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                               You are listening to Ssippi Blues.   

" With this latest guitar-instrumental album, Frederick presents new ideas for the blues and rock, starting  with the opening piece, titled 'Ssippi Blues' ".

"Ssippi Blues" Written in New Orleans, just the winter before Hurricane Katrina, SSippi  is an A-major, 12-bar blues adaptation. It uses a small stage set of Fender lead guitar and rhythm guitar, Fender bass, standard drum set, and the twirling Leslie speakers of a Hammond B3 organ. This song was inspired by a visit to the French Quarter one February night. And morning. Not much of any particular detail can be recalled. But one memory did remain, the blues, the sense and power of it. The comfort of it.
The blues that night, in that quarter, is forever etched in my memory.

Subway Samba is all pop with Fender lead and rhythm guitars, bass, drums, a  percussion set, rock drum kit, and a Farfisa organ.

 Lead Guitar 101 is triplet of Fender telecasters, two of which play rhythm parts and the other, which breaks out to play the lead part. A wow pedal with growling distortion and a Marshall Twin stack sound. The name came from an early lesson in which I learned accompanying in quick unison with harmonic staccato notes.

 Lane Discipline  adds trombones to a solo lead guitar with bass and drum set. Also a standing percussion part with claps, tambourine and cymbals. The song reminded me of the A and B mode, equivalent to the driving versus passing lanes on the Autobahn. Very precise changes. And leave the passing lane when you've passed.

Airport Song  Have you ever taken a tropical vacation? When you arrived at the destination airport, was there a "Welcome Band" playing? Maybe it was a versatile airport band?  This song is adapted from a real-life experience, arriving at Grantley Adams on Barbados one winter. Small terminal, baggage and arrivals all in one area. There was such a band and they sounded magnifico. This song recalls a sultry ballad, featuring a cool electric guitar lead part. For sure, I was tuned in ! How cool to arrive at a vacation spot and have live music! Better than red carpets or flowers or manager's parties, in my book. This is my recollection of the type of song the band was playing. They had a lead part with a solid body, like a Les Paul, with lot of overdrive and sustain. Also a rhythm guitar part, and a Xylophone !! -  also playing rhythm. With a deep electric bass and a brush drum set.  Well, it was a nice airport band. Sadly, a week later I did  have to fly back to reality. At the airport, the same band was playing. I heard that song. This time, it was a little sad. Airport Song is my recreation of both this band and also the sound of jet traffic and announcements from within in the Barbados airport.  

Blues Reach is another attempt at playing laid-back blues. This is not as easy as it might seem. Great Blues music seems simple and easy to mimic, but there is a certain timing and sort of patience all of the parts need to embrace. Since I play all the parts, that's a lot to embrace. Blues Reach features four parts, the Ovation lead and rhythm guitars, Fender Bass, and a larger rock drum set.  

Upper Ground  is a rock vamp with a bigger stage sound. Some songs take very long to come together, and other take just minutes. Well, Upper Ground literally was tracked very quickly. I am very proud of this sing, because it embodies the kind of song that would really reach me at a rock concert. It resonates for me, because of the sultry sound of the lead and slide lead guitar parts. Three larger band sounds this song reminds me of are the Grateful Dead, George Harrison, and Leon Russell in his early days. The drumming is about as un-machine like as can be. No sequencers were used, only a click track to keep the parts in synch. 

Surfcaster was another quick invention. This is a bit of a Euro-Techno sound, featuring the Telecaster played through a a heavy distortion and using a pedal for the whammy-bar note drop-offs. There's no whammy bar on a Tele. The song reminds me of some of the stuff coming out of Europe in the 1980s, but there is definitely a surf component with the whammy-drops on the guitar. There is a heavy drum kit, telecaster guitar, Fender Bass and Fender rhythm guitar.    

Berlin Cowboy followed Surfcaster. This is the story of a young boy that was sent to boarding school in Siberia. He, along with many other youths, had presented their parents, teachers and local officials with too many challenges and problems. The solution for these boys was one and the same. In order to correct their inappropriate social behavior, there was a special boarding school in Siberia to change these lads into perfect gentlemen, adaptable and useful members of modern society. The scene shows a passenger train full of teenage boys in a steamy railcar, clearly unhappy at their fate, slowly pulling out of the Berlin train station, en route to Nelmin-Nos, Siberia.

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