"Rock Concerto" In Ankara, Turkey

If you happen to be in Ankara, Turkey next week, drop by the University. We're performing Alexander Markov's "Rock Concerto" with the University Symphony and Chorus. Should be about 120 cats onstage!

The "Rock Concerto" is a piece for electric violin (Alexander Markov), drums (Gregg Gerson), vocals (Neal Coomer), and electric bass (that's me!), 66-piece symphony orchestra, and 50-voice chorus. I also have a bunch of pipe organ parts to cut as well. I've been playing bass for over 20 years. I've only been playing keyboards for just over 20 minutes. There's no pressure there!

This is our 5th trip to Turkey and will be our 8th time mounting the entire concerto. We've also hit in Cyprus, Israel, and Bridgeport, CT. I know it's strange routing. You'll have to speak to our travel agent about that....

Alex is one of the top tier classical concert violinists in the world. And for Pagannini stuff, he's probably the #1 dude on the planet. But he also loves Jimmy Page. So he built himself a 6-string electric violin that he plays through a Marshall guitar amp and wrote a full concerto around the instrument. Nobody can say that he isn't committed to his concept!

Needless to say, even though I'm playing the part of "Rock Bass Player" in the piece, we're all featured soloists with the symphonies we visit (electric violin, vocalist, drums, and bass). At the end of the show they give us flowers just like Miss America. It's a trip. And standing right in the middle of a full symphony is a real charge. What a sound!

Ivan Bodley
Brooklyn, NY

Check out my website: www.funkboy.net
Visit me on MySpace: www.myspace.com/funkboynyc
Follow my blog at: http://funkboynyc.blogspot.com/

Kazoozle at the Bamboozle!

9-year-old guitarist from Tokyo, Yuto Miyazawa rocked the Kazoozle stage at the Bamboozle Festival at the Meadowlands in New Jersey. The kid certainly knows how to draw a crowd!

In the photo above, myself along with Louis Appel on drums and Randy McStine on second guitar back up Yuto rocking his Randy Rhoades model Flying Vee guitar. And I have to say, even though he's cute with the guitar, which is almost bigger than he is, the kid ROCKS. We did songs like: "Crazy Train," "Highway Star," and "Freebird." Yuto plays the guitar parts and even the solos note-for-note.

Yuto and I go way back. I played with him on a visit to New York last year when he was only EIGHT. He's getting a little long in the tooth now. If he contiunes with his studies at the rate he's going and doesn't decide that it would be more fun to play soccer when he's 12 (which I would think would be great), he's really going to be someone to keep an eye on in coming years.

I get the distinct sense from Yuto that he dearly loves playing the guitar. There are no stage parents forcing him into the spotlight or anything like that. He's constantly trying to echo riffs I play at soundcheck, for instance, continuosly gathering musical information from every possible source, even the bass player. It's amazing to watch his talent develop.

And, heck, it's fun for me too. I get to play very loud and fast with him. It's interesting to have your check signed by a 9-year-old. I'm looking forward to more....

Ivan Bodley
Brooklyn, NY

Check out my website: www.funkboy.net
Visit me on MySpace: www.myspace.com/funkboynyc
Follow my blog at: http://funkboynyc.blogspot.com/