Brian Tarquin
Tocar Madera – Larry Coryell
1 February 2021
I was very fortunate to have worked with the “Godfather of Fusion” Larry Coryell in 2016, only months before his passing. He is one of the most influential guitar players of the 20th Century and beyond. His invention of jazz-rock electric guitar playing in the 1960s, was revolutionary and spurred an entire fusion movement that came of age in the 1970’s.
Room 335 – Larry Carlton
26 January 2021
The 1978 self-titled solo album of Larry Carlton, also known as Room 335, opens up with the song “Room 335” named after his recording studio in Hollywood, CA. The track has always been under contention for borrowing heavily on the Steely Dan song, “Peg”.
Eighteen – Pat Metheny Group
20 January 2021
As a guitarist I always appreciated Metheny’s lyrical melodies, which is a challenge when composing instrumental music to get across to the public. ‘Eighteen’ is a great example of his wonderful infectious melodies and the feel-good vibes that the group always seemed to evoke no matter what direction their improvisations would take them in a song. This is why the album won a Grammy for Best Jazz Fusion Performance; the first of many to come in the next decade.
Meeting of the Sprits- Mahavishnu Orchestra & John McLaughlin
31 December 2020
Mahavishnu Orchestra is the father of fusion and no other song of theirs represents that more than ‘Meeting of the Spirits’ from their debut album The Inner Mounting Flame released in 1971. What’s so special about the album is it features John McLaughlin who just came off of the earth-shattering Miles Davis sessions of Bitches Brew.
Blue Wind- Brian Tarquin, Billy Sheehan, & Doug Doppler
31 December 2020
The groundbreaking instrumental album Wired by Jeff Beck was a huge influence on me in the 70’s with such tracks as “Led Boots”, “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat” and of course the classic song written by Jan Hammer “Blue Wind”, one of my all-time favorites.
Techno – John Scofield
21 December 2020
The year was 1986 and it was this song Techno that turned me on to John Scofield, as it appeared on an acetate floppy record that came in an issue of Guitar Player magazine. For those of you who remember, this was standard fair every month in the magazine. It was great way of being turned on to new guitarists in those days-way before the internet, email, Instagram and all of the other geeky nonsense we have today…
Distant Light – Brian Tarquin, Steve Morse, Hal Lindes
15 December 2020
I have a had very fortunate and productive career as an artist and have been blessed by working with some of my guitar heroes. I wrote Distant Light especially for Steve Morse to guest on and being a fellow composer, he appreciated the dramatic strings and emotional feeling the song holds. I also had my dear friend Hal Lindes from Dire Straits add beautiful acoustic and electric guitar parts on the song as well…
Dazed and Confused – Led Zeppelin
1 December 2020
This track was a must listen for any guitarist in 70’s, not to mention the whole album of Led Zeppelin I. Recorded in 1968 at Olympic studios in London, this track is a masterful work of hard rock British blues!…
Ghostwind – Steve Morse
23 November 2020
In 1989 I heard Steve Morse was back from his stint as a commercial pilot with a new album entitled High Tension Wires featuring Andy West on bass, Rod Morgenstein on drums and T. Lavitz on keys. After purchasing the cassette tape (so I could listen on my Walkman) from my local Record Hunter in NYC, I bought two tickets to his show at The Ritz from Ticketmaster. Here’s the back story:
Steppin’ Out – John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers featuring Eric Clapton
13 November 2020
I had this great guitar teacher in the 70’s who was a Berkley School graduate named Steve Antonelli in New York City. We found his advertisement on the posted wall in the A&P Supermarket on 86th Street. He used to come to my apartment every week to give me lessons and one of the must have records he recommended was John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers, the one with Eric Clapton reading a Beano magazine on the cover…
Third Stone From The Sun – Jimi Hendrix
13 November 2020
When I was a teenager in the 70’s I distinctly remember buying the album Are You Experienced? by Jimi Hendrix and listening to “Third Stone from the Sun.” The song was one of the major catalysts for me to become an instrumental guitarist. Not only does the song take you on a total tonal psychedelic trip, but the guitar melody is unforgettable with those wonderful octaves and expressive tremolo bar phrases…
Eruption – Van Halen
31 October 2020
There is much written about this track as we all know and in view of Eddie Van Halen’s untimely death recently I had to pick this as another track from my teenage days of the 70’s. I had a band at the time in the NY Catskill mountains where my parents had a weekend farmhouse.