DREAMSTATE - "Dräger/Kitti" (1990's)

"Dreamstate" was an energetic cooperative project put together by The Grand Tapemeister Don Campau in the 1990's. There's no date on it, so I don't know thee exact year.

 The cool cats who worked within this project besides myself were Nick, Dwain Woodruff, Eric Muhs, Joe Newman, Andi Xport, Don Campau himself, Ken Hunt, Dan Fioretti, Mike Crooker, Ken Clinger, Heather Perkins, Kevyn Dymond, R. Michael Torrey, and Mark Saucier.

 

 As stated, "Participants were asked to contribute short narratives about a vivid dream and also a short, separate musical piece" which were then combined together by Don.

 

Any further questions should be directed to Don at his website. 

 

There's lots of krazy dreams in here, but here's mine combined with Dan Kitti's music.

Dräger/Kitti - "Dream # 4"

RICH ARITHMETIC - "Shiftingears" (2021)

 I really hate Rich Arithmetic! He just pisses me off, because he's that's good!! I don't know how one person can be so talented! It's just not fair, and it's just wrong that it's been 27 years since his last solo release, but that's all over now, baby blue, because he just released a new CD on the Kool Kat Musik label titled "Shiftingears."

And if that's not bad enough, he also surrounds himself with all these other extremely talented musicians. It's really disgusting to what lengths some people will go!

 This CD was produced by Rich and his good pal James Nicholson!

There's too many fine folks involved on this project for me to list them all here, so I just suggest you buy this CD, judge for yourself, and then maybe you can hate Rich as much as I do!

One of my real faves on this CD is the song "A-Girl's Reply" with Diane Leigh on vocals, but the song I've chosen is the ninth one out of thirteen called:

RICH ARITHMETIC - "Waiting For Isaac"

 (c)Hortones, 2021)

For more information, head on over to Rich's new website

Richarithmetic.com 

and if you want to hear 30 second samples from this CD, then go to 

https://richarithmetic.com/shiftingears

CHRIS PHINNEY AND ED DRURY - "Store Windows" (2021)

Chris Phinney and Ed Drury just finished another new 20 track album that was released today called "Store Windows," and it's available from the Harsh Reality Bandcamp page. These two have been working diligently day in and day out for a couple of months now, and are turning into a finely tuned music machine that's full of surprises, so do yourself a favor and......

 Check It Out Right Here!! 

Here's just one of the wonders you'll find inside!

CHRIS PHINNEY AND ED DRURY - "Last Friday"

ZAZERAC - "Orange Sunshine" (2020)

 After New Power Soul, John Sanders had a band called Stepping Razor, which evolved into what you have right here and now, a righteous instrumental trio called Zazerac. The group has gone through many personnel changes and this photo is the current Zazerac, with John on keyboards, Jerome Ramson playing bass and Chris Rivers on drums.

These guys are killing it!

 

Playing 'live' in and around Memphis, you might be able to catch Zazerac some day if and when everything opens up again, but in the meantime, you can hear a lot more than I'm giving you by going to the Zazerac "Reverberation" page!

This photo is of an earlier incarnation of Zazerac and features John and Jerome, and drummer Tony Gonzales. Many players have come and gone but here's the current lineup.......
 

 ...............John Sanders on Keyboards!

Jerome Ramson on Bass!

And........Chris Rivers on the drums!

The guitar player on this session was J. Stone Collins from The Funkanauts! 

I could listen to this all night, that's how good it is!!

ZAZERAC - "Orange Sunshine"

NEW POWER SOUL - "News" (1988)

 New Power Soul 

New Power Soul was a 1988 to 1990 bay area funk band that was formed by John Sanders after Crash-N-Burn. They also performed in Northern California clubs during that time period.

The members included John Sanders on Keyboards, Amy Sanders playing the Bass, Rod Connor on Guitar and Vocals, Parry Wolfe playing the Drums, and Howard Raines and Eddie on Vocals. I've listened to a lot of funk in my life, and I can see or hear no reason why these guys never hit it big. All the elements are there and New Power Soul was just as good or better than many mainstream bands!

Since that time, the term New Power Soul was used extensively by Prince, or The New Power Generation as it were, and these days there's a wedding band in New Jersey by the same name.

John Sanders sent me a CD with three New Power Soul songs on it, and here's a truly great one with a message that is still pertinent today, and is guaranteed to get your butt moving, or your money back!!

Guaranteed!!!

NEW POWER SOUL - "News"

CRASH-N-BURN - "Live" (1988)

After thirty years or so, I finally got back in touch with John Sanders of the punk-funk band Crash-N-Burn, and he was kind enough to send me some more music that the band recorded years ago! Man, this is some good stuff, and it was very difficult for me to make a choice, but I finally settled on this "Live" cut. The band at this point in time was comprised of John Sanders - Guitar, Keyboards, & Vocals, Amy Sanders - Bass & Vocals, Dean Menta - Guitar & Percussion, and Parry Wolfe - Drums.

CRASH-N-BURN - "Her"

Since then, John has moved back to Memphis, and next time I do this, I'll show you how things have changed, and play you some completely different music from some of his current projects!

MONSIEUR OTTO'S DELUXE ORCHESTRA - "Gunter Der Unerschrockene" (2021)

 Recorded in 1976, and finally released on the first day of 2021, Rev Frost Presents: MONSIEUR OTTO'S DELUXE ORCHESTRA. This is a good sign that maybe 2021 will maybe turn out all right after all! Straight out of the instrumental laboratory of Thomas Birnbacher, this is the brand new Long Player from your favorite deluxe Orchestra, and here's just a tasty tease!

MONSIEUR OTTO'S DELUXE ORCHESTRA - "Gunter Der Unerschrockene"

 You can download the whole thing for free if you're that big of a tightwad, right 

HERE!! 

CHRIS PHINNEY & ED DRURY - "Within The Bubble (2020)

 

Well, there wasn't a whole lot of good that came out of last year in my humble opinion, but one of the best things that did was an ongoing collaboration between Chris Phinney and Ed Drury.  

Released on December 23, 2020, their last album of the year is called "Within The Bubble" and has a cover photo by yours truly that I'm mighty proud of!

Here's just one of the freakin' excellent tunes on "Within The Bubble, and one of my real favorites!

CHRIS PHINNEY & ED DRURY - "Cool Boil"

There's a whole lot more to come in 2021, so dig in Freaks!

 Harsh Reality Music