Hey folks –

Well, it’s been 2 months since I’ve been back to work after my shoulder surgery. I’m back up to teaching full time again, and I can play guitar without pain, although I can’t say all movements with this shoulder are pain free. I still can’t lift weights yet – it might be a couple more months before that happens (the elliptical machine is getting a bit boring….:)

Back in August I saw an ad in Facebook for an upcoming concert – Return to Forever. My first guitar teacher, Jim Bruno, got me playing some of their charts. I ended up buying several of their records (yes, records, those black disks you played with a needle). I impulsively bought 2 tickets for the September 22 show at the Warfield theater in San Francisco.

I invited Jim Bruno to come with me. Jim has known me before I even entered high school. His lessons had a big effect on my musical life. Later I’d go take lessons from his teacher, Warren Nunes, but Jim got me started on my musical journey and since he got me started on Return to Forever (RTF) I invited him. Amazingly enough, he was able to take a break from his schedule at Showcase Music Institute to go.

The opening band was fantastic: Zappa Plays Zappa. Frank Zappa has been gone for decades now, but his music lives on and his son Dweezil put an 8 piece band together to play selected songs from his father’s extensive repertoire. Dweezil is one great guitar player. I found his playing intense and exciting. There were two guitars, bass, drums, keys, marimba, sax and trumpet. At the end, Frank Gambale came out for the last number and traded licks (i.e. taking turns soloing) with the young Dweezil.

Frank Gambale is the newest member of RTF. The line up in the mid-1970′s for RTF was:

Chick Corea – keyboard and founder of the band.
Stanley Clarke – bass virtuoso and co-founder of RTF
Lenny White – drums

At first they released albums without a guitar player. Somewhere along the way in the 1970′s they added Al Dimeola, an incredibly proficient guitarist from New Jersey. He played blindingly fast leads and had great technique. In the late 1970′s, he split from the band and did a lot of acoustic flamingo work, and has won numerous jazz awards.

When RTF decided to go on tour this year, they needed a new guitarist. Frank Gambale has been around a long time and even has instructional DVD’s out which are quite good.

Lastly, Jean Luc Ponti appeared with them. He’s a jazz violinist from France. I have several of his albums too. In fact, Stanely, Al, and Jean Luc teamed up for a CD called “Rite of Strings”, a play on words with Stravinky’s “Rite of Spring”. I have this CD and it’s great.

The concert was great with only colored lighting for effects. No fog machine, no pyrotechnics, and no theatrics, just world class musicianship. This band has been together since 1970 – that’s 41 years! I’d like to have a band that lasts 2!

All in all it was a great evening, plus I got to catch up with Jim. Although I hadn’t known Jim for 41 years, it’s pretty close to that. Our paths hadn’t crossed for years and years but there was quiet time over dinner and the trip up there to catch up on our lives and the people around us.

Next blog will be a lesson on the circle of fifths. Stay tuned.

Spencer