Hello boys!

As i just record a new version of the Peter Gabriel's tune I'm working on, I decided to open that topic to showcase all the tunes I'm currently studying.

These are not definitive recordings, just works in progress. Please remember that I'm not able to play and record an exact replica of a well-known tune, I just love changing/swapping parts, melodies, etc... But, feel free to comment and give me advices!

So, here you are (I will edit this first post everytime I've a new tune to show) :

1. My version of Georgia on my Mind (Ray Charles)

2. A new version of Peter Gabriel's San Jacinto

How often do you have new tunes to show?

Brett

I don't know. Since I have a new band, part of the set is made of tracks I already played solo and part is made of brand new tracks. I plan to work on really 6 new tracks a year (I should work more, but I already know I won't be able to)

A video of Amorangi, a trio I'm taking part, leaded by a singer from New Zealand, has surfacing from a gig this summer. Nothing incredible on Stick, no shredding, just some unobtrusive stick playing (well I hope)
Sound is just ok, considering it was a camera recording.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8r9i5kipWA[/youtube]

Just had time to listen to the San Jacinto cover. I like the vibe and the atmosphere. You managed to create a mindset with this cover that's different from the original; a little more brooding, like a modern comic book movie or film noir soundtrack; I don't know if I'm finding the right words. Thank you for not making it a straight cover.
Three points:
1) You may have already given thought to this, as this is not a complete recording, so take this with a grain of salt: it's cool that the arrangement takes a long time to unfold, but without sung lyrics, ears are going to want to hear more. Maybe a little added incidental percussion, more affected loop-like textures...again, I know it's a work in progress.
2)Give some thought to effects on the drums.
3)Try to relax a bit. Particularly when you're playing a more involved rhythm, your playing is very "on top of the beat", and that can be very cool sometimes, but with a tune like this you'll want to be just a smidge behind the beat, and no more than right on it.
Those things said, again, I really like what you're doing with it.

Well, thanks for the positive criticism, I need that.
Well, I listened again to that record, and the version I play is less processed but has still this film noir flavour, and I'm very happy to see that you get the idea I'd in my mind when recording. Moreover, i usually don't like straight covers, and I really try to make covers sound like my own tunes.
As far as phrasing is concerned, I know what you mean, I was really not that comfortable when I recorded it, it's really a work in progress recording. I guess I'm more confident now with this tune, so much it now is part of my current gig setlist. But it's still challenging to me, it involves some sub-techniques I'm not fully accustomed. And you pointed one of the major problem of my playing, I tend to rush the tempo and play "before" the beat (If anyone can give me some ideas/exercises to solve/minimize this "problem", let me know!!!)

"Oh, no...it's the problem...it's back...I must have fruit!!"
(Sorry for the obscure Time Bandits reference there.)
For me, the light came on when I was told by the singer/leader of a band I was in that I played like I was riding on a Kawasaki Ninja motorcycle, and I ought to be riding a big Harley-Davidson chopper. I could visualize that (although I'd ridden neither in my life - still haven't), and once I did, I could literally feel my lower back relaxing and dropping, and that made a big difference.
Listen to all the Stax records with Al Jackson on drums that you can. Joey Kramer drumming with Aerosmith is a great example. His pocket is HUGE and relaxed. Other good ones to listen to: Steve Ferrone. Jeff Porcaro. (A perfect example: Don Henley's "Dirty Laundry." Porcaro said that the beat box was already laying down the time so he just 'laid that sucker back as far as it could go'.)
Avoid like the plague: listening to English Prog Rock. (Sorry...I love it to death, but it's not the music to listen to when you need to learn how to play in a pocket.)
Play along with a drum loop at a moderate tempo, and simply place your notes just a whisker after the beat. It just comes from doing, really.
I hope any of this helps, and I hope all I say is taken in the positive spirit in which it's given.