I remember first hearing Les Paul as a kid on tunes he recorded with Mary Ford like "The World is Waiting for the Sunrise" and their brilliant version of "How High the Moon". An orchestra of guitars, sped up, slowed down, multi-tracked into a unique voice that could only have been Les. How a kid from Waukesha, WI came to be such a musical icon, as well as a role model for DIY types everywhere is a fascinating story, far too long to tell here. Go watch the PBS documentary on Les for a brief idea.

One of my biggest regrets is never having gone to see Les at one of his regular Tuesday night gigs in New York when I lived there. Everybody I know who knew him said that he was just incredibly nice, friendly, supportive of young musicians, and hilariously funny. One need only listen to the two records he made with Chet Atkins, Chester and Lester and Guitar Monsters and hear the banter between the two captured in the studio to appreciate that aspect of his personality.

He was also a brilliant inventor and inveterate tinkerer. Modern multi-track recording wouldn't have existed without him. He designed a solid-body electric guitar that became an icon in its own right. His workshop in New Jersey (not far from Edison's Menlo Park labs, I believe. Must be something in the air) deserves to be turned into a museum.

Les was a musical treasure, both as a player and as an inventor. He never stopped growing, never stopped listening, and never stopped playing. He was one of my big heroes. I'll miss him, but right now he and Chet are setting up to play another set and swapping wisecracks.

Because somebody asked...

Not all new stuff, but it's what's in heavy rotation in my iTunes these days.
( Behind cut to spare the uninterested )

So that's some of what I think is worthwhile and am currently enjoying. What's in your ears?

It seems that i09 is touting Kanye West as the 6th most influential person in science fiction in their Power List of movers and shakers in SF.

'scuse me? Kanye West? (shakes head in puzzlement) Does everybody who uses Autotune as an effect get to be on the list? Because I'm not too proud to lay down a track with some funky robot action. Really.

Then again, it's the time of year when everybody comes out with year end lists designed to boost their readership by making people sputter and point their friends at the website/magazine/whatever and say "Can you believe this stuff?" In which case I'm just helping them out by increasing page views.

I think I'll go listen to some Hawkwind now. At least they had Michael Moorcock writing lyrics for them.

Advice from Monk Advice to musicians (and others) from Thelonious Monk.

Ran across this and had to share. Words to live by.

A friend of mine, Jamie Kime, is the other guitar player with Dweezil Zappa's "Zappa Plays Zappa" project. They've been gearing up for the summer tour season, and, as they usually do, opened up the last few production rehearsals so they could get audience reactions to the show. Every year, Dweezil picks a fair assortment of fresh material from the Zappa catalog, does necessary rearrangement for the 8-piece band, and they like to make sure that they've got it right before they hit the road. We went last night to see what was going on.
( Remainder behind cut )