Zappa Remembered

Five hundred years from now when music historians study the music of the twentieth century they will probably compare Zappa to Bach and Mozart of previous centuries. He was a consummate guitarist but more importantly an excellent composer. He composed “songs” but what sets him apart was his ability to compose complex music in the tradition of the old masters. “The Big Swifty” is an example of this which he played at the Syria Masque decades ago. Buy a print or T-Shirt and see other images at my music gallery by clicking here.

© Richard Burke 1973-2012

Zappa Jams Pittsburgh

Medeski and Wood

John Medeski and Chris Wood from a Medeski,Martin and Wood concert in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania at The Sherman Theatre. See others or buy a print of this one at my commercial gallery by clicking here.

Medeski and Wood

Medeski and Wood

Chris Woods on the Fender

During the Medeski, Martin and Woods Acoustic concert at the Sherman Theater, Chris Woods played three different types of Bass instruments. Here he is playing his well traveled Fender Bass during the concert. You can buy a print of this image on my commercial gallery by clicking here.

Swim Pals

Shadow and Tilly are best of friends. They play until they drop on the land and in the water. Tilly is eyeing the ball but Shadow has learned to swim very well with a ball in his mouth. He knows if he should drop it the chase is on. See other scenes from my nature portfolio by clicking here.

Shadow and Tilly swimming on the lake

Buck Season

Today is a holiday in many counties in Pennsylvania since it is the beginning of antlered deer season. Over 100,000 deer were “harvested” in Pennsylvania last year, yet the population continues to rise. I only hunt deer with a camera, but understand the need of hunting to control the herd. Still, they are beautiful animals to look at like this eight point buck from a few years ago. They are kind of smart since there is no hunting in our community so we see our deer population soar during hunting season only to spread out during the rest of the year. I don’t know how they understand to hide here. You can buy a print of this images and see others at my gallery by clicking here.

Eight Point Buck

The Taste Buds

Penn State University had a fraternity fund raiser called the Phi Si 500. It was a race, where runners had to run a mile and stop and drink a beer at a number of bars along the way. They would frequently do so in costume. This is Bud Man leading the Taste Buds to the next bar in State College PA during the 1980’s. The University and the City finally agreed to prohibit the race and the Fraternity created a more standard fun raising event. You can purchase a copy of this print by clicking here.

The Taste Buds State College, PA

Chris Wood on the Hofner

Chris Wood plays a lot of instruments but outside of Paul McCarthy you don’t see too many professional bass guitar players playing the Hofner bass guitar which has its own unique sound. This photo was taken recently at the Medeski, Martin and Wood concert at the Sherman Theatre in Stroudsburg Pennsylvania. I have seen most of the great bass players in concert (Clarke,Woonton,etc)and Wood is a member of that class. You can purchase a print of this image by clicking here.

Chris Wood on the Hofner

Blast from the Past

I was looking through old concert images to see if I there were still some undiscovered gems and I came across this one. Not at all a good photo but as I looked at it I thought how different arena shows are today. This is at the Pittsburgh Civic Arena in 1973. Anybody could just walk up on stage and at this show and someone did during the set break. He went to the microphone and spoke real acid gibberish as security gently escorted him away. Today the stage would be much higher and barricaded and have a line of security people in front of the stage. This is why I like to go to small venues today and tend to avoid arena shows. You can see other images and my quality concert prints at my commercial site by clicking here.

Grateful Dead at Pittsburgh Civic Arena

John Medeski

John Medeski is best known for playing the keyboards and the Hammond B3 Organ. I was impressed in a recent concert to see how many different wind instruments he played. This one looks like it is made out of PVC. The funny thing is that normally after he plays a lead he kind of just waits until the next break. With this one though, he would kind of hold the instrument out and stare at it with a funny expression that seemed to say, I can’t believe I am playing this. You can see others and buy a print of this one by clicking here.

Billy Martin Playing the Xylophone

Billy Martin comes to concert with a big bag of tricks. In addition, to the drums, he plays a variety of instruments including plastic hangers. Yep, the same hangers you hang clothes on. He also played a bicycle wheel. Here he is playing the Xylophone during a recent concert at the Sherman Theatre in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. You can see other images and buy a print of this one by clicking here.

Billy Martin on the Xylophone