And the Next John Mayer Is...

Last week, I went to see John Mayer at the Boston Garden - it's been a long time since I've gone to a show that large... an "arena show" - in fact, I think the last one I saw was about 15 years ago. It was Dave Matthews, ironically, also at the Boston Garden. Most of the music I catch live these days is at much smaller venues, which I tend to enjoy much more.

But the Mayer show was great. He is a fanastic guitar player and song writer. I have a bunch of his CDs but it didn't really hit me until he was cranking through his set list that I realized just how many hit songs the guy has. The band was great - Steve Jordan on drums was a particular highlight - I love his drumming.

One of the special highlights of the evening, though, was a comment that Mayer made to the crowd. For all the trouble his mouth has gotten him into lately, he was very humble at this performance, repeatedly thanking fans for giving him the chance to make music for a living and how fortunate he believes he is to have that opportunity. Having spent some time in Boston while attending Berkeley, he talked about how Boston was a place of dreams. Looking out over the crowd of nearly 20,000, he said that there was one person out there in the crowd that would eventually replace him on the stage. One person who would take his spot in the music industry - it's just a matter of time. And the he pointed out how he was "ok with that."

It was actually a pretty accurate comment on two fronts: one, that only a very few people can actually break through the clutter and become as successful a musician as Mayer (it was interesting to gaze across the sold out area and to think that really only one person would emerge from this crowd and experience the same level of success - but it is true); and two, that no matter how successful a musician may be at any point in time, the moment in the spotlight only lasts for a finite amount of time until the next big star comes along.

So in addition to some great tunes, there was that single, poignant and thought-provoking moment in the middle of it all. For everyone in the crowd who hopes to be the one person to succeed Mayer, the best of luck...

All Hail Kirby Kelley - Gutiar Center's 2009 "King of the Blues"

Even if you don't like blues, you have to check out the grand prize winner of Guitar Center's 2009 King of the Blues champion - Kirby Kelley.
Not only does Kirby throw down an amazing blues feel and riffs, he plays with mutliple slide pieces for a very unique sound.  In particulalr, check out the acoustic piece that begins at about 4 mins 20 secs in, and you'll see him perform a slide composition that probably pushed him ahead of all the others in the competition.  And the best surprise for me personally about this, is that it turns out that Kirby is the uncle of one of my work colleagues!  What a small world...

Is Piracy the Only Reason for Declining Record Sales?

Last week I shared a tweet from a New York Times article I read about the fact that piracy is the main reason that record industry sales have declined by 30% over the past 5 years (read the article here http://s.nyt.com/u/rcl). And the response that I received from the post was why I posted in the first place - i don't believe it's just piracy that is causing this decline, but our listening habits which don't require people to buy as much music anymore. And I posted to see if anyone agreed - and they did.

If you're a Pandora junkie (like I am), or listen to other streaming music services, you can discover vast amounts of music, and set up radio stations of your favorite genres and artists. If you listen to them regularly (again like I do) - at work, in the car, while working out - you hardly have the need to go buy the stuff anymore.

Personally, I still like purchasing a collection of songs from an artist because I love the experience of listening to an album from front to back for the "story" that some artists still tell in the whole collection. So while I haven't stopped buying completely, I do have to admit that I buy less than I use to because I have access to such a diverse music library on the web - and it's all free.

What about you? Leave a comment and tell me what you think.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Mystery Guitar Man - Who Cares if He Can Really Play

Not too long ago, I forwarded a video to many of my guitar-playing and music-enthusiast friends - and those who replied to me had the same impression I did.... WAY COOL!

There's a guy on YouTube known as "Mystery Guitar Man" - and it's anyone's guess as to whether he can really play the guitar. But what he does do is create (or in this case "recreate") some unbelievable pieces of music using stop-motion video. In other words, he takes an individual shot of himself playing each individual note of a musical piece. Then, using some type of editing application, he cuts the individual video clips onto a timeline and then he builds the songs linearly - note by note - as it was originally composed. In some cases, he's got to take more than 1,000 tiny video clips to do this.

So... can he really perform the piece? I don't know - and I don't really care. He gets major points from me for creativity - and just for having the time on his hands to make something like this in the first place.

You can watch Mystery Guitar Man play Mozart's "Marriage of Figaro" on YouTube and if you think it is as entertaining as I do, you might also want to watch him explain how he does this by playing "Flight of the Bumblebee". Pretty wild stuff.

An Orchestra of... iPhone Musicians?!?!?

If you have an iPhone, then you probably know about the vast array of musical applications that can transform the device into a streaming radio, a lyric finder, and guitar tuner, even a guitar simulator where users can actually strum chords.  But in the latest turn of iPhone/music exploration, imagine an orchestra of iPhone "players" - coming together in a group, each bringing their respective musical talents (and unique sounds that they've chosen to make with their iPhones) to perform in front of a live audience.  Sounds sort of crazy doesn't it?

Well that's exactly what a group of musicians, each eqippped with an iPhone and "speaker gloves," is doing at Stamford University. (Learn more about the program and watch them perform here.)

While not your typical orchestral perfromance, it does open up a world of interesting possibilities for music exploration.  Sort of fun to imagine what it might lead to next... don't you think?

The Relevance of Music in Business Transformation

I have to tell you about a recent experience I had listening to the conductor of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra (BPO) talk about how to engage employees during a business transformation. If you're like me, you're probably thinking, "Wait... did he just say that an orchestra conductor was talking about employee engagement?!??"

Ben Zander (www.benjaminzander.com) has been the conductor of the BPO since it formed more than 25 years ago. But in addition to being an accomplished conductor, composer, and musician Ben Zander has spoken to hundreds of business prefessionals and executives on the topic of leadership and engagement. I've listened to my share of "motivational" speakers over the years, but that's not what Ben is. He uses stories, music and musical concepts to get business professionals thinking differently about their immediate surroundings and how to become powerful leaders. Perhaps the best way to think about it is that as a conductor, Ben is the only person in the orchestra who isn't playing an instrument. In fact, he has the massive task of getting every individual member of the orchestra to perform in a way that makes the "whole group" work together to create beautiful music. Using the metaphor of the orchestra and his years of coaching and teaching experience, he demonstrates how he works with musicians to overcome barriers to corporate productivity. Listening to him talk, it's quite remarkable how his stories can be applied to the everyday business world - and helping employees overcome the barriers they face in productivity.

One of the most precious moments in the presentation was when Ben actually coached a live performance of a cellist - coaching him how to play a piece of music. The student played the piece in its entirety to start - and then Ben spent about 15 minutes working on phrasing and the mood behind the piece. He talked about what the composer was writing about when he wrote the piece of music and asked the student how he would express that knowing what the composer was thinking. At the end of the 15 minutes, the student played the piece of music again, and the transformation was remarkable. It sounded like a different piece of music altogether.

If you work for a company that is looking someone to help empower the senior members of your organization to lead and coach, words can hardly express how wonderful Ben is. Please check out his work at http://www.benjaminzander.com/.

The Latest from Jim Dower...

A few years back, I did some collaborating with a great musician from Fitchburg, MA - Jim Dower. We did a few gigs and wrote a few tunes together, and he also introduced me to some other great musicians. Jim is currently in NYC, and just released a new CD of solo piano music (Reinvention) and it is outstanding. You can check out more about him at www.jimdower.com but here's a quick profile: he's gigged on TV and on tour with Sam 'Soul Man' Moore, Sting, Elvis Costello, Ne-Yo, and Wynonna Judd. TV appearances include the 'The Late Show with David Letterman', 'Late Night with Conan O'Brien', 'Emeril Live' and 'The Today Show.' If you dig piano, bend an ear on his work... you won't be disappointed.