Vortex - Richard Peikoff

VORTEX CD

19 Songs, 1:07:41

Released: Mar 26, 2019

℗ 2019 Light Without Heat (Steve Vai)

Dedicated to Wassily Kandinsky (December 1866 to December 1944)

http://itunes.apple.com/album/id1458388122?ls=1&app=itunes

Download Digital Booklet (PDF)

Richard Peikoff Acoustic FingerStyle, Baritone Guitar, High String Guitar, & Slide Guitar

Dave Kilner: Bass

Greg Conway: Acoustic Guitar

Chris Chitouras: Electric Guitar

Gordon Rehm: FretLess Bass

Steve Vai: Mastering, Executive Producer

Kara Scofield: Design and Artwork

Richard Peikoff: Design and Artwork

Jeroen Noordhuis: WebMaster

The opening 3 pieces: East Country Gravy, Dorian Moment, and Ionian Sunrise were originally an EP entitled “34Vai” which is dedicated to the maestro and inspired by a telephone conversation, in which the 3 said performances ensued in the course of the following 4 hours.

1) East Country Gravy

Kandinsky: Divided

2) Dorian Moment

Kandinsky: Small Worlds

3) Ionian Sunrise

Kandinsky: Two Crosses

4) Foreign Affair (w/Dave Kilner)

Foreign Affair the bassist is Dave Kilner, and off all the musicians I’ve ever played with, Dave really goes deep into the composition, so deep that one would be hard-pressed to know who the composer is (which is me) but Dave is all over it. The tuning for this is CGCGBbC which is a C7 tuning without the 3rd. It could also, to my thinking, be considered a C5/7 tuning.

Kandinsky: Weiches hart

5) Main Street (High String Guitar)

Main Street (High String Guitar) is performed with an acoustic guitar strung: Nashville Style or Nashville strung, or High String (not High Strung, which I can be at times, but that’s another story!). So what is the string gauge for High String? Imagine a 12 string guitar which is a normal set of 6 string gauges, and superimposed on that to create pairs for each double pair is the original gauge and its octave, which is a higher string, and therefore a smaller diameter string that can be tuned up an octave without breaking. Now imagine that you re-string your guitar using only the set that is the octave overlay (but also uses the same gauge strings for the 1st & 2nd of a normal strung guitar, which abides by the protocol). This is the definition of High String.

Kandinsky: Swinging

6) The Sound of Cactus Blooming

Kandinsky: Zunehmen

7) Swimming in Echo

Kandinsky: For Against

8) Odd Bird One

Kandinsky: Aquarelle

9) Odd Bird Too

Kandinsky: Accompanied Center

10) Dirge 1

Kandinsky: Small Worlds VII

11) Dirge 2

Kandinsky: Succession

12) 8 Beat Cha Cha

Kandinsky: Composition 1922

13) Harmonic Dew

Kandinsky: Decisive Pink

14) Peikoff & Conway Live Duet Part 1

15) Peikoff & Conway Live Duet Part 2

Peikoff & Conway Live Duets Part 1 & Part 2 were recorded live at a local art fair.

I am heard on the left channel. Greg is heard on the right channel

Kandinsky: Accord Reciproque

16) Bach’s Lunch:

Bach’s Lunch is an overdub but contains no ‘punching in or out’. It is 2 complete first take performances, one over the other. It gives a cool variation on a ‘Chorus Effect’ at times: and at other times the overlay is spot on. I had just returned from India where I was practicing 10-14 hours daily for 3 months (more of this on the Monsoon Season page).

Kandinsky: Taut_Line

17) Curtain Call Part A

Kandinsky: Composition 08

18) Curtain Call Part B

Kandinsky: Gentle Ascent

19) RickaBilly’s Train 46

RickaBilly’s Train 46 is a sillier side, but nevertheless well executed and is every-so-charming (haha!). My vocal is a tribute to Johnny Cash, and my slide antics (if you listen closely you will hear my explanation while playing) are a tribute to slide players that are IMHO opinion not focusing on the responsibility of articulation and intonation, even though my ‘play’ on this kind of playing is.

Kandinsky: Capricious

WASSILY KANDINSKY: Kandinsky is generally credited as the pioneer of abstract art.[1] Born in Moscow, Kandinsky spent his childhood in Odessa, where he graduated at Grekov Odessa Art school. He enrolled at the University of Moscow, studying law and economics. Successful in his profession—he was offered a professorship (chair of Roman Law) at the University of Dorpat—Kandinsky began painting studies (life-drawing, sketching and anatomy) at the age of 30. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wassily_Kandinsky

Wassily Kandinsky

Kandinsky: Untitled

Steve Vai Art

Vai: : Emperor Penguins

Vai: : Perfect Pitch

Vai: : The Hills Are Alive

Fin