Mocean Worker, Siobhan O'Brien, Daniel Hope

I'm listening to Adam Dorn's heartfelt homage to his recently deceased father, Joel Dorn on NPR. Joel was one of the most legendary and prolific record producers that ever lived. I certainly have a great many of his recordings in my collection.

Adam, like his dad, is incredibly talented. A musician, songwriter, producer, mixer and all around great musical presence, he hovers a tiny bit under the radar but is loved by his devoted fans and friends. Adam and his band Mocean Worker are playing at the High Line Ballroom on Friday. It's worth checking out. I had the pleasure of working with Adam at the Lincoln Center Festival back in 2000. Adam participated in the legendary performance of Terry Riley's 'In C'.

Irish songstress Siobhan O'Brien came into Major Who (on St. Patty's Day!) to sing harmonies on Alec Gross' 'Sleep No More' yesterday. Currently on tour with The Chieftains, she took a moment out of her busy schedule to sing some gorgeous backgrounds and harmonies on Alec's new song. Thanks Siobhan!

To wrap up SXSW, we had an incredible time. Met some really cool people, saw some amazing musicians, went to some awesome parties, etc. Of particular note were The Wombats, We Are Standard (WOW!), and Colourmusic.

Now we're back and thrown right into the thick with Yael Naim and Mark Bryan in the studio today. I'll try to snap some pics.

Tonight, we're off to record the British violinist Daniel Hope at Joe's Pub for WQXR. The guy is truly amazing.

The whirlwind never stops. Thanks to all that are paying attention. Cheers!

Yael Naim & Mark Bryan @ Major Who

Another Blue Room session gets under way at Major Who on Tuesday with Yael Naim and Mark Bryan (Hootie and the Blowfish). Check out Yael here on Youtube. She's playing the Bowery Ballroom on the 19th. We're totally psyched to work with her. We'll upload pictures from the session next week.

Still at SXSW - having a blast. We absolutely loved the Little Jackie (S-Curve) show last night as well as The Wombats (Bright Antenna). Radically different - both awesome. I'll blog more and upload some pics later. Cheers!

Kathleen Supové at Other Minds Festival, San Francisco

Major Who has had the great fortune to work closely with pianist Kathleen Supové for many years in both live and studio settings. This proximity has given us the chance to gain an inspiringly close view of Kathy's mastery. After many years I am still amazed by her grace, power and technique, so often playing works of astounding difficulty that only Ms. Supové can pull off with style and ease. It's hard to describe her solo performances, often mixed with elements of theater, wild rants and performance art.

Which is why it comes as no surprise that she was reviewed so favorably yesterday in the Financial Times by Allan Ulrich. The review was for performances of Morton Subotnick's 'For The Piano' and Dan Becker's 'Revolution' at the Other Minds Festival in San Francisco.

Supové keeps popping up in all the right places. It's a thrill to see her get the recognition that she deserves. Contemporary and experimental music has often been a lonely path with only a few devoted fans showing up at the gigs. Now however, new technology is allowing this contemporary music community to come together and to grow rapidly in ways that weren't possible even a few short years ago. Artists and audiences are interacting in ways they never have before. Groups such as Ethel and artists like Corey Dargel and Stephen Merritt are changing the musical landscape and selling out concert venues without much outside assistance. This in many ways mirrors what's happening in the rock and pop world. The very same trends that are pushing independent art music are also driving the current revolution in popular music. And the lines between these genres continue to blur. I have a sense we'll see greater things happening in the next year musically and artistically.

Exciting musical and technological times!

Download Kathleen Supove's 'Infusion' Album from iTunes.
And while you're at it, download Molly Thompson's 'Ash' from iTunes. You'll like that one too. If you are who I think you are.

Road Recovery's 10th Anniversary Concert and Celebration at the Nokia Theater

MajorWho is proud to invite you to Road Recovery's 10th Anniversary concert and celebration at the Nokia Theater on April 17th at 7:00 Pm. The star-studded cast includes Slash, Tom Morello, Jerry Cantrell, Wayne Kramer (MC5), Jimmy Gnecco of OURS, Perry Farrell, and Denis Leary. Also performing will be Road Recovery's own Crazy James.

Visit www.roadrecovery.org for more information. For ticket sales, click right HERE.

Shayna Zaid floors them at Rockwood: leaves for the Mosaic Music Festival ...

Shayna Zaid played to a packed house at Rockwood on Tuesday night. It was truly awesome. The crowd was really into it. She'll be back to play again there soon. Tomorrow Shayna's off to Malaysia and Singapore to do a bunch of gigs and to play the Mosaic Festival!




Mosiac Music Festival Shanya Zaid Page
8 Mar 08, Sat, 8pm - 8.45pm
Stage@Powerhouse
Mosaic Music Festival

Road Recovery 10th Anniversary Concert and Celebration

Road Recovery is hosting a fantastic concert at the Nokia Theater on April 17th to celebrate its 10th Anniversary. A lot of big names will be out to show their support including Slash, Tom Morello, Jerry Cantrell, Wayne Kramer (MC5) and Denis Leary. Having a chance to do something with Road Recovery has been one of our great joys at MajorWho. We'll be there and hope you can make it out too to see a great show and support a great cause.

For ticket information, click HERE

Alec Gross takes home the prize! New Song- All The Pretty Women up on Jukebox!

Alec Gross tied for first place as the winner of the "popular vote" as well the superdelegate hosts. Which means he is now "signed" to Jim Breur's "label." We have someone named Montana to thank..

***make me funny***
Check out his latest track in the MajorWho Reverbnation jukebox- its awesome...

Alec Gross on Sirius Satellite Radio!

Alec Gross will be performing his latest release, "All The Pretty Women", live on Sirius Satellite Radio this Thursday, Feb. 28th btwn. 4:30-5:30PM. Tune-in to Jim Breuer's show on Sirius Channel 104 to catch the live performance!

If you're not a Sirius subscriber but would like to listen in to this performance, you can sign-up for a free 3 day trial at the following link:
http://www.sirius.com/siriusinternetradio

Check out "All The Pretty Women" now on Myspace!
www.myspace.com/alecgross

Somer @ Rockwood

Somer rocks..

The S-Curve Cometh

The world is spinning over here at MajorWho. Every day brings more excitement. Construction continues across the street with regular blasts of dynamite to keep us pumped and on our feet. The MajorWho showcase reel is coming together with some nice additions at the last minute. Theyll be ready in time for SXSW. For those of you who like track listings here it is:

1. You Always Get What You Want - ATOMICTOM
2. Light - Paula Valstein
3. The Good Fight - Todd Alsup
4. Stoned Beautiful - Wes Hutchinson
5. It's You - Shayna Zaid
6. That Kind of Day - Risa Binder
7. All The Pretty Women - Alec Gross
8. No Need To Talk About It - Wes Hutchinson
9. Status Quo - Todd Alsup
10. I Remember - Shayna Zaid
11. Sail - Paula Valstein
12. Friends - Ellie Lawson
13. For the Kids - Henry Ittleson Center Youth


Steve Greenberg, who recently reformed his S-Curve Records brought us a new artist to work with, Diane Birch. She's amazing. We love Diane. Listen to the demo of 'Magic View' hot off the drive. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

SXSW quickly approaches. Shayna was offered a slot as an official SXSW artist but unfortunately (or fortunately actually) she's already booked at the Mosaic Festival in Singapore for those dates. So, next year at SXSW Shay!

Trey Anastasio and a Road Recovery Road Trip

Road Recovery Group

I recently had the opportunity to travel with Road Recovery up to Saratoga to meet up and reconnect with Trey Anastasio of Phish. Road Recovery founder Gene Bowen organized the crew for a three hour minivan trip as part of the Road Recovery Master Class series. The Master Class Series is the place where we feel we can bring the most resources and experience to these young people. We try to host the class whenever we can at Major Who and our Threshold Music Studios and we are always keeping an eye out for industry insiders that can come in to share their time, life experiences and positive messages with the youth in the program.

James Walsh, Trey Anastasio, Gene Bowen

I hadn't spoken with Trey in four or five years and I spent the ride upstate recalling the limited time I had spent with him on the phone working together on a 'project'. For me, reconnecting became half the journey. Upon reintroductions and a quick recap of our history together at the start of the class, I instantly remembered what a wonderful, giving, genuine human being he really is and knew the kids were about to experience something very special. The next three hours were unique and wonderful for everyone, the details of which will remain in our little group and our minds eye for the rest of our lives. To be sure, it was unforgettable.

Trey plays us a new song

In a nutshell, Trey looks and sounds great. He is in a very positive place and speaks like a man who has really spent a good bit of time piecing together a fascinating life's journey and looking toward the future. He is a man who wonders at, recognizes the value of, and often expresses the many wonderful gifts that life has bestowed upon him. You can quite literally feel his energy from across the room. Through his conversations it is obvious that he wants to continue to share those gifts with as many people that his own fragile existence allows him to connect with- and that this master class was as therapeutic for him as any of us in the room.

Trey spoke about where he has been, where he is now, and most importantly where he hopes to see his journey with his family, friends and music taking him next. This talented guitarist and singer jammed with the members of the Crazy James Band and debuted for Road Recovery a new song that he was yet to play for anyone else! His guitar playing was delicate, almost fragile as he explored the fingerings of the unique guitar tuning. His voice was- well his voice was simply beautiful. He spoke with the group about where their lives had been and issues that they are currently working through. He shared and related. He took the time to show compassion and empathy for the youth of road recovery. Trey reinforced to all of us once again that although we all travel down different paths in this crazy world, there are basic truths and commonalities that forever link us all in our human condition. We are thankful to him for taking a moment in time to spend with us and for participating in our common understanding that, from this point forward, we all have a shared place to reflect upon and grow from as we continue to "choose" our own individual paths to walk.

Thanks to Trey Anastasio and Road Recovery for another enlightening experience.
James

Todd on Sirius, Randy on WNYC

Wow. It's been quite a couple of weeks with Major Who artists getting coverage all over the place. This time it's Todd Alsup getting a full interview and live performance of several of his songs on Sirius Satellite Radio's OutQ with Larry Flick. The show will air sometime in the next few weeks. We'll keep you posted. Nice, huh?



On the classical side and while we're on the subject of radio, Randall Woolf's 'Alternative Music' from the Common Sense CD will air on WNYC's Evening Music program tonight. This piece was produced by Major Who. Awesome Randy!!