Sounding Off with Rick Beato

In this episode of SOUNDING OFF we talk to Dream Theater's Guitarist John Petrucci. Here is a bio of John: John Peter Petrucci (born July 12, 1967) is an American guitarist, composer and producer. He is best known as a founding member of the progressive metal band Dream Theater. With his former bandmate Mike Portnoy, he has produced all Dream Theater albums from 1999's Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory to 2009's Black Clouds & Silver Linings, and has been the sole producer of the band's albums released since Portnoy's departure in 2010. Petrucci was named as the third player on the G3 tour six times, more than any other invited guitarist. Joel McIver's 2009 book The 100 Greatest Metal Guitarists ranks Petrucci second, after Dave Mustaine. He was also named as one of the "Top 10 Greatest Guitar Shredders of All Time" by GuitarOne magazine. In 2012, Petrucci was ranked the 17th greatest guitarist of all time by a Guitar World magazine reader's poll.

This episode of Sounding Off features Dream Theater Keyboardist Jordan Rudess. Here is Jordan's Biography: Voted “Best Keyboardist of All Time” by Music Radar Magazine, Jordan Rudess is best known as the keyboardist/multi-instrumentalist extraordinaire for platinum-selling Grammy- nominated prog rock band, Dream Theater. At nine, he entered the Juilliard School of Music Pre-College Division for classical piano training, but by his late teens he had grown increasingly interested in synthesizers and progressive rock music. Against the counsel of his parents and tutors, he turned away from classical piano and tried his hand as a solo progressive rock keyboardist. After performing in various projects during the 1980s, he gained international attention in 1994 when he was voted “Best New Talent” in the Keyboard Magazine readers’ poll after the release of his Listen solo album. Two of the bands that took notice of Rudess were The Dixie Dregs and Dream Theater, both of whom invited him to join. Rudess chose the Dregs, primarily as being a part-time member of the band would have less of an impact on his young family. During his time with the Dregs, Rudess formed a “power duo” with drummer Rod Morgenstein. The genesis of this pairing occurred when a power outage caused all of the Dregs’ instruments to fail except Rudess’, so he and Morgenstein improvised with each other until power was restored and the concert could continue. The chemistry between the two was so strong during this jam that they decided to perform together on a regular basis (under the name Rudess/Morgenstein Project or later RMP) and have released a studio and a live record. RMP did a short U.S. tour in November, 2013. Before joining Dream Theater in January 1999, Jordan connected with John Petrucci and Mike Portnoy of Dream Theater, bassist Tony Levin of King Crimson and Peter Gabriel notoriety, and recorded two albums with “Liquid Tension Experiment.” Rudess has been the full-time keyboardist with Dream Theater, since the recording of 1999’s Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory. He has recorded seven other studio albums with the group: 2002’s Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence, 2003’s Train of Thought, 2005’s Octavarium, 2007’s Systematic Chaos, 2009’s Black Clouds & Silver Linings , A Dramatic Turn of Events, the self titled Dream Theater, as well as their newest album, The Astonishing, a Rock Opera. The story was written by John Petrucci with music written by John Petrucci and and Jordan Rudess.

Victor Wooten is here with us today to Sound Off on being a musician, songwriter, author and educator.

In today's episode of Sounding Off Bassist Jeff Berlin! A flexible and powerful electric bassist, Jeff Berlin was one of the major fusion bassist to emerge during the mid-'70s. His father sang opera and his mother played piano. Berlin had nine years of violin lessons starting from when he was five and was considered a child prodigy, appearing with orchestras in New York City. However, when he was 14 he switched directions and began playing electric bass; Jack Bruce was an early hero. Berlin attended the Berklee College of Music for a time and then moved back to New York. For a short period he was in a trio with Allan Holdsworth and Tony Williams. In 1975 he recorded in Europe with Yes keyboardist Patrick Moraz and then in New York he became quite busy with studio work, club dates, and record sessions. Berlin played with many top musicians including Pat Martino, Gil Evans, Toots Thielemans, Al DiMeola, George Benson, Earl Klugh, Larry Coryell, Bob James, Dave Liebman, Herbie Mann, Ray Barretto, the Brecker Brothers and others. Berlin was also a regular member of Bill Bruford's band (which included guitarist Holdsworth and keyboardist Dave Stewart) for a couple years starting in 1977; four recordings resulted. Berlin subsequently moved to Los Angeles, worked in clubs with Scott Henderson and Frank Gambale, became an educator (helping to found the Bass Institute of Technology), played rock (including with Frank Zappa), and turned down an opportunity to join Van Halen. During 1985-1986 Berlin recorded two fusion/rock dates for the soon-defunct Passport label. He moved to Florida in 1990 and toured with Yes, John McLaughlin, Billy Cobham, Kazumi Watanabe, and other musicians from a wide variety of creative genres. In addition, he began teaching at the Players School. His third set as a leader, 1997's Taking Notes for Denon, was Berlin's most jazz-oriented set to date. He continued releasing a number of albums into the 21st century, including Lumpy Jazz (2004) with his core trio featuring pianist Richard Drexler and drummer Danny Gottlieb; the highly regarded In Harmony's Way (2004) with guest appearances by saxophonist David Liebman, vibraphonist Gary Burton, and guitarist Mike Stern; Ace of Bass/Aneurythms (2006); and the piano trio-oriented High Standards (2010), again featuring Drexler and Gottlieb in addition to the session leader

My guest on today's SOUNDING OFF is American jazz pianist and composer Steve Hunt. From 1987 to 2003, Steve performed, toured, and recorded as a member of Allan Holdsworth's band. Several of his compositions appear on Holdsworth's albums. On Secrets (1989), Hunt is credited with composing "Maid Marion", and "Joshua". On Wardenclyffe Tower (1992), he did "Dodgy Boat". On Hard Hat Area, he helped to write "Prelude" and "Postlude". On the album Then!, which was recorded live in Japan, he helped with "Zone I", "Zone II", and "Zone III". Tracks from these albums are included in the compilation The Best of Allan Holdsworth: Against the Clock.