The bassist for “Weird Al” Yankovic is Stephen Jay, a musical genius. One of his best songs is titled “Deny the Accuser.” I’m being flooded with attempts to talk me out of my contention that Thomas DiMassimo’s attack on Donald Trump was an Islamic State dry run. You need to understand something: I wrote that…
A Druid in Los Angeles
November 12, 2014
Stephen Jay is a druid. He’s also been “Weird Al” Yankovic’s bassist for over thirty years. However, he’s also a multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, lyricist, and classically trained composer who studied with John Cage, Lukas Foss, Max Neuhaus, and Charles Wuorinen, and he’s a music ethnographer who’s traveled the world playing with and recording folk musicians from…
This is real
May 31, 2014
I just learned of Cameron Carpenter. Last night I had a strange nightmare in which I attended a NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) show and tried to buddy up to the bassist Stanley Clarke. He looked just like Jimi Hendrix and refused to acknowledge me. I rubbed my face against his as he made…
The best concert I ever saw
February 10, 2014
I can’t count the number of concerts, live shows, or performances I’ve seen. The most professional was David Lee Roth in Tokyo, with Steve Vai on guitar, Gregg Bissonette on drums, and Matt Bissonette on bass. There was literally not a single wasted second. I’ve never seen a band work harder for its money. After…