The College Crowd Digs Me

" And Paul said,  'What are you doing for the next few years?'" ~ Laurence Juber ~ Hailing from East London, but now calling L.A. home, Laurence Juber has had plenty of days playing in the sun.  With a 30-plus discography of critically acclaimed CDs under his belt, the fellow definitely knows his way around a guitar.  Juber is recognized as one of the top acoustic guitar players of all time and was once voted Guitarist of the Year .  He has received two Grammys, and his fingers have never once left his hands.  The guy can play.       Since moving to California, Juber has put his guitar stylings to good use composing or co-composing soundtracks and scores for shows as diverse as Dateline NBC, Ken Burns documentaries, and even The Brady Bunch.  Juber has added his guitar to soundtracks and dozens of films and television shows.  From "Good Will Hunting" to "Dirty Dancing."  From Eric Carmen To Harry Styles.  The man walks throu...

"In L.A., it was The Wrecking Crew. And there was the equivalent in London as well.  I was a part of it." ~ B.J. Cole ~      Session musicians like B.J. Cole may never know when they'll be asked to come into the studio, or who they'll be working with, but the good ones, the very good ones, always know the ask is coming.  From Elton John to David Gilmour.  T. Rex to The Alan Parsons Project.  R.E.M. to Robert Plant.  And it must be a double-edged sword at times.  The anonymity of it all.  Only music aficionados of a particular song or album might know the names of everyone involved in the recording.  Perhaps a blessing and a curse.  But for the last six decades, London's B.J. Cole has been the premier pedal steel guitarist, called on when an artist needs a particular sound and vibe to enhance their song.        B.J. Cole has been adding his unique pedal steel flavors and flares in all the right measures si...

"And it humbles you in ways that  you should be humbled because there are so many great players." ~ Gerry Polci ~      Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.  Everyone loves  The Four Seasons , the golden vocals of Frankie Valli , and the gazillion hit singles they released.  To some, they were The Beatles before The Beatles.  When the 70s arrived, however, the band was still loved but mostly forgotten.  Frankie was still pulling down solo hits now and then.  Good ones, but not the same.  But then some strange rock-n-roll magical thing happened, and The Four Seasons caught everyone by the unawares.  In 1975, the band released a new album, "Who Loves You," and it was like Boom Boom Mancini going fifteen again.  And radio loved'em.      Sure, the golden one, Frankie Valli , was still sounding great as ever, but as the 70s rolled on, new faces were beginning to replace old faces in the...

"...but then they started playing the whole side  of the Zazu album.  For some reason, that became our trademark whenever the radio played us." ~ John Melnick ~      This is the 50th anniversary of the little-known 1975 " Zazu"  album filled with tasty prog-rock and prog-pop nuggets.  Led by John Melnick , Zazu's self-titled square fries and bakes while still maintaining a slice of pop sensibility.  Add the lightest of lysergic dustings, and it's a fun spin.   Upon its release, radio stations in Chicago, St. Louis, and New York, among other places, began spinning  Zazu  on their after-midnight airfare, and the album became a staple of late-night radio.   Then disaster.  Zazu's debut album had barely started shipping out the door before their record label, Wooden Nickel, suddenly closed up shop.  No forewarning.  No heads up.  Wooden Nickel was gone faster than 'Hey, Hi you.'   And unfortunat...