While most guitar étude books are geared specifically toward the classical or jazz player, Ken Hatfield's Études for Solo Guitar in 24 Keys is aimed at bridging the gap between these two distinctive styles of music. The twenty-four keys that are referred to in the title are the twelve major keys and the twelve minor keys, similar to how Bach organized his "Well-Tempered Clavier." While Bach progressed through each key by moving up a fifth, Hatfield chose to proceed in this manner for the major keys, but then progressed through the minor keys in downward leaps of a fifth. By doing so, Hatfield has allowed the student to work through progressively harder keys. In other words, the first key has no sharps or flats, C major, the second key has one sharp, G major; the third has two sharps, D major and so on. Since there is no tablature being used for these etudes, the progressively difficult key signatures will allow students to learn the pieces while also developing their ability to read notation... Continue reading "Book Review: "Etudes for Solo Guitar in 24 Keys""

Lenny Breau & Brad Terry: Live at the Maine Festival is the latest DVD release from Art of Life Records. The DVD aims to provide an up close and personal look at this dynamic, though often overlooked, guitar and clarinet duo. Up until this point in time, any fan of the Breau-Terry duo had to be content with one live release, The Complete Living Room Tapes, which features the duo jamming during a house concert. With new archival performance footage from the 1980 Maine Festival, an interview with Terry, high-resolution audio files of two duo tracks and a complete discography of all of Lenny's recordings as both a sideman and leader, this DVD package showcases these two extraordinary musicians in a new and evocative fashion... Continue reading "Review: "Lenny Breau & Brad Terry: Live at the Maine Festival" DVD"

The latest book and CD package from the Jamey Aebersold Play-A-Long series, Volume 123: Now's The Time, gives musicians a chance to play alongside one of the finest rhythm sections in the world, the Joey DeFrancesco Trio. One of the reasons that the Aebersold Play-A-Long series has become so popular is the ability of its owner, Jamey Aebersold, to attract some of the best names in jazz to perform on each CD, and Volume 123 is no exception. The rhythm section of Joey DeFrancesco on organ, Byron Landham on drums and Paul Bollenback on guitar is one of the hardest swinging and energetic trios on the scene today... Continue reading "Review: Jamey Aebersold Jazz Play-A-Long "Volume 123: Now's The Time""