L CD

L Return To Summer Lake is Steven's third recording. Special guest artists on the CD include Molly O'Brien, Nina Gerber, Debi Smith, SONiA of Disappear Fear, Pete & Maura Kennedy, Al Petteway & Bruce Molsky. Steven Bio:Billboard Magazine describes Steven Gellman's music as "intensely sensitive and impressively intelligent at the same time". As another reviewer aptly phrased it, Gellman's songs are "Kodak moments" from his life.He often performs in nursing homes and retirement communities, and even used a choir of senior citizens as backup on the track "Almeda at 90" from his album "Photobook". Dick Cerri, President of the World Folk Music Association says "Steve's natural ability on stage enables an audience to not only enjoy the songs and stories, but to participate in the performance."Nowhere is there a better example of how Gellman touches people's lives than the story of fan Jennifer Baker, blind and wheelchair bound from a lifelong struggle with kidney failure. She first heard Steven at a Borders Book store concert and instantly became one of his most ardent fans. His music was an inspiration to her in her last months and Gellman performed at a memorial service in her honor to benefit the National Kidney Association. The song "A Little Bit Fine" on Steven's CD "Return to Summer Lake" was written for Jennifer and is one of his most requested songs.His new release, "Love Loss Longing", is Steven's first concept album. The eleven-song collection describes the journey one goes through at the end of a relationship. As Steven puts it, "To me, each song represents a chapter in a book, there is a beginning, middle and end. Every emotion is explored here -- sadness, anger, hope and joy."Gellman performs throughout the United States and Canada at the premiere acoustic music venues such as The Birchmere in Alexandria, VA, The Ark in Ann Arbor, Michigan, The Blue Bird Café in Nashville, TN, The Tin Angel in Philadelphia, PA, and Club Passim in Boston, MA. In Washington, DC, he has performed at the venerated National Theatre and the most sought after venue of all, The White House. Steven has opened shows for Dar Williams, Cheryl Wheeler, Richie Havens, Richard Shindell and Al Stewart.Steven has garnered critical acclaim across the country - he was nominated for 4 awards from The Washington Area Music Association Awards (WAMA) and by The Gay/Lesbian American Music Awards (GLAMA) for Debut Album of the Year. His release "Return to Summer Lake" was chosen by Barnes & Noble for national distribution and was featured on their listening post wall. Don Murphy of the National Theatre says "Steven Gellman's insightful original songs and homespun stories provide a soul-warming folk rock respite in a busy chilly world." Principally recorded at Recording Arts, Fairfax, Virginia. Includes liner notes by Steven Gellman. Personnel: Steven Gellman (vocals, acoustic guitar); Debi Smith (vocals, background vocals); Amy White (whistling, background vocals); Nina Gerber (guitar, slide guitar); Marco Delmar (acoustic guitar, organ, electric bass, tambourine, hand claps); Al Petteway (acoustic guitar, bodhran); Sean McGhee (acoustic 12-string guitar); Pete Kennedy (electric guitar); Bruce Molsky (fiddle); Fred Lieder (cello); Margaret Wolfe (harmonica); Bob Tyler (recorder); George Welling (upright bass); Robbie Magruder (drums); Maura Kennedy, Mollie O'Brien, Susan Graham-White (background vocals). Recording information: Recording Arts, Fairfax, VA. Photographer: Robert Corwin . Personnel includes: Steven Gellman (vocals, acoustic guitar); Debi Smith (vocals); Marco Delmar (acoustic & slide guitars, organ, electric bass, tambourine, egg shakers, hand claps); Al Petteway (acoustic guitar, bodhran); Jennie Dawson (flute, clarinet); Robbie Magruder (drums); Maura Kennedy (background vocals).

L If your familiarity with Traffic extends no further than the band's first two albums--1967's MR. FANTASY and 1968's TRAFFIC--you might not have thought about Traffic in terms of a performance entity. In fact, Traffic became quite a flexible live act, documented on half of LAST EXIT (1969), WELCOME TO THE CANTEEN (1971), and ON THE ROAD (1973). By the time of CANTEEN, Dave Mason had left the band. Traffic expanded its rhythm section of founding member Jim Capaldi (drums) and newcomer Ric Grech (bass) with drummer Jim Gordon and percussionist Reebop Kwaku Baah. Steve Winwood's playing and singing, along with Chris Wood's saxophones and flute, dance across this rhythmic field like young colts on a hillside. CANTEEN was recorded in London, and Dave Mason even shows up to guest on his own "Shouldn't Have Took More Than You Gave." ;Replaces #Pol842417 Traffic: Steve Winwood (vocals, guitar, electric piano, organ); Dave Mason (vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar); Jim Capaldi (vocals, tambourine, percussion); Chris Wood (flute, saxophone, electric piano); Rick Grech (bass instrument); Jim Gordon (drums); Rebop Kwaku Baah (percussion). Liner Note Author: James McDermott.

L 18 New Songs By Warren Haynes. Feat.25 Best Bassists In R&R

L For the past ten years, bands like the String Cheese Incident have been compared to Phish and, of course, the the Grateful Dead. This doesn't mean that the String Cheese Incident sounds like either band, but only that they, like the other bands, love to spin out long jams. It also means that they share a real melting pot of influences, including jazz, country, bluegrass, and rock & roll. Carnival '99 finds the band at its eclectic, jamming best, with two discs of live music from the '99 tour season. Piano/organ player Kyle Hollingsworth, mandolinist Michael Kang, bassist Keith Moseley, guitarist Bill Nershi, and percussionist Michael Travis jam their way through 14 tunes with generous time allotted for noodling. The band covers bluegrass on "Shenandoah Breakdown" and "Hold Watcha Got," funk on "Hey Pocky Way," and jazz on "Take Five" and "Birdland." Nershi's acoustic guitar work on a seven-minute version of "Take Five" creates a Charlie Byrd meets Dave Brubeck sound that gives this classic a fresh makeover. The 14-minute "Jellyfish" is a somewhat bizarre song that about a guy with a bad hangover who gets abducted by two girls in a Saab. From there, the song really becomes weird. The group's jams, while often developed for ten minutes plus, never meander. Their vocals and harmony -- unlike the Grateful Dead -- remain cohesive and effective. It's fortunate that Carnival '99 is a two disc set, because this allows the listener a chance to soak up over two hours of improvisational jams, which must be the closest thing to seeing the band live. The overall impression of the String Cheese Incident on Carnival '99 is that of an eclectic group of musicians with great improvisational skills who have a lot of fun performing. One can easily imagine a time when SCI Records will issue discs of complete shows instead of selections from a tour year. For now, Carnival '99 will provide old and new fans with the next best thing to being there. ~ Ronnie D. Lankford, Jr. Personnel: Bill Nershi (acoustic guitar); Michael Kang (mandolin, violin); Kyle Hollingsworth (accordion, piano, organ); Keith Moseley (acoustic bass, electric bass); Michael Travis (snare drum, congas, timbales, percussion). Recording information: Colorado Sound; Recording Westminister, Colorad.

L Conceived as an attempt to bridge the sometimes contradictory strengths of live and studio recording, Wormwood consists of rhythm tracks laid down by moe. at gigs played during the summer of 2002, with instrumental textures, solos, and vocals superimposed later on. All the work paid off, in the form of performances that have the kick of a concert groove with the tight focus and crisp production that comes from recording in a more controlled environment. The "you had to be there" quality that comes from unedited rambles on some jam band recordings is totally missing here, yet there's also little of the sardine-can constriction that can happen when musicians who like to stretch out are locked into a studio and told to be brilliant in three-minute increments. From the frenetic drum intro on "Not Coming Down" (which also features some of the only live crowd bleed-through on the album) through "Edison Laugh Record," a primitive and bizarre coda, Wormwood pours forth as a steady stream, with each cut flowing either directly or through a free-form segue into the next one; this offers a sense of unified performance that moe. fans will appreciate, while also emphasizing the variety of this selection. In the end, though it doesn't exactly replicate either their concert or studio personalities, Wormwood deserves notice for its ambitious goals and the flair with which they are achieved. ~ Robert L. Doerschuk moe.: Rob Derhak (bass guitar); Al Schnier (loops); Chuck Garvey, Jim Loughlin, Vinnie Amico. Personnel: Chuck Garvey (vocals, guitar, piano); Al Schnier (vocals, guitar, keyboards); Rob Derhak (vocals); Vinnie Amico (drums, percussion); Jim Loughlin (percussion). Audio Mixer: Bill Emmons . Recording information: Longview Farm Studios, North Brookfield, MA (2002); North American Phonograph Company (2002); The North American Phonograph Company (2002). Editor: Al Schnier. Photographers: Chuck Garvey; Rob Derhak; Scott Elmquist. Moe: Al Schnier (vocals, guitar, keyboards, loops); Chuck Garvey (vocals, guitar, piano); Rob Derhak (vocals, bass); Kat (piccolo bass); Vinnie Amico (drums, percussion). Additional personnel: Shannon Lynch (saxophone); Terry Lynch (trumpet).

L Dither, moe.'s first studio release since 1998's Tin Cans and Car Tires, found moe. exploring similar territory to Wilco's Summerteeth album, with a lesser degree of success. The songs themselves are curiously good, though moe.'s arrangements are perhaps too rooted in endless playing on the road, where the band spends most of its time. As such, extra instruments and production effects -- pianos, filter sweeps, DJs, synthesizers, and more -- often sound unfortunately tacked on. In places, though -- such as the incredibly catchy Paul Simon-influenced "New York City" or the introduction to the bittersweet "Faker" -- the group manages to transcend its limitations. While the sound is cluttered, it also finds two original voices emerging from the group: bassist Rob Derhak and, to a slightly lesser extent, guitarist Al Schnier. ~ Jesse Jarnow Recorded at The Carriage House, Stamford, Connecticut; Theatre 99, New York, New York; Mutiny 200, Hoboken, New Jersey; Coast Recorders, San Francisco, California; Bearsville Studios, Bearsville, New York. Personnel: Al Schnier (vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, 12-string guitar, harmonica, piano, Fender Rhodes piano, Moog synthesizer); Chuck, Chuck Garvey (vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar); Rob Derhak (vocals, electric bass); Jim Loughlin (flute, percussion); Kirk Juhas (Fender Rhodes piano); Vinnie Balzano, Vinnie Amico (drums); DJ Logic (turntables). Audio Mixers: John Siket; moe. Recording information: Bearsville Sound Studios, Bearsville, NY (2000); Coast Recorders, San Fransico, CA (2000); Mutiny 200, Hoboken, NJ (2000); The Carriage House, Stamford, CT (2000); Theatre 99, New York, NY (2000). Moe includes: Rob (vocals, bass); Chuck (acoustic, electric & 12-string guitars, Fender Rhodes piano, background vocals); Al (electric guitar, background vocals): Emilio China (violin); Jim (flute, percussion); Kirk Juhas (Hammond B-3 organ); Claudio Dizefalo (Moog synthesizer, drums, programming, loops); Late Nite Rascals (Mellotron, synthesizer); DJ Logic (turntables).