Teacher's Performance 11-21-09
Lou Ubriaco - Guitar/Bass
Tom Bitondo - Keyboards
Greg Rapaport - Bass/Guitar
Nick Vara - Drums
Frankenstein Video Excerpt Hocus Pocus Video Excerpt
Hoedown Video Excerpt Jeff Beck Medley Video Excerpt
Riviera Paradise Video Excerpt Vital Transformation Video Excerpt
Yes Medley Video Excerpt 1 Yes Medley Video Excerpt 2
   

Photography by Chran Photography and Roger Figuroa

WE NEED PICS OF OUR DRUMMER NICK VARA!!
if anybody has any from this perfornance please contact us so we can put them up.

 

Past Events
3/9/07 Holdsworth Performance/Clinic
5/17/06 Holdsworth Performance/Clinic
5/10/06 Greg Rapaport Releases new CD
7/7/05 Holdsworth Performance/Clinic

Allan Holdsworth on 5/03/09

UMusic is happy to welcome back
Allan Holdsworth and his trio!

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Greg Rapaport, Chris Saas and Nick Vara at WestFest

UMusic Presents:
Allan Holdsworth
Jimmy Johnson
Chad  Wackerman

UMusic's third visit from the great Allan Holdsworth and his trio, Jimmy Johnson and Chad Wackerman, was an unadulterated success! We would like to thank Allan, JImmy and Chad for their time and also their inspiring performance.  They played to a packed house of truly rabid fans who enjoyed every minute of the show.

  

Setting up for soundcheck

Soundcheck

Jimmy Johnson and Chad Wackerman


Jimmy Johnson

Allan Holdsworth

Chad Wackerman
 
 
 
 

5/17/06

 Allan Holdsworth's trio stopped by on 5-12 to spend some time with us. He had just started a 2 week minitour of the east coast. He'll be playing at the Iridium in the city for four nites and also a few other places in the tristate area. Go to therealallanholdsworth.com for updates on his tour schedule. His trio included the great Chad Wackerman on drums and Jimmie Johnson on bass. This lineup proved to be the best yet.

In my opinion Wackerman and Johnson bring out the best in Holdsworth. We made 50 tickets available and ended up having close to 60 people there when all was said and done. A lot of students and friends helped out by bringing in stuff and donating their time and effort. We really need to thank Rob Mele, Chris Slagle, and Dane Ubriaco for bringing in a ton of food. Also Steve Magnotti for making sure the equipment was ready to go. Also Mike Ubriaco for letting us use his power amp.

So basically the day went like this. We pretty much had the studio prepped with whatever equipment that Allan might have needed before hand. Allan, Chad, and Jimmy got there at 4:00 so we loaded them in and helped set up their stuff.

Allan Holdsworth
 

Chad Wackerman

 It turns out that they rented pretty much all their backline so they didn't need what we had on stage. Murphy's law. Anyway Allan played his Delap through two Mesa Boogie Mark IVs and two Mesa 2x12 cabinets in conjunction with his Yamaha DSstomps. His sound was amazing as usual. Jimmy opted for one of our bass amps. He was playing a 5 string Alembic one of his preamps (not sure which kind). Chad rented a 7 piece DW kit (3 rack toms, 2 floor toms, kick, snare) which filled the room nicely. Part of their set list included "The Things You See", "Water On The Brain" and "Fred". The place was mobbed with a very supportive crowd and I think they appreciated our enthusiasm. All in all a great experience for those who came.
Jimmy Johnson
Allan Holdsworth, Chad Wackerman, Jimmy Johnson
Julian Ubriaco, Allan Holdsworth, Dane Ubriaco

5/10/06

UMusic's Greg Rapaport will be releasing his new CD, Homunculus, in the next few weeks.  It will be available online at Guitar Nine Records, CD Baby and at www.gregrapaport.com.

ho·mun·cu·lus

...one such variant involved the use of the mandrake. Popular belief held that this plant grew where a hanged man expelled his sperm during the last convulsive spasms before death.  Its roots vaguely resemble a humanform to varying degrees. The root was to be picked before dawn on a Friday morning by a black dog, then washed and "fed" with milk and honey and, in some prescriptions, blood, whereupon it would fully develop into a miniature human which would guard and protect its owner.

 


Quote from press release:

"The sickness continues as Greg delves deep into the grey matter. Rooting around and exploring different attributes of the human psyche, he outlines his findings on his new release, Homunculus. Each song personifies an attribute through its style and compostion. The main ingredients, fusion, progressive metal and funk are still there, but now they’re industrial strength."

Clips

The Brawler - 1:30
The Sojourner - 1:30

For additonal information go to www.gregrapaport.com.
To check out full length songs go to www.myspace.com/gregrapaport.

4/25/06

Just a quick reminder folks. Allan Holdsworth, Chad Wackerman and Jimmy Johnson will be holding a clinic and performance at UMusic on May 12th. There are a very limited amount of tickets that are going fast. If you want to check out this great trio call us to get your tickets. 914-736-7777.

3/24/06

On April 8th UMusic will be holding a Blues Workshop at 4:30pm.
This is for students ($15) and non-students ($18) as well.

The Paramount Show was a great success!! Thanks to all who donated their time and effort into creating such a fantastic show.

3/1/06

On March 12th UMusic's Lou Ubriaco and Tom Bitando will be joined by Jason Brower in a performance at the Paramount in Peekskill! The trio we'll be performing as Clockwork and will also be joined by UMusic students and their respective bands.
Please call us for details! (914) 736-7777

1/22/06

Improvisation Workshop February 4th 2006 at 4:30 pm.
This is for students ($15) and non-students ($18) as well.

On May 12th Friday nite Allan Holdsworth, Chad Wackerman and Jimmy Johnson will be appearing at UMusic. Tickets are $40 and there is a limited amount so if you are interested please call (914) 736-7777 for the details.

11/21/05

Improvisation Workshop December 3rd 2005 at 5:00 pm.
This is for students ($15) and non-students ($18) as well.

9/22/05

Improvisation Workshop October 15th 2005 at 4:30 pm.
This is for students ($15) and non-students ($18) as well.

7/7/05

The Holdsworth clinic/show went off really well. We sold all the tickets without a problem and Mr. Holdsworth and his bandmates Ernest Tibbs (bass) and Joel Taylor (drums), treated us to a fantastic set of material. They also took the time to answer a bunch of questions and hang out which was awesome.

Allan Holdsworth
Joel Taylor
Ernest Tibbs
 
Julian, Allan, and Lou   Holdsworth outside UMusic

6/9/05

Allan Holdsworth to appear at UMusic on July 4th!!!
Please call UMusic (914) 736-7777 for details. Again very limited seating so please call for reservations.
www.therealallanholdsworth.com

4/27/05
Recording Workshop - 5/21/05 5:00-7:00pm
Topics Covered:
1. Hardware - Compressors, Multiband Compressors, Limiters, Expanders, and Noise Gates.
2. Controls and parameters of dynamic signal processing hardware. (attack, ratio, threshold, hard knee, soft knee etc)
3. Applying dynamic signal processing while tracking 4,5 string bass, guitar, drums and vocals.
Applications for your stereo mixdown/master to
make your final tracks shine.
4. Case studies and solving problems like sibilance, low end rumble, weak mixes etc.


Pre-registration is required!
Please talk to Lou or Greg to sign up!

1/27/05
UMusic guitar showcase to be performed at Marymount College on Feb. 24, 2005. So far the list of performers is as follows:

Lou Ubriaco
Jason Brower
Tommy Bitondo
Rob Derasmo
Ken Lyons
Greg Rapaport
Julian Ubriaco
Bruzzi Herman

more performers will be listed as they are confirmed.

1/20/05
Improvisation Workshop 5PM - We are scheduling another guitar/bass improvisation workshop on Jan.29th at 5PM. This is for students ($15) and non-students ($18) as well.

11/21/04
Improvisation Workshop 5PM - We are scheduling another guitar/bass improvisation workshop on Dec. 4th at 5PM. This is for students ($15) and non-students ($18) as well. Our focus will be more on playing, exchanging ideas and learning from eachother as a group.

10/30/04
Improvisation Workshop 5PM - Hey all,
we are scheduling an improvisation workshop on Oct. 30th 5PM. This is for students ($15) and non-students ($18) as well. We'll be focusing on improvisational concepts for your instrument (bass, guitar etc) and actual playing, demos and techniques (modes, arp fragments 'n other cool stuff). Sign up soon 'cause room is a bit limited.

9/3/04 - Guitar Show Review
The guitar show went very well. Essentially my responsibility was the setting up the PA and running the sound for the show. The PA belonged to Lou's brother, Mike, who was gracious enough to lend it to us for the show. It consisted of a nice Mackie board, a 1000watt power amp and two Carvin speakers (2 15"s, 2 8"s and a driver). This system is sweet! Jason set up his full kit and Tommy brought his Korg organ and a bunch of synth modules and a couple of controllers.

-first one up was Brian C. He played "Impressions" and "Hot 'lanta". He uses a Tele completely clean and his tone was great. His playing was excellent as well.
-next was Julian. he played "Freedom Jazz Dance" and did a Jam/Improv. He was solid and very much in the pocket.
-3rd was Mike K. who did "Dance of Maya", and another Mahavischnu piece that I can't remember. This guy has come a long way in a short amount of time. He was soloing over some odd meter and had no problem keeping up with the guys.
-4th was Brian H. who did "YYZ" and "Trilogy". What can you say about Brian. He was awesome!
-5th was John D. He played Al DiMeola's "Mediterranean Sundance. Getting up there with no drums or keys with just an acoustic takes a lot of intestinal fortitude. He also did a killer job.
-6th was Kenny L. He did Yngwie's "Brothers" and "Evil Eye". Ken is scary. He was absolutley nailing Yngwie. He was doing Yngwie better then Yngwie. The vibrato, feel, the whole 9 yards. They also went into Highway Star which was sick.
-7th, Rob D. who played two of his originals. Rob did really well also. His soloing was on and his legato runs were very solid. He's kinda like a cross between Scott Henderson and Stevie Ray Vaughn.
-I was last and I did "Dimished Returns" and "Difunckt". Man, I was freakin' nervous. The first tune I had like no stage volume so I couldn't hear anything I was playing. Luckily Brian came up and said that I was pegged on the board and that I should turn up. So the second tune was much better, whew.
-unfortunatley Joe Bott had been called into work that night so he wasn't able to make it.
-Lou, Tommy and Jason capped off the show with some Jeff Beck, Edgar Winter and a Brubeck piece which was very cool.

Just a quick shout to everybody that came and withstood the mayhem. Also thanks to Fulgums for having us and also all the people who pitched in and helped out with the equipment, a very large thanks to you as well.

8/4/04
Well we finally nailed a date down for a guitar/bass showcase. *cues fanfare* It is August 19th over at Fulgums at 8:30pm. Fulgums is located a couple of miles down the road (south) from UMusic. The players and the pieces that they will be playing as of now include:

John Dwyer - Mediterranean Sundance
Ken Lyons - Evil Eye, Brothers
Brian Carpenteiri - 21st Century Schizoid Man, Impressions, Hot 'lanta
Brian Holt - Trilogy
Joe Bottiglieri - Original
Rob Derasmo - Original
Julian Ubriaco - Freedom Jazz Dance
Mike Kratter - Meeting Of The Spirits, Dance Of Maya
Greg Rapaport - Diminished Returns, Difunckt

Players supported by:
Lou Ubriaco - bass/guitar
Tom Bitondo - keyboard
Jason Brower - drums

Special Appearance by Clockwork!

6/17/04
Well we have lift off. Obviously we are in beta mode as we still have a few things we need to do as far as content. Staff bios have to be expanded and pics have to be dropped in. We also plan on adding sound clips, pics and movie clips of performances. Also we have to add some links to student sites and their bands. If you would like to add a link to your band or personal site contact me at greg@splinterhead.com and I'll hook you up. The forum is up and running. We feel It is a great way to communicate with other students and friends so feel free to get the ball rolling and post away. The more interaction, the better. :-)

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