THE USUAL SUSPECTS

DENNIS BUDIMIR

Guitarist Dennis Budimir has been a busy session, studio and recording artist ince the mid-'50s. He began playing guitar in the late '40s after studying piano. He began working in Los Angeles during the early '50s, playing with bands led by Ken Hanna, Keith Williams and Harry James. He joined Chico Hamilton's group in 1959, then played with Bud Shank and accompanied Peggy Lee during the early '60s. Budimir spent 1961 to 1963 in the army, then became a prolific studio player back in Los Angeles. He worked with Julie London and toured Japan with Bobby Troup, while performing around Los Angeles with Shank and Emil Richards. During the '70s, Budimir played with Quincy Jones, Lalo Schifrin, Don Ellis and Marty Paich, while recording often with Milt Jackson.

GEORGE DOERING

 

GRANT GEISSMAN

photo: Rex Bullington

WEBSITE: www.grantgeissman.com

Grant Geissman, born April 13, 1953 in Berkeley, California, is a jazz guitarist and an Emmy-nominated composer for network TV series and TV movies. An in-demand studio musician, he has recorded extensively for several labels since 1976, and he can be heard playing guitar on the theme for Monk and other TV series.

Growing up in San Jose, California, Geissman took guitar lessons from a succession of San Jose musicians, including Geoff Levin (of the pop group People!) and local jazz favorites Bud Dimock, Don Cirallo and Terry Saunders. Encouraged by these teachers to learn jazz standards and to improvise, he began playing in rock bands on weekends and also with small jazz groups and big bands.

As a high school senior, he entered formal study with avant-garde guitarist Jerry Hahn, who introduced him to the music of Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, John Coltrane and Ornette Coleman. After graduating from Prospect High School, Geissman attended De Anza Junior College, where he played in both De Anza's jazz band and the Daddio Band (of older professionals). Both were led by well-known jazz educator Dr. Herb Patnoe, who was the director of Stan Kenton's Jazz Clinics.

Since the Kenton band at that time had no guitar player, Patnoe recommended Geissman to teach at Kenton's summer clinics in both Sacramento and in Southern California. While teaching at these clinics for several summers, Geissman first met (and played with) drummer Peter Erskine and pianist Dan Haerle. Relocating to Los Angeles in 1973, Geissman attended one semester at Cal State Fullerton, where he played in the band led by pianist/clarinetist Tom Ranier.

Transferring to Cal State Northridge in 1974 to be closer to the Hollywood studio scene, Geissman joined the Northridge "A" band led by jazz educator Joel Leach. While at Northridge, he began playing in both Gerald Wilson's Big Band and with Louie Bellson's Big Band, recording several albums with Bellson. For Louie Bellson's Live at the Concord Summer Festival, Geissman contributed an original composition, "Starship Concord." He began playing in local jazz joints with Tony Rizzi's guitar band, recording Tony Rizzi's Five Guitars Play Charlie Christian (1976), which featured Tom Ranier and Pete Christlieb.

Geissman's first gig with fluegelhornist/composer Chuck Mangione was at the Santa Monica Civic auditorium on November 9, 1976. A short tour of the Pacific Northwest followed, and soon after Mangione asked Geissman to become a permanent member of the band. Mangione's new band included Geissman, Charles Meeks on bass, Chris Vadala on woodwinds and James Bradley, Jr. on drums, and the first album with Mangione's new band was Feels So Good (1977), which sold two million albums and remains one of the top-selling instrumental albums today. On radio, the single "Feels So Good", featuring Geissman's now legendary guitar solo, was a huge international hit with many airplays, and a 1980 issue of Current Biography called it the most recognized tune since "Michelle" by The Beatles.

Television

With Mangione, Geissman appeared on many of the major TV/variety shows of the time, including The Tonight Show, Dinah Shore, Merv Griffin, Phil Donahue, The Midnight Special, Don Kirshner's Rock Concert and Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve. Geissman's other albums with Mangione include Children of Sanchez (1978), Live at the Hollywood Bowl (1979) and Fun and Games (1980).

In 1978 Geissman released his first album as a leader, "Good Stuff" (Concord Jazz), which featured fellow Northridge alumnus Gordon Goodwin on sax, Tom Ranier on piano, Bob Magnussen on bass and Steve Shaeffer on drums. Grant left Mangione's band in 1981 to pursue other endeavors, including his own albums, session work and composing.

Geissman has released 13 albums as a leader. Two of his albums (Flying Colors and Time Will Tell) rose to the number one position in the Gavin and Radio and Records Contemporary Jazz airplay charts, and most of his recent recordings have cracked the top ten. He has recorded with such artists as Quincy Jones (Q's Jook Joint, 1995), Keiko Matsui, 3rd Force, David Benoit, Cheryl Bentyne, Lorraine Feather and Dianne Schur.

His playing has been heard on numerous TV shows, including Dawson's Creek, Family Affair, Boy Meets World, Touched By an Angel and Lizzy McGuire. He can be heard playing the Djangoesque acoustic guitar on the theme for the TV series Monk, starring Tony Shaloub. Nominated for a 2001 Emmy for co-writing the song "No Puedo Olvidar" for the daytime drama Passions, he received an Emmy nomination in 2004 for another Passions song, "Momma, Gotta Let Her Go." In 2003, he was nominated for an Annie award for producing Van Dyke Parks' songs for HBO's Harold and the Purple Crayon. He has written additional music for films and TV movies, including The Ponder Heart (2001), Call Me Claus (2001), Monday Night Mayhem (2002), Die, Mommie, Die! (2003) and The Mojo Cafe (2004). Dennis C. Brown and Geissman collaborated on the underscore for the hit CBS-TV sitcom Two and a Half Men. The show’s theme, co-written by Geissman, was nominated for an Emmy Award in 2004.

He was reunited with Mangione in 2000 when they recorded the album Everything for Love (Chesky Records). Geissman's early musical influences came full circle in 2003 when he played Dobro on Ringo Starr's Ringorama album. In 2006, he released his 13th album as a leader, Say That!, on his own label, Futurism Records. A throwback to the jazz music that first influenced him, he has described the sound of this album as "Wes Montgomery meets Horace Silver meets Jimmy Smith." John Kelman, in All About Jazz, reviewed:

It’s a shame that the words smooth jazz have become an oxymoron. Say That!, with its relaxed pace and easy-on-the-ears approach, is as smooth as it gets. But smooth jazz it ain’t. Geissman’s clear roots in the jazz mainstream, and a less-is-more style that reveals greater depth, makes Say That! a welcome return to the fold for a guitarist who’s always deserved more street cred than he’s received.

The Grant Geissman Quintet in 2006 includes Brian Scanlon (woodwinds), Emilio Palame (piano), Kevin Axt (acoustic bass) and Ray Brinker (drums). After headlining the Playboy Summerfest at Pasadena's Rose Bowl, the Quintet follows with a debut at Yoshi's jazz club in Oakland and a performance in the Friday Night Jazz series at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

Books

Apart from his musical career, Geissman is an authority on Mad and EC Comics and has written three books on the subject: Collectibly Mad (Kitchen Sink Press, 1995); Tales of Terror! The EC Comics Companion, co-authored with Fred von Bernewitz (Fantagraphics, 2000); and Foul Play! The Art and Artists of the Notorious 1950s E.C. Comics! (HarperDesign, 2005). He has also compiled and/or written annotations for ten other Mad-related books, and he appears in Chip Selby's documentary, Tales from the Crypt: From Comic Books to Television (2004).

Recordings as a leader

• Good Stuff (Concord Jazz, 1978)
• Put Away Childish Toys (Pausa, 1983)
• Drinkin' from the Money River (TBA, 1986)
• Snapshots (TBA, 1987)
• All My Tomorrows (TBA, 1988)
• Take Another Look (Mesa/Bluemoon, 1989)
• Flying Colors (Mesa/Bluemoon, 1990)
• Reruns (Mesa/Bluemoon, 1991)
• Time Will Tell (Mesa/Bluemoon, 1992)
• Rustic Technology (Mesa/Bluemoon, 1993)
• Business As Usual (Positive Music, 1995)
• In with the Out Crowd (Higher Octave Music, 1998)
• Say That! (Futurism, 2006)

JAY GRAYDON

WEBSITE: www.jaygraydon.com

Jay Graydon may not be known to each and everyone, but to all lovers of quality music he is known as one of the greatest guitar players and songwriters of all time in music history. Together with super producer/songwriter and long time pal David Foster he is also known to die-hard fans in Europe and Asia as the co-founder of "Westcoast Music". This music genre has its roots in the late 70s, and is also labeled Adult Contemporary Pop Music or AOR for short.

Between the late 60s and the late 70s Jay played on practically every "A" list session in Los Angeles, acquiring a glowing reputation as an ace studio guitarist/ solo specialist on numerous albums with Barbara Streisand, Dolly Parton, Diana Ross, The Jackson Five, Cheap Trick, Christopher Cross, Ray Charles, Cher, Joe Cocker, Marvin Gaye, Hall & Oates, Olivia Newton-John, and Albert King just to name a few. It is almost easier to enumerate those artists he hasn't played with or produced or written songs for, than those artists whose career he has participated in.

Two-time Grammy winner/arranger/producer/songwriter/guitarist Jay Graydon's credits include hits by Chicago, Earth, Wind & Fire ("After the Love Is Gone," co-written with David Foster and Bill Champlin), Steely Dan,

Dionne Warwick, Air Supply, Chaka Khan, Al Jarreau ("Mornin'"), Breakin' Away, Heart's Horizon, High Crime, Jarreau, This Time, the Manhattan Transfer ("Twilight Zone"), George Benson ("Turn Your Love Around"), Cher, Christopher Cross, DeBarge ("Who's Holding Donna Now"), Barry Manilow (Even Now), and El Debarge, among many others. He also was involved with the soundtracks to Ghostbusters, Miami Vice, and St. Elmo's Fire. Graydon co-wrote "She's in Love," a track on Brenda Russell's Hidden Beach/Epicdebut album Paris Rain issued on July 18, 2000.

Born October 8, 1949, in Burbank, CA, to Grace and Joe Graydon, Jay Graydon made his professional music debut at the age of two singing with his father on his TV show. Graydon comes from a musical family; his brother Gary plays guitar nonprofessionally and his father was a singer and songwriter. As he grew up, his interest expanded to include electronics and bowling. In the early '60s, Joe Graydon had a Saturday radio show on KDAY and Jay would engineer his show, playing the records, running the tape machines, and airing commercials. His father recorded for various record labels and Jay would accompany him to the recording studio, asking the audio engineers questions. One Christmas, he was given a mono tape recorder, mixer, and two mics that he used to record local bands.

At the age of 14, Graydon started playing the guitar. With Dennis Kelly and Joe Lopez, he formed the Veltones with drummer Doug Wagner, who was later replaced by Bob Carrafield. They played pop/R&B and surf music and did some recording, but nothing was released commercially. During his high school years, Graydon took music classics and learned big-band arrangement from Robert Rose. While in college, Graydon got a call from the Seven Souls keyboard player Bob Hogins who was a former bandmate. Joining the band, Graydon learned a lot about "feel."

Trombone player Glenn Farris invited him to audition for Don Ellis's big band. Working with such top players honed Graydon's skills. During a early-'70s club date backing singer Maxine Weldon, Graydon met keyboardist David Foster. Foster came backstage and introduced himself. A couple days later, Foster called to invite him to a recording session and to bring along his ARP 2600 synthesizer, guitar, and amp. Graydon and Foster would work together on innumerable sessions in the years to come. Graydon's Grammys include: Best R&B Song Awards for "After the Love Is Gone" (which also nominated for Song of the Year) and "Turn Your Love Around." As the 21st century began, Jay Graydon was working on a book with engineer/musician/author Craig Anderton.

PAUL JACKSON, JR.

Guitarist Paul Jackson Jr. keeps an intense, breakneck schedule. In addition to the demands of being a Grammy nominated solo artist, Jackson is a highly in-demand sideman and session player. In the two years since he released The Power of the String, his last Blue Note recording, the popular guitarist performed in the television special Diva Las Vegas (behind Cher, Shakira, Mary J. Blige and Whitney Houston, with whom he toured throughout the Nineties), participated in the Billboard Awards tribute to Jam Master Jay, composed music for the film Undercover Brother with Stanley Clarke, and contributed to the TV hit Cedric the Entertainer. In the midst of all that activity, the deeply spiritual Jackson continues to seek quiet time in which to listen to the “still small voice” of God. Those moments played a key role in the creation of his sixth solo album, so it was only “super” natural that he titled the extraordinary project, Still Small Voice.

A great benefit of being on the short list of top-flight versatile session and live performance musicians is forging relationships with the best producers and performers in his chosen genres. His 1996 classic Never Alone/Duets featured high profile collaborations with legendary pals Kirk Whalum, Joe Sample, Jeff Lorber, Earl Klugh, Ray Parker Jr. and Gerald Albright, while The Power of the String included guest spots by Boney James, Mervyn Warren and Patrice Rushen. Some of the contributing “voices” to the new project are Lorber (who also co-produced “Sportsman Park” with Jackson), Albright, bassist and fellow Houston tour member Ricky Minor, electric piano/keyboard greats Rushen, Billy Preston, Ricky Peterson and Brian Culbertson, the Earth, Wind & Fire horn section (Ray Brown, Gary Bias and Reggie Young) with the addition of Patches Stewart and Andy Wiener, and percussionist Sheila E. Jackson produced six tracks on his own, and tandem on others with Alan Abrahams, Brian Culbertson and James Reese (a songwriter and friend from Jackson’s childhood growing up in South Central L.A.).

“Before I begin a project, I always pray and stay receptive to the Spirit, and I’ve learned that God doesn’t holler at you,” says Jackson. “You’ve got to be open to the subtlety. The idea that began to take shape this time was to venture out musically, showing my growth as a songwriter and trying out some new dynamics, like more live bass and drums than ever before and using a horn section for the first time. Rather than decide ahead of time, I let the individual tunes dictate which sound was best. I’m also texturing my own rhythm guitar with my lead lines more this time. Best of all, I got my kids involved, with my daughter Lindsey singing backup on the Brian McKnight cover ‘Back at One’ and my son Paul III helping me do the narration for the ‘Park Tour’ suite.

“I’ll always enjoy working as a sideman, but these days my solo career is my primary focus and I’m looking forward to getting on the road with my own band,” he adds. “It’s important that I try each time to make a meaningful musical statement about where I am in my life at the time. It’s all about making music that speaks to people, makes them stop what they’re doing and listen, enjoy and feel something positive.”

Jackson wanted the new collection to have a more organic, live sound than previous projects and was particularly excited to have bassists Abraham Laboriel and Alex Al, and drummers like the great Harvey Mason and Teddy Campbell laying down various rhythm tracks. Laboriel and Mason push the groove gently on the soulfully romantic opening title track and then kick up the intensity level on the sizzling Latin-flavored jam “Dios Te Bendiga” (“God Bless You”), which finds Jackson in a festive flamenco mood. Al and Campbell helm the beat on four other key tracks--the mid-tempo light funk ballad “Blue Note” (featuring some of Jackson’s most crisp electric improvisations); the attitude heavy retro-funk gems “Walkin’” and horn-drenched, Sax flavored “1:15”; and the silky McKnight tune which closes the disc. Still Small Voice’s first single is a feisty twist on the old Spinners classic “It’s A Shame,” featuring yet more horns and a mystical atmosphere with a touch of electronic sitar flavoring.

The centerpiece of Still Small Voice is the unique “Park Tour,” which begins with a spoken intro and then incorporates three songs dedicated to real places in Jackson’s childhood and adult life. The cool and moody “Athens Park” touches on some of his memories of the park down the street from his childhood home on Athens Blvd. in South Central. The thumping, B-3 organ splashed (by Lorber) “Sportsman Park” pays homage to the nearby park where Jackson learned to swim. More to the present day, the moody and laid back “Crystal Park” is the place in Compton where Jackson’s musical associate and childhood friend Reese owns a radio-controlled racecar track.

Though Jackson never got to meet or work with one of his chief guitar influences, Wes Montgomery, he has forged professional relationships with all the others who touched his formative years, including Earl Klugh, George Benson, Ray Parker Jr., Al McKay and Lee Ritenour. Since breaking into the Los Angeles studio scene in the late 70s, he has contributed his multi-faceted guitarisma to the biggest artists in R&B, jazz and rock: Houston, Michael Jackson (Thriller, Bad, History), Randy Crawford, Ramsey Lewis, Dave Koz, David Benoit, Aretha Franklin, Luther Vandross, Bobby Brown, Steely Dan, Chicago, The Temptations, Anita Baker, Lionel Richie, Barbra Streisand, Elton John, Al Jarreau, and George Duke.

Jackson points to his trip with Houston to South Africa in 1995 as his most spiritual, powerful and soul-energizing project to date. Playing his own signature Gibson model Paul Jackson Jr. ES347, in recent years he’s also accompanied the Backstreet Boys (on MTV’s Total Request Live) and Destiny’s Child and, bridging his musical and spiritual lives, taught at worship conferences in Korea, Italy, Guatemala and Honduras. As a solo artist, his growing catalogue includes 1988’s I Come To Play (whose title track earned a Grammy nomination for Best R&B instrumental Grammy), Out of the Shadows (1990), and River in the Desert (1993).

While majoring in music at USC, Jackson—who got his first guitar at nine, started playing seriously at 12 and decided to be a professional musician at 15—met noted jazz pianist and pop singer Patrice Rushen, who became a mentor and introduced the young guitarist to many musicians who would later hire him. “Success as a studio musician comes from knowing that your number one priority is making the artist happy and developing a reputation for giving those who hire you what they want,” he says. “I still practice and love all the late nights and early mornings in the studio, trying to get things just right on my own projects and those of the artists who hire me. I keep all that balanced with my faith journey, and every so often will turn off the mix of be-bop and oldies I keep in the car and just drive in silence…listening once again for that still small voice. God will speak to you if you allow yourself to turn down the volume.”

 

MIKE LANDAU

In addition to his session work, Landau has also fronted several bands including Raging Honkies and Burning Water. In the early 1980's, he was also in the band Maxus that featured future Los Angeles session musician stalwarts Robbie Buchanan, Jay Gruska, and Doane Perry. Landau was also in competition with high school bandmate Lukather to become the guitarist for Toto in the late 1970's.

DEAN PARKS

WEBSITE: www.deanparks.com

Dean is a leading studio musician best-known through his many contributions to albums by Steely Dan. Parks has written songs and music for The Care Bears Movie II: A New Generation (with wife Carol), Bowfinger, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, The Big Bounce and Dreamer: Inspired by a True Story. Dean is also a graduate of the University of North Texas, where he was a member of the famed One O'Clock Lab Band. While there he played guitar and woodwinds.

LEE RITENOUR

WEBSITE: www.leeritenour.com

Ritenour was born January 11, 1952 in Los Angeles, California. He played his first session when he was 16 with the Mamas and the Papas. Nicknamed "Captain Fingers", he (along with Larry Carlton) was a sought-after session guitarist by the mid-1970s. He is noted for playing his red Gibson ES-335 and his Gibson L5 guitars. One of his most notable influences is the pioneering jazz guitarist Wes Montgomery. In 1976, he released his first solo album, First Course. This was followed up by his fusion work Captain Fingers in 1976. Since First Course he has released over 30 albums — the 30th being Rit's House in 2002. One of his most notable works is his pop album (featuring vocalist Eric Tagg) 1981 Rit, which contained chart hits "Is It You," and "Mr. Briefcase." In the 90s, he was one of the founding members of smooth jazz group Fourplay.

Throughout his career, Ritenour has experimented with different styles of music. He has often incorporated elements of funk, pop, rock, blues and Brazilian music with jazz (much to the dislike of many critics). In the early 1980s, Ritenour was given his own Ibanez signature model guitar, the LR-10. The LR-10 was produced from 1981 to 1987. It can be heard exclusively on his album Rit. Currently, Ritenour plays the Gibsons that he first played in the 1970s (the ES-335 and L5), and now also plays his signature Lee Ritenour Model archtop guitar made by Gibson.

In 2005, Ritenour was engaged to Japanese singer Anri, whose music he has been producing since 2000.

Ritenour has always experimented with different genres, and has always had a very strong commercial sense. His solo career began in 1975 with the recording of his album First Course. Released in 1976, the album that gave a strong representation of the mid-1970s L.A. Jazz/Funk sound. Critics did however complain that his first album was "lightweight". So Lee countered this with his strongly fusion-based follow up, Captain Fingers. This was followed by two more fusion efforts — The Captain's Journey (1978) and Feel The Night (1979). On these albums, Ritenour primarily used something of a rich, yet rock-oriented distorted guitar sound, coming through his Gibson ES-335 guitar. In other instances on these albums, clean sounds were heard coming through his Gibson L5 and classical acoustic guitars (He played his classical acoustic guitars almost exclusively on his album Rio in 1979). In the 1970s, Ritenour would often use effects like wah-wah, phasers, chorus and flangers on his electric instruments. Also during the late 1970s, Ritenour can be heard using the 360 Systems guitar synthesizer (he is pictured sitting in front of it on the back cover of his Captain Fingers album). He can be heard using the synthesizer on the track Captain Fingers (from the album with the same title), and can also be heard playing solo with the synthesizer on the song "What Do You Want?" from "The Captain's Journey".

In 1979 Ritenour played on Pink Floyd's The Wall, contributing rhythm guitar to "One of My Turns" and acoustic guitar to "Comfortably Numb".

As the 1980s began, Ritenour began to add stronger elements of pop to his music, beginning with Rit in 1981. For this, he kept with his distorted sound, now using his Ibanez LR-10 signature model guitar. He continued with the pop oriented music for two albums after Rit (Rit/2 in 1982 and Banded Together in 1984), while releasing a slick, yet more fusion-styled Direct-Disk instrumental album in 1983 called On The Line.

In 1985, he recorded his first album for GRP with Dave Grusin, entitled Harlequin. It featured Lee primarily on his classical acoustic guitar, and also featured Brazilian singer/songwriter Ivan Lins. Up to this point, this album along with Rio arguably gave the strongest representation of Lee's Brazilian influences.

The following year, in 1986, Ritenour released the album Earth Run, which featured him using the then-newly designed SynthAxe guitar. He used an overall nine different guitars on the album, most notably the SynthAxe, his Valley Arts guitar, and his Gibson Chet Atkins acoustic. The album also featured long-time collaborator Phil Perry for the first time, on the track "If I'm Dreaming, Don't Wake Me" — a song also featuring David Foster and Maurice White.

Ritenour continued in a direction strongly featuring other artists in 1987, with Portrait. The album itself has something of a strong smooth-jazz sound, and Ritenour can be heard here playing with The Yellowjackets, Djavan, and much to the shock of some, Kenny G.

In 1988, his smooth jazz-influenced Brazilian music came to the forefront with Festival — another album strongly featuring his work on nylon-string acoustic guitars. The following album, Color Rit, continued with a similar mood. He did however, change direction completely again with his straight-ahead jazz album Stolen Moments. Sounding similar to Wes Montgomery, Ritenour played alongside long-time collaborator, saxophonist Ernie Watts, pianist Alan Broadbent, bassist John Patitucci (playing only acoustic) and drummer Harvey Mason. Continuing in a Wes Montgomery mood, Ritenour paid tribute to the man himself in 1992, with his album Wes Bound. The album featured a number of covers of Montgomery compositions, as well as some seemingly tributary pieces from Ritenour himself.

Also seen in this decade was a 1994 collaboration album with guitarist Larry Carlton called Larry & Lee.

Whilst playing primarily with smooth jazz group Fourplay for much of the 1990s, Lee left the group in 1998 and continued with his solo works. He was replaced in the group by Larry Carlton.

2002 saw the release of his album, Rit's House.

In February 2004, Ritenour completed a project looking back on his career involving musicians he has worked with throughout his career called Overtime. Overtime was recorded live in a studio in front of a small audience. It was released in early 2005, and is currently available as a singular audio CD or double-DVD set. Some of the musicians featured include Dave Grusin, Patrice Rushen, Harvey Mason, Alex Acuna, Chris Botti, Anthony Jackson, Melvin Lee Davis and Ernie Watts, amongst many others.

His latest album, entitled Smoke n' Mirrors was released in late August 2006.

Ritenour was born January 11, 1952 in Los Angeles, California. He played his first session when he was 16 with the Mamas and the Papas. Nicknamed "Captain Fingers", he (along with Larry Carlton) was a sought-after session guitarist by the mid-1970s. He is noted for playing his red Gibson ES-335 and his Gibson L5 guitars. One of his most notable influences is the pioneering jazz guitarist Wes Montgomery. In 1976, he released his first solo album, First Course. This was followed up by his fusion work Captain Fingers in 1976. Since First Course he has released over 30 albums — the 30th being Rit's House in 2002. One of his most notable works is his pop album (featuring vocalist Eric Tagg) 1981 Rit, which contained chart hits "Is It You," and "Mr. Briefcase." In the 90s, he was one of the founding members of smooth jazz group Fourplay.

Throughout his career, Ritenour has experimented with different styles of music. He has often incorporated elements of funk, pop, rock, blues and Brazilian music with jazz (much to the dislike of many critics). In the early 1980s, Ritenour was given his own Ibanez signature model guitar, the LR-10. The LR-10 was produced from 1981 to 1987. It can be heard exclusively on his album Rit. Currently, Ritenour plays the Gibsons that he first played in the 1970s (the ES-335 and L5), and now also plays his signature Lee Ritenour Model archtop guitar made by Gibson.

In 2005, Ritenour was engaged to Japanese singer Anri, whose music he has been producing since 2000.

Ritenour has always experimented with different genres, and has always had a very strong commercial sense. His solo career began in 1975 with the recording of his album First Course. Released in 1976, the album that gave a strong representation of the mid-1970s L.A. Jazz/Funk sound. Critics did however complain that his first album was "lightweight". So Lee countered this with his strongly fusion-based follow up, Captain Fingers. This was followed by two more fusion efforts — The Captain's Journey (1978) and Feel The Night (1979). On these albums, Ritenour primarily used something of a rich, yet rock-oriented distorted guitar sound, coming through his Gibson ES-335 guitar. In other instances on these albums, clean sounds were heard coming through his Gibson L5 and classical acoustic guitars (He played his classical acoustic guitars almost exclusively on his album Rio in 1979). In the 1970s, Ritenour would often use effects like wah-wah, phasers, chorus and flangers on his electric instruments. Also during the late 1970s, Ritenour can be heard using the 360 Systems guitar synthesizer (he is pictured sitting in front of it on the back cover of his Captain Fingers album). He can be heard using the synthesizer on the track Captain Fingers (from the album with the same title), and can also be heard playing solo with the synthesizer on the song "What Do You Want?" from "The Captain's Journey".

In 1979 Ritenour played on Pink Floyd's The Wall, contributing rhythm guitar to "One of My Turns" and acoustic guitar to "Comfortably Numb".

As the 1980s began, Ritenour began to add stronger elements of pop to his music, beginning with Rit in 1981. For this, he kept with his distorted sound, now using his Ibanez LR-10 signature model guitar. He continued with the pop oriented music for two albums after Rit (Rit/2 in 1982 and Banded Together in 1984), while releasing a slick, yet more fusion-styled Direct-Disk instrumental album in 1983 called On The Line.

In 1985, he recorded his first album for GRP with Dave Grusin entitled Harlequin. It featured Lee primarily on his classical acoustic guitar, and also featured Brazilian singer/songwriter Ivan Lins. Up to this point, this album along with Rio arguably gave the strongest representation of Lee's Brazilian influences.

The following year, in 1986, Ritenour released the album Earth Run, which featured him using the then-newly designed SynthAxe guitar. He used an overall nine different guitars on the album, most notably the SynthAxe, his Valley Arts guitar, and his Gibson Chet Atkins acoustic. The album also featured long-time collaborator Phil Perry for the first time, on the track "If I'm Dreaming, Don't Wake Me" — a song also featuring David Foster and Maurice White.

Ritenour continued in a direction strongly featuring other artists in 1987, with Portrait. The album itself has something of a strong smooth-jazz sound, and Ritenour can be heard here playing with The Yellowjackets, Djavan, and much to the shock of some, Kenny G.

In 1988, his smooth jazz-influenced Brazilian music came to the forefront with Festival — another album strongly featuring his work on nylon-string acoustic guitars. The following album, Color Rit, continued with a similar mood. He did however, change direction completely again with his straight-ahead jazz album Stolen Moments. Sounding similar to Wes Montgomery, Ritenour played alongside long-time collaborator, saxophonist Ernie Watts, pianist Alan Broadbent, bassist John Patitucci (playing only acoustic) and drummer Harvey Mason. Continuing in a Wes Montgomery mood, Ritenour paid tribute to the man himself in 1992, with his album Wes Bound. The album featured a number of covers of Montgomery compositions, as well as some seemingly tributary pieces from Ritenour himself.

Also seen in this decade was a 1994 collaboration album with guitarist Larry Carlton called Larry & Lee.

Whilst playing primarily with smooth jazz group Fourplay for much of the 1990s, Lee left the group in 1998 and continued with his solo works. He was replaced in the group by Larry Carlton.

2002 saw the release of his album, Rit's House.

In February 2004, Ritenour completed a project looking back on his career involving musicians he has worked with throughout his career called Overtime. Overtime was recorded live in a studio in front of a small audience. It was released in early 2005, and is currently available as a singular audio CD or double-DVD set. Some of the musicians featured include Dave Grusin, Patrice Rushen, Harvey Mason, Alex Acuna, Chris Botti, Anthony Jackson, Melvin Lee Davis and Ernie Watts, amongst many others.

His latest album, entitled Smoke n' Mirrors was released in late August 2006.

MICHAEL THOMPSON

WEBSITE: www.michaelthompson.cc

Michael Thompson was born on February 11, 1954, in Brooklyn, New York & raised on Long Island. He started playing guitar at age 9, and after seeing the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964, was inspired to be a musician. All through Jr. High and High School, he had a band with his brother Todd and various friends called Stonefeather. At age 19, he left New York for Boston to attend The Berklee College of Music. While at Berklee, M.T. met many of the musicians that he would later work with on the Los Angeles music scene. After going to Berklee for two years, Michael got a gig with a popular local R&B group called The Ellis Hall Group. He toured and recorded with this group for four years. Getting to play funk music was as important in developing his unique style as was his schooling at Berklee. In 1977, Michael met his wife of 28 years, Gloria. In 1979, Michael and Gloria moved to Los Angeles to begin a studio career. Upon arrival, Michael got a gig touring with Joe Cocker. In the first year things were tight, money wise, and Michael had to drive a cab to survive financially. After his cab gig, he did a year-long world tour with Cher, which was his biggest break yet. After that, Michael did a band with Andy Fraser (formerly of The Free) and they recorded the album Fine Fine Line for Island Records. By then, Michael had been honing his craft playing on many songwriters publishing demos and doing any sessions that were offered. Among those gigs, Michael did the popular T.V. show Fame, in which he played on for four years, and Miami Vice for its last season. In 1988, after working to try and get a record deal with his band Slang for several years, he finally got a record deal with Geffen Records and recorded one album entitled How Long under the name Michael Thompson Band (MTB). The singer for this group was Moon Calhoun, who has been a long time friend of Michaels. Also in 1988, Michael got to do an album with the band Animal Logic with Stewart Copeland, Stanley Clarke, and Debbie Holland. This was an important gig for M.T. because it led to working on many movie scores with both Stewart and Stanley as composers. While with Animal Logic, Michael got to tour Europe while having the thrill of playing live on stage with two of his musical heroes. He had always been a fan of Stanley Clarke & The Police were always one of his favorite bands. In 1989, Michael got his first opportunity to work with all-star producer, David Foster. This led to Michael playing on many of David’s hit productions over the next fifteen years. Michael has expressed that working with David has been the single most important element of his recording career. Michael feels that working with David has been an honor and a great learning experience. In the mid-90’s, Michael also started working with producer/R&B singer, Babyface, and got a chance to play on many big hits with him as well. These hits include “Change the World” by Eric Clapton, “Every Time I Close My Eyes”, and the Waiting to Exhale soundtrack. Michael was also part of Babyface’s live band for his Live In NYC DVD. In 1995 Michael got a chance to work with Quincy Jones on his “Qs Juke Joint” album, in which Quincy made Michael a ‘special’ guest artist. In 1996, Michael released his first solo album, The World According to M.T. The song “Change is Gonna Come” featuring Bobby Womack received a lot of airplay on R&B radio stations across the U.S. This album was a favorite among guitar players and music lovers around the world. In 2001, Michael received a call from producer Mutt Lange to work on his wife, Shania Twain’s, new album “Up!”. Michael had long admired Mutt as one of his favorite producers and it was a huge thrill to be asked to contribute to that project. Also in 2001, Michael received the “Distinguished Alumni” award from The Berklee College of Music commemorating his contributions to the music industry. That year, Berklee Today, the schools magazine, featured a cover story on Michael entitled Platinum Touch. Michael has been working on his album MT Speaks for four years and in October 2005 will release the long-awaited follow-up to The World According to M.T. The all-instrumental album features artists such as Stanley Clarke, Vinny Coliauta, Nathan East, and newcomers Nathanial Morton (drums) and Sean Halley (bass). Besides his wife, Gloria, Michael’s family includes daughter, Sahara and sons Zach, Jason and Gordon. They have lived in Culver City for 17 years.

CARL VERHEYEN

WEBSITE: www.carlverheyen.com

Carl Verheyen is a major presence on the guitar.  Growing up in Pasadena in Southern California, he began a lifelong study of the instrument at age 10.  Even in his early teens Carl practiced guitar every day, a tradition that continues to this day.  Four or five rock bands down the road, he decided to pursue his musical education at Berklee College of Music in Boston. Although his formal training was to last less than a year, the experience proved invaluable, broadening Carl’s musical influences and introducing him to jazz , blues, classical and country music.

            While living near the University of Massachusetts, Carl got the opportunity to work with the innovative jazz drummer, Max Roach.  After a brief taste of the road, he returned to the Los Angeles area and began leading his own group, which included bassists John Patitucci and Dave Marotta and drummers Chad Wackerman and John Ferraro.

            Early in the 1980s, Carl was also a sideman in many groups, including the Victor Feldman Generation Band and keyboardist Dan Siegel’s group.  He played on five of Siegel’s records and was the most prolific songwriting contributor to the first three Richard Elliott records (especially Trolltown, which contains five of Carl’s songs, and Initial Approach which contains the Verheyen penned hit “Gretchen’s Theme”).  He also worked live with the saxophonist for five years.  Carl played 2nd guitar in a group led by Robben Ford, and early in his studio career he recorded with Stanley Clarke, Dave Grusin and Little Richard. Soon he was getting called to work on many pop records including Tiffany’s multi-platinum selling debut.  He performed live with jazz saxophonists Joe Farrell and Ronnie Laws, and over the years worked with singers Carl Anderson, Christina Aguilera, Melissa Manchester, Leanne Rimes, Michael Damian, and Glenn Frey from the Eagles.  He played on the Tonight Show with country music artists Tom Wopat and Shelby Lynn, and recorded a movie soundtrack with Dolly Parton and a few records with Cher.

 
            In 1985, Carl became lead guitarist for the British rock group Supertramp, replacing the departing guitarist Roger Hodgson. The band played stadium shows all across the U.S. and Canada.  In 1986 the group toured Europe, selling out huge arenas in eight countries.  This tour finished with a command performance for Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana at the Royal Albert Hall in London. 

            After those tours, Carl slipped into the enviable position of being one of L.A’s first call studio guitarists.  He has played on over 200 different television shows as far back as “Happy Days” and “Laverne and Shirley” and including “Cheers”, “Suddenly Susan” and “L.A. Law.”  Soon Carl’s CD collection became full of the movie soundtracks he was doing like “Stand and Deliver,” “Moscow on the Hudson,” “L.A. Story,”  “Dusk ‘til Dawn,” “Mr. Wrong” and the soundtrack Oscar winner “The Milagro Beanfield Wars.”  Most recently Carl was a featured soloist on “Ratatouille” and many episodes of “Lost,”  “Scrubs” and “Samantha Who?” Due to the anonymous nature of studio work, not a day goes by when you don’t hear Carl on one thing or another: in the movie theaters, on TV, or over the radio.

            But studio work alone wasn’t enough for this artistic soloist. In 1988 Carl released his first album entitled No Borders, featuring Dave Marotta and John Ferraro. Over the years it has obtained “cult classic” status and still sells consistently, in part due to the unique collaboration with guitarist Allan Holdsworth.   In January of 1992, Carl’s recording of the pyrotechnic guitar display of “The Big Shuffle” was included in a compilation CD entitled “Guitar on the Edge”.  This underground recording of hot new guitarists eventually gained cult status.  Two more editions (volumes 3 and 5) were subsequently released containing some of Carl’s bootlegged live performances.

 
             Later in 1992 Carl was asked to make a video for REH/Warner Bros.  Titled “Intervallic Rock Guitar,” this advanced instructional primer has had guitarists working on Carl’s ideas and techniques for many years. It is now available in DVD format and continues to sell constantly.   In early 1993 an innovative computer-guitar educational interface company called G-Vox commissioned Carl to write three interactive libraries along with Steve Morse and Adrian Legg.   This forerunner in the high tech world of interactive computer guitar lessons provided more insight into the Verheyen style.

              In May of 1994, Carl’s second CD  Garage Sale  was released to very positive reviews and critical acclaim.  Before long Carl  became internationally known as a unique improvising voice on the scene.  Guitar magazines began asking him to detail his innovative style.  Quite a departure from the typical guitar sound, it interests people all over the world, from Japan to Finland to South Africa. A few examples of the publications that have featured interviews, profiles, transcriptions and CD reviews:

• Guitar Player has featured many articles on Carl including a 12 page interview with 2 pages of musical examples in 1990.   
• Guitar Techniques  (England....... including a  transcription of the title song, an     interview and an audio CD in 1995,  then in 1998 Carl made the cover with his long time hero BB King
  
• Total Guitar   (England…….including an audio CD)
•  Guitar World
•  Rhythm 
•  Vintage Guitar  Many reviews and interviews over the years.
•  Gig
•  Musician
•  Jazztimes 
•  Jazziz
•  Guitar & Bass  (France)
•  Fuzz   ( Finland)
•  Chitarre  ( Italy) (Carl writes a monthly column called Advanced Electric Guitar)
•  Axe   (Italy) (multiple features including cover in November ‘03 and October ‘07)
•  Guitar and Bass   (Germany, multiple features incl. an ongoing how to column)
•  Guitar Player  (Spain....cover story)
•  Young Guitar   (Japan)
•  Ad Lib   (Japan)
•  Guitar for the Practicing Musician   (Japan)
•  Guitar  (Japan)
•  Mojo   (England)
• Music  (Netherlands)
• Acoustic Guitar
• Living Blues
• Recording
• 20th Century Guitar
• Guitar One
• Guitar    calls Carl one of the “Top 10 Guitar Players in the World”.....April 1996.   The following month Carl began writing a monthly column entitled “Studio City,” an ongoing account of his experiences in the L.A. studio scene and on the road.
•  Guitar Shop   A full page schematic of Carl’s live rig describing a few of the many sounds he wrings out of a Fender Stratocaster ....April 1995.  And in June 1996 a twelve page pictorial of his various recording and live rigs and his extensive guitar collection.
•  “Best Studio Guitarist” award from Guitar Player magazine’s reader’s poll.
•  “Best Guitarist of Los Angeles” from the LA Music Awards in 1997.

            In the mid-90s Carl continued to work consistently in the LA studios, playing on such interesting records as Chad Wackerman’s “The View” with Allan Holdsworth and Jimmy Johnson, and Steve Bailey’s” Evolution” with Greg Bissonette, T. Lavitz and Yes vocalist Jon Anderson.  He played on 3 of trumpeter Rick Braun’s top selling jazz CDs and  “Free Zone”, an album featuring Alphonso Johnson, Ralph Humphrey, Larry Steelman and Ernie Watts. Carl has contributed guitar solos to both of Gordon Goodwin’s acclaimed CDs, the latest one featuring Michael Brecker and Take 6.   He worked on the number one soundtrack album (Billboard charts) from the movie “The Crow”, and the edgy, dark 1995 film “Strange Days.”  Further soundtrack work has included “Crow II, City of Angels”, “Endless Summer II”,  “The Negotiator”,  “Blow”, “High Crimes,”  “Collateral Damage” and “Walking Tall.”
            May 1996 saw the release of Carl’s third CD.  Entitled Slang Justice,  This blues oriented project prompted the best reviews ever.  Guitar Magazine wrote “Slang Justice establishes Verheyen as one of the top modern virtuoso blues interpreters of our day.”  This record also marks the first time Carl’s music is available worldwide, with retroactive releases of the first 3 CDs on European and Japanese labels.
            Later in 1996, while working an average of eight to ten recording sessions a week, Carl still found the time to teach (CCR guitarist/vocalist) John Fogerty guitar lessons.  In the fall of that year Rick Davies reunited Supertramp and Carl was asked to rejoin the legendary band. They recorded another classic ‘Tramp album entitled
“Some Things Never Change,”  which went gold or platinum in many countries all over the world.  During that period Carl played on the BeeGees hit record called “Still Waters” and had his songs placed in the movies “The Usual Suspects,” “Black Cadillac” and “Apt Pupil.” 
            On the educational front Carl continues to be a presence.  Besides the video and G-Vox libraries,  Fender Musical Instruments commissioned him to be the on-screen player for their first instructional CD-Rom entitled “Guitar 101.”  This basic learning aid was included with all of the student model guitars sold by Fender!  And Carl has been a guest lecturer at the following institutions:

•  University of Southern California  (Los Angeles.....yearly since 1996)
•  Musician’s Institute  (Los Angeles..... yearly since 1988)   
•  Berklee College of Music  (Boston..... Guitar Week headliner, 1995)
•  Duquesne University Guitar Camp ( Pittsburgh.....yearly since 1998) 
•  Berklee College’s West Coast Music Camp  (Los Angeles.....yearly since 1999)
• Grammy Camp (Los Angeles…..’07)
• National Guitar Summer Workshop (Los Angeles.....1999).
• LA Music Academy  (Los Angeles......’01, ’03, ’04,  named Artist in Residence ‘07)
• Leeds School of Music  (Yorkshire, UK.....’02)
• Hull College (Yorkshire, UK.....’02)
• Guitar Institute of London  (London, UK.....yearly since ‘02)
• Bath International Guitar Festival (Bath, UK…..’03)
• Ulidia College (No. Ireland, UK…..yearly since ‘03)
• Wells Cathedral College of Music (Wells, UK…..’07)
• Music Academy International  ( Nancy, France…..yearly since ’03)
• St. Louis School of Music  (Rome, Italy…..yearly since ’05)
• Music Academy 2000  (Bologna, Italy…..yearly since ‘05)
• Lizard Academy (Florence, Italy…..yearly since ‘05
• Modern Music Institute (Multiple locations in Italy…..yearly since “05)
• Accademia di Musica Moderna  (Multiple locations in Italy…..yearly since “05)
• Citrus College (Kenshu Program for Japanese Musicians…..’07)

            In 1997 the Carl Verheyen Band began the first of many overseas tours, playing to new fans all over Europe. Directly following the last show in Copenhagen, Carl flew to Paris, France to begin an extensive world tour with Supertramp, eventually playing in 17 countries. That year saw more touring with the CVBand in late summer, followed by another Supertramp tour which resulted in the live record “It Was the Best of Times.”  This double live CD was recorded during a 5 night stand at the Royal Albert Hall in London, 11 years after first performing there with the band in 1986. 
            Early in 1998 Carl began recording his 4th CD Slingshot.  This record was entirely conceived and written during the backstage downtime in the various stadiums and arenas of  the ‘97 Supertramp World Tour.  Following in the blues-rock tradition of “Slang Justice,” the focus is on serious guitar playing and soulful vocals.  The result is a masterful take on a timeless art form.  Augmented with Chad Wackerman on drums,  the group embarked on another European tour in the spring of that year, playing to sell out crowds in Germany, Holland, Belgium and Denmark.  The band was filmed for television at the Leverkusen Festival just outside Koln, Germany.  Later Carl returned to Europe to play the Blues and Jazz Festival in Vienna, Austria. 

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            In the new millennium Carl continues to be at the forefront of the modern day guitar scene, touring Europe and the US yearly.  In early 2000 sessions began for the next record from the Carl Verheyen Band, entitled Atlas Overload.  This recording featured the road tested touring band of Cliff Hugo (formerly with Ray Charles, Manhattan Transfer and Melissa Manchester) on bass and Steve DiStanislao (Joe Walsh, Dave Crosby & Graham Nash, Loggins & Messina, David Gilmour) on drums.  Essentially a live in the studio recording, it captures the intense energy of a CVBand performance.  All the sounds were created by the trio with as few overdubs or fixes as possible.  Carl once again proved himself a great songwriter and with his virtuoso band mates, he masterfully pulled off the challenge of trio playing.  It should be noted that this band had been playing consistently on the road since 1997, achieving a Zen level of musical telepathy. Their jams were an amazing event to witness live.  The level of musicianship transcends any stylistic pigeonholes, with blues, jazz and rock fans enjoying the performances equally.
            Soon after that he recorded Real to Reel, an instrumental record with European jazz guitarist Karl Ratzer.  Released in the 2002, this live CD has become a cult favorite among guitar players.  While continuing to tour 3 to 4 months out of the year, Carl still does a fair amount of studio work in LA and master classes at various universities and music stores.  And three books written on the subject of recording the guitar feature Carl extensively:

•  The Essential Studio Guitarist   by Chris Standring.
•  The Recording Guitarist   by Jon Chappell.
•  Rock Guitar for Dummies by John Chappell, forward by Carl Verheyen.
•  Studio City by Carl Verheyen...... the anthology compiling all of Carl’s Guitar  magazine columns (see below).

            In 2001 he began work on an entirely different kind of project, an acoustic solo CD. Called Solo Guitar Improvisations, it was released in early spring to outstanding critical acclaim.  After extensive touring with the CVBand, Carl began a series of solo acoustic shows supporting the new recording.  In September Supertramp was again reunited from all over the world to record their best album in many years.  Called “Slow Motion”  and released in March 2002, it is another timeless chapter in the band’s rich musical legacy.
In February 2002 the CVBand braved the English winter for their first UK tour that saw Carl and Cliff reunited with saxophonist and Supertramp band mate John Helliwell for the last show.   Next came Supertramp's  "One More for the Road" World Tour, another massive stadium endeavor that touched down in 12 countries in 6 months. Upon returning to LA, Carl then scored a movie during this time called "The Metro Chase." Using techno sounds and incorporating Django Reinhardt style acoustic guitar with upright bass, violin, accordion and drums, the music was the opposite extreme of the new CD the CVBand was simultaneously bringing to completion.
        Entitled SIX, this latest recording was the most fully realized disc the band had made to date. With extra help from keyboard wizard Jim Cox (Ringo Star, Aerosmith, Mark Knopfler) the sound is full and fat. Once again the songs were written backstage in the bellies of the stadiums and arenas during the previous Supertramp tour. At the beginning of 2003 the CVBand hit the road again, embarking on an 8-country tour celebrating the new release. And in the UK Carl and the band headlined the Bath International Guitar Festival and played for the first time in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
 Between concerts with the CVBand in LA and solo performances around the USA, Carl scored a handful of small feature motion pictures and documentaries. In February of 2004 drummer Bernie Dresel (Brian Setzer, Andy Summers) joined the band as they embarked on a series of 3 tours:  Europe in the spring, the UK in the summer and the west coast of the USA in the fall.  While home in Los Angeles Carl wrote and produced 2 songs for BB King and 3 for Jose Feliciano for a CD benefiting the Diabetes Foundation.
September of 2005 saw the long awaited release of Rumor Mill, the live DVD box set from the CVBand.  With over 3 hours of high definition video and 5.1 audio, this cutting edge audio/video product is popular with both CVB fans and audiophiles, too.  After being nominated in 4 categories, the DVD/ CD set won the award for Best Dual Disc at the 2005 DVD Entertainment Awards.  It also won an award for Best Additional Features at the Surround Music Awards.
In the late ‘90s Carl’s monthly column in Guitar Magazine drew so much interest that an anthology of all 4 years of articles was eventually published by Cherry Lane Publishing.  Entitled Studio City, it chronicles Carl’s adventures as a studio musician during the heyday session period before the band became so in demand  worldwide.   In March of 2005 Mel Bay Publishing released Carl’s first instructional book entitled Improvising Without Scales. This text and CD package contains examples of Carl’s style and includes the philosophy behind his unique improvisational line development.  Avalon Guitars now produces the Carl Verheyen Stage Model acoustic guitar, a high end, double cutaway instrument specifically designed for live performance.  It produces the most natural acoustic sound available for live application. And the Carl Verheyen Signature “Balanced Bridge” strings are now available for electric guitar from Thomastik-Infeld, makers of the world’s finest strings. Each package contains his unique Stratocaster setup instructions that enable the guitarist to duplicate Carl’s uncanny ability to stay in tune with a vintage style floating bridge.
In May of 2005 the CVB departed for another very successful tour in Europe with legendary drummer Chad Wackerman once again on board.  After a month of sold out shows and sun drenched festivals the group collected in Los Angeles to begin basic tracks on a new studio CD. By the fall the band was interrupted due to bookings in China, Ireland, Scotland, Italy and the west coast of the USA.
By early 2006 they were back at work on the new CD called TAKE ONE STEP. Carl took a few weeks out in February and early August to play solo concerts, but most of the 1st half of the year was spent tracking and overdubbing on the record. Since many of the sessions were filmed during the project, a short movie was made about the making of the CD and included with the package as a separate DVD. The band then prepared for touring in the fall and continued that tour in 2007 with Walfredo Reyes on drums, beginning with the prestigious Soave Festival in Italy.  Carl also performed at the European Summer Campus in Siracusa, Sicily, first in ’06 with guitarist Greg Howe and again in ’07 with guitarists Andy Timmons and Guthrie Govan.  
In the fall the CVBand welcomed the reunion of bassist Dave Marotta, joining Walfredo and Carl for a tour of the UK.  And then it was 2008……