Steve Vai - Whispering A Prayer (Attn. John Ruiz)

[John Richeson]

This has nothing to do with this site but I recently discovered Steve Vai. (Yes, part of my life was purposely sheltered....he's been around for decades and I missed lots of things along the way). I captured this clip off a concert DVD from 2007.

I was asking John Ruiz about Steve Vai's amazing guitar skills. John, being a guitar guy, knew all about his history and his unique style (which is not for everyone). My brother who plays lead guitar in a band in Virginia, also filled me in. He says Steve Vai is one of the guitar legends. I have to agree.

So John, if you are in shouting distance...here is that performance I was talking about. This is hosted on my own site, not You Tube, so let me know if it misbehaves. Turn up the volume and have decent speakers to appreciate.

[John Richeson]

Nice Paul. That must have been cool. If you see him again some day tell him he has a new fan who is 57 years old. Ha ha. Here you two are.

[PAUL DIONISIO,," vergilio..."]

I had the pleasure of meeting Steve Vai twice, once in Rome, Italy, he was with Frank Zappa then, Frank gave him his start on the big stage, my friend Napoleon Murphy Brock was playing with Zappa, after the show my brother and I took them for some pasta and wine and we became friends...I met him again at the House of Blues in west Hollywood, he actually remembered me, and we yacked for a long time about that night in Rome,we took a picture, which you can see on my website[ if you want ] Clint Black took the picture, and Steve took a picture of me and Clint,,,,,,,,,WE HAD A BALL! he is a great player, especially live,,,,,,,go to my site,,,,,tricaricomusic.com click on friends, and see the picture, see all the pictures. paul

[John Richeson]

Raw guitar playing talent! Wow.You can see some of his Frank Zappa influence in some of this video. Pretty song. (Notwithstanding many things about him personally, I suppose.)

[Jeff Stanley]

Back in the "hair band" days, Vai was lead guitarist for Whitesnake. Notwithstanding his hooky New Age spiritualism, I like the way he is willing to go outside the nine dots musically. Such as the following attempt at classical-rock fusion. Anyone who is willing to piss off two entrenched camps in the music world gets a +1 from me.

[John Richeson]

Ha, ha, me too.

[David Bailey]

I think his twin (the wanker) is better!

[John Richeson]

This funny demo of a new distortion pedal he designed. He shows off his skills with his twin.

[John and Janet Ruiz]

Hendrix is a study and a half. Just read a piece on the SF Chronicle about the Isley Brothers and his time with them in 1964. An amazing period for him. Interesting too and more amazing, he died at the age of 27, 2 months before his 28th birthday. Once you read about all the things he did as a player and consider his short time in the military the legend builds - he really did a lot in a short time, going from musician-for-hire doing gig after gig on the road with others to his own career as a solo guitarist, and then studio work with engineer Eddie Kramer in his Electric Lady studio. The efforts and events of his life are so many they don't seem to fit into the time he lived, he literally went from one thing to another, constantly working. In many ways he characterized the personality of the solo musician who takes as many gigs as possible and works all the time, not knowing where or when the next gig will come, just always ready to go.

Vai's given Hendrix recognition in various interviews over the years. No doubt if Hendrix had lived longer, they'd have hooked up, ya gotta figure. : )

[John Richeson]

I am a fan for sure.

IMO the best part that really shows his skills takes place at 6:08 - 6:59. And this particular song is a mellow one for him compared ot other songs he does where you can barely see his fingerrs they are moving so fast.

Hendrix would have loved some of these technological tools I bet. You Tubes are so easy to Embed. I'll try to find another soon and add it in this thread.

[John and Janet Ruiz]

Also, seen Vai in the G3 concerts, and the lineup with him, Eric Johnson and Joe Satriani is really, really good. They usually have guests in to jam, so there's a lot of guitar going on. Vai is really in a unique place and pretty much does his own thing, which if you like it, (as we do) is really satisfying.