2012-02-05T23:03:52Z Tom Foster Copyright 2012, Tom Foster SPHPBLOG Nelson Riddle is one of the most renown composer and arranger in popular music history.
We went to the University of Arizona where Valerie donated the letter to the University of Arizona Nelson Riddle Collection.



Above, Keith Pawlik, music archivist at UofA accepts the letter and Valerie inspects Riddle's Academy Award for Best Adapted Music Score. ]]> http://www.mytomfoster.com/index.php?entry=entry080814-205830 2008-08-15T00:00:00Z 2008-08-15T00:00:00Z
As aspiring musicians, like those listed above, many people picked up a guitar or drumsticks and struck a beat later referred to as the Bo Diddley beat. As a prolific blues musician, Bo Diddley caught the attention of popular musicians who incorporated his catchy "shave and a haircut" rhythm. The rhythm is a ...One and two and three and four and one and two and three and four and... beat that you hear often in blues and popular music. Bo Diddley also popularized reverb, distortion, and tremelo to accompany his signature hambone beat.

Additionally, many of Bo Diddley's songs were successfully covered by others in the UK and America. George Thorogood, The Clash, The Animals, Quicksilver Messinger Service, Jesus & Mary Chain, The Yardbirds, Kinks and Rolling Stones, The Who and many, many others benefited from his simple straight-forward song writing style.

He was a Golden Glove boxer, banned from the Ed Sullivan Show, had his own guitar style and his beat will live on.]]> http://www.mytomfoster.com/index.php?entry=entry080603-080431 2008-06-03T00:00:00Z 2008-06-03T00:00:00Z Mike Haasis went to the studio to record a set of songs for Mike.



It was a blast returning to Orangewood Studios again with our buddy Mike Coleman at the board.

]]> http://www.mytomfoster.com/index.php?entry=entry080522-222805 2008-05-23T00:00:00Z 2008-05-23T00:00:00Z

What a lovely evening at the May 13th Pink Martini outdoor concert at Scottsdale Center for the Arts Ampitheatre. We shared the night with our friends and neighbors Roy and Wendy.



The band with their international flavor was awesome and China Forbes' voice filled the night air with strong and sweet sounds. My favorite moment was when the band played Sympathique.

We are all BIG Pink Martini fans. When Roy and Wendy moved to our neighborhood we had them over to our house at a welcoming party. When he heard Pink Martini on our outside speakers he knew he was in the right place. Roy first heard P.M. on a CD ostensibly forgotten in a rental car in the northwest. I heard them on NPR and immediately went to their web site and bought the CD there.]]> http://www.mytomfoster.com/index.php?entry=entry080519-133406 2008-05-19T00:00:00Z 2008-05-19T00:00:00Z Birdland. Mr. Kuhn is an awesome player with quite a history as are his fellow musicians.



Besides playing world-class jazz, these are the nicest guys to meet and talk with. I was honored to have a photo taken with probably the best bass player alive, Mr. Ron Carter. Also, Mr. Al Foster delighted me and a couple of French tourists with stories of when he played with the greats including Miles and Herbie.

On another (bass) note, read the article from Bass Player magazine about the historic "Bass of Doom". Jaco Pastorius' long lost fretless '62 Jazz Bass appeared recently in NYC.
]]> http://www.mytomfoster.com/index.php?entry=entry080327-230611 2008-03-28T00:00:00Z 2008-03-28T00:00:00Z

I attended the Media Summit New York last week. I am compiling a report but, in the mean time, here are some links to what other people are saying about the conference.

Here is a clip of the Bob Iger interview from paidContent. As well as a write-up from the same site. And another story about kids and media.

From Jeff Jarvis at the BuzzMachine on Bob Iger's frank and compelling interview.

From Mike Raffensperger at Zoom In Online on the session titled: "Television without Boundaries: Cable, Telco, Satellite, Broadband and Mobile Define the Future of Entertainment and Communications"

From Mike Shields at MediaWeek on embracing widgets.

From Georg Szalai at the Hollywood Reporter on Bob Iger's interview and an online video of Leslie Moonves' interview.]]> http://www.mytomfoster.com/index.php?entry=entry080317-154141 2008-03-17T00:00:00Z 2008-03-17T00:00:00Z


Photo: freep.com

We, and 1,500 of our closest friends, were part of the on-field crowd when Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers took the stage at Super Bowl XLII. Even though we rehearsed it with the band three times, the band excited the crowd more and more each time and Sunday was incredible when 60,000 and a worldwide audience was included. We also had fun riding in school buses with motorcycle police escorts through Sun City, Surprise, and Peoria to Glendale. And yes, what a game that was.]]> http://www.mytomfoster.com/index.php?entry=entry080204-162157 2008-02-04T00:00:00Z 2008-02-04T00:00:00Z
]]> http://www.mytomfoster.com/index.php?entry=entry080131-010927 2008-01-31T00:00:00Z 2008-01-31T00:00:00Z
Here are a few of our friends.



Val expressing her opinion on something.


]]> http://www.mytomfoster.com/index.php?entry=entry080131-005655 2008-01-31T00:00:00Z 2008-01-31T00:00:00Z
Apple kept the opening a semi-secret for a while and I didn't know until about a week before. I figured I would go down around 4:30 and see if there was a line only to find out that there was only about 39 people ahead of me! Rumors floated that they were giving away two t-shirts to the first 500 people to celebrate the San Tan opening and the release of Leopard, Apple's new OS. For me, both were a celebration and the t-shirts were icing on the technology cake.

Here's a photo from http://www.ifoapplestore.com/ I'm in the line somewhere.



Another shot from blog.theyearofcoffee.com as people stream in.

]]> http://www.mytomfoster.com/index.php?entry=entry071029-232343 2007-10-29T00:00:00Z 2007-10-29T00:00:00Z