1/28/07

Happy (relatively) new year!

I’m writing this update (blog? Ugh.) from Bangkok, Thailand. We’ve been invited by the royal palace here to perform for two events related to the “Jazz King.” You may or may not know that Larry Carlton was commissioned by Sony Thailand to arrange some of the Thai King’s own songs in a contemporary jazz setting a few months back, in correlation with the King’s birthday. Anyway—I finally got some sleep!! Greg Mathieson, Abraham Laboriel and myself flew out yesterday—actually for the last two days! I jetted directly from Kimmel to LAX (in my wife’s car with a flat tire—nice!!) and just made the last flight out through Taipei. After arriving in Bangkok, we went directly to the 9 hour rehearsal at the concert hall! By hour 8, I looked at Greg and we were both in the same zone—FRIED. But the two concerts are today, and should be great. Larry Carlton is playing, of course, as is Abe & Greg, Toss Panos, Tom Scott, and a Nashville horn section. Good times!
Just before leaving L.A., I participated in Jason Scheff’s new project, which he is calling “Life.” It was a lot of fun. It’s always fun playing music with another keyboard player (as I am this weekend with Greg), and Jason’s “Life” project was no exception; Steve Weingart played Fender Rhodes and Nord, while I played Moog and Wurlitzer. Totally fun. Larry Klimas on saxophone, Jason on bass, and Tommy Brechtlein on drums threw down!! On day one of recording, we played for 90 minutes non-stop—all of which is recorded. Check Jason Scheff’s Myspace page for updates. This promises to be a really fun project.

Also just before leaving, I spent a week composing and arranging (and playing on) a bunch of cues for the upcoming Miss America pageant (for buddy, composer Tree Adams). It airs on CMT, I believe.

And a REALLY FUN recording—Steve Lukather’s new record. Lee Sklar and Abe Laboriel Jr. played—Luke has a collection of really cool tunes (one, “Too Many Zeroes,” which I co-wrote, so it’s REALLY cool… ahem…), and we tracked ‘em all at the Steakhouse. Abe’s always a powerhouse, but this was my first experience with Lee Sklar, who is simply amazing. What a great hang! This should promise to be a pretty awesome record—I hope! Oh- Lukey’s son Trevor also co-wrote a REALLY smokin’ tune. I think there are constant updates on the Toto Network, online.

And of course NAMM was omnipresent last week. The guys from Keytar were there—they sent me the killer new V-2 two octave Keytar. Check these things out—they’re fun for guys like me that wish we could play guitar. Basically, clavinet strings on a “strap-on” guitar like body with a 2 octave keyboard. It’s really fun. They’ve rolled out a new Rhodes piano. The jury’s still out on whether it’s awesome—but it’s nice they’re making them—and a little lighter in weight! We’ll see what happens. Also, my friends at MUSE Research were there with the Receptor, my plug-in player. Love that thing. And the FINE folks at Moog—with a new Little Phatty keyboard and the killer new Freq-box stomp box.

UPCOMING GIGS:
FEB 3
Shogun Warrior
Baked Potato, North Hollywood

FEB 11
Pre-Grammy Telecast

FEB 16
Simon Phillips Band
w/ Alphonso Johnson, Dean Brown, & Everette Harp
Baked Potato, North Hollywood

FEB 17
Martin Short
Phoenician Hotel
Phoenix, AZ

FEB 18
Lazlo Bane
Hotel Café, Hollywood, CA

Peace!
JB

12/12/06
Hello! I actually tried to update this page last week-but something magic happened and somehow that update is lost (Christmas magic?). So we’ll try again! I was going to announce two gigs I had... umm... LAST week... which, in hindsight, were really fun!

The first was our Shogun gig, with Tommy Brechtlein filling in for the ailing Toss Panos on drums, and Jimmy Johnson on bass, as well as Toshi, John Daversa, and myself. What a great gig! Tommy and Jimmy-true pros.

The second was a reunion of sorts: a gig with the great Simon Phillips (also at the Baked Potato) on 12/8. We hadn’t played Simon’s electric (aka "fusion?" d’oh!) music since 1998. And Simon assembled a new band for this one-Dean Brown on guitar (recently transplanted from the east coast to San Diego), Alphonso Johnson on bass, and Everette Harp on sax. What a band! All had unbelievable commitment to learning these crazy tunes, and 100% devotion to playing their instruments. I had a blast! It’s so nice to hear Everette stretch-what a beast! And Alphonso and Dean-complete A class players-thanks guys for kicking my butt! Simon, incidentally, sounds better than ever-hasn’t lost an ounce of power.

So what else? Kimmel’s still goin’ strong... in fact, look for a send-up of Band Aid’s "Do They Know It’s Christmas"-sung by our own Toshi Yanagi, and called "I Don’t Know What Christmas Is (Because I’m Japanese)." It will air before Christmas. They’ve taken our other hit videos off of YouTube, so I don’t know how to get them anymore after they air-you HAVE to tune in! (ABC-TV, weeknights 12:05 am) Also, the Kimmel house band (affectionately known as the "Cletones") began recording what will hopefully become our first album. There are some originals and some covers-all fun rock/funk stuff with horns. Stay tuned! Thanks to Stagg Street Studios and Erich Gobel, our engineer. The Cletones, otherwise known as "Mowgli," will be at Café Cordiale in Sherman Oaks this Friday, Dec. 15th at 10pm.

I’ll be recording with the great Peter Himmelman next week. I’m really looking forward to it. I have the utmost respect for Peter’s songwriting and musicianship, and also happen to think he’s one of the funniest guys ever. Check out his stuff: www.peterhimmelman.com

Some other recent stuff... played with my buddy Chad Fischer’s band Lazlo 2 weeks ago at Room 5 in Hollywood... really fun. (You know-the guys that wrote the theme to "Scrubs?") Great music. Thanks, Chad for the invite. Wrote some music for Metrolink’s annual Holiday Toy Express this year. It’s a great event that helps collect toys for the "Spark of Love" drive with ABC TV. (My wife is in the cast, too!) It’s a really nice event for the kids... check the Metrolink website for the stop nearest you!

Oh-and it looks like AbstractLogix will be releasing our trio CD, "MONDO TRIO," recorded last November with Vinnie Colaiuta and Jeff Coffin-hopefully next spring. We’re working on the final master and artwork now. Stay tuned for that! Thanks to Souvik for his interest and his support of the project.

Thanks everyone... JB

10/25/06 - CD UPDATE!

Oops… forgot to mention…
My first solo album, The Jeff Babko Group: Misfits of Silence, is now available on Itunes, as well as CDbaby.com.

This CD was done when I was 23, fresh-faced and ready to be "jazz guy!" I wrote all the stuff, and the CD includes my old pal Mike Elizondo playing acoustic bass, as well as Rob Lockart on saxophone, Kendall Kay on drums, and Larry Koonse on guitar.

Check it out-download at your leisure.

Of course, "Broject (featuring Toss Panos)" is also available on Itunes.

Also, you should be aware of a great LEGAL music downloading site that Larry Goldings turned me onto years ago, called Emusic. (All the old Milestone & Concord catalog is there, among a bunch of cool indie rock stuff! Monk, Trane, Elliot Smith, Pixies… etc!) It’s a nominal subscription fee and VERY cool.
"Broject" is available for download on Emusic.

Thanks, and enjoy!

10/22/06

…just coming off a high getting to back up George Benson and Al Jarreau together on Jimmy Kimmel Live. George treated us to an off-the-cuff solo guitar chord melody version of "Tenderly" during rehearsal that was nothing short of brilliant. (I don’t think he knew anyone was listening!) What a good time we had with those guys, and I think-I HOPE they had a great time, too.

Great weekend last weekend, too. Apparently the King of Thailand is having a birthday in December, and Sony Thailand asked Larry Carlton to produce a jazz tribute to him. The amazing thing is-the King of Thailand actually writes his own tunes, and plays woodwinds. So Larry’s project was to arrange the King’s songs for the L.A. jazz group. And what a group Larry assembled! Day one included Abe Laboriel Jr. & Sr., and Tom Scott (along with Larry), and day two included Harvey Mason and Nathan East. I hope the King digs his tunes!

Incidentally, we had a killer Shogun Warrior gig featuring Ndugu Chancler on drums last month. What a pleasure playing with this giant! It was Stephen Brunner’s first gig with the Warrior, too-and he was great. Shogun will be playing the Potato fnishing out the year on Sunday November 5th, and Sunday December 3rd.

I write this update from Hawaii, overlooking a beautiful lush landscape, and am reminded to tell y’all that I’m playing "jazz night" this Wednesday (Oct. 25) at the Honolulu Club with Jeff Richman (& Dean Taba and Noel Okimoto). Come on out!

OK I’m back to vacationing. Mahalo!

10/4/2006

What’s up, everybody?
Lots of fun stuff to catch y’all up on…

First, Shogun Warrior appears this upcoming Sunday, October 8th with a new lineup. Unfortuately, Toss is in Japan for 3 months, but we are taking this opportunity to stir things up a bit. So, the details of this month’s gig are:

SHOGUN WARRIOR, OCTOBER 8th
BAKED POTATO, NORTH HOLLYWOOD
Jeff Babko, keys
Toshi Yanagi, guitar
John Daversa, trumpet/EVI
Stephen Bruner, bass
SPECIAL GUEST NDUGU CHANCLER, DRUMS

We’re very honored and excited to have Ndugu on board for this month’s gig. I’ve been watching him KILL on a DVD from a Miles Davis concert in 1971, and listening to Weather Report "Tale Spinnin’," just digging how wonderful he is, and this gig should be lots of fun. Young Stephen Bruner (from John Daversa’s band) will be making his maiden voyage with the Warrior, too.

In other news…
The Japanese tour with Larry Carlton & Robben Ford was a big success. The recordings I’ve heard so far are pretty slammin’! Sounds are thick, performances were pretty rockin’ for sure. It was a real pleasure, too, having the opportunity to hear Robben and Larry play duo guitars at the end of each set. Special stuff.

Other sessions have included the movie "The Dead Girl," a Christmas single with Michele Pillar, producer Niko Bolas and the band Master McCarthy, and Natasha Bedingfield.

You may have also spotted me playing trombone-haha!-with the Killers on Jimmy Kimmel Live.
Until next time…

8/23/06

I'm off to Japan with Larry Carlton and Robben Ford next week. We'll be at the Osaka, Nagoya, and Tokyo Blue Note clubs, as well as at the Zapporo Zepp, and the Tokyo Jazz Festival Sept. 3rd. We're cutting a live record with engineer Csaba Petocz, and rehearsals were great. Toss Panos will be playing drums, and Travis Carlton will be playing bass. Larry and Robben both brought in some real cool tunes, some new, and some old favorites.

Good news--Jimmy Kimmel Live just got an "early pick-up"-- meaning we're on the air through Jan. '08. Keep watching-- ABC-TV late nights. (Look for Michael Bluestein in the keyboard chair while I'm in Japan though! Thanks MB!) Also-- if you want a laugh, check us out on YouTube with our 80's style video "Girls on Mars"

Another thing-- MANY THANKS to the folks at MOOG for turning me onto the brand new Little Phatty synth. Let me tell you-- this little guy is a BEAST! I've been using it at Kimmel for the last 2 weeks and it's such a fun axe. Sounds super fat-- errr-- "PHAT!!!" We're all really tripping out over this great new keyboard. Everybody check it out! My new best gear-friend for sure.

Much love...JB

6/13/06

"BROJECT" UPDATE:
My 2004 collection, "Broject (featuring Toss Panos)," is now available on ITunes! This is a great development, and should let more people into hearing this CD.

I had a really fun gig with Shelby Lynne in April at Pappy & Harriet’s in Pioneertown, CA. I hadn’t played with her in years, and it was great to hear her and play with the "fellas," too.

This led to a really great session last week with Shelby at the Village in West L.A. Brian "Brain" Harrison, Bryan Owings, Val McCallum and myself rolled into the Village only to discover that Willie Nelson’s bus was pulling up. We had the honor of backing up Willie and Shelby on 3 duets that day, which were pretty magical. Sessions continued throughout the weekend, with Tom Canning playing some smokin’ B3 on some of the stuff, too. Great times!

Comin’ up… I’ve got two gigs with Larry Carlton AND Robben Ford, together, which should be pretty cool!
June 17th Concert:
The Britt Festival
Medford, OR 97501
 
June 18th Concert
Garden Theatre, Montalvo
Montalvo Arts Center
15400 Montalvo Road
Saratoga, CA 95071

Also a weekend-Thurs. June 22- Sun June 25 at Jazz Alley in Seattle with Larry Carlton as well… come on out!

I’ve been working with composer Christophe Beck on the score for a new movie with Billy Bob Thornton and Napoleon Dynamite’s Jon Heder called "School for Scoundrels" that’s been fun.

ONE MORE MONUMENT!!-the first ever Keyboard Night at Safari Sam’s was held on June 5th. Organized in just 3 days, myself, with Larry Goldings on B3, celeste, and melodica; Mitchel Forman on synthesizers, and the brave Toss Panos on drums, descended upon Hollywood for a really fun evening. Rolling Stones’ saxophonist Tim Ries sat in as well. What a night! I had just seen Larry at the Vic with a great new trio-and was inspired for sure. Mitchel and Larry have been heroes of mine for years, and collaborating with those two was a lot of fun! Pictures should be up on the photos page.

Thanks-remember to check ITunes for "Broject!"

MAY 30, 2006

6/5 Safari Sam's show!!!

HEY EVERYONE!

I'm leading a little group at Safari Sam's this upcoming Monday, June 5th.

Located at 5214 W. Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, Safari Sam‚s is a
465-capacity club, and includes a full-service restaurant with both indoor
and al fresco dining, two full bars, and modular staging.

I think it's $10 cover charge, and it's "One Taste" night, featuring, um, me
(Jeff Babko).

See you there!

APRIL 16, 2006

Hey y’all…
Went to the Jeff Beck show at the House of Blues a couple weeks ago and completely FREAKED OUT. Jeff Beck is more amazing than ever. It was my first time seeing him in person… and I was at the bar on my "tip toes" like a 12 year old. He did things on his instrument I never knew possible. I’m so thankful I got the chance to see and hear this moment. Vinnie and Pino Palladino and Jason Rebello were supportive, inventive, and completely burning.

HEY! Safari Sam’s is (allegedly) ACTUALLY OPENING! The band "Smoke," led by Robben Ford, will be appearing Monday nights, indefinitely starting tomorrow night (Apr. 17). Check www.robbenford.com or www.safari-sams.com for details. Should be fun though. Oh yeah-I’m playing keys.

We finished up a fun project a few weeks ago. The folks at Random House are reissuing Billie Holiday’s classic book "Lady Sings the Blues," and have decided to include a CD with it, featuring new versions of many of her classics. The CD promised to have some great performers singing her music. Nathan East assembled a cast of characters including my HERO, the baddest organ/piano player I know of, Tim Carmon (I call him "Sunday School"), Vinnie Colaiuta, Michael Thompson, and engineer Michael Blum at Castle Oaks in (now smoke-free!) Calabasas. I stared at the cover of the book with Billie’s portrait and just tried to do her justice. Shelby Lynne, Boz Scaggs, and Renee Olestad sang live with the band. I have to say-Shelby came in at 10am and totally captured B.H.’s vibe-that early in the morning! Renee Olestad proved she’s a big fan of Billie’s, and Boz was Boz-just killin’ it. Can’t wait to hear the outcome of this one. It was a challenge trying to come up with new ideas for, frankly, already perfectly done stuff.

I’ve been working with composer Ryan Beveridge on the score for the NBC show "Heist" in the last few weeks. Ryan is a REALLY talented composer, and Toshi (Yanagi, guitar) and I have really been enjoying contributing to his music. Unfortunately, looks like NBC may have pulled the plug on the show. But Ryan’s music is slammin’-catch the show while you can, and dig the tunes! Ryan’s score to the movie "Dirty," with Cuba Gooding, Jr. (which I played keys on, too), just was released on the "Dirty" Soundtrack. From what I remember, it was cool stuff, too.

Speaking of scores, I’ve been working a bunch with Tree Adams on this score to the aforementioned Wesley Snipes movie. We’ve now cut a salsa tune, a serious disco workout, some croonin’ jazz, and God knows what else. Promises to be an eclectic score!

NOTE: Shogun Warrior is performing on the SECOND Sundays of each month, in May and June. We should return to the first Sundays in July. That means, we SHOULD be at the Potato on May 14th and June 11th. Check the Potato website though to make sure.

Incidentally-the last Shogun gig was really good times indeed. Thanks to Mitchel Forman for coming to the gig and making me nervous.

By the way, has anybody heard the latest Makoto Ozone Trio record, "Real"? I picked it up today and am blown away.

OH-and finally… the DVD I did with Simon and the "Vantage Point" band is released. Check here to find out more about it, and how to purchase it. Pretty cool though-I’ve checked it out, and there’s some really cool rehearsal footage and interview stuff, as well as a nicely recorded performance.

Until next time… many blessings and much peace!

2/27/06

Hey everyone…
We had a great time with the Kimmel show in Detroit. Everyone at the Gem Theatre was fantastic, and the city of Detroit gets a gold star for hospitality and warmth!

There are a couple pictures of my visit with Dicky Barrett from his "live from Detroit" radio program here. Speaking of Dicky’s radio show, the Mighty Morning Show is streaming now-I check it out through ITunes.

Unfortunately, Toshi and I are missing the next Shogun gig at the Spud because the Kimmel show has scheduled a very special post-Oscar show, live from the El Portal Theater in NoHo. Shogun hasn’t performed since December, and hasn’t had the whole gang with Toshi and Mike since September of last year. Hopefully it will happen soon…

I’m scheduled to play with Robben Ford all throughout March at the new Safari Sam’s club in Hollywood, every Monday night. I think he’s calling the project "Smoke." Safari Sam’s is located at 5214 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood. Check here for details (although I checked the website this morning, and there’s nothing really there!).

GOOD NEWS! I was in the studio with Niko Bolas a few weeks ago for a couple days, and we’re finished with mixing the new project with Vinnie Colaiuta and Jeff Coffin. I’m super pumped about it. More details to come… but thanks to Greg Ladanyi for letting us use his studio, and to Vladimir Johnson for assisting. And to S.P. for the nonfat chais.

Dilated Peoples new album dropped last Tuesday, and they came to Kimmel on Wednesday to promote it. Their second tune was "You Can’t Run, You Can’t Hide," which has me on piano and some other sounds. (Director Bobcat got a really nice shot of me looking as white as ever grooving to the song in the studio, thanks!) Anyway, I played on a bunch of cuts, and Evidence and Babu made a great record. It’s called "20/20"; pick it up or get it from ITunes.

We recorded some more for guitarist Lyle Workman’s latest solo project. Gary Novak and Jimmy Johnson and I tracked 2 more songs a few weeks ago, and I’ve heard some rough edits and they sound great.

Also did some tracks for the new Wesley Snipes movie (directed by Mario Van Peebles) here at my home studio-on one track I played some keys along with trumpet and trombone on a version of "Born Under A Bad Sign"-that was fun. Thanks to composer Tree Adams.

Alright-more later-peace…

1/22/06

HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Ok… kinda sad, but you’re seeing last month’s update and this month’s combined… but I’ve been too busy! (Thank God!)

Just back from Japan with Larry Carlton-what a tour!!! I can’t believe how much fun these 7 gigs were… everybody was KILLIN’-Toss Panos and Michael Rhodes were a powerhouse rhythm section, and Barry and Mark on horns were, as always, rock solid (Barry making me feel properly inadequate as a trombonist with his BURNING solos on "Strikes Twice")-and everything seemed to propel Larry to do some serious stretching with some mind-bending solo turns. What a gas! Thanks to Barry Murai for straightening out some visa stuff, and Sonny Abelardo, Larry’s tireless manager. Pics from the tour will be up soon.

The Kimmel goes to Detroit soon for a week of pre-Super Bowl shows, and one live show immediately following the big game. Tune in!

Unfortunately, I had to miss a big night for Yamaha at NAMM-but… big thanks to Nathan East for asking me to be part of the event, and for understanding that I had to be faithful to the good folks at Jimmy Kimmel Live and not miss any more work!!

Today I’ve just returned from being part of a panel for Native Instruments at NAMM, whose amazing B4II just blows me away, as well as Elektrik Piano and their new B4D drawbars! I’ll be using these a bunch!!

Also thanks to Jared and the fine folks at Moog, as well as Ira Cary Blanco from Hartke, who turned me on to the great new Hartke keyboard amp.

More to come soon!

12/30/05

END OF THE YEAR SPECIAL!

2005 has truly been an AMAZING year, filled with blessings and new experiences, along with familiar situations and collaborations THANKFULLY continuing-how lucky I feel to get to have had this 2005!!

I’ll be heading out to Japan for the first time since ’02 (when I was with the Doves of Fire) to hit the glorious Blue Note circuit with Larry Carlton and the "Fire Wire" project in January. My pal Toss Panos will be joining the band, along with Nashville’s legendary Michael Rhodes on bass, and Mark Douthit and Barry Green from Nashville on horns. We’ll be playing material from the "Fire Wire" record, which is released in Japan, but not in the States yet.

In addtion, I’ve been working on some various projects.

In November, I recorded a trio project-and I’m VERY excited and proud of what we did. My friend JEFF COFFIN (Bela Fleck & the Flecktones) played various woodwinds, and our talented pal VINNIE COLAIUTA played drums, on what I consider a really special trio experiment-that seemed like a big success!! My sincere gratitude and appreciation goes to the two generous fellas. Jeff & Vinnie couldn’t have been more gracious and giving with their musical and creative gifts-not to mention their time. AND-our good friend and legendary engineer NIKO BOLAS recorded the project, and we’ll be mixing at the end of January. What a great cast! Steve Perry of Journey came and hung out on day 2 of recording, which brought a great energy to the room. "Don’t stop believin’" indeed!! Thanks to all at Sage & Sound in Hollywood. Can’t wait to share this music with y’all! More about it later…

Simon Phillips and I did a "hi-def" DVD in January (’05) that FINALLY is just about complete, with the "Vantage Point" band. We shot some additional footage for the DVD over at Simon’s studio (Phantom Recording)-interviews with Simon and myself, along with Walt Fowler. It should be released SOON (!!!) on the AIX label.

I thought I’d close the year with a kind of "Best of"-I don’t know how many people read this thing anyway-but I thought it’d be nice to share what I’ve been into this year, and what’s inspired me throughout the year (from what I remember)…

My favorite discs of ’05- at least that I discovered in ’05:

1) Miles Davis "The Cellar Door Sessions 1970"
2) Lewis Taylor "The Lost Album"
3) Lewis Taylor "Stoned (Part 1)"
4) Kate Bush "Aerial"
5) Geoffrey Keezer Trio "Wildcrafted- Live At the Dakota"
6) Death Cab for Cutie "Plans"
7) Wilco "Kicking Television Live in Chicago"
Kneebody "Kneebody"
9) The Coalition "Naked Movies"

DVD’s
Miles Davis "Miles Electric: A Different Kind of Blue"
Keith Jarrett "The Art of Improvisation"

Concerts:

Geoff Keezer Trio, Village Vanguard, October (Terreon Gully, drums)
Larry Goldings Band, The Vic (Santa Monica) w/ Larry (piano, organ, celeste), Anthony Wilson, gtr., David Piltch, bass, Jay Bellarose, drums
Joe Jackson/Todd Rundgren, Wilshire Theater, April

10/25/05
Hello all...
Another crazy month-- but lots of fun.
Some highlights:

In September, I spent a week at the fabulous Glenwood Studios in Burbank, after receiving a call from Nathan East with a daunting task: recreating all of the Pointer Sisters greatest hits note-for-note, sound-for-sound for the Sisters themselves to issue their own newly recorded hits collection. Oh-- and we had 3 days to do it-- including one day in which there was a complete citywide power outage! With some serious dedication from some serious "cats," we did it. Thanks to engineer Bill Smith and all at Glenwood for some 7AM (!!) session times. And the most fun for me was working with the serious studio crew-- Ricky Lawson, Paulinho DaCosta, Nathan, and Paul Jackson, Jr. The guys played on many of the original hits (Paulinho played on all but one of them!), so rising to the occasion of locking with them was somethin'! But they were all really cool and supportive of my pasty white blondness, and hittin' with 'em was a lot of fun for sure.

We had a gig with Joey McIntyre at the Key Club that week too, which went well. Kevin Stevens (drums), John Crooks (ac. bass), and Toshi Yanagi (gtr.) put a lot of time into making that gig right-- thanks guys!

Also in the last few months, we've been doing some organized, recorded "jam sessions" organized by Robben Ford. It's been quite an experience! At Stagg Street Studio in Van Nuys, a great group of guys: Chris Chaney, Gary Novak, Nick Lashley, Robben and myself have been recording with the great Niko Bolas at the controls. Some real interesting music has been the result! I'll keep y'all posted on what happens with all that. Also, the annual Taurus World Stunt Awards went down in late September. We had a mini-orchestra in the Crosby scoring stage at Paramount Studios, which was fun. Composer Tree Adams had the big task of composing for orchestra with many last minute music cues coming in. He kicked serious butt, as did the orchestra. It was fun to work with bassist Trey Henry at that event, as well as with the great 5 man percussion section! Big sound!

And-- just this past weekend I had a great time in NYC with Larry Carlton as part of the Music Player Weekend at the Crowne Plaza, which culminated with an all-star tribute to legend Les Paul. Larry's "Firewire" band opened up the show, followed by a great house band with my pal Scott Healy on keys, Keith Carlock on drums, Glenn Alexander on gtr., and Gerald Veasley on bass. Scott invited me to sit in with bassist Doug Wimbish, who's pedalboard was 3 times the size of any guitarist on the gig! Robben was there, as well as Jon Brion (who did an amazing "multitrack" tribute to Les with the standard, "Lover") and John Mayer.

I'd like to thank Ernie Rideout from Keyboard magazine for introducing me to a bunch of cool people at the show, as well as Music Player's Jon Levy for giving us a room when we got into the city! OK... onward... I've got a fun trio session next week that I'll update y'all on after it goes down-- assuming it goes well!

Peace and blessings!!!
Jeff


9/6/05
Hello everybody. It's a grim time to talk about light stuff like what's going on with the world of Jeff Babko-- but the joy and love that is made through music is REALLY important right now. Let's keep our prayers with those affected by Katrina.

I did a few shows last month with Martin Short-- and one of them was in Biloxi, MS. We know that since then, Biloxi was hit hard by Katrina-- and most of the musicians that worked with us on that date were New Orleans-area based guys. REAL GREAT group of guys. My heart goes out to all that were kind at the Harrah's Casino that day, and especially to the musicians. OK...

Musically things have been amazing throughout August and seem to continue. Yesterday we had a SLAMMIN' hit with George Duke at the Heart & Soul festival in Oakland, CA. The band is really pumpin'-- Gordon Campbell is really hittin' on the drums, and Jef Lee Johnson has a real special thing on the guitar, along with Mike Manson bringing this house down on bass. And playing behind George-- needless to say, one of my all-time heroes... is a lesson. His coda on "Sweet Baby" is always inventive and inspiring, along with this crazy solo intro he does for "500 Miles to Go." Technically and soulfully-- a true genius! I think his tribue to Cannonball, "The Black Messiah," was particulary FONKY yesterday, too. We also did dates last month in D.C. and Atlanta. Hopfeully more to come...

Another highlight-- probably of my LIFE-- was spending the last week of August at the Blue Note in NYC with Larry Carlton. Larry's album "Last Nite" was really inspirational to me when I was coming up learning jazz... it bridged my understanding of pop and rock and introduced jazz tunes, concepts, and harmony-- as well as soul, groove and fire. Not to mention-- his work with the Crusaders (especially "Southern Comfort") is stuff I was digging from when I was about 3 years old! So making music with him for 2 sets a night was a JOY!!! I don't know that I've ever gotten goose bumps (or as the Hawaiians say, "chicken skin") onstage like I did multiple times from Larry's playing on the slow blues. His sound, phrasing-- his soul-- what an inspiration!! Thanks, Larry, for making me a part of the Sapphire Blue band that week! And the horn guys were burning, too. Of course, Larry's son Travis is killing on the bass, too. I hope there is more in store with Larry-- I was honored to play with him.

Some of the "cats" came down to the Blue Note to check us out during the week, too-- including Scott Healy, keyboardist for Conan O'Brien, and Paul Shaffer with Marty Short. Wow-- we had the late night TV keyboards covered!! Anyway, there are new pictures up (hopefully) on the pics section of this site.

Upcoming are the "Stunt Awards" with composer Tree Adams at the end of the month. We did it a few years ago and it was a blast. Mowgli (aka "The Cletones") are at Cordiale in Sherman Oaks on the 9th. And Robben Ford is doing some experimental recording-- as well as a proposed ongoing creative project that sounds exciting.

Anyway-- I hope everyone reading this is well-- and I'm thankful for a great time in music!!

7/13/05
Hey everybody!

Things have been busy. One of my heroes, and a good friend-- David Paich-- asked me to be part of a really fun event. George Lucas just opened his "Letterman Digital Arts Center" in the Presidio of San Francisco. I wrote the charts and played with the 'all-star' band (what was I doing there!??) which included Nathan East, Narada Michael Walden, Michael Thompson, Steve Lukather, Lenny Castro, Tom Scott, Jim Horn, George Bohanon, Chuck Findley, and Lisa Fischer. We backed up some Bay Area artists-- Boz Scaggs, Bonnie Raitt, and Chris Isaak, among others. It was a great event, which included us getting to stay and rehearse at the Skywalker Ranch, an amazing facility.

Thanks, Paich!

Now I'm gearing up for an August run at the Blue Note, NYC, with Larry Carlton. It'll be my first time playing live with him for a whole gig (!!), and with his Sapphire Blue band. We'll be there the week of Aug. 22nd.
Come check it out.

Of course, I'm still at Jimmy Kimmel Live, every night on ABC at 12:05. Check it out.

Finally-- I'll be with Martin Short at selected dates through the late summer and fall, hitting Casinorama in Ontario, Canada again, as well as some stuff in the South.

BROJECT is still available at CDBaby, as well as at Abstractlogix.com and Audiophile Imports.

I just got married, so it's a little crazy-- but I'll take all of these blessings for sure! Thank God Jolene said "yes!"

Thank you all for your support.


4/18/05
Hey everybody...
Things have been busy-- thankfully! Jimmy Kimmel Live is full swing (you
may have caught us backing up Hall & Oates last week), and lots of other
various things-- working on a movie for the last few weeks with composer
Chris Beck, and working with some songwriters on some new tunes for various
artists.

As far as live playing, we'll be hitting with Shogun Warrior again on May
1st at the Baked Potato. We missed Toss Panos and Mike Elizondo at last
month's gig, but the May date looks to have everyone-- John Daversa, Toshi
Yanagi, myself, Toss and Mike.

Don't forget "BROJECT" which is available at CDBaby as well as Audiophile
Imports and Abstractlogix.com.

Thanks everybody!

1/1/05
Happy New Year everybody! Coupla' announcements for y'all.

The Shogun Warrior will invade the Baked Potato on Jan. 2nd, as always, the first Sunday of the month. This month we're excited to have all the original members-- Toshi Yanagi is back from Japan, along with Mike Elizondo (who's in this month's Bass Player Magazine), John Daversa, Toss Panos, and myself.

I'll be playing for GK at the NAMM show this year... on Jan. 22nd., with Jimmy Earl and Gary Novak. Should be a smokin' trio gig! Also, the following night, I'll be with Mike Landau at the Baked Potato (Jan. 23rd). Come out and hang!

Start your year out right and support live music!

12/8/04
Happy holidays everybody!

So-- here's the latest in December. This week we're finishing up what should be a KILLER Larry Carlton record at Capitol.

No live gigs before Christmas. BUT-- we're trying to get the word out about the "Broject" record. The folks at Abstractlogix.com have added an interview with me to their site. Check it out!

Everyone have a wonderful holiday season! Don't forget we have Shogun Warrior the first Sunday of every month at the Baked Potato in NoHo. Come out on Jan. 2nd! Recover from your New Years festivities with us-- it'll be Toshi Yanagi's first gig back after his 3 month Japanese tour.

11/11/04
Hey guys...
The "Broject" CD is out there and generating some interest-- thanks to everyone in Italy, England, the Netherlands, Australia-- all these far away places-- and here in the States, for buying it! I really appreciate it! You can now find the CD at www.cdbaby.com, www.audiophileimports.com, and in Germany at www.import-collector.com.

Here's a great site for y'all to check out though! It's www.abstractlogix.com. Souvik and the gang have created a really interesting fusion related site with some nice interviews and other material. I did an interview for abstractlogix that should be appearing on their site soon. They also carry the "Broject" CD.

Beyond "Broject," I had a gig with Virgil Donati that was fun last night. Thanks to Virgil, Rufus, and Tony for carrying me through my first crazy Virgil experience. Also, our last Shogun Warrior gig was really fun-- Mike Elizondo was out of town, so Jimmy Johnson filled in on bass. What a treat!

Thanks, Jimmy! No guitar that night-- and we had a lot of fun.

It looks like the next gig I have in town is with Shogun at the Baked Potato on December 5th. Come on out! As you all may know, we're almost always there on the first Sunday of the month.

And of course, everybody KEEP WATCHING JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE! Keep our ratings going great!

Thanks everyone! Peace and blessings to all of you!
Jeff



10/26/04
Welcome to my new site! I've resisted hyping myself via my own website for a long time, but with the "Broject" album done, I needed a way for people to easily find it and be able to check it out (i.e. BUY it!!). So here it is:
jeffbabko.com! Ugh...

I'll be with Brandon Fields at the Baked Potato on Nov. 5th (also with Walt
Fowler on trumpet), then back at the Potato on the 7th with our usual
first-Sunday-of-the-month SHOGUN WARRIOR gig. Toss Panos will be on that one, as well as trumpeter John Daversa.

Also- JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE on ABC-TV got picked up for another year! Great news-- another year of work for us. Be sure to check us out on ABC
weeknights at 12:05 am-- until JANUARY 2006!

You can link to buy "BROJECT" here on the "music" page, or go directly to
CDBaby.com and search for my name. Detailed info about the record can be found here.

Thanks again for visiting! And thanks to Kevin Stevens for creating the
site. Shout-outs to Kev!

PEACE...
JEFF