Tony Levin

[low_delta]

The Tony Levin Band show last night was great. They are a prog band that is a lot of fun. Tony is a great guy. He's so friendly. The whole band came out afterwards to sign autographs and shake hands.

Most of what they played was off of the latest Tony Levin Band record but they also included "Elephant Talk" and a jazzy, down tempo remake of "Tequila" (with Jerry on sax). and a Peter Gabriel song (which Jerry sang) whose name escapes me. The also have remade an early unreleased Peter Gabriel song (that Tony, Jerry and Larry originally played on) called "Dog One," and one of Larry's compositions, called "Phobos."

Tony is a great player. It's amazing to watch him on his Chapman Stick. He plays quite an assortment of basses. I wish I knew what brand that hollow body bass was. Tony seems like such a nice guy. too nice, maybe. He thanked a guy from bringing his stuff to the hotel yesterday morning to sign. This guy had over 100 LPs for Tony to sign for him, so Tony thanked the guy for not making huim do it after the show. Personally, I would have been pissed at the guy. I imagine most of these autographed records will end up on e-bay. Tony told Cyn and I how much fun the show was that night, after coming from Chicago. And we were even a quiet "respectful" audience.

Larry Fast played synthesizers. He's been making synthesized music since at least 1975. He's made a lot of music with Peter Gabriel. This guy does not look like a musician. He looks like an engineer. Seriously. Which is only fair, since that is basically what he does. He assembles music. Or at least that's how he started out, back in the seventies, with the Moogs.

Jesse Gress, the guitarist. was pretty good. He's editor of Guitar Player magazine and has played with Todd Rundgren. He has a good gig. I didn't hear him do much beyond solos, and with a bandmate like Tony, he seldom had to do any kind of rhythm playing. I'd like to have seen his effects rig. He got a huge variety of sounds out of that Start (of course, that's the appeal of the Fender).

Jerry Marotta played, well, everything. He's a great drummer. I was most looking forward to seeing him play. He's worked with Gabriel a lot, and he's played on few Indigo Girls records, so I was really interested in hearing him in person. He was very cool. And he played several instruments, including electric (witht he funk fingers - little mallets attached to two fingers of his right hand) and acoustic guitars (he did an acoustic guitar duet with Tony) and alto saxophone. He was an easy guy to talk to. And notice the list of people he's played with, on the link, on the right-hand column.

Comments

[i.livejournal.com]

amazing lineup, wasn't it? they did back in new york city when i saw them and jerry sang. was that the one you heard? i wonder if dog one was a version of soft dog, a rare b-side. and here's a larry fast link. :)

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

Thanks. I especially liked http://synergy-emusic.com/petergabriel.html where he had pictures of his old rigs.

Re:

[i.livejournal.com]

i used to have first pressings of a couple of his records on clear vinyl. wish i still did...

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

That would be very cool.

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

Dog one is on the Tony Levin Band's latest record, so you could check it out.

I saw "Back in New York City" on their set lists for some others shows, so you're probably right. Was that a Genesis song?

Re:

[i.livejournal.com]

yes, from the lamb lies down on broadway

Thanks

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

Every time I go into my favorite record store I look for old Genesis albums (I have none and that one is on my list), but they never have any. I've also been told to look for Selling England by the Pound.

I also wanted Amy Ray's solo record, but they didn't have it either.

I thought they didn't have the new Patti Smith compilation, but it was behind the counter for some odd reason.

The store is losing my favor.

Re: Thanks

[i.livejournal.com]

the lamb was arguably the most influential album i ever heard. it was my first genesis, and opened up a whole new world of music to me. selling england, however, is my favorite of the old genesis.

[i.livejournal.com]

pieces of the sun i listened to the clip. not one i had heard. it sounds like an outtake from the third PG album. more $ to spend, lol.

[seamusd.livejournal.com]

cool! the band sounds like the line-up for the first 2 peter gabriel solo albums, and jesse is a fantastic player as well.

I've recently (in the last couple of years) found all of the peter gabriel genesis ablums on re-mastered CDs. try tower or crow's nest (i don't know what stores are in milwaukee).

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

The exclusive company generally has the best selection (we have no major chains here, aside from Sam Goody and crap like that). I'll just have to keep my eyes open elsewhere, I guess.

Re:

[seamusd.livejournal.com]

It would be worth your while to check out Crow's Nest next time you're in Chicago. The one on State St. at Jackson (about two blocks from the Art Institute) has the best selection of any record store I've ever seen! Someone there is really into prog rock because they have some pretty obscure stuff that I haven't seen since the seventies, literally!

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

Hmm... I'll have to make a list.