Incudes words of wisdom from Mr. Zimmer. Now available in a Kindle digital edition! Click the cover above.

Here are two of my portraits of Hans Zimmer, whose most recent score is for the new film, “Inception.”  These photos were taken for Universal Audio, to accompany a nice interview with Hans by Marsha Vdovin.  Click HERE.

From MUSIC SMARTS, by Mr. Bonzai:

“The bummer of being a composer is you sit in the bathtub in the morning, where I do most of my writing, and you hear things in your head. They sound far more 3D and far more wonderful than they will ever sound by the time they make it to the real world.”
—Hans Zimmer

Click on the cover to order.

I’d like to take you into the Inner Sanctum of the making of music.  After months, or  sometimes years of work, musicians must finalize their album, but there is one last chance to tweak that sound.  Here they are at work during the final stages of  their recording projects at Bernie Grundman Mastering in Hollywood.  Mastering is described by Grundman as “basically post-production for the recording industry — the final creative step before delivery to the manufacturer for mass production.”  It’s exciting, like standing backstage with the performer before they make their big entrance.  Bravo!

All photos by Mr. Bonzai.  Click on image to enlarge…

Pictured (L-R) are music exec Jordan Bratman, Christina Aguilera, and mastering engineer Brian "Big Bass" Gardner.

(L-R) Engineer Eric Valentine, Slash, and Bernie.

Pictured (L-R) Dante Santiago, A&R creative executive producer; will.i.am, artist/executive producer; Dylan “3D” Dresdow, mixer; Padraic “Padlock” Kerin, recording engineer; Chris Bellman, mastering engineer.

Pictured (L-R) during “Dark Void” sessions are co-producer Steve Kaplan, mastering engineer Patricia Sullivan FourStar, and composer Bear McCreary.

Pictured (L-R) Jesse Hughes and Joshua Homme of Eagles of Death Metal and mastering engineer Brian Gardner.

"Weird Al" Yankovic and Bernie.

Click here to order!

The event was a smashing success with many friends and family members enjoying hot Margheritas cooked and served by yours truly.  Owner/chef Peppe Miele joined us for an al fresco pizza discussion and plans for future meetings of true pizza lovers!  To see more photos of the event, taken by KamranV, click here.

Your host and chef presents a Pizza Margherita hot from the woodfire oven.

PREVIOUS POST PRIOR TO EVENT

I’ve been studying the true pizza for two years and am finally ready to make you a classic dish. By special arrangement with Antica Pizzeria in Marina del Rey, I can offer a handmade wood-fired Bonzai Margherita for just $10. Our first meeting will be June 6, from Noon to 1 PM — if I have enough customers who RSVP.

So let me know if you can make it!

Ever since visiting Capri and Napoli I have wanted to master the fine art of making a perfect pizza, like the ones which come from the place where pizza originated. Luckily, in Los Angeles we have Antica Pizzeria, the first restaurant in the United States to bear the seal of approval of the Verace Pizza Napoletana Association. Antica Pizzeria founder and owner Giuseppe (Peppe) Miele is the President of the North American Division of the association.

Mr. Bonzai and Joseppe

Here I am in uniform with Chef Joseppe, who recently took third place in Napoli’s international pizza making competition. I spent my first Sunday with Joseppe, making from scratch the dough for 60 pizzas, plus 22 pounds of fresh mozzarella. My first pizza, a Margherita with only tomato sauce, cheese and basil and fired in a 900 degree wood-burning oven, was presented to a discerning customer from Italy — and I passed the test.

Only those pizzerias which respect all the culinary traditions of the Neapolitan pizza are authorized to use the Verace Pizza™ seal of approval. Verace Pizza™ is an international non-profit organization dedicated to popularizing the Neapolitan pizza.

ANTICA PIZZERIA

Now available for the Kindle. Only $9.99. Click the cover.

Hark! Here are my photos of two talented engineer/producers: Mike Shipley (Maroon 5, Alison Krauss, Def Leppard)

Mike Shipley at Glenwood Place Studios. photo: MrB

and Jacquire King (Norah Jones, Kings of Leon, Tom Waits).

Jacquire King at Sunset Sound. Photo by MrB

I photographed these gents in the studio to accompany interviews by Marsha Vdovin on behalf of Universal Audio, a fine company whose roots go back to the groundbreaking work done by founder Bill Putnam, now carried on by Bill Putnam, Jr. You can read the interviews and learn more at http://www.uaudio.com

EARTH DAY: Check out Jackson Nash’s SuperForest!

In our last episode, we looked into the archives for a photo and interview with Graham Nash.   Now we meet his son, Jackson Nash, the godfather of Superforest .

Jackson noodles around on the guitar in Mr. Bonzai's world headquarters.

Here is the credo from the horses’s mouth: “Before we can set about elevating our present society from a carbon-based one to a solar-electric one, knowing full well that solar-electric decentralized power means a higher quality of life for all, we must first pause and ask ourselves: Why? What is worth saving?”

Keiko has translated the SuperForest Humanifesto into Japanese.

Jackson, a clever chess player and flambuoyant man 0’ the world, has been joining us up here in the Hills to discuss and develop his concept of:

The Three P’s – Patronage, Permaculture, and Positivism

“I feel that the answer lies in the way humans view the world. If you see the Earth as a rich place, full of abundance and life, with resources enough for all, in perpetuity, you are subscribing to the ‘Abundance model.’ On the other hand, if you see the world as a violent and brutish place, where needless destruction is the norm, and there will always be strife because there aren’t enough resources to go around, then you’re subscribing to the ‘Scarcity model.’

We are recording these encounters on my new and superb Sony PCM-M10 (pictured here), which comes in a stylish burgundy. It’s stereo, it’s handy, it is a marvel of space age compact quality.

Jackson tests out my new Monster Turbine Pro Copper In-Ear Speakers. Another astounding new product, one which reveals such clarity and transparency that you might want to reconsider the lo-fi sources you may be listening to.

If you see the world as a place of rich abundance, chances are you are going to be happy, content, peaceful, settled, neighborly, polite, and generous, because you believe that there is enough to provide for all, and that this energy will return to you if you send it out into the world.

The scarcity model is sadly what our present culture is based on. Don’t believe me? Turn on the television. There you see the Scarcity model in all its glory.

So how do we elevate the 6.8 billion humans from the Scarcity model to the Abundance model?”

We are documenting these meetings, and will share the evolution with you fellow human beans. Meanwhile, Jackson is about to venture forth to Hawaii, where he hopes to create within 3 years a totally self-sufficient 2 acre parcel filled with food and power and art.  We wish him the best, for our own good!

In this new installment from the Mr. Bonzai vaults, we step back in time to 1991 for a comprehensive interview with Graham Nash. He is an artist who has been true to his words throughout his career, and it is certainly intriguing to read these words from the perspective of the two decades that have passed.

Graham Nash listening to a playback at Record Plant, 1991. Photo by Mr. Bonzai.

Graham Nash
Feel the Dreams
by Mr. Bonzai
©1991 by David Goggin, all rights reserved
no reproduction without written permission from mrbonzai@mrbonzai.com

Sessions at the top can be pretty serious, what with the big meter running and careers forging on, but the mood today is relaxed, upbeat, and friendly as Graham Nash steps out of the control room and joins me in the Record Plant studio canteen. The pinball machine fires off a synth riff as the room fills with the aroma of freshly microwaved gourmet popcorn.

Like millions around the world I’ve been touched by this man’s music for many, many years. He was a founding father of The Hollies, the only group in England to score more hits than The Beatles. Perhaps the most enduring soldier of the British Invasion, he pulled up his roots and changed his life at the Woodstock debut of Crosby, Stills and Nash.

It’s appropriate that CSN is three names, three distinct musical personalities. What’s remarkable is the harmonious blend that became a three-headed chimera, and sometimes four-headed. But this group has never been a “group” in the traditional musical sense.

“The individualism became a dominant part of what it was that we wanted to say,” Nash explains. “We wanted to let people know that we were no longer going to be in a group; that we would be individuals that came together to make music and could make music with whomever and in whatever form we wanted. Consequently, when people say, ‘They broke up, they reformed, they re-broke up, they re-formed,’ it’s all bullshit.”

Nash has had great success as a solo artist, as a member of a group, and as a member of a non-group. He’s the living proof of strong individuality working in harmony with others. When we look at the social activism, we might note that his first memories are of air raid sirens and the bombing of England in the final days of WWII.

To read the entire interview, click Nash_Graham_1991_MrB

You can follow me on Twitter

KTLA News February 23, 2010

LOS ANGELES — A Los Angeles police bomb squad was called to a Hollywood home Monday morning after the owners found a Civil War-era cannonball in their basement.  David Goggin says the “iron ball” was found while digging out old pipes in the basement.

Officer Don Thompson holds the potentially explosive Cannonball.

The bomb squad, which was called in around 11 a.m., feared the ball was filled with unstable black powder. “Cannonball” Goggin  says he trusted his steady hands to carry the explosive device through the front yard and hand it over to authorities.  He also says he’s glad to have it out of his home. “I just didn’t think it was a good idea to have ancient munitions in your basement,” he told KTLA.

The cannonball was eventually deemed safe, according to Sgt. Sal Ogaz of the Los Angeles Police Department. The discovery wasn’t the first of its kind inside the home along the 2900 block of Durand Drive, just east of the Hollywood Reservoir.  About 18 years ago, three other Civil War-era cannonballs and a grenade were found there. Goggin’s wife Keiko actually dropped the grenade on the ground, but luckily it was inert.

Three squad cars, three Bomb Squad trucks and a dozen members of the LAPD were on hand to insure public safety on the barricaded street.

Copyright © 2010, KTLA-TV, Los Angeles

Photos ©2010 Mr. Bonzai

To view the broadcast, click here.

Here is another interview from my vaults, previously published in 1989 in Mix magazine and in Japan’s Sound & Recording. Clocking in at 4000 words, much of this interview has never been seen. This year Herbie celebrates his 70th Birthday, and is still going strong.

Herbie Hancock in his studio. Photo by Mr. Bonzai

Herbie Hancock
Cool Fusion
by Mr. Bonzai

©1989, all rights reserved
no reproduction without written permission from mrbonzai (at) mrbonzai.com

Both Picasso and Hancock mastered traditional forms and styles at an early age, gained critical acclaim, and went on to shock their followers with innovation and abstraction. Picasso used found objects in his collage and sculpture; Hancock uses concrete sounds and found samples in his music. The rules were broken as the rebels drew from international sources and freely mixed. Both artists make us rethink our ideas of reality and open our doors of perception, yet they both make us feel comfortable in the twilight zone between art and life.

Barely out of his teens, Herbie Hancock became a leading force in the heyday of 60’s jazz. The jazz crowd is a tough audience and he won them over, in his work with Donald Byrd, Miles Davis, and the cream of the serious contenders. Compositions such as “Watermelon Man” became worldwide standards. His first film score was for Antonioni’s 1967 breakthrough Blow-Up. Herbie came on strong, then took jazz to new levels of cool fusion. In 1973, his Headhunters album defined jazz funk, and in following years he has swung easily with his old fans and new. The Eighties earned a best original score Oscar for his ‘Round Midnight music and a best concept video MTV award for “Rockit”. A master with many forms, he has consistently taken the newest technology and made it his own.

If you would like to learn more about the incredible ascent of Berklee College of Music scholarship honoree Herbie Hancock, click here: Hancock, Herbie_MrB_1989.

Don’t forget to check out my Berklee College of Music berkleemusic blog at:  http://mrbonzai.berkleemusicblogs.com/

One of the big highlights at this year’s annual NAMM show gathering of the musical tribes was the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus celebration. Yoko Ono chose this event to kick off a year celebrating John’s 70th birthday. Following a medley of Lennon tunes belted out by students from the Fernando Pullum Performing Arts School, Yoko took the stage with executive director Brian Rothschild and offered words of wisdom and encouragement about the importance of music education. It used to be a requirement for all students to study music and pick an instrument, thereby developing talents that would otherwise remain hidden. It’s a shame to think of all the raw talent that is undiscovered in these supposedly “modern” times.

Brian Rothschild and Yoko Ono Lennon.

Yoko was completely charming and clearly touched by the gathering and, dare I say it, cute in a girlish sort of way. “The John Lennon Educational Tour Bus is a non-profit outreach program with the mission of giving kids a chance to express themselves through music and video productions,” she said. “It has been a living legacy to John’s passion for musical expression and artistic freedom. By utilizing the on-the-road John Lennon Educational Tour Bus and its fine studio set-up, thousands of students have written, recorded and produced original songs and videos – students who otherwise might not have had the opportunity to explore these avenues of creativity. At a time with music education in the schools is facing tough funding challenges, the Bus has been a rolling testament to the enduring, positive power of music making.”

She was followed by fellow proponents of the good cause, Jackson Brown and Quincy Jones. The bus itself is a marvel of advanced audio and video recording technology, complete with the latest in remote camera control and green screen capability (using new fabrics that reflect light in a specific way that reacts with the camera sensors). Chief engineer Jeff Sobel heads up an operation that travels all over, bringing musical vision to students from all walks of life.   lennonbus.org

Jackson Browne outside the Lennon bus.

Jeff Sobel, Chief Engineer. All photos by Mr. Bonzai.

The NAMM Foundation is a non-profit organization with the mission of advancing active participation in music making across the lifespan by supporting scientific research, philanthropic giving and public service programs from the international music products industry. For more information about The NAMM Foundation, visit www.nammfoundation.org. For more information on how to support music education programs in your local community, go to www.supportmusic.com.

In one of the many “picture” galleries at Vienna’s Art History Museum, there is a world famous painting by Johannes Vermeer van Delft, entitled “The Artist’s Studio” (1665/66). During our visit, a gentleman had set up his easel and was making a paintstaking copy of this painting, which let’s the viewer look over Vermeer’s shoulder as he paints a maiden (posing with the attributes of Cleo, the Muse of History: the laurel wreath, the trumpet and a book).

The Artist's Studio...in the Art Museum.

Vermeer eliminated chance, which had been an essential part of the previous period of “genre” painting.  All of the visual elements participate in the overall composition, and his subjects seem to have paused for a thoughtful moment in their daily life.  We see all this from the POV of a darkened room, with that mysterious light contributing to a masterpiece of pure painting.  The gent painting the painting is learning much more about this work than you or I can imagine.