Westchester All Stars Christmas for Wounded Veterans.

The amazing thing about this journey is that every single time I venture out with either video or still camera gear, it always leads to another connection, another musician, another opportunity.  And photographing the 12 Grapes 1000th day of Music on May 6th, 2012 was no exception.  12 Grapes, in Peekskill NY, for those that don't know, is one of the hippest places around to catch live music and the owners there are great supporters of the local music scene.  Many of my favorite local musicians showed up to perform at the day-long celebration, and many that I had never met before.  I took over 600 pictures that day and posted most of them on our facebook page, here's a link.  Please feel free to tag people you know!

As I ran around that day, a man named Bill Edwards asked if I would mind taking a group picture of the "Westchester All Stars" that were at the event and he explained that they were working on a Christmas album to benefit the Wounded Warriors Project.  Of course I said yes and snapped a few of the group.  

The next day Bill contacted me and asked if I would be able to help on the project and capture video of him and Bernie Williams (YES BERNIE WILLIAMS FROM THE NY YANKEES!!!) for one of the songs on the album - they needed the footage for a music video.  I had the time so I jumped on the opportunity and met the guys at Z Recording Studios in Peekskill.  Bernie adds some real star power to the project and his guitar playing is just great.  I happen to love the song as well. 

Here's the website for the album and concert.  All these great musicians have come together to write, record, and donate there own original Christmas songs, with 100% of the profits from the sale of the cds going to wounded veterans organizations such as the Gary Sinise Foundation and Veterans Adaptive Sports Inc.  There's even a concert being organized for November 30th at the Irvington Town Hall Theater here in Westchester and Bill has lined up some really special guests to join in the performance.  Here's a link to the box office - buy your tickets to this event today!  

And here is a youtube link for the video that Paul Opalach put together at Long Hill Recording and Video using some of the footage from that day.  (DID I MENTION THAT I LOVE THIS SONG?)  

Won't you please buy the album and come out to the concert on November 30th, 2012 to support our troops and the Wounded Warrior Project and these great musicians?

THANKS AGAIN BILL!

: )

Musicians making a difference for the March of Dimes. So cool.

I was thrilled to be at the March of Dimes' event "Rockers For Babies" yesterday at Elements in White Plains, New York - part of the March of Dimes' "Bikers for Babies" campaign to support the fight against birth defects.  

The event was hosted by Ronnie Pauls and Dan Chopper Carillo, two of our local rocker musicians.  They had Elements packed with performers and music fans - some from far-away places - all turning out for a great cause.  The music and the event was nothing short of inspiring.  And I have to say, there were some really special people in the audience too.  I was very happy to make some new friends, you can never have too many of those.  And although I did not win the autographed guitar that was auctioned off - and that everybody seemed to want - I did walk away with a great sense of peace and love that permeated this very cool event.

 

The guitar was autographed by everyone that jammed at Elements for the past year at Dan's Sunday Night Jam Sessions.  LOVE THAT!

(Autographed guitar image courtesy of Ronnie Pauls.)

Huge shout out to all the musicians that played - thanks so much for all you guys and gals do!

Check out our pics from the event on our facbook page.

Our first guest blogger! Singer/Percussionist Jaynie D'Agostino.

As a musician, you want to be pliable and be able to do what you do and reproduce that with other musicians.... Right?  With harmony, that isn't always the same experience for me.  When trying to describe to someone how I feel when the harmony is working, I often get stuck.  It's not the tactical approach of achieving harmony that I'm referring to.  I often get the "what the hell are you talking about" look and I've been told, harmony is harmony. When its done right, it has to work. Period.  I've been doing it since I'm a kid. There's the root, the third and the fifth.  Well aware.  May not have understood the mechanics of it as a kid but understood it none the less.  It was like speaking when you don't know how to read.  For me, it's more the space between the notes as they meet that make the difference of whether harmony is working or not.  Yes you can reproduce the sound prescribed for the part but does it work to its best ability.  Not always.  I mean, yeah it'll work if it's done right but can you FEEL it. Did those notes work well enough to stand hairs?  That space between is the gooey magic I'm talking about.  When the sounds meet, they resonate based on the tone, pitch, timber and vibrato of each voice.  I've tried to harmonize with different voices.  That space is not always equal.  It's like the weave just didn't happen. But when it does!!! It vibrates and call me crazy but I feel it inside.  Hell, I feel it outside like a mini vocal force field.  Its like being caught between two opposing magnets and its quite powerful.  I wish I could tap that space between and record it... If its energy, I could bet it would produce a different affect than the standard "sing your part" note and I'd love to compare the sounds. - Jaynie D'Agostino

Be sure to catch Jaynie with her band "Buried In Blue". 

And be sure to like them on facebook too!

More Sugar!

The more we do this, the more we realize: this music scene is HUGE.  Our circle of friends keeps growing and we keep meeting more musicians and music fans.  So fun.  Of course, as everyone around here knows, one of the best ways to explore our local music scene is by picking up a copy of the More Sugar Magazine - now in it's 18th year!  More Sugar can be found in music stores, music venues, bars, music schools and more - and it's free - pick up a copy if you haven't ever done so.  It is without a doubt one of the coolest things going for us music enthusiasts.  I am never far from my copy of More Sugar and am thrilled to have met Tom, the publisher - talk about your positive vibes, Tom is a great, fun guy that always makes it more fun to be there - PLEASE keep doing what you're doing Tom.  As I said to someone the other day, I have come to believe that the entire universe is being held together by people generating positive vibes - and the More Sugar magazine is a great place to start.

Here's a pic of the band R.A.D.A.R. with this month's More Sugar - Ric Lubell, Ronnie Pauls and Dan Chopper Carillo - three of my favorite humans on the planet from The Thursday Nite Jam Sessions featuring Ronnie Pauls.  Definitely going back to Garfield's for the next round.  Won't you join us?  Come on out and help generate some of those all-important positive vibes!

Here are a few more pics of this night's jam on our facebook page.

Like us on Facebook!

Hey everybody,

Don't forget to like us on facebook, where we are posting hundreds of photos of local musicians captured in their natural habitat.

This photo is a frame grab from an HD clip shot with our Canon 60D - we added some color correction, sharpening and noise reduction in Photoshop to bring it to life.

Energy.

Someone once said music is the closest thing to magic there is - and, man you can really feel it, the energy.  Music certainly generates "positive vibes",  feelings of happiness, etc, this is undeniable.  And live music?  I feel when we listen to live music, we are not just listening and watching that "moment", we are experiencing much more, we are witnessing the culmination of all the moments of those performers' lives up until that point.  It can be hit or miss of course, it's right - or it's not for the most part - in that moment.  But, when it's right, when it all comes together, all those years of effort, talent and a great performance - of just the right songs performed live - there is an energy there that you can literally feed off of.  Especially in a room full of people feeling that same vibe - the crowd literally amplifies the feeling.  Anyone who's been to a Who concert knows what I am talking about.

That feeling, that energy - and the love of having that experience is what drives us here at flymusicman - and we hope to capture and share that feeling in some small way.  Why?  We are not really sure but - do we really need a reason?  I would say no, not in the blogosphere at least...  Well actually, there might be a reason, a big reason, a really-really big reason - more on that later.  Here's a hint:  for the joy of it.

: )

And speaking about joy - someone is spreading a lot of it.  You may already know him - especially if you are watching our youtube channel activity.  Tom Dudley, who goes by the name Blues Buddha, is one of our favorite performers and one of the hardest working guys on the scene.  It is our pleasure to share this video that he posted today on facebook.  (Tell me you don't love this guy!)  We have come to know and love "Blues Buddha" through his live performances and seemingly non-stop video work with his associate, the prolific Paul Opalach, who apparently is a Multi-Instrumentalist, Composer, Engineer and Producer - his songs are great, his videos are fun and worth watching - with more coming all the time.  Needless to say, we are huge fans.  Check out Blues Buddha and "Time To Play"...  for the joy of it!

Song by Paul Opalach/TomDudley ©2011. 

Recording and video by Paul Opalach at Long Hill Recording 

wwwbluesbuddha.com

45rpm promotional video!

Check out our latest flymusicman project - we were hired by 45rpm to shoot their live performance at KJ Farrells, on Long Island.  The band's leader, guitarist Michael Barberich, liked our work on the Buried In Blue montage so much that he hired us for this project.  The Canon 60D footage made it look so good.  

We shot the footage over the course of two nights - which we cut to their pre-existing audio track - which they recorded in their studio - these guys are NOT fooling around.  The graphics and interstitial clips were inserted by the band - great job guys!

We wish the band great luck with this new and improved promotional video.  

45rpm is AMAZING!!!  It is so fun to hear these songs - many of which you will know all the words to - good times.    Here's their Facebook page - facebook/45rpmny - you gotta go check out their photos and hysterical comments, really, I would normally not tell my readers to dig so deep, but it is worth the time I promise - hysterical.  I freaking love these guys.  

THANKS AGAIN Y'ALL!

I would totally recommend getting out to see this band, especially if you are anywhere near my age or older.  I'm forty - mumble, mumble years old. 

: )