I always liked Frank Gambale’s style, especially after hearing his 1990 release Thunder from Down Under and his work with Chick Corea’s electric band. I remember hearing one of his songs on a floppy record that was in a Guitar Player magazine issue in the late 80’s where his style and tone really lent itself to rock n’ roll, but with jazz overtones and progressions. I particularly liked his sweeping technique, which was very ‘Bravado-Macho”, totally metal!
So, in 2007 I had the opportunity of working with him on a track called, “Spanish Harlem” on my album Fretworx. I composed the songs in dedication to the victims of the 9/11 Twin Tower Attack and donated funds to the Friends of Firefighters https://friendsoffirefighters.org. For this particular track I used a Gibson Custom Les Paul with a Mesa Boogie Mark IIb combo with an EV 12’ speaker to get the Santana vibe and tone. I recorded all of the tracks live in the studio on 24-track 2 inch tape, then flew in Frank’s solos and harmonies to my melody lines. One of the great things about instrumental music is the interpretation of each guitar players solo approaches. Additionally, each instrument adds color and charm as percussion, Rhodes, bass, etc. Listen closely and you can hear each one speak its own story and help bring the whole song together. As my mom used to say “talk is cheap” … I guess that’s why I have always been an instrumentalist!
You can learn more about frank gambale here
About the Curator: Brian Tarquin
Multi Emmy Award winning Brian Tarquin is an established top rate composer/guitarist. He has won 3 Emmy's for “Outstanding Achievement in Music Direction and Composition for a Drama Series” and has been nominated for an Emmy 6 times. In 2019 Tarquin received a Global Music Gold Award for his release Orlando In Heaven for “Best Album.” Three years in a row (2016-2019) Tarquin received “Best Album of the Year” nominations from the Independent Music Awards for his releases: Guitars for Wounded Warriors, Orlando in Heaven, and Guitars for Veterans. On which, Tarquin shows his guitar prowess alongside such world-class shredders as: Steve Morse, Larry Coryell, Billy Sheehan, Bumblefoot (Guns N’ Roses), Reb Beach (Whitesnake), Chuck Loeb (FourPlay) to name a few. In 2006 SESAC honored him with the Network Television Performance Award. Tarquin has graced the Top Billboard Charts with such commercial releases as: This is Acid Jazz, Vol. 2, Sweet Emotions, and Bossa Brava: Caliente on Instinct Records, followed by several solo jazz albums, which charted Top 10 at Smooth Jazz Radio R&R and Gavin charts. Brian has appeared on 38 releases, selling over 140,000 records in his career.