Chicago Session Volume 1 - Reviewed in Downbeat

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www.chicagosessions.com

Remix Artist - Ralphi Rosario At Flashpoint Academy

John Murray, George Luif, Ralphi Rosario and Bernie Mack

Recently Added To My Collection: A Vintage AKG D1000E

Nasty "Tone" - Possibly the worst sounding mic ever! - but hey, its "Vintage"

Flashpoint Faculty and Staff Pic

All of us:

Chicago Sessions Announces December Release!

Disc 3 of Series 1 Scheduled to Ship in December 2008:


VOLUME 3: STEVEN HASHIMOTO'S MOTHRA - TRADEWIND

Steven Hashimoto-electric bass; Neal Alger-electric guitar; Kathy Kelly-vibraphone; Dan Hesler-tenor, alto & soprano saxophone, Michael Levin-tenor & soprano saxophone, clarinet, bass clarinet, flute; Heath Chappell-drums.

Steven Hashimoto has been an integral part of Chicago's many music scenes since 1969. He has performed with countless bands and artists at almost every venue in the Chicago area, playing jazz, rock, funk, folk, country, Latin, avant-garde, cabaret, bluegrass, blues, r&b, reggae, cajun, Brasilian, African and theatre music. He has appeared on many recordings, as both leader and sideman, and has appeared at The Chicago Jazz Festival, The South Shore Jazz Festival, Taste of Chicago, ChicagoFest and Chicago's Asian American Jazz Festival. As a jazz musician he has played bebop, hard bop, swing, big band, avant-garde, Latin jazz and Dixieland, and has anchored the late-night jam session at The Green Mill for an amazing 22 years. He formed the band Mothra in 1976; this is the band's fifth recording ("Farewell To Manzanar"; "In Dreams Begin Responsibilities"; "Sansei: Third Generation"; and "Giri").


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Hear Samples at www.chicagosessions.com

An Afterlife Crisis Review

Tracked Bernie Mack at The Gallery of Carpet Recording
Mixed by Bernie Mack at The 3rd Bedroom
Mastered by Nick Eipers
Music by Steve Mayfield
Author Steve Mayfield

Editorial reviews:
Norm Goldman:
Afterlife Crisis (Novel with Soundtrack)

By Norman Goldman "Editor of Bookpleasures.com"

In his debut novel, Afterlife Crisis (Novel With Soundtrack), Steve Mayfield spins a tender and humble narrative while exploring what makes someone a good, caring, and compassionate human being.

Mayfield's story uses the framework of a fifty-four year old Frank Moon who has just suffered a fatal heart attack. Two minutes after his demise, his soul is sucked into the "Passage," and winds up somewhere called the Resting Place where "there is only love and support now and forever." It is here where Frank meets a visionary, Luna, who explains to him the meaning and importance of "warmth", which incidentally is not the temperature but rather the human state.

Luna informs Frank that as everyone goes through an individual, unique life experience, the person's deeds and activities gradually build a character and a distinctive soul. Moreover, one of the most vital ingredients of that soul is "warmth." Frank is a trifle baffled as to what all this means and Luna then goes on to clarify that warmth consists of four features: compassion, tolerance, risk and knowledge.

Luna also informs Frank that it is fairly easy to measure warmth as we all have degrees of compassion, tolerance, risk and knowledge. In fact, it can even be learned and improved. Frank is now quite interested in knowing how he scored whereupon Luna tells him that before she gives him his results, she would like to revisit with him some of his warmth-forming experiences during his lifetime on earth. And Frank is also reminded that life is not what we think or pray about but rather what we do or in other words, actions speak louder than words.

As we read about these experiences, we get a good picture of Frank's character and some of the fine deeds he had performed during his lifetime. These include the preventing of a gang rape of a young teen-age girl and the rejection of racism that was prevalent among a good majority of his classmates. We also get a peek into some of Frank's crabby moments such as the time he lost patience with an Internet support service technician who was trying to help him with his Internet problem. Each experience is linked to one of the elements comprising "warmth" and when they are all added up, Frank does succeed in coming up with more than a passing grade. As a result, Frank is called up to return to earth and perform one more very important task.

Afterlife Crisis is narrated with a style and execution that is surprisingly uncomplicated for such a complex subject matter. In addition, what stands out about this novel is Mayfield's creativity as he interweaves excerpts from the seven song lyrics extracted from a CD that accompanies the book. These inspirational epigraphs initiate most of the chapters, and as Mayfield informed me when I interviewed him, it was the music that inspired the book. This is something that we often don't encounter, as it is usually the other way around where songs have been inspired by literature.

In addition, what I found most rewarding was that the epigraphs effectively whisper to us the principal themes that are to follow in each of the chapters. This is quite a delicate task, however, Mayfield has pulled it off with flying colors with a wonderful book with wise and heartening advice that makes us stop and ponder the kind of legacy we would like to leave our family and friends.

--Norm Goldman, Publisher & Editor Bookpleasures


Steve Mayfield

Chicago Sessions Announces November Release!

Disc 2 of Series 1 scheduled to Ship November 2008:



VOLUME 2: MARSHALL VENTE TRIO MARSHALL ARTS
Marshall Vente piano, electric piano, cuica, Tibetan cymbals, gong; Trio: Scott Mason acoustic bass; Isidro Isi Perez drums; Tropicale Trio: Jim Batson acoustic & electric bass; Luiz Ewerling drums; Special Guests: Glenn Reitsma acoustic & electric guitars; Joe Sonnefeldt steel pan, congas, udu, shaker; Chip Gdalman alto flute.

Support Chicago Jazz at www.chicagosessions.com

Hear Samples at www.chicagosessions.com

AES 125th Convention San Francisco

AES Welcome


Flashpoint at AES


AES Floor


Educational Fair


Education Forum


Mastering Forum

Chicago Sessions -October Release!

Disc 1 of Series 1 scheduled to ship October 2008:


Larry Gray – double bass
John Moulder – acoustic and electric guitars
Charles Heath IV - drums


Hear samples at:

www.chicagosessions.com

or click on chicagosessions by "otherlinks" to subcribe

Alice Peacock Recording Session at Flashpoint

Shaun Hildner, Bernie Mack, Alice Peacock, Audrey Welling and George Luif




John Murray, Alice Peacock and Bernie Mack

www.alicepeacock.com

CHICAGO SESSIONS:

CHICAGO SESSIONS is now accepting subscriptions to Series 1! Please visit www.chicagosessions.com for more information.

CHICAGO SESSIONS is a jazz record label featuring the best Chicago jazz artists, from the established to the undiscovered. We produce 12 exclusive, high quality Compact Discs per year, which collectively form a Series, available only by subscription. Each CD in the Series features a different artist, and focuses on their original compositions. Subscribers will receive all 12 CDs in the Series to which they subscribe, with one CD being released each month. A subscription to Series 1 is $135.00 within the domestic United States, including tax and shipping.


SERIES 1 : OCTOBER 2008 - SEPTEMBER 2009

Volume 1 - Larry Gray • One - Two - Three! with John Moulder and Charles Heath - Ships October 2008.

Volume 2 - Marshall Vente Trio • Marshall Arts (with Scott Mason, Isi Perez, Jim Batson, Luiz Ewerling, Glenn Reitsma and Joe Sonnefeldt) - Ships November 2008.

Volume 3 - Steven Hashimoto's Mothra (Steven Hashimoto, Neal Alger, Kathy Kelly, Michael Levin, Dan Hesler and Heath Chappell) (scheduled) - Ships December 2008.

Volumes 4 - 12 - To Be Announced!


CHICAGO SESSIONS will endeavor to
• Encourage original music by the best Chicago jazz artists
• Introduce the best Chicago jazz to a larger audience, both locally and worldwide
• Provide the jazz enthusiast with unique, high quality recordings which would otherwise not be available, and to foster their connection with the Chicago jazz scene
• Promote the idea that music has value, and that artists should be able to make a living providing the world with the beauty of their art
• Take a positive stance against music piracy of all kinds, including illegal downloading (“file sharing”), and copying of CDs
• Offer artists a good recording opportunity, and a fair and straightforward contract in which they share in the success of the label
• Use, whenever possible, environmentally friendly materials in the CDs we create
• Make a lasting contribution to the collective of great music and quality recording, for the benefit of the listeners, the artists and for posterity.


www.chicagosessions.com


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WFMT "Introductions" - Broadcast from Flashpoint Academy

Info:

www.wfmtintroductions.com


Engineers:





Talent and Team:

Mike Murphy 1975 - 2008

Words cannot express the greatness of Mike Murphy - I have had the pleasure of recording Mike over the past 11 years with "Far Out Of Me" and "Leave" - he was not just a client - but also a friend. He will be missed. Sometimes life does not make sense.....it is too short...



Mike Murphy 1975 - 2008 an amazing human being.

Mike Murphy Photos To Remember:

Mike Murphy:




Leave:













Pop Overthrow:

Guest Speaker Series at Flashpoint Continued:

Danny Leake
Mastering Engineer, owner of Urban Gurilla Engineers. Clients included: Kanye West, Janet Jackson, Sting, Hank Williams Jr., Candlebox, Willie Nelson, Stevie Wonder, etc.




Doug McBride
Music Recording Engineer, owner of Gravity Studios. Clients include: Veruca Salt, Smashing Pumpkins, Fall Out Boy, Dashboard Confessional, Juliana Theory, Bob Mould, RATM, Red Red Meat, Sinead O’Connor, etc.

New "Houndz, Afterlife Crisis" Released - Compact Disc/Book:

Tracked and Mixed by Bernie Mack
Mastered by Nick Eipers
Music / Book by Steve Mayfield

"Deuce"

Great Clients:




http://www.myspace.com/deuceiswild

Jeff Kliment - Part of The Guest Lecture Series at Flashpoint Academy for the Recording Arts Program

Jeff spoke with the students about "Audio Development for Interactive Video Games"
along with some Q and A for students:



some of Jeff's credits:

1. Star Wars: Super Bombad Racing (2001) (VG) (sound department manager)
2. Star Wars: Starfighter (2001) (VG) (sound mixer)
   ... aka Star Wars: Starfighter Special Edition (International: English title)
3. Star Wars: Demolition (2000) (VG) (sound department manager)
4. Escape from Monkey Island (2000) (VG) (sound department manager) (sound effects editor)
5. Star Wars: Episode I - Jedi Power Battles (2000) (VG) (sound designer)
6. Star Wars: Force Commander (2000) (VG) (additional sound designer)
   
   
7. Star Wars: Episode I - Racer (1999) (VG) (lead sound designer) (supervising sound editor)
8. Grim Fandango (1998) (VG) (supervising sound editor)
9. Star Wars: Masters of Teräs Käsi (1998) (VG) (additional sound)
10. Star Wars: Yoda Stories (1997) (VG) (sound effects editor)
    ... aka Yoda Stories (USA: short title)
11. Outlaws (1997) (VG) (sound effects editor) (sound)
12. The Birdcage (1996) (sound) (uncredited)
    ... aka Birds of a Feather
13. Jumanji (1995) (sound)
14. Nine Months (1995) (sound)
15. Mrs. Doubtfire (1993) (sound) (uncredited)
16. Rising Sun (1993) (sound)
17. Henry & June (1990) (sound)
    
    
18. The Thin Blue Line (1988) (sound effects editor)
19. Two Idiots in Hollywood (1988) (sound effects editor)
20. Walker (1987) (sound)
21. Tough Guys Don't Dance (1987) (post-production sound engineer) (as Jeffrey Kliment)
22. Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (1985) (sound editor)
    ... aka Mishima (USA: short title)
23. Never Cry Wolf (1983) (sound) (uncredited)
    

And:

1. Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb (2003) (VG) (music editor)
2. Star Wars: Force Commander (2000) (VG) (music engineer)
   
   
3. Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1988) (music editor) (uncredited)
4. True Stories (1986) (music editor)
5. Howard the Duck (1986) (music editor)
   ... aka Howard: A New Breed of Hero (UK)
6. Psycho Girls (1985) (first assistant music mixer)
7. The Cotton Club (1984) (music editor)

John Murray, Jeff Kliment and Bernie Mack:

The Houndz "Afterlife Crisis" Completed

Houndz record pressed - Release date - September 16th 2008



Songs Written by Steve Wyrostek and The Houndz
Recorded and Mixed by Bernie Mack @ Gallery of Carpet Recording and The 2nd Bed Room
Mastered By Nick Eipers @ Shantyville Recording Studio

Psychodots Recording Session at Flashpoint

As Part of Flashpoint's "Production In Action"

Psychodots are:

Rob on Guitar and Vocals:






Chris on Drums:





Bob on Bass:




Chris, Bob and Myself (Looking like we are somewhat in control of the project..)




All of us:

14 Miles to Empty with Gail Katz - Recording Session:

Group Photo:





Gail Katz:





Mike:




Ken:




Ed:





Tom:

Jimmy Tomasello from "The Old Town School"

Jimmy - M930 vocals / M200 Acoustic:









Drums - Ev 868/ 421's / 57 / U195's






Electric Guitar - Royer 121:





Violin - KM 184:





Keys - DI:





Bass - DI:





Lead Vocals - M930:





Backing Vocals - M930: