Llarion

Hello again, gang! My trip to The Swannanoa Gathering has yielded another successful recording! This one is a long-awaited rework of my popular 1990 tune Brownstone. Its a little darker, a little funkier than my normal sweeter mood. The song was originally inspired by a trip I made to New York over Christmas of 1989 to visit a dear friend (and brilliant guitarist) Bill Galanin. We took the train from Ossining into the city on a rainy morning to look around, and as we went through Harlem, I saw all the tenement buildings with people hanging around outside them; and the gloom that seems to emanate from the area. There was a palpable sense of anger and desperation, mixed with the love of family, people making the best of being dealt a bad hand. Anyway, it was inspiring Once again, I have enlisted the services of the indescribably good Pete Huttlinger on guitars. Hes doing all 4 guitar parts this time, not just the solos. Pete has been an incredible inspiration for me, and he has an almost freakish ability to know exactly what Im looking for in the recording process. Many thanks to Pete for his great work! Listen to this new song exclusively at Artistlaunch! Phil Traynor on Artistlaunch Thanks very much!! Phil

Well, it's been WAY too long since I could post something here! Finally, a break in the clouds!! OK, stop waxing poetic. Before my daughter Abby was born, I wrote her a song. How original, it's called Abby. Anyway, I played the rough tracks into Mommy's tummy via headphones a lot. I wanted it to be the first music she ever heard in this world. Well, I didn't get it finished in time, but played what I had for her anyway. It was a magic moment, she was crying, and when she heard it, she froze, and listened quietly for the full length; then promptly resumed crying. Not sure if that was a review or not. But, the song lanquished in unfinished obscurity for, oh, 21 months now (see my avatar). I went to The Swannanoa Gathering ( see www.swangathering.com ) to get an organic perspective on my music, and while there I had as an instructor Pete Huttlinger ( see www.petehuttlinger.com ), who is a world Fingerstyle Guitar champion. Amazing player, and consummate human. Well, he consented to work with me on the piece, and that was enough impetus for me to finish it! I just got the final mix posted, and I'm honored to have you all hear it. If you like it, and it's eligible, I'll submit it for the next KC comp... (I was on like 7 of them, but took a long baby-rearing-induced break from most of the online world, and missed the last couple...) You can find it at www.artistlaunch.com/llarion where there are hifi, lofi, and download links, or if you want to se the namesake, the song is linked at her website too; www.abbytraynor.com Thanks folks! Good to be back! Nice new paint and all...

So, uh, nobody's recorded ANYTHING since June?

Steve LeBlanc is an alien from the planet Rhodesntia, didn't you guys know??? http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/biggrin.gif ------------------ Cheers! Phil "Llarion: The Jazzinator" Traynor www.mp3.com/llarion Smooth Jazz

Jazzman, Thanks very much for the listen! I hear differing opinions on that trumpet part... It's on the strident side, so having it higher in the mix made for a more shrill overall sound... http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/smile.gif I'll address the online presence piece in another thread...

hee hee.. http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/smile.gif Thought you might enjoy a little local color... http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

Checkin it out now... Man, the mix is hotter than hell!!! almost jumped out of my seat! Interesting concept... clean as a whistle, minimalist recording. I'm drawn into the story like the lurid rubberneckers after a crash on I-4 outside of Lakeland, their National Enquirers fluttering to the floor of the pickup, their gun racks and spit cans rattling with their sudden motion to see, their few remaining synapses struggling to produce sufficient wattage to crane their chickenlike necks beyond the steering wheel... Sometimes, I think *I* should crawl back into the sea and live with the fish, from the way my wife describes my smell http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/biggrin.gif ------------------ Cheers! Phil "Llarion: The Jazzinator" Traynor www.mp3.com/llarion Smooth Jazz

Thanks very much for the feedback! Wow, it's been all over the map on this one! It's really funny, one of my engineer friends said EXACTLY the opposite of what you did, that everything was nice and fat, except for the wimpy thin Rhodes sound. http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/biggrin.gif So many ears, so many speakers... http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/smile.gif I do wish I could do more with that mute trumpet (Proteus 2000 patch), but that's the best I could get out of it. I'd kill for a live trumpeter... http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/smile.gif Incidentally, the generic 808 kit was completely on purpose, I was doing it sort of as an invisibile tribute to someone... http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/biggrin.gif Listening to Timeless now... I like an airier sound, so I don't mind reverb on the drums... http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/smile.gif Man, this is a LOVELY piece!!!You get such great dimension, the meatiness of the bottom, combined with the sparse, leavened upper end. Great use of dynamics-as-coloring in that middle section... Only think I'd ask for in this would be maybe a little mroe concrete melodic theme in the chordal sections, to counterpoint that terrificly expressive piano... Intoxicating piece, I'll be listening to more! SWEET page treatment too! My compliments! ------------------ Cheers! Phil "Llarion: The Jazzinator" Traynor www.mp3.com/llarion Smooth Jazz

I have a new oen that I'd appreciate some thoughts on: It's called Across The Miles, and it's my first attempt at Acid Jazz... I've been working on my soloing, and I think I've made some progress yt. I'm no Russell Ferrante, but maybe I can hold my own.... The song is at: http://artists.mp3s.com/artist_song/1808/1808795.html It's a very simple theme with an improvised bridge... Thanks in advance, and I'll be happy to listen to and evaluate your material in turn! ------------------ Cheers! Phil "Llarion: The Jazzinator" Traynor www.mp3.com/llarion Smooth Jazz

I've always been completely fascinated with polyrhythms from an acedemic standpoint, the independence required to render them is amazing. I've just never been able to embrace them aesthetically, at leat, not at the level you're using them... http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/smile.gif A bit over my head, I think. To my ear, it makes for a confusing sound. If you're into that much of a listening challenge though, I must say, your stuff is quite the weighty work! http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/smile.gif Thanks for popping over to my page. I'm glad you enjoyed the works, certainly considering how divergent our approaches to songwriting are! http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/smile.gif All respect to you! http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/smile.gif ------------------ Cheers! Phil "Llarion: The Jazzinator" Traynor www.mp3.com/llarion Smooth Jazz

MEANDERING - LOVE the chordal treatments Stanley! And your soloing is intelligent, dynamic, original, and fearless. The drums are a bit too ambitiously avant garde for my taste, but the fact that you rendered them this expressively in MIDI is an impressive achievement. The bass work is authentic and playful... Having played both bass and drums in piano trios in my time, I can say that you're certainly knowledgeable about the thought processes and vibes involved. If the drums were just a bit more on the conventional side of rational, (Back AWAY from the acid tabs! http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/biggrin.gif ) you could give Vince Guaualdi a run! http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/smile.gif Most impressive display, kind sir! ------------------ Cheers! Phil "Llarion: The Jazzinator" Traynor www.mp3.com/llarion Smooth Jazz

Oh cool, a lopey, low register whimsical guitar and bluesy piano. Love the honest, impromptu feel!! JEEZUS, what I'd give for 1/10th of this guy's chops and ideas. I've liked every single thing I've heard, of many different styles. I thought I was a decent multi-instrumentalist, able to pass off my lack of expertise on any one axe because I can play 4 passably well. Well, this dude humbles me in EVERY regard. Such style, execution, and most importantly, SOUL. It reeks of musical and personal experience. It's out there in the REAL world. GREAT sound. And he can SING!!! Another winner, Steve!!! ------------------ Cheers! Phil "Llarion: The Jazzinator" Traynor www.mp3.com/llarion Smooth Jazz

Steve, Thanks for the cool review, your comments are in line with most everyone else's that's mentioned stuff about it. Interesting that you mention the chords being root-heavy. The truth of the matter is I almost never play the root in the right hand at all, because I need 4 fingers for all the extended notes! http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/biggrin.gif In this case, and almost all others, you're probably hearing the left hand, because I usually do a doubled octave bass in the left hand. Most times, I'm playing 2nd inversion with the root range being on a 7th and/or 9th. I do a lot of tone clusters. This is one of the few songs of mine that has any triad, non-extended chords at all. The only time I play a non-extended chord is if the melody hovers on the root of said chord. I'm very fond of major 9ths and minor 9ths in a cluster spanning an interval of only a 6th in the octave around and below middle C. I generally loathe root-position chords above middle C... http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/biggrin.gif Rick's solo is indeed a bit up there, I kinda was forced to, because it has a lot of volume range in it. I kind of had to balance for 85th percentile and let the chips fall where they may. So, it's a little peaky, but even 1db less, and most of the solo got lost in the mud.... Was kind of a bummer, it's a hearty solo. ------------------ Cheers! Phil "Llarion: The Jazzinator" Traynor www.mp3.com/llarion Smooth Jazz

Thanks Dave!! http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/smile.gif The Journey was all Korg Triton except the melody and bass, which were Roland RD-500 patches. I think it's my cleanest production, with the exception of the piece I submitted for the CD. I love to plane chromatically with extended dense chords, I use a lot of tritone substitutions and stuff in my arrangements. Donald Fagen is a big influence for me. http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/smile.gif This song went from first idea to final master in 2 hours. it just GUSHED out of me. http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/smile.gif Footsteps was my DR-660 drum computer, an RD-500 Rhodes patch, my 1983 Peavey Foundation bass. (direct plug, totally dry, no EQ, God I love that bass!) Oddly enough, that's not a 12 string, it's my Martin DXME dreadnought, I don't know what happened to it to give it that lush 12 string dimension, but everyone thinks it's a 12... http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/smile.gif The guitar solo is by the incomparable Rick Garner of Collingwood, Ontario (www.mp3.com/rickgarner). It's my cheap CC Clarke electric, run through the Fender Vintage Tweed amp simulator on my VS-880. The triangle and bar chimes are real. The strings are my RD-500. Legacy #5 was done a little earlier in my VS-880 and DR-660 learning curve. It was actually written for flute, but I could not find a flautist. http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/frown.gif I like the flow of this piece a lot. It's almost all RD-500, but there are a couple of Proteus 2000 patches wandering through there too. This one has both six and twelve-string guitars in it too, and that Peavey bass. Thanks for the kudos on the bass parts, most people agree it's my forte instrument. I'm not a chop hound by any stretch, but I am proud of my ability to sit in a tasteful and tight pocket, with some wry embellishments. http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/smile.gif Thanks also for the listen!!! ------------------ Cheers! Phil "Llarion: The Jazzinator" Traynor www.mp3.com/llarion Smooth Jazz

Hi Dave... I edited the list to one song per genre... http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/smile.gif Thanks again!