Project By Christopher Fish
Teacher: Professor Takasawa
Class: Music 111 T-Th 2:00-3:15
Due: 11/7/2013
[Greg Howe and his Laguna LE924]
-Born December 8th, 1963
-Played in Funk/Rock/Groove band Duke with his brother Al on vocals.
-Left high school pursuing music full time, playing shows in and around Pennsylvania
-Eventually recorded a demo in 1987 and sent it to Shrapnel Records
-Immediately after, Mike Varney (President of Shrapnel Records) signed Howe
-His first album, Greg Howe, was a huge hit! Rock/Blues shred album (featuring Billy Sheehan and Atma Anur on bass and drums respectively).
[Picture of Greg and an HSS Strat, back in the 80s of course!]
[Probably the biggest hit off of the album]
-Preceding this all instrumental album, Howe released High Gear, featuring his brother and former band mate Al on vocals, under the name Howe 2, who would go on to release one more album, Now Hear This, before breaking up in 1990.
-After this, Greg turned his focus more towards fusion jazz, but still incorporates his soulful touch on music, which is often hard to identify with when listening to fusion jazz (due to its complexity, people have a hard time relating to it, understanding it, and even not giving it a fair listen, so they write it off as soulless, just being about technique.)
-Introspection was released in 1993, and still to this day remains highly influential among the fusion shred crowd. (There even was a tabulature book published for all the guitar parts on the album, which I bought)
-Uncertain Times (1994), Parallax (1995), Five (1996). Parallax and Five are arguably my 2 favorite Greg Howe albums, but its a close tie between most of his works. On Uncertain Times, Greg messes with more complex and obscure styles of fusion jazz while adding in his undeniable soulful touch of blues to the writing process. On Parallax, it is just a mesh of pure AWESOME! Featuring the typical array of complex time signatures and chord structures, this album always has memorable riffs on every track! Joker's Wild is probably the easiest song to listen to on this album, and its a good example of what Greg was going for on this album. Give it a full listen please, thats the least it deserves, let alone worship. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpUpS_K0f2U On Five, Latin rhythms are explored as well as funky bass-lines. The bassist who played on this album, Kevin Vecchione, is now in a band with Greg Howe all these years later, called Maragold, which features female vocals in more of a rock band setting. An example of funky bass-lines can be seen in the song Dusty Maid off this album, enjoy.
-During 1995, Howe teamed up with fellow shredder Richie Kotzen, also from Pennsylvania, and the dou released Tilt. In 1997, they released Project, another fusion jazz shredding success.
[Greg and Richie]
-Howe returned to exploring his own sound, and in 1999, he released Ascend, which had synthesizer solos from guests and went into neoclassical shred territory. The next year, he would release the mind sizzling Hyperactivity, which was a return to his staple fusion jazz style. Here is a clip from one of my all time favorite combinations of musicians ever, Dennis Chambers (cant even began to say what this guy has done, its another project) on Drums, Greg Howe on Guitar, Tetsuo Sakurai on Bass (In my top 5 favorite bassists of all time, from Casiopea, Jimsaku, and all his crazy amazing solo work, I even debated doing this on him) and Akira Onozuka on keyboard.Watch as this team of legends slays on the Gentle Hearts tour below this.
-2003 released Extraction with the prodigious bass played Victor Wooten and virtuoso Dennis Chambers.
-2008 released a much more commercially friendly album called Sound Proof, (Personally, not a huge fan)
I suppose this is my favorite song off the album, the album may be good, but I cant see it standing up to masterpieces like the rest of his works. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3aof2MBpi0&list=RD3NW0OMOobYk
[Enjoy Morning View off of Sound Proof]
-2013 marks the release of his first release as a member of a band (not a sideman) for the group Maragold that features vocals, since the Howe 2 days. Pretty decent band (I'm never a fan of vocals, but she does a pretty decent job)
[Enjoy Maragold]
Aside from these works, Greg Howe has been a sideman for Michael Jackson on a few tours in the 90s, such as playing some shows on the HIStory tour. He has also played along with Justin Timberlake. I feel these entertainers are undeserving of Howe's presence, but he must have needed to make some money. As for true musicians, Greg has played with musicians such as such as Tetsuo Sakurai, Stu Hamm, Andy Ramirez, Victor Wooten, Dennis Chambers, Atma Anur, Billy Sheehan, and many, many more. He has played guitar on a few of Tetsuo Sakurai's tours as well. I might add that yes, he has played with the fusion god DAVE MARTONE.
For Guitars, he started out using HSS Strats from Fender, which was a pretty shreddable alternative to the very vanilla Stratocaster, which featured a floating tremolo system, so he could do all his crazy bends and harmonics. In the mid to late 90's he had ordered/was sent some ESP Horizon's which he customized to having a maple fret-board, a single coil pickup in the neck (instead of the typical humbucker in this position) but it had stacked rails, so it acted as a humbucker. Recently, he has teamed up with Laguna guitars (a company that guitar center makes) and has his own signature series, the LE924. I had a chance to play one, not a huge fan though. At least Greg likes it. He can be seen sing many guitars though, such as a Music Man Axis (the one with an orange burst finish), a fender stratocaster (the one with the black pearl pickguard and its red) and many other guitars.
[Greg Howe chillin' with his ESP Horizons]
Greg Howe is endorsed by DiMarzio pickups and D'Addario Strings.
Listening to Greg Howe changed my life. The first time I heard him, I was completely floored, but somehow, listening to him more picked me up and motivated me to become a better. His pure musicianship is inspiring, as well as the way he incorporates super fast left handed legato techniques into his playing. His calculated runs, all over the place tapping, complex time signatures, complex keys, and milky soulful bends and vibratos are just pure inspiring. Listening to Greg incorporates all of his influences into Jazz Fusion, of all genres, made me delve into more jazz fusion artists. He sort of bridged the gap between where I was as a musician and Jazz fusion. He is an accessible Jazz fusion artist. It is difficult to listen to a 25 minute John Patitucci bass solo for most, but it just takes baby steps to be able to get there. Greg Howe is certainly no baby step, but I believe he can be enjoyed by anybody. His versatility as a musician, from playing with Michael Jackson to Vitalij Kuprij (progressive metal and classical pianist) can be enjoyed by anyone. He sells himself really. He is one of the few artists I find that can match unrivaled technique with the beautiful touch of soul, while playing with world class musicians. Greg Howe is a must see!
[Come and Get it!]
Thanks for reading. Just to let you know, Greg Howe also does acoustic work, as there is acoustic tracks on many of his records. Just check it out if you get the time. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnaBL4FBiOw
[Recent picture of Greg Howe]
