Tagged: KVC-Arts

David Fleming speaks with jazz vocalist Jonathan Karrant, mainly focusing on his newest release, "Eclectic." Once again we get a few sweet, sweet takes on a couple of standards (but again, not the overly used), as well as pop songs transformed into what should be some of the new jazz standards, and several which really paints Jonathan Karrant as not just a singer with a fantastic sense of arrangement and delivery, but also - a storyteller!

David Fleming speaks with Antonia Bennett about some of her past recordings, with a bit of a focus on "Embrace Me," a collection of standards. QUITE a collection here, filled with wonderful delivery and interpretation which comes from soaking in songs her entire life from The Great American Songbook. Just a BIT of course about her father, the late Tony Bennett as well.

Also - as a child being around greats like Rosemary Clooney, Count Basie and more. WE touched on a few (a couple wonderful originals and one standard) from her upcoming album, which should be out in the early part of 2024, as well as a few NON-standards from her past. Oh yeah. "Love Is a Battlefield."

David Fleming speaks once again with Alberto and Tyler about Astronaut Samurais - with a bit of a new sound with Death Mountain, and examining what they may be doing in the near future.

Indy rock... Garage rock... surf rock flirting with some of the ska bands in the area...

Astronaut Samurais is Alberto Alvarenga II and Tyler Stevens. Alberto handles all the lead vocals and the songwriting, and he and Tyler trade off on lead guitar. They came up in the Moreno Valley, CA area, then really found themselves and started gaining a following with like-minded people and music in the Pomona/Upland area.

The band ended up taking a bit of a hiatus - mainly driven by the pandemic, and as recently as late last year going into early this year are back. At one point it was a full band, but these days it's Alberto and Tyler only - adding a bass player and drummer for gigs. They were VERY well received in September at the Unquiet Fest, and will be at the Los Muertos Fest in Downtown San Bernardino on Friday November 3rd (along with September, God Is Evil, The M16, and Desperate Measures). More on Instagram at astrosamurais4ever.

Having just passed KVC-Arts #500, this edition of the program has the tables turned - with KVCR's Lillian Vasquez in conversation with David Fleming. We'll hear a bit about David, his background in and passion for the arts, also a bit on what goes into an interview... and an episode of KVC-Arts

From David Fleming: The celebration of KVC-Arts #500 continues!

You've easily read something similar on a previous post or three. Every time I speak with Al Pitrelli (Music Director for, and one of the lead guitarist with, Trans-Siberian Orchestra), we're speaking about TSO's upcoming tour. Also every time, if I have 3, 5, 12 minutes left, I'll ask for a quick mention of one part or another of Al's extensive and varied career. Last time we spoke I just finally asked if we could do a NON-Trans-Siberian Orchestra at some point, to which he agreed. We not only arranged for such an interview, but it was also set to go for an extended length of time to be used for KVC-Arts #500. I was hoping for an hour... I closed at an hour and a half.

Last KVC-Arts we heard primarily about Pitrelli's work with Randy Coven. Tonight we have a special one-hour edition of the program talking about music from, or his work with - get ready - Alice Cooper (where I ask if one of his most searing and soulful solos was, well, a segue), Dee Snider & Widowmaker, Asia, Morning Wood, lightly on Savatage, a bit of session work, a REALLY cool grouping with O'2L, touching only SLIGHTLY on TSO, and one more from his work with Randy Coven...

I skipped over Megadeth, and other Savatage and TSO material...

I'm sure there's some material in there I've forgotten to mention, but I can say confidently that the first half hour has (for the most part) more of the hard rock kinda stuff, and the second half more acoustic material. This was a FUN one to assemble!

KVC-Arts #500!

From David Fleming: I’ve spoken with Trans-Siberian Orchestra's Al Pitrelli quite a few times by now, and it’s always 90% or more TSO, and then just a glimpse at some of his past, with some REALLY cool music and experiences there. I finally asked him if we could do a NON-Trans-Siberian Orchestra interview sometime, to which he agreed… and then he agreed again to make that a rather lengthy interview to be used for show number 500. He agreed before I could even finish asking.

We started with his work with Randy Coven. Maybe around age 22 or so, Pitrelli played 2nd guitar on one of the tracks for Coven's "Funk Me Tender." By the 2nd Coven release, "Sammy Says Ouch," it was solidly a three-piece band (with guests), with Coven, Pitrelli, and John O'Reilly at the core. They recognized that by the third release, and instead of calling it The Randy Coven Band, then naming the cd, it was simply called CPR. The CPR release is mostly instrumental, though one of the two songs include Stevie Wonder's "I Wish," with the mighty Zakk Wylde on vocals. You can find a video of this easily enough on YouTube by the way. It clearly comes from an old VHS tape which was starting to stretch out, but it's SO much fun, and beyond vocals, Wylde really burns it up on the final guitar solo (of course). A reference point: For Wylde, this would be the year after Ozzy’s “No More Tears,” and a couple years before his bands Pride & Glory and Black Label Society.

This is the next KVC-Arts - Sunday October 15th at 6 pm PST, and Tuesday the 17th at 2 and 6:30 pm PST. Streaming live at kvcrnews.org, and locally at 91.9 FM.

We spoke at such length exploring the non-Trans-Siberian Orchestra side of Al, that there’ll be a special one hour KVC-Arts Saturday October 21st at 7 pm PST. More funk and fusion, some Alice Cooper, Dee Snider, Morning Wood (a wonderful acoustic project), Asia, and touching quite lightly on Savatage and TSO. I could've easily included more Savatage and TSO, as well as Megadeth, but after the 50-minute mark I started leaning more toward sounds or bands of which people are not (or less) aware.

David Fleming speaks with Anoushka Shankar. The initial conversation was when she was in the area to perform, with orchestra, one of the concertos for sitar and orchestra written by her father, the late Ravi Shankar. Beyond the concerto works, we spoke about some of her other releases, as she'll be in the area quite soon in quintet form. A rather atypical grouping, though SO nice! We'll hear about this, a couple of her releases, "Rise" and "Breathing Underwater." We'll also hear about her work with Herbie Hancock, Sting, and more, as well as a VERY moving piece called "In Her Name," combining music, dance, and spoken word. Originally called "In Jyoti's Name," the piece is "in loving memory of Jyoti Singh Pandey, who was beaten and gang-raped on a bus in Delhi," leading to her death two days later. VERY powerful! Also touching lightly on Anoushka scoring one of India's first three movies ever made!

David Fleming speaks with Chris Oberg, CEO of Path of Life Ministries along with Peter Curtis, professor at Riverside City College, and one of the organizers of a concert to benefit Path of Life Ministries Homeless Shelter. Then it's more from Al Pitrelli, with Trans-Siberian Orchestra. TSO is coming to Ontario December 2^nd. David and Al speak about Jeff Scott Soto (pictured with Al) along with a few other specific singers and specific songs... a bit of theory as well.

David Fleming speaks with Al Pitrelli, music director for, and one of the guitarists, with Trans-Siberian Orchestra, touring live again this year, with two performances in Ontario December 2nd. We'll hear about how, when and why TSO split into two touring groups, the story of Ghosts of Christmas Eve, Leonard Bernstein, Steve Vai - which ties in with David Lee Roth AND Alice Cooper - the latter of which ties BACK to both Bernstein and TSO...

And more.