John Herdt & Wally Z
Across the Border
© 2006 John Herdt and Arlene Zielonka (837101230469)
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Guitarist John Herdt and drummer Wally Z present a new direction in progressive rock, one with melodies and grooves that stick in your mind.
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As guitarist for the Head Arrangers, the Mnemonist Orchestra, Mirage, Ruckus and the Bobby Berge Project, John Herdt's musical journey has spanned styles ranging from psychedelic rock to prime jazz-rock fusion (think Billy Cobham's Spectrum album) to blues and funk to the new form of progressive rock that he presents here. This music was composed and performed with the spirit of adventure throughout, complex enough to make stories and surprises bloom in your head, but with concise arrangements and memorable melodic hooks. From the cinematic slide guitar on "The Touch" to the blistering but uplifting solos on "Less I Know" there is a wealth of powerhouse guitar, but it's the melodies and spirit that make this more than just another hot rod guitar album. Known by many for his work producing CDs for the Tommy Bolin Archives and for his audio tutorials on how to play some of Bolin's material, John has been receiving many honored requests for his own music, and here is a chance to take some for a spin.
Drummer Wally Z manned the drums in Canada's Ozgood Slatter, a great original band that deserved to have at least a few breakthrough MTV hard rock hits. On Across the Border Wally's drums become an integral part of the music and are worth taking listens to just to see how musical a hard rock drummer can be and should play. Wally's vocals also impart vibrancy to tunes such as "Home Sick Lilly," which unfolds a story with lyrics that are almost visual. On "Funkicide" his drumming shows that a hard rock sensibility applied to a hard funk tune is an almost unbeatable combination, he rides it hard and puts it away wet. On "Eleventh Hour" his light cymbal work and sparse drums bring to mind Jeff Beck's Blow by Blow period.
Across the Border is an album that "crosses the border" from the U.S. to Canada as it crosses borders in musical styles from track to track. Let Across the Border be the soundtrack to some of your movies of the mind. Kick back to it through some headphones with the lights real low, you might just float away.
Please note that these are real CDs rather than CD-Rs, have bar codes and are shrink wrapped. They were manufactured by Disc Makers, who John Herdt is happy to recommend to other artists.
JOHN HERDT: Guitars, bass, harmonica and vocals
WALLY Z: Drums, percussion and vocals
Please note that there are no keyboards on this material. Three of the tunes have parts that may sound like a keyboard or sequencer, but they are actually electric or acoustic guitars played through effects. Sorry for making this qualification, but some guitar fans have been interested in who played the keyboards!
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An inspired and engaging musical journey...
author: Sal Serio - Guitarscum Lilypad LtdIn the true spirit of global camaraderie, the new CD by Denver area musician and studio whiz John Herdt emphatically proves that music transcends boundaries and speaks an international language. While Herdt has more than five solo releases under his belt to date, his latest effort Across The Border finds him teaming up fulltime with Canadian drummer and vocalist Wally Zielonka (here performing under the abbreviated moniker “Wally Z”), who had contributed to three tracks on John Herdt’s solid 2004 release titled Gather. What’s interesting is how these new, dense, progressive yet jazzy rock recordings were made, since the musicians did not physically go “across the border”. Still with his soft-spoken demeanor, Herdt’s voice percolated with passion when I asked him about the recording process. “I’d record a rhythm guitar part to a click track, so that it would stay in time. I try to write arrangements that make sense, so a musician will hear them a couple times, (and) he’ll understand how it works instead of just kind of jamming. In Wally’s case I posted the rhythm parts with click tracks on the internet, and he downloads them, and he plays drums up in Canada. Then (Wally) sends me a CD with a high resolution file that I put into ProTools, and I add the bass, vocals, and lead guitars. I think it comes down to a matter of experience though. The drummer and myself have had enough experience that we seem to be able to get by. I have to admit myself, they do sound as if they’ve been played in much closer proximity than they were.” Across The Border boasts a much more organic sound than some of Herdt’s past releases which featured programmed electronic drumming. While all of his CDs showcase mucho multi layered guitar tracks (and Across the Border is no exception), the swinging yet punchy powerhouse drumming of Wally Z help these songs escape from the common studio trap of feeling over produced. Often, this music almost has the airy feel of a live in-concert recording. As is typical of Herdt’s style, the songs run the gamut from instrumentals to vocal numbers, and toss any attempt at genre categorization out the window with shredding hard rock, transcendental jazz and blues, scorching slide (‘The Touch’), sultry Latino rhythms, and heady structured prog riffs all thrown into a red-hot musical crucible. One particularly sharp creation to be forged during these sessions is ‘Less I Know’ which features emotive vocalization by Wally Z, and words provided by his wife Arlene “Lee” Zielonka. Lee contributes lyrics to three of Across The Border’s compositions, which embellish the sweet sounds with a complimentary poetic intrigue. It could be easy to take the attitude that this release might only appeal to musicians, if it were not for the fact that the compositions continually defy definition, keeping the listener’s interest level secured, but also, the flow of the song order has an inspired quality of engaging the listener in the album’s journey via infectious beats and melodies that tend to get stuck in one’s head. And Herdt understands that the key to making a good CD isn’t just what can be accomplished in a studio with the right effects and recording equipment, as he candidly admits, “When you get involved with technology it can start to become kind of seductive, but the bottom line is going to come down to the playing and the feeling.”
i bought this cd for a few friend's and family member's, and everyone i gave th
author: andrea batemanan absolute must....that is if you love "rock"...and who doesn't...i have purchased about 4 of these cd's when they first came out, and have since bought a few more because people that have heard john herdt, and wally z,s, new cd, " across the border" just wanted them for themself's, you will love this cd...if you don't have it, you trully don't know what your missing, so get it while you can...it "rocks"..........andrea bateman
Good Work
author: Doug BretonI really do appreciate a couple of guys, who know and understand the "feel" of late 60's Acid Rock.... Good Work !!
This CD brings back memories of great rock from years past! A must!
author: Paul BatemanJohn this is truly an amazing piece of work! Being a musician for many years, I can appreciate the intricacies and creativity in the various songs. You are an inspiration to many of us who grew up on Tommy Bolin and Jeff Beck and you magically have pulled these timless talents together on your Across the Border CD. I thank my sister Andrea Troiano for this teriffic gift. Keep on rockin!! Paul (PBate50@aol.com) :>)
A totally rocking cd.
author: Andrea TroianoThis cd is awesome, if you love rock, fast guitar playing, and drumming, this cd' for you.