Update (post)

I am an altruist masquerading as a pessimist who is secretly an optimist.

Engineering is defined as ...
[T]he creative application of scientific principles to design or develop structures, machines, apparatus, or manufacturing processes, or works utilizing them singly or in combination; or to construct or operate the same with full cognizance of their design; or to forecast their behavior under specific operating conditions; all as respects an intended function, economics of operation and safety to life and property.

^^ GHanta!!!

|There be no vexation for me hither|

Impresario, from the Italian impresa, an enterprise or undertaking, is a traditional term still very much in use in the entertainment industry for a manager or producer of concerts, tours and other events in music, opera, theatre and even rodeo. It is sometimes misspelled ‘impressario.’

The term is occasionally applied to others, such as art museum curators and conference organisers, who take a lead role in orchestrating events.

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june 05
Mood swings..
Why Did The Chicken Cross The Road?

GEORGE W. BUSH
We don’t really care why the chicken crossed the road. We just want to know if the chicken is on our side of the road or not. The chicken is either against us or for us. There is no middle ground regarding this chicken.

COLIN POWELL
Now to the left of the screen, you can clearly see the satellite image of the chicken crossing the road.

RAMADOSS
Although I originally voted to let the chicken cross the road, I am now against it!
BRINDA K
I envision a world where all chickens will be free to cross roads without having their motives called into question.

GRANDPA
In my day, we didn’t ask why the chicken crossed the road. Somebody told us the chicken crossed the road, and that was good enough for us.

JOHN LENNON
Imagine all the chickens in the world crossing roads together - in peace.

Dr MANMOHAN SINGH
It is the nature of chickens to cross the road.

THE POLIT BUREAU
It was an historic inevitability that the chicken would cross the road.

CAPTAIN KIRK
The chicken crossed the road to boldly go where no chicken had ever gone before.

SIGMUND FREUD
The fact that you are at all concerned that the chicken crossed the road reveals your underlying sexual insecurity.

:P BILL GATES
I have just released eChicken2008, which will not only cross roads, but will lay eggs, file your important documents, and balance your checkbook…and Internet Explorer is an integral part of eChicken.

ALBERT EINSTEIN
Did the chicken really cross the road, or did the road move beneath the chicken?

BILL CLINTON
I did not cross the road with THAT chicken. And what is your definition of chicken, anyway?

THACKREY
I invented the chicken!

THE BIBLE
And God came down from heaven, and he said unto the chicken “THOU SHALT CROSS THE ROAD.” And the chicken didst cross the road, and there was much rejoicing.

OSAMA
Did I miss one?

------

A great lie is like a great fish on dry land; it may fret and fling and make a frightful bother, but it cannot hurt you. You have only to keep still, and it will die of itself.
Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything.Our lives are to be used and thus to be lived as fully as possible, and truly it seems that we are never so alive as when we concern ourselves with other people

Qui crache contre le vent, crache dans son propre visage.
au revoir

Eric Johnson

Eric Johnson August 17, 1954) is a guitarist and recording artist from Austin, Texas. Best known for his success in the instrumental rock format, Johnson regularly incorporates jazz, fusion, New Age, and country and western elements into his recordings

Guitar Player magazine calls Johnson "One of the most respected guitar virtuosos on the planet". Johnson composes and plays not just instrumental songs, but also sings and plays piano.

Widely recognized for his guitar skills, Johnson's stylistic diversity and technical proficiency have drawn praise from Carlos Santana, Allan Holdsworth, Larry Carlton, Steve Morse, Billy Gibbons, Johnny Winter, Jeff Baxter, Prince, B.B. King, Joe Satriani and the late Stevie Ray Vaughan. His critically-acclaimed, platinum selling 1990 recording Ah Via Musicom produced the single "Cliffs of Dover", for which Johnson won the 1992 Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance.


Johnson's talent developed at an early age. Born into a musically inclined family, he and his three sisters studied piano, his brother started his own band in his teens; his father (an Austin physician) was a singing enthusiast. At age 11, Johnson took up the guitar and progressed rapidly through the music of his influences: Eric Clapton, Chet Atkins, Cream, Jimi Hendrix, Wes Montgomery, Jerry Reed, Bob Dylan, and Django Reinhardt, among others. His first professional experience came as a member of the psychedelic rock band Mariani at just 15 years of age. In 1968, Johnson recorded a demo tape with the group which saw extremely limited release; years later the recording would become a prized collector's item.

After graduating from Holy Cross High School, Johnson briefly attended the University of Texas at Austin and traveled with his family to Africa. He eventually returned to Austin, and in 1974 joined the local fusion group Electromagnets. The group toured and recorded regionally, but failed to attract attention from major record labels and disbanded in 1977. However, the strength of Johnson's playing attracted a small cult following to the group's early recordings, and decades later their two albums were given wide release on compact disc.

Following the demise of the Electromagnets, Johnson formed a touring trio, the Eric Johnson Group, with drummer Bill Maddox and bassist Kyle Brock. They played to respectable audiences on the Austin music scene, and in 1978 recorded a full length album entitled Seven Worlds. Although the album showcased Johnson's considerable playing ability, a combination of contract disputes, financial wrangling, and mismanagement held up the album's release – and Johnson's career – for several years. True to form, Seven Worlds was released two full decades later in 1998 on Ark21 Records after Johnson secured the rights to the master recordings

Unable to secure a new management contract, Johnson nonetheless continued to build his professional reputation by working as a session guitarist for nationally known and regional acts, appearing on recordings by Cat Stevens, Carole King, and Christopher Cross[14] among others. All the while, he continued to toil on the local scene, thrilling audiences with his flashy-yet tasteful-electric guitar playing. His career rebounded in 1984 when pop superstar Prince caught one of Johnson's performances on the public television program Austin City Limits. Despite the story of Johnson being signed to Warner Brothers courtesy of Prince, it was singer Christopher Cross and producer David Tickle who recommended Johnson to be signed to the label. 1986 saw the release of Johnson's major-label debut, Tones with Tickle as co-producer.

Johnson's May 1986 Guitar Player magazine cover story "Who Is Eric Johnson and Why Is He On Our Cover" was a successful risky bold move that helped promote the release of Tones which brought Johnson considerable praise, if not widespread commercial success, and raised his profile in the guitar and music community. Despite the track "Zap" being nominated for the 1987 Best Rock Instrumental Performance Grammy Award, the album did not sell well, and soon after Warner Bros. let Johnson's contract expire. He signed on with indie label Cinema Records which was distributed by Capitol Records

By the time Johnson released his Capitol Records debut Ah Via Musicom in 1990, he was a bona fide "guitar hero," regularly winning awards for his musicianship in the guitar press. During this period, Johnson was also drawing recognition for the rich, violin-like tone he coaxed from his vintage Fender Stratocaster. The album's second cut, "Cliffs of Dover", exemplified his unique sound and won Johnson a 1991 Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance. Ah Via Musicom was a crossover hit, and was soon certified platinum. A 5.1 DVD Audio version of Ah Via Musicom was released in 2002 from Capitol Records without Johnson's input, but was soon dropped. Johnson apologized to fans on his website for the DVD Audio release.

Johnson is an admitted perfectionist, and those traits seemed to work against Ah Via Musicom's follow-up release. Unhappy with his recordings, Johnson mastered—then subsequently scrapped—several completed tracks for the new album and delayed its release for a period of six years. In actuality it took three years to complete the album as Johnson toured for three years supporting Ah Via Musicom, and dealing with setbacks involving musical growth, and personal issues while recording his next album Venus Isle.

When Venus Isle was finally released on September 3, 1996, it received mixed reviews and did not match the success of its predecessor. The album at this time has sold 250,000 units and Johnson was dropped from Capitol Records soon after that. It was a unique album with world influences in which it demonstrated Eric Johnson's growth as a guitarist, songwriter, producer, arranger, and vocalist. The Venus Isle title track showcased the talents of musician AmitChatterjee.

A successful month long tour from October to November 1996 with fellow guitarists Joe Satriani and Steve Vai named the G3 (tour), resulted in a successful platinum selling compact disc and DVD titled G3: Live in Concert.

In 1998, Eric Johnson was among the judges in Musician magazine's Best Unsigned Bands competition, along with Ani DiFranco, Moby, Art Alexakis of Everclear, Keb' Mo', and Joe Perry of Aerosmith.

In 1994, Johnson had formed a side project called Alien Love Child and played shows sporadically while Johnson was recording Venus Isle. The positive fan feedback from the shows made Alien Love Child a permanent gig where a live performance recording, Live And Beyond,was finally released in 2000 on Steve Vai's Favored Nations label, showcasing new songs. The Alien Love Child project helped free Johnson's perfectionism involving recording music and obsessive tinkering with guitar equipment gear.

Johnson eventually returned to the recording studio, releasing Souvenir, an Internet release, in January 2002 on his own Vortexan Records. The album received nearly 65,000 plays in the first 7 weeks it was made available on mp3.com.[Johnson promoted Souvenir with an electric tour in 2003 and an acoustic tour in 2004.

In 2004, Eric Johnson was invited by Eric Clapton to perform at Clapton's successful Crossroads Guitar Festival. According to Johnson, he was scheduled to perform onstage with Clapton, but the opportunity fell through.

Johnson's next studio album Bloom was released in June 2005 also on Steve Vai's Favored Nations label. The album was divided into three sections based on vibe of songs that showcased Johnson's musical versatality. His December 1988 Austin City Limits performance was released on both DVD and compact disc on New West Records in November 2005.

In January 2006, an individual named Brian Sparks was arrested for posing as Johnson by bilking businesses out of about $18,000 worth of guitars and equipment. Also in 2006, Johnson's guitars that were stolen 24 years ago, were recovered.

In September 2006, Eric Johnson took part in a theatrical production titled "Primal Twang: The Legacy of the Guitar" - the first definitive theatrical journey through the guitar’s colorful and surprisingly controversial 3500-year history, filmed by the Adams Entertainment Group. In September 2007, Johnson took part in a second theatrical production by Adams Entertainment titled "Love In: A Musical Celebration" in which he performed a Jimi Hendrix set which paid tribute to the year 1967 "The Summer Of Love". Also in late 2006 Johnson also took part in a second G3 (tour) in South America with Joe Satriani and John Petrucci.

Johnson's current projects did include an all-acoustic project and a live video from his 2006 Tour with Joe Satriani. However these have been shelved, as Johnson is cutting a new studio album at this time.[35]

His hit single "Cliffs of Dover" appears in the game Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock.

John petrucci

John Petrucci (born July 12, 1967, Kings Park, Long Island, New York) is an American guitarist best known as a founding member of the progressive metal band Dream Theater. He has produced (along with his bandmate Mike Portnoy) all Dream Theater albums since their 1999 release, Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory. He is also one of the band's main lyricists.

Biography

Petrucci first played guitar at the age of eight when he noticed his sister (who was taking organ lessons at the time) was allowed to stay up past her bed time to practice. He soon dropped it when his plan failed. At age 12, he began playing again when he was invited into the band of his friend Kevin Moore, who would later become the first keyboardist of Dream Theater. Petrucci began to practice in earnest whilst exercising physically. He was a largely self-taught guitarist who developed his skills through attempts to match the skill of his idols, who included Steve Morse, Steve Howe, Steve Vai, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Al Di Meola, Alex Lifeson and Allan Holdsworth. He has jokingly referred to his guitar idols as "the Steves and the Als".

Petrucci attended Berklee College of Music in Boston with childhood friend John Myung (bass), where they met future bandmate Mike Portnoy (drums). These three in addition to another childhood friend of Petrucci and Myung, Kevin Moore (Keyboards), formed the band Majesty, which would later become Dream Theater.

While Dream Theater is what Petrucci is most commonly associated with, he is also a part of the project band Liquid Tension Experiment and has appeared as a guest on several records by other artists such as the Age of Impact album by the Explorer's Club.

Petrucci has released a guitar instructional video, "Rock Discipline", which covers warm up exercises, exercises to avoid injury while playing, alternate picking, sweep picking, chords and other techniques for developing one's guitar playing. Petrucci also has a book named "Guitar World presents John Petrucci's Wild Stringdom", which was compiled from columns he wrote for Guitar World magazine, bearing that same title.

In 2001 he was invited by Joe Satriani and Steve Vai to tour with them on the popular G3 guitar tour, which exposed him to a massive number of new fans and inspired him to record a solo album. Suspended Animation was released on March 1, 2005, and made available for order from his web site. He also appeared on the 2005, 2006 and 2007 G3 tours.

Petrucci also wrote and recorded two instrumental soundtrack songs for a Sega Saturn game titled Digital Pinball: Necronomicon. Each track is roughly two minutes long and they are simply titled "Prologue" and "Epilogue". Petrucci is an avid Sega Saturn gamer, and has revealed in interviews that he never tours without one.

In 2007, John Petrucci went on G3 tour again, this time with Joe Satriani and Paul Gilbert.

Dream Theater bandmate Jordan Rudess revealed in an interview that Petrucci is a practicing Catholic. Petrucci is married to Rena Sands, a guitarist in the all-female heavy metal band Meanstreak, and they have 3 children, SamiJo and Reny (who are twins), and Kiara.

John Petrucci won the "Guitarist of the Year" award recently in Total Guitar Magazine.

Musical style

Petrucci is respected for his variety of guitar styles and skills. He has performed alongside Joe Satriani and Steve Vai on their annual G3 tour 6 times. Guitar magazines and fans worldwide consistently vote Petrucci as one of the world's finest guitar players. He has been labeled as a virtuoso on some fansites and webzines, including Sputnikmusic, and TheFunkyGibbons , among others.

Yngwie malmsteen

Yngwie Johann Malmsteen (pronounced y'nway in English) (born Lars Johan Yngve Lannerbäck on June 30, 1963 in Stockholm, Sweden) is a Swedish guitarist, composer, multi-instrumentalist, and bandleader. Malmsteen became notable in the mid-1980s for his technical fluency, blistering shred guitar playing, and neo-classical metal compositions. Four of his albums from 1984 to 1988, Rising Force, Marching Out, Trilogy, and Odyssey, ranked in the top 100 for sales.

Malmsteen was born on June 30, 1963, as the first child of a musically talented family in Stockholm, Sweden. At age seven, he saw a television news report on the death of Jimi Hendrix. To quote his official website, "The day Jimi Hendrix died, the guitar-playing Malmsteen was born". At the age of 10 he took his mother's maiden name Malmsteen as his surname, and Anglicised his given name Yngve to "Yngwie". Malmsteen was a teenager when he first encountered the music of the 19th century violin virtuoso Niccolò Paganini, whom he cites as his biggest classical music influence.

Through his emulation of Paganini concerto pieces on guitar, Malmsteen developed a prodigious technical fluency. Malmsteen's guitar style include a wide, violin-like vibrato inspired by classical violinists, and use of such minor scales as the Harmonic minor, and minor modes such as Phrygian, and Aeolian. Malmsteen also cites Jimi Hendrix, Brian May of Queen, Steve Hackett of Genesis, Uli Jon Roth, and Ritchie Blackmore of Deep Purple as influences.



In late 1982 Malmsteen was brought to the U.S. by Mike Varney of Shrapnel Records, who had heard a demo tape of Malmsteen's playing. He had brief engagements with Steeler, for their self-titled album of 1983, then Alcatrazz, for their 1983 debut No Parole From Rock N' Roll, and the 1984 live album Live Sentence. Malmsteen released his first solo album Rising Force in 1984, which featured Barrie Barlow of Jethro Tull on drums. His album was really meant to be an instrumental side-project of Alcatrazz, but it contained vocals, and Malmsteen left Alcatrazz soon after the release of Rising Force.

Rising Force won the Guitar Player Magazine's award for Best Rock Album and was also nominated for a Grammy for 'Best Rock Instrumental', achieving #60 on the Billboard album chart. Yngwie J. Malmsteen's Rising Force (as his band was thereafter known) next released Marching Out (1985). Jeff Scott Soto filled vocal duties on these initial albums. His third album, Trilogy, featuring the vocals of Mark Boals, was released in 1986. In 1987, another singer, former Rainbow vocalist Joe Lynn Turner joined his band.

That year, Malmsteen was in a serious car accident, smashing his Jaguar XKE into a tree and putting him in a coma for a week. Nerve damage to his right hand was reported. During his time in the hospital, Malmsteen's mother died from cancer. In the summer of 1988 he released his fourth album, Odyssey. Odyssey would be his biggest hit album, mainly because of its first single "Heaven Tonight". Shows in Russia during the Odyssey tour were recorded, and released in 1989 as his fifth album Trial By Fire: Live in Leningrad. The concert in Leningrad was the largest ever by a western artist in the Soviet Union.

Malmsteen's "Neo-classical" style of metal became moderately popular during the mid 1980s, with contemporaries such as Jason Becker, Paul Gilbert, Marty Friedman, Tony MacAlpine and Vinnie Moore becoming prominent. MacAlpine came to the neoclassical/shred field by applying his classical piano training to his guitar playing and Moore arrived at a similar style because he shared Malmsteen's major influences. In late 1988, Malmsteen's signature Fender Stratocaster guitar was released, making him and Eric Clapton the first artists to be honoured by Fender.


In the early 1990s Malmsteen released the albums Eclipse (1990), The Yngwie Malmsteen Collection (1991), Fire and Ice (1992) and The Seventh Sign (1994). Despite his early success, and continuous success in Europe and Asia, by the early 1990s 1980s heavy metal styles such as neoclassical metal and lengthy, virtuostic shred guitar solos had become unfashionable in the US. Taking its place was the Seattle grunge movement, where songs that showcased instrumental technical ability were largely shunned.

In the 1990s, Malmsteen continued to record and release albums under the Japanese record label Pony Canyon, and maintained a devoted following from some fans in Europe and Japan, and to a lesser extent in the USA. In 2000, he once again acquired a contract with a US record label, Spitfire, and released his 1990s catalog into the US market for the first time, including what he regards as his masterpiece, Concerto Suite for Electric Guitar and Orchestra, recorded with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra in Prague. In 1993, Malmsteen's mother-in-law, who was opposed to his engagement with her daughter, had him arrested for threatening her with a shotgun and holding her daughter against her will.The charges against Malmsteen were dropped when he denied the incident.



After the release of War to End All Wars in 2000, singer Mark Boals left the band. Malmsteen went on tour with former Ark vocalist Jorn Lande. Due to various tensions on tour, Jorn left before the recording of Malmsteen's next album, Attack!!. He was replaced by former Rainbow vocalist Dougie White. White's vocals were well received by fans, and to date he remains a member of the band. In 2003, Malmsteen joined Joe Satriani and Steve Vai as part of the G3 supergroup. Malmsteen made two guest appearances on keyboardist Derek Sherinian's albums Black Utopia (2003), and Blood of the Snake (2006) where Malmsteen is heard on the same tracks as Al Di Meola and Zakk Wylde.

Malmsteen released Unleash the Fury in 2005. He is married to April and has a son named Antonio after Antonio Vivaldi, and they live in Miami, Florida. A noted Ferrari enthusiast, he owned a black 1985 308 GTS for 18 years before selling it on eBay, and a red 1962 250 GTO. In the mid-2000s, he gave up smoking and drinking alcohol (date: April 2007). In 2007, Malmsteen was honoured in the Xbox 360 version of Guitar Hero II. Players can receive the "Yngwie Malmsteen" award by hitting 1000 or more notes in succession.Currently, Malmsteen is working on his next studio album slated for an Autumn 2007 or an early 2008 release.

Steve vai

Steven "Steve" Siro Vai (born June 6, 1960 in Carle Place, New York) is a guitarist, composer, vocalist, and record producer.

Where Vai's contributions to others' material has been constrained by the largely rock or heavy-rock style of those bands, his own material is somewhat more eclectic. Vai's playing style has been characterized as quirky and angular, owing to his superb technical facility with the instrument and deep knowledge of music theory. Vai has been credited with the first use of the 7-string guitar in a rock context, first appearing in the David Lee Roth video Yankee Rose, and has used double and triple neck guitars on many occasions.

An interesting point to note is Vai's commitment to practice. In several guitar magazines and texts, he expounded a practice regime called "The Ten-Hour Guitar Workout".

Vai is an accomplished studio producer (he owns two: "The Mothership" and "The Harmony Hut" ) and his own recordings combine his signature guitar prowess with novel compositions and considerable use of studio and recording effects.


In 1974, Steve took guitar lessons from guitarist Joe Satriani, and played in numerous local bands. He has acknowledged the influence of many guitarists including Jeff Beck and fusion guitarist Allan Holdsworth. Vai then attended the Berklee College of Music. Vai mailed Frank Zappa a transcription of Zappa's The Black Page, an instrumental song written for drums, along with a tape with some of Vai's guitar playing. Zappa was so impressed with the abilities of the young musician that he hired him in 1979 to do work transcribing several of his guitar solos, including many of those appearing on the Joe's Garage album and the Shut Up 'n' Play Yer Guitar series. These transcriptions were published in 1982 in The Frank Zappa Guitar Book.

Subsequent to being hired as a transcriber, Vai did overdubs on many of the guitar parts for Zappa's album You Are What You Is. Thereafter he became a full-fledged band member, going on his first tour with Zappa in the Autumn of 1980. One of those early shows with Vai on guitar, recorded in Buffalo was released in 2007. While touring with Zappa's band, Vai would sometimes ask audience members to bring musical scores and see if he could sight-read them on the spot. Zappa referred to Steve as his "little Italian virtuoso" and was listed in liner notes as "stunt guitar" or "impossible guitar parts." He would later be a featured artist on the 1993 recording, Zappa's Universe. In 2006 he returned to Zappa Music, as special guest on Dweezil Zappa's Zappa Plays Zappa tour.

After leaving Zappa in 1982 he moved to California where he recorded his first album Flex-Able and performed in a couple of bands. In 1985 he replaced Yngwie Malmsteen as lead guitarist in Graham Bonnet's Alcatrazz with whom he recorded the album Disturbing the Peace. Later in 1985 he joined former Van Halen front man David Lee Roth's group to record the albums Eat 'Em and Smile and Skyscraper. This significantly increased Vai's visibility to general rock audiences, since Roth was in a highly public battle with the Van Halen members and Vai was favorably compared by many commentators to Eddie Van Halen.

In 1986 Vai also surprised everyone by playing with ex-Sex Pistols John Lydon's Public Image Ltd on their album Album (also known as Compact Disc or Cassette). Then in 1989 Vai stepped into guitarist Adrian Vandenberg's shoes to record with British rock-group Whitesnake after Vandenberg injured his wrist shortly before recording was due to begin for the album Slip of the Tongue. Vai also played on the Alice Cooper album Hey Stoopid along with Joe Satriani on the song Feed my Frankenstein.

Vai continues to tour regularly, both with his own group and with his one-time teacher and fellow guitar instrumentalist friend Joe Satriani on the G3 series of tours. Former David Lee Roth and Mr. Big bassist Billy Sheehan also joined him for a world tour. In 1990 Vai released his critically acclaimed solo album Passion and Warfare. The song For the Love of God was voted #29 in a readers' poll of the 100 greatest guitar solos of all time for the magazine Guitar World.

Vai began writing and recording with Ozzy Osbourne. Only one track from these sessions—"My Little Man"—was released on the Ozzmosis album. Despite Vai penning the track he does not appear on the album. His guitar parts were replaced by Zakk Wylde. Vai's band members throughout the 1990s included drummer Mike Mangini, guitarist Mike Keneally and bassist Philip Bynoe. In 1994 Vai received a Grammy Award for his performance on the Frank Zappa song Sofa from the album Zappa's Universe.

In July 2002, Steve Vai performed with the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra at the Suntory Hall in Tokyo, Japan, in the world premiere of composer Ichiro Nodaira's Fire Strings, a concerto for electric guitar and 100-piece orchestra. In 2004, a number of his compositions for orchestra, as well as orchestra arrangements of previously recorded pieces, were performed in The Netherlands by the Metropole Orchestra in a concert series entitled The Aching Hunger. In 2003, drummer Jeremy Colson joined Vai's group replacing previous drummer Virgil Donati. Vai's latest album, Real Illusions: Reflections, was released in 2005, and Steve Vai and the Breed, as the band is now called, has embarked on a world tour in support of that album.

Steve Vai released a DVD of his performance at The Astoria in London in December 2001, featuring the lineup of bassist Billy Sheehan, guitarist/pianist Tony MacAlpine, guitarist Dave Weiner and drummer Virgil Donati.

In 2004, Steve Vai was featured on Xbox's Halo 2 Volume 1 soundtrack, performing a heavy rock-guitar rendition of the Halo Theme, known as Halo Theme (Mjolnir Mix). He also performed on the track Never Surrender. He later featured in the second volume of the soundtrack, where he performed on the track Reclaimer.

In February 2005, Vai premiered a dual-guitar (electric and classical) piece that he wrote called The Blossom Suite with classical guitarist Sharon Isbin at the Châtelet Theatre in Paris. In 2006, Vai played as a "special guest" guitarist alongside additional guest Zappa band members, drummer Terry Bozzio and saxophonist-singer Napoleon Murphy Brock in the Zappa Plays Zappa tour led by Frank's son Dweezil Zappa in Europe and the U.S. in the Spring as well as a short U.S. tour in October.

On September 21 2006, Vai made a special appearance at the Video Games Live concert at the Hollywood Bowl in Hollywood, California. He played two songs with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. One song being the Halo Theme, the second was for the world premier trailer for Halo 3.

Steve Vai made an appearance at the London Guitar Show 2007 on the 28th April 2007 at the ExCeL Center by doing a masterclass. In late April of 2007, Vai confirmed the release of his next record, called Sound Theories, on June 26. The release will be a 2-CD set consisting mostly of previously released material that Vai rearranged and played in front of a full orchestra. Vai says that the project was a great joy because he considers himself to be a composer more than a guitarist, and he is happy to see music he has composed played by an orchestra that can play it well. A DVD will eventually accompany the record but will be released in August. He makes a guest appearance on the most recent Dream Theater album, Systematic Chaos, on the song "Repentance". However, this appearance is vocal rather than instrumental, as Vai is one of many musical guests recorded apologizing to important people in their lives for wrongdoings committed in their pasts.

Vai is set to release a DVD of his show (09/19/07) at the Minneapolis State Theater from his 2007 Tour.

In 2005, Vai signed on as an official supporter of Little Kids Rock, a nonprofit organization that provides free musical instruments and free lessons to children in public schools throughout the U.S.A. He sits on its board of directors as an honorary member.

Paul Gilbert

Paul Brandon Gilbert (born November 6, 1966 in Illinois) is a guitarist best known for his work with Racer X and Mr. Big. Following his departure from Mr. Big in 1996, Gilbert pursued a solo career.
Born in Carbondale, Illinois, into a middle class family, Paul started playing guitar at the age of 5, but soon gave up, becoming frustrated with just learning simple nursery rhymes. Around age 9, he took up the guitar again, but with a skewed memory of the technique. Paul revealed at an Ibanez sponsored guitar clinic August 12, 2005 in Concord, CA at Spitzer's Music, that he "played only with upstrokes, used only the low 'E' string and only used [his] middle finger on the fretboard." Frustrated after trying to play the intro to "Barracuda" by Heart, he took lessons and his teacher explained the error of his ways. His technique corrected, Gilbert continued practicing and by the age of 14 he developed a local band in Greensburg, PA named Missing Lynx. They played together for approximately two years and wrote their own material. After Missing Lynx he then went on to join another local band called Tau Zero, but left shortly after, and headed for California. He was spotlighted in Guitar Player Magazine alongside fellow up-and-comer Yngwie Malmsteen

Racer X
Formed in Los Angeles, Racer X originally comprised Paul Gilbert (guitar), John Alderete (bass), Harry Gschoesser (drums) and Jeff Martin (vocals). They were heavily influenced by Judas Priest and Gilbert's playing was reminiscent of Yngwie Malmsteen, displaying fast-driven solos with extreme-level technique. Gschoesser was replaced by Scott Travis (later known for being the drummer for Judas Priest) in 1986, and Bruce Bouillet was added as a second guitar player. Bouillet was a very skilled player, as he had to play over Gilbert's always difficult and challenging phrases. Paul Gilbert gained recognition as one of the fastest guitar players in the world due to incredibly technical pieces like "Frenzy", "Scarified", "Technical Difficulties" and "Scit Scat Wah". Gilbert left Racer X in 1988, but he eventually would rejoin the band in 1999. Currently the band is inactive, but Gilbert hasn't issued any statements that he has left the band.

Mr. Big
When Billy Sheehan left David Lee Roth's band in 1988, he joined with Paul Gilbert, who had left his former band, Racer X. They founded Mr. Big, with Pat Torpey on drums and singer Eric Martin. The band was a huge success in Japan, and became famous in 1991, with Lean Into It, their second album, which featured the ballad "To Be With You", which received strong media play and reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Gilbert continued playing in Mr. Big until the late 90s. He left the band in 1997 to pursue a solo career, and was replaced by Richie Kotzen.

Gilbert composes music in a wide variety of styles including pop, rock, metal, blues, jazz, funk and classical, but is perhaps best known for his versatility and speed, which helped him be named as one of the "Top 10 Shredders Of All Time" by Guitar One Magazine. He is also considered to be one of the best proponents of alternate picking and string skipping.

* Like guitarist Eric Johnson, Gilbert suffers from tinnitus, primarily in his left ear, due to playing at excessive volume, and now wears headphones on stage to prevent further hearing damage. When Johnson and Gilbert each did their first G3 (tour)'s, (Johnson in 1996 and Gilbert in 2007) they both were wearing headphones during the closing group jam.
* In the track "Daddy, Brother, Lover, Little Boy (The Drill Song)" by Mr. Big, the final 16 bars of the solo were played using a cordless drill with three picks attached to the end. After playing this song, Mr. Big got a sponsorship from Japanese power tool manufacturers, Makita, whose drills were used on all occasions from then on.
* He appeared several times on Marty Friedman's Japanese music show Rock Fujiyama as they are good friends.
* On the 31st of March 2006 Paul got married to Emi, a Japanese woman from Tokyo. She has been playing keyboards during Paul's tours in 2007. This is Paul's second marriage, the first was in the late 90's.
* On April 14 2007, during the G3 tour of 2007 at Sayereville, New Jersey, Paul orchestrated a small prank on stage during John Petrucci's song "Glasgow Kiss". He and his entire band dressed up in kilts and came on stage unexpectedly just after the guitar solo, performing a mock Scottish highland dance during the song's main theme melody.