A live set of inspired blues guitar playing.

13 MP3 Songs
BLUES: Electric Blues, BLUES: Rockin' Blues



Details:
As the Years Go Passing By - Liner Notes

In the 80âs a blues revival began in the United States fueled by the popularity of artists Stevie Ray Vaughan and Robert Cray. Nightclubs were featuring more and more blues acts and new blues venues continued to appear on the scene. There were young guitarslingers aplenty as well as veteran blues performers, some re-emerging from relative obscurity.

While the revival was at its peak I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to open shows for many blues legends including Albert Collins, John Lee Hooker, Buddy Guy, Robert Cray, Clarence Gatemouth Brown, and Junior Wells. Iâd always bring blank tapes with me to the shows and ask the sound crew to record my sets. Though I never intended to release these recordings, there were some nights when we managed to get a good mix on tape along with a great, high-energy performance. âAs the Years Go Passing Byâ contains a sampling of these tunes recorded at several shows at the Catalyst night club in Santa Cruz, California. Eight of the ten live tracks were recorded from the stage monitor mixing board onto two-track digital audio tape (DAT). The remaining tracks were recorded from the main PA mixing board onto two-track cassette. What you hear on this disk is definitely music in the raw; no overdubs or fixing it in the mix here!

I originally released âAs the Years Go Passing Byâ in 1993. Itâs hard to imagine now, but at that time people were still making the change from turntables and cassette decks over to CD players. In fact, I donât recall anyone having a CD player in their car back then (at least not in my circle of friends)! Since I was running on a limited budget, I released the album on cassette figuring that it was the format available to the largest number of people. After I sold out my first run of cassettes I decided to leave it at that and move on to new things. But as the years went passing by--some of my friends and fans commented on how much they liked the album and suggested that I put it on CD. Having not heard it in quite some time, I gave it a listen and was delighted to re-discover that it was a pretty rocking album! I decided to go ahead with the project and put the album on CD. Happily I found the master DAT and went into the studio to do some re-mastering, only to find that I had an alternate version of the master tape! I went home and searched through boxes of tapes several times over, but to no avail. I realized the only place the master could possibly be was at the plant that replicated and packaged the album. I did an internet search and was glad to find that they were still in business and I gave them a call. I explained my situation to the woman on the phone and she said that since the album was done in 1993 they probably would no longer have it on file. She asked me what format the master was, and when I told her it was on DAT she said that she had just happened to see a bunch of DATs sitting on a shelf downstairs and would go take a look. About twenty minutes later she gave me a call and lo and behold she had found the master tape!

I now present to you the newly re-mastered version of âAs the Years Go Passing By.â Since CDs can now hold about 80 minutes of music compared to about 60 on cassette, I was able to include three previously unreleased studio recordings on this album. The three tracks (two of which also appear in their live form) were recorded at MARS Recording Studio in Aptos, California, between March and September of 1990. They were recorded on good old two-inch, 24-track analog tape. It brings me much pleasure to finally release these tunes as I ask myself, what is a mere sixteen years in the larger scheme of things anyway?!

I sincerely hope you enjoy listening to the album as much as I enjoyed resurrecting it!

Ken Arconti

October 4, 2006

"...a must-have for aficianados for blues guitar playing of the highest order." -- Metro, Santa Cruz

"...his guitar work on this album is smoking. If it's full on blues you want to hear, this is it." -- Goodtimes,
Santa Cruz

"After one listen to Ken Arconti's rocking and rolling "Your Left Hand Don't Know (What Your Right Hand is Doing)," I guarantee you'll be addicted. Bay Area local Ken Arconti has the smooth vocals reminiscent of the Fabulous Thunderbirds' Kim Wilson and the lyrics seem to slide, cool as you please, right off his tongue." -- Showcase Music Times, San Jose

"The album is a testament to Arconti's driving blues and understated growl, featuring tracks that run the gamut of blues-inspired emotions from the rocking, rhythmic, brash confidence of "Twenty Nine Ways(to get through my baby's door)" to the surf music-inspired insouciance of "Sen-Sa-Shun" to the pleading riffs mourning lost love in the album's eponymous track." -- Goodtimes, Santa Cruz

Guitarist and vocalist Ken Arconti is a native Californian who has performed in the San Francisco Bay Area for over 25 years. At home in almost any musical environment, his playing is filled with passion, sensitivity and soulful lyricism.

Kenâs latest release, âAs The Years Go Passing By,â is the newly re-mastered edition of his long out of print 1993 solo debut. The album features a collection of driving blues recorded live at the Catalyst club in Santa Cruz, California. Taken from performances spanning 1989 to 1992, the CDâs ten live tracks feature a host of the Bay Areaâs finest musicians, among them Leonard Gill on bass and guitar (B.B. King, Otis Rush), Paul Revelli on drums (Joe Louis Walker, Angela Strehli), and Lizz Fischer on keyboards (John Lee Hooker). Included on the CD are three previously unreleased bonus tracks. Recorded in the studio in 1990, these original songs feature Jim Pugh on Hammond B-3 organ (Robert Cray, Etta James), Kevin Zuffi on piano (Joe Louis Walker), Jim Norris on drums (Lacy J. Dalton), and Leonard Gill on bass.

Inspired by the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, Ken began playing guitar at the age of 11 and was soon performing in bands and absorbing the sounds of the â60s. Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, the soul of Stax & Motown, the blues of B.B. and Albert King, and jazz artists Miles Davis and Wes Montgomery were all influences.

In 1978, Ken moved from his home of Los Angeles to Santa Cruz, and began playing in clubs around the Bay Area. He has performed everything from country to jazz, to top-40 rock, to rhythm & blues. These influences are evident on his 2003 solo release âSamsara Blues.â The album features ten original instrumental compositions, ranging from funky jam-oriented excursions and hard-rocking blues to soulful, introspective ballads. Ken is joined on the CD by John R. Burr on keyboards (Robben Ford, Alison Brown), David Rokeach on drums (Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles), Dewayne Pate on bass (Robben Ford), Tom Politzer on tenor & alto saxophone (Tower of Power), and David âPachaâ Alvarez on congas & percussion (Sista Monica). On the strength of âSamsara Blues,â Ken landed a coveted slot as a featured artist at the 2004 Monterey Jazz Festival.

Ken is a veteran performer of the Monterey Bay Blues Festival. He has shared the stage with John Mayall, Kenny Neal, Coco Montoya, and Tommy Castro. The list of artists he has opened for reads like a âWhoâs Whoâ of the Blues, including Robert Cray, Buddy Guy, John Lee Hooker and Albert Collins. He has performed/recorded with legendary New Orleans funk drummer Zigaboo Modeliste (the Meters), Terry Hanck & the Soul Rockers, the Chris Cobb Band, and the Broadway Blues Band.

Ken taught in the California Arts in Corrections Program from 1992 to 2003, teaching guitar, music theory and improvisation at Soledad Prison. He was the recipient of a prestigious Artist in Residence grant from the California Arts Council from 1999 to 2002, establishing a multi-cultural music program at Salinas Valley State Prison, which was featured in the 2002 VH1 documentary âMusic Behind Bars.â

In addition to performing, Ken has a devoted clientele of private guitar students.