Jazz Guitar Trio Improv

This was some jazz guitar trio improv with my friends from earlier tonight. Everything we played was straight ahead jazz except this one piece, this one stood out. It has some more classical and rock influences on my guitar parts. 

https://soundcorset.com/r/YlFIOSV3nZ?fbclid=IwAR2wQfW53rEVL4hwi1DXkCfAdsKyX_MByS1G8fJUTfsyuGouxgUC4aZ9EVg

Featuring Orlando Figueroa on guitar, Jason Tomas on alto saxophone, and Feather Robley on drums.

Live Jazz! 9/9/2022!

Listen to it or be square! 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kq57g1C2fWA&t=868s

Live Music Session 11/11/21!

https://www.facebook.com/orlando.figueroa.3150/videos/1062070257878268

This was recorded on November 11, 2021, on my phone. Featuring myself, Orlando Figueroa on guitar and Jason Tomas on alto saxophone. 

We've been practicing together for about a year during the pandemic. We've done a few open mics but mostly we jam and record everything like a jam band. We play standards but also just do jams based on jazz chord changes in a straight ahead context. 

When performing today, I was thinking a lot about filling up the space with lots of strums, and give Jason complete melodic control with his horn. Like a drums/singer sort of combination. 

During a lot of this session I was thinking about playing in terms of a modal sort of style. The straight ahead jazz sound signature. 

I used my Jackson Dinky 6-string with a floyd rose whammy. The tone selector allows a plethora of sound options from thick full bodied tone sound, more typical of a jazz box sound, as well as allowing the other option for more clean bright chord sounds, typical of blues, funk, and rnb. Although I initially bought the guitar to be a heavy rock and roll machine, it's also come to be one of my best guitars for jazz improvisation. 

Gracias por escuchar! 

Live performance 6/30/21

 Had a good jam session today with my friend. Check the video here.

Thank you very much for listening. Please share, listen, critque, feel free to comment, like, and subscribe to my YouTube channel. Check out some of my other videos on there as well. 

guten Abend

Live performance 2/10

Live performance recorded today, 2/10/21. Featuring on alto saxophone Jason Thomas and myself, Orlando Figueroa on electric guitar. We perform some standards, blues, and improv.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eE_W3HRc0CI&feature=youtu.be&ab_channel=MegaFigueroa007

Balcony Concert #1

Guten tag, 

Here's a livestream from two days ago that I finally uploaded from Facebook to YouTube, where it will hopefully get more views. We performed some standards and improvisation. We did the standards Freddie Freeloader, Blue Monk, Footprints, and Body and Soul, as well as a minor blues improv and improv based on a diminished chord. Orlando Miguel Figueroa on guitar and Jason Tomas on alto saxophone. 

Thanks for listening. Don't forget to like and subscribe to my YouTube channel. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifzXJhZ-55w

Live Performance 12/2/2020

This is a live performance from today, 12/2/2020, that took place from 430pm-530pm. Featuring myself, Orlando Miguel Figueroa on guitar and Jason Tomas on alto saxophone. We perform [in order], an untitled composition, Footprints, Freddie Freeloader, Blue Monk, a jam based on a diminished chord, and ending the set with Body and Soul. 

Watch the performance here, https://www.facebook.com/orlando.figueroa.3150/videos/1730748607096466

Thanks for listening and supporting our music. 

The modern improviser refuses to die! 

second keyboard performance

Hello,

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1710314755806518&id=100004840297787&anchor_composer=false

Here is my second keyboard performance with Jason Thomas on alto saxophone. Better performance and better sound quality on the livestream. Thanks, enjoy.

Hasta luego

Keyboard performance

 Hello, 

Today, for the first time ever, I livestreamed and performed on the keyboard in a jam session with my friend, alto saxophone player Jason Thomas. Orlando Figueroa on keyboard and noise. We played a minor blues, Blue Monk, Autumn Leaves, and improvised after the tunes. 

Enjoy, thanks for listening. Don't forget to like and subscribe to my YouTube Channel. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LWcw8ouc3o

Blues Notes #1

Hello, 

I did another livestream today. We're going to make it a weekly performance. We'll continue to do standards and improv. Enjoy the music. Don't forget to like and subscribe to my YouTube channel. 

Thanks, enjoy 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ikzDWiTXHc 

Impressions & Feedback

Howdy, yall. I'd like to share a track from yesterday's jam session that I thought sounded pretty cool. I really like the ending here, as it's a Hendrix move, where I shove the guitar into the amp, producing sonic fury, distortion. It's a rather unorthodox way to end a typical straight-ahead jazz standard, Impressions, but it's nice to break out of ones' shell and try something different, more rock and roll. Enjoy Impressions. 

https://soundcloud.com/orlando-figueroa-17/impressions-feedback 

Orlando Figueroa, guitar
Jason Thomas, alto saxophone

Surviving the Zombie Apocalype Virus pt. 7

Salutations, good people of the internet, and of the ofigueroamusicblog. I haven't written in a long time, and for starters, let me say, that it's good to be back writing blogs again. For those of you that were wondering where or what I have been doing, feel free to check out my plague journal, located here.

Moving on, to the current events. Covid-19 has ravaged the lands. America is described as a failed state by other nations that feel pity for us and periodicals in op-eds state the same. Today, 2,000 people died from the virus in the US.

I'm still on hiatus from work, on a leave of absence. This has been ongoing since April but I think when my time is up in June, I will go back to work, and just pray to God that I don't get COVID. I need the money and the stimulus isn't enough. I wear gloves and a mask as a safety precaution. I think everybody should wear gloves and a mask if they go to the grocery store.

I've been bunkering in my room. I've been playing a lot of video games and reading a lot. Right now I'm focused on finishing Plutarch's Lives, a history/biographies book by an ancient Greek named Plutarch, and the book focuses on the lives, achievements, and virtues of famous Greeks and Romans. It's a heavy-duty book, consisting of 1200 pages, right now I'm almost to page 400! I find that reading ancient history really puts me in a different universe, one where I don't have to worry about the woes of the present predicament. It's a sense of freedom, that's what I enjoy about reading the book in particular.

Before that, I finished a science fiction short story hall of fame collection. That one was very impressive and I learned a lot about the science fiction genre from it. It focused on stories from the 1940s to the 1960s, aka the golden age of science fiction. I can see where a lot of sf ideas came from and noted that none of the new sf movies/shows/short stories/novels are original. "It's all been done before." 

I also read two great science fiction pulp novels from the 1940s and 1960s. The first one was The Day They H Bombed Los Angeles, a wonderful zombie apocalypse wasteland story, probably the first of its kind. The writing was only okay but it was a fun read. Want to know how a zombie apocalypse wasteland is created? An H Bomb. There's a twist. These zombies become sentient, enough to the point where they can shoot guns and call others for help in firefights.

In addition, I read Slan, a novel from 1940, the first mutant novel. It's very pulpy writing, meaning its not very literary at all, however, there's a great twist for an ending that is very endearing. It turns out that the woman the main character, a young mutant man loves, she's also a mutant, her father is the villain of the novel. But that's not all. The villain was known for being a bad guy that hates mutants, and not a mutant, completely human. Well, it turns out that he's the father of the woman our hero loves, AND a mutant, AND our hero doesn't have to kill him because he's allowed him into his shadow government organization where mutants have infiltrated human society. How nice. 

Aside from books, I did start writing a beginning for a zombie apocalypse virus novel but haven't made much progress. It has the same name as my zombie virus short story, entitled Human, Ghoul, Zombie, which you can read here.

Lastly, I've been playing a lot of guitar. I play acoustic guitar on my balcony most afternoons or evenings. As a result, I've become a much better guitar player. Acoustic forces you to work on your chords and timing, leaving the fancy solos in the dust. My jazz improvisation is at its best its ever been and I'm still doing my jazz duo with my friend Jason, who plays the alto saxophone. In my plague journal, you can hear some of our recordings. Check out our latest free form improvisational track The All Wizard.

Tonight I jammed outside on the balcony and my neighbor across the way came out with his acoustic and we did a short jam session. It was a lot of fun. He played chords and I played lead over it. We had one really good number but the rest wasn't so hot. Still, I give Chris props for coming out and bringing out his guitar, him knowing that I practice guitar outside almost every day and have a lot more chops. There was a sensational moment as a result of this; both his family and my neighbor's family next door came out, and we all talked for a bit. The power of music really brings us together!

I plan on going back to work in June. But in the meantime, I'm reading Plutarch and taking the news day by day. If you read the news nowadays or watch the news on TV, it's very scary, and it's very real. Welcome to our nightmare. 

But don't fret. The best thing we can do is keep calm and stay undeterred from our goals, our plans, our lives, our families, our jobs, our hobbies, our fortunes and virtues, or lack thereof. The strongest skill of this time period isn't wealth or even happiness, perhaps not even health, rather it is the ability to stay focused on the things at hand, that truly matter. 

Don't let up.

The Quarantine Recordings pt. 2

Hello, good people of the internet. Here's part two of a series I'm calling the quarantine recordings. We did a bunch of jazz standards today in my backyard, just jamming out. A lot of people stopped by in the front yard to listen. It was cool. The songs are in the order they were performed live. Check them out below. Thanks for listening!

https://soundcloud.com/user-294063763/untitled-tune-qiuarantine
https://soundcloud.com/user-294063763/autumn-leaves-quarantine
https://soundcloud.com/user-294063763/airegin-quarantine
https://soundcloud.com/user-294063763/four-quarantine
https://soundcloud.com/user-294063763/all-the-things-you-are-quarantine-2
https://soundcloud.com/user-294063763/impressions-quarantine

Guitar/effects, Orlando Figueroa 
Alto Saxophone, Jason Thomas

The Quarantine Recordings

Here are the latest recordings, calling these The Quarantine Recordings. What with this historic worldwide pandemic it's sometimes easy to forget about the little things in life, like music, and watching musical performances, and/or hearing musical performances. Enjoy our music, if you like, leave a like and/or comment on Soundcloud or the blog. 

Thanks

Orlando Figueroa, Guitar/effects
Jason Thomas, alto saxophone

https://soundcloud.com/orlando-figueroa-17/all-the-things-you-are 
https://soundcloud.com/orlando-figueroa-17/four 
https://soundcloud.com/orlando-figueroa-17/freddie-freeloader-latest 
https://soundcloud.com/orlando-figueroa-17/untitled-composition-latest-331 

New Recordings 2020

Hello all. I just wanted to update my Soundcloud with some new recordings. Here are six new tracks from my jazz duo. We've been practicing together for about a year. I've definitely learned a lot about jazz and improvisation through the project. How to truly improvise, given on the time of day, your mood, your heartbeat, the lunar cycle, the sun's position in the sky, [lol, you get the idea].

Basically, it's been good mutual musical growth. Enjoy the tunes.

Orlando Figueroa, Guitar
Jason Thomas, Alto Saxophone 

https://soundcloud.com/user-294063763/voice-0063
https://soundcloud.com/user-294063763/voice-0043
https://soundcloud.com/user-294063763/voice-0044
https://soundcloud.com/user-294063763/voice-0054
https://soundcloud.com/user-294063763/voice-0055

Lullaby

Here's a recording from within the last two weeks that I really liked. It's essentially a two-chord vamp, Cmaj/G7. We called for a jam in Cmaj, and this is what turned up. Not bad. 

https://soundcloud.com/user-294063763/lullaby 

Orlando Figueroa, Guitar
Jason Thomas, Alto Saxophone 

Enjoy

Jazz instrumental Track

Here's an instrumental original track we recorded this past week. For lack of a better name, [but keeping the changes in mind], I've called it The Beautiful and Her Complications. The idea is using minor changes, resolving to major chords, and throwing in some dominant 7ths for flair, but of course, the theme is in a minor key. Enjoy. 

https://soundcloud.com/user-294063763/the-beautiful-and-her-complications 

Orlando Figueroa, Guitar
Jason Thomas, Alto Saxophone 

Equinox, in September

I had a good jam session today with the jazz duo. Here's my favorite recording from today's session, from September 17th. Trane's Equinox, with a lot of improv.
https://soundcloud.com/user-294063763/equinox

Orlando Figueroa, Guitar
Jason Thomas, Alto Saxophone 

Cole Porter tune

Here's our rendition of the Cole Porter standard entitled "Every Time We Say Goodbye." Definitely gonna add this one to the songlist. 
Enjoy!
https://soundcloud.com/orlando-figueroa-17/every-time-we-say-goodbye-cole-porter 

Jazz Band Projekt Tracks

Here are some latest tracks from my jazz project, which consists of myself on guitar, Orlando Figueroa, and Jason Thomas on alto saxophone. We met back in January 2019 and we've played with seven different third members including bass players, a guitar player, and a trumpet player but we've always enjoyed just playing as a duo the best. 

Straight ahead!

https://soundcloud.com/orlando-figueroa-17/the-gentlemen-minor-blues 
https://soundcloud.com/orlando-figueroa-17/mr-pc-paul-chambers 
https://soundcloud.com/orlando-figueroa-17/bluesmen