I have tapes of all the recordings and at some point I may release. Players like Bobby MCFarrin, Greg Mathieson and so many more.

So Milcho gets a gig to record the Bulgarian national anthem for a TV show or radio show, I can’t remember. I can’t remember the instrumentation but we recorded the song. I clearly remember telling Milcho the song was totally depressing as very dark sounding in a minor key — must have been part of the depressed culture.

Over the years, I worked with Milcho in the studios as well as hiring him to arrange CONFORMATION for the Manhattan Transfer. An outstanding arrangement!!!

In some time frame years later, Milcho said he was going to Bulgaria as to be honored — He surely deserved that honor and he got to see his family!!!!!!!

Later, Jay

Hey Jay,

I had the pleasure of meeting and studying briefly with you at a Don Ellis Jazz clinic at Redlands U. back in the summer of 1972.>>

Yo Alan,

Man, I remember that gig in full since the band lived in a dorm for the duration of the gig!

At the time you were rehearsing material for the "Connection" album. I'll never forget hearing you guys run through "Roundabout", "Lean On Me",& the Carpenter's tune that featured you.
I guess Columbia needed another "Rock Band"!

You were my hero then..........and still are.......

Songs I would have not thought about unless you mentioned! Do you remember the name of the Carpenters song? No recollection of that song so.

Yea, Columbia thinking the band has a commercial chance since the hippie era was happening and since the band was anything but normal, it had a chance to get into the commercial rock hippie market. Totally insane but Hollywood was not computerized.

I can’t remember if this was the album where the producer brought in the Hollywood rhythm section (Hal Blain, Carol Kaye, and James Burton) for the commercial stuff. In any case, on those sessions, something happened of interest.

Carol introduced to me a guitar player on a break that was hanging out with her. His name was Lenny and I asked if he would like to play one of my guitars. He said no. A few years later, I realized he was Lenny Breau and I did not get a chance to hear him play in person!!!!!!!

When I was studying with Ted Greene, he taught me the Lenny harmonic concept! If I had seen Lenny play that day I could have saved Ted the time figuring out the concept.

Check this out. Ted had Lenny’s album "LIVE AT SHELLY’S") as well as all of us. Ted could not figure out the harmonic thing and one night months later, it came to him in a dream!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He woke up, picked up a guitar, and nailed the concept!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YOU GOTTA LOVE THAT.

I have used the concept ever since and it is still very hip!!!

Later, Jay

I gotta brag. Lenny Breau was my wife's cousin, as is his very-much-alive brother, Denny. Not a jazzer, but a monster guitar player in his own right. If you're interested you might go to http://www.dennybreau.com.

Yo Chad,

I tried open the MP3 stuff but it did not happen. I would love to hear this guy play so you might mention the files were not available.

Later, Jay

Denny lives just around the corner from me, I'll let him know. He's worth hearing; uses the thumbpick-and-fingers technique that Lenny did, but more rock/country kind of style. Killer both on acoustic and electric.

Jay,

Interesting to read about you relearning your classic "Peg" solo. Did you look at any of the songbook transcriptions out of interest? The ones I've seen (also the one that was published in one of the guitars mags a few years back) aren't that good. The opening phrase seems all wrong, and one of the key ascending runs that comes about half way through didn't look right either...

As you said, you can get the same notes in different positions, but unless you get the position right, you're gonna lose some of the fluidity and the subtle touches that make the solo work!

The way I figure that trick opening phrase has to be played is using a combination of bends and slides, not easy when you're playing notes on two strings (and trying to get good sustain so the last notes don't fade away!). The songbooks write it out using only slides, but you don't get the smooth changes in pitch this way - you need to do a lot of bends as well as a couple of slides.

And for that ascending run, it sounds right to me if you play notes on the D and G strings (moving up in 3rds), while using pull-offs to the open G string. I've seen this bit written out only on the G string (with hammer-ons and pull-offs), but that doesn't sound right to me.

Does this fit with how you played it?

regards,

Howard

P.S. Had a listen to some of the samples from your new album. Very nice!