Sunady Music Muse Day (Covid Edition) John & David Sneider, Gene Bertonciini

This Sunday Music Muse Day find me fighting the ever present Covid-19 virus (first time).  It's been a week and I'm still testing positive, but I must say all things considered, I'm having a mild case, so far. More like a bad cold. Rest and hydration seems to being doing the trick. Luckily, before being forced to quarantine, I get these two jazz gems to help me get back to health.  First, John & David Sneider Sneid Remarks, a family affair from the members of one of the most talented musical families I have come across.  They are of course related to guitarist and Eastman School of Music instructor Bob Sneider, and Bob's talent son Ben Snieder, who just give his Senior recital at Eastman school.  I had the pleasure of hearing, meeting, and talking to John and David at Bobs's gigs from time to time.   Sneid Remarks is an impressive outing of this father-son trumpet duo presenting a set of all originals. I'll be spending a lot of time with this CD. David's tune, "Freedom Tunnel" is already being a favorite of mine. One last note, the cover photo and design is pure jazz classic imagery. Good job, guys. Buy this CD by all means.

Next is Gene Bertoncini Body and Soul, an excellent 5-star rated solo CD the great guitarist, with a stellar career as a leader, sideman, and educator, included teaching at the Eastman School of Music.  This 1999 recording session first of two solo recordings, the second was "Quiet Now" (2015), which I have, also.  The music is truly positive medicine for my "body and soul" right now. Well worth a listen.

Again, these are two gems, not to be missed.  Hopefully, I'll all recovered by the Christmas day.  Thanks, again, for all the well-wishes.

Nemesis Retaliation Game Figure Showcase - Dennis J. Woodyard - Journeyman Artist / Gamer

Nemesis: Retaliation is a 1-5 player semi co-op horror Sci-Fi thematic Board Game created by Adam Kwapiński and published by Awaken Realms. It is the final, epic part of the Nemesis trilogy (you DO NOT need to play/own previous games to enjoy Retaliation). This time, you will play as a Marines squad, fully knowing what they are getting themselves into – prepare for a lot of fresh mechanics and better then ever cinematic moments, your friends stabbing you in the back, and an onslaught of the alien HORDE!

(I'm a sucker for sci-fi battlesuits. The Game figures and art hooked me. So I supported this on Kickstarter. This looks like a mash up of Aliens/Starship Troopers/and ExoSquad, the animated TV series I worked on as Co-Producer/Director and Character designer) I can't wait to play this board game.

The only bummer is it will probably be a year before this game ships.

Ruby Tuesday: Ruby galactic Gumshoe - Original Storyboard art.

 This is the first draft of the Ruby: Galactic Gumshoe storyboard of the first episode, done as part of a proposed pitch for an animated series. You'll see the overextended drawings, and separate elements being worked out. Enjoy. DJW

In doing this video, I discovered my original animatic video files are missing. So, I might have to do an upgraded animatic, maybe in full color and with added motion and effects. The Ruby S/B animatic and my Art of ZBS videos can be seen on my Yountube channel.   DJW

Sunday Music Muse Day - John Stein, Marcus Doneus

Another gloomy, gray day in Rochester, NY. Just the perfect time to explore some new music.  First up, John Stein No Goodbyes, an excellent and breezy trio set with a vocalist on several tracks, especially in the wake of the serious medical event the struck John at the end of covid (read the first two paragraphs of the liner notes pic) that could have spelled the end of his playing days. This is my fifth  CD I've picked up of his music, which I've come to enjoy immensely. He musical status as performer and educator, being a college jazz guitar instructor, reminds me  of friend, Bob Sneider, and other local musician friends, who are also jazz instructors at The Eastman School of Music, and preforms with their own groups, appears in various venues around town. Their dedicated to the music rings out in every note.  For John Stein, "No Goodbyes" is a welcomed title, and well worth a listen.

My second selection is another one of my shots in the dark, since I had never heard of the guitarist.  Marcus Doneus Spirit of the String. With the phase "Acoustic Fingerstyle Guitar", behind his name, I had an idea what to expect and I wasn't wrong.  This is a 2004 release from Austria, but I can't find much background on the guitarist himself.  It's interesting to me as a guitar player, he notes the string tunings of each song after their title. This is pleasant guitar music in the same vain as Windham Hill recordings of Michael Hedges, Leo Kottke, and French guitarist Pierre Bensusan, to name a few.  I like listening to this type acoustic playing on occasion. Although it can border "New Age" music, but it also can be good background music for causal social gathering.  Again, if you're in a mellow mood, it's worth a listen.

As I finish writing this, we're getting a heavy rain down pour.  Better that than snow that's in our forecast in a few days.  The weather just add a texture to the music.  Enjoy.

Thunderday Tuesday Video - TC #107 - TC #109

I thought I might start sharing my designs on what I'll call "ThunderCats Tuesdays" blog post as videos on my Youtube Channel as part of my Journeyman Artist theme. Here's a batch for Show #107 - #109. The first image is the title page of the script, which was marked up to tell me which elements needed to be designed. Enjoy.

The set will begin feature new characters I designed for the show that I'm very proud of. Be sure to check back.