Life Changes Show, October 2, 2017
Life Changes Show with Filippo Voltaggio and cohost Mark Laisure
“Life Changing Experiences” with Guest, Entertainment Technology Engineer, Immersive Experience Designer and Innovator in Giant-Screen Digital Cinema, Ed Lantz; and Musical Guests Living Legend American Blues Guitarist, Singer, and Songwriter, Kal David and Singer, Songwriter Lauri Bono on The LIFE CHANGES Show
GUEST: ED LANTZ and MUSICAL GUESTS: KAL DAVID and LAURI BONO
Guest, Ed Lantz
ED LANTZ
Ed Lantz is an entertainment technology engineer, entrepreneur, immersive experience designer and innovator in giant-screen digital cinema. He left aerospace engineering in 1990 to transform old-style planetariums into 360-degree immersive visualization environments, designing over a dozen permanent digital dome theaters worldwide while at Spitz, Inc. including the Library of Alexandria in Egypt, National Space Center in Leicester, UK, the Glasgow Science Center in Glasgow, Scotland and Papalote Museo del Nino in Mexico City. He also led the product development of the SciDome digital planetarium which has sold over 100 units worldwide.
Ed founded Vortex Immersion Media in 2007 to bring VR, immersive and interactive experiences into mainstream arts and entertainment markets. Vortex produces immersive and interactive media experiences for themed entertainment, VR Cinemas and numerous Fortune 500 companies including Condé Nast, EMC2, IBM, Live Nation, Microsoft, NBC Universal, Nestle, NFL, Nike, Nokia, Sprint and Turner Broadcast. The company has produced 360 concert dome venues as large as 60 meters in diameter with capacity of 3,000 people for artists including Scrillix, Diplo and DJ Snake (dot Party for Production Club) and Childish Gambino (Pharos for Live Nation).
Vortex also operates the Vortex Dome, the first commercial immersive media production studio and events venue located in downtown Los Angeles. The Vortex Dome hosts a wide range of arts and entertainment co-productions including live stage shows (Pasión, BollyDoll), fine arts performances (Blue Apple ballet), live concerts (Ceremony with James Hood) in addition to immersive arts educational activities (classes for CalArts, USC and Relativity University).
Ed has published numerous articles in journals and trade publications on immersive media and virtual reality, is a public speaker on panels and keynote talks including at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and is a regular contributor to ACM/SIGGRAPH. Ed’s personal focus is on the unique cognitive properties of next-generation multisensory “sentient” environments, the merging of virtual and real storytelling worlds, and the development of fulldome theaters as next-generation entertainment and performance venues. Ed holds two U.S. patents on immersive theater technologies, was awarded a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering with minor in Quantum Physics and Electromagnetics from Tennessee Tech University, and is a founder of the trade association IMERSA. He co-authored DIGSS 1.1 (Digital Immersive Giant Screen Specifications) in cooperation with the Giant Screen Cinema Association, is a member of ACM/SIGGRAPH and IEEE, co-chaired the VR Villa at SIGGRAPH 2015, is a board delegate on the Producer’s Guild of America’s New Media Council and chairs the Boards of nonprofit organizations c3: Center for Conscious Creativity and is a past board member of Create Now.
Guest, Kal David
KAL DAVID
Born and raised in Chicago, Kal’s recording career began as a teenager when, as a member of Kal David and the Exceptions, he was signed to a contract with King Records and later to Vee-Jay Records. Another member of the group was Peter Cetera, who later became the vocalist for a band known as Chicago.
Later on, Kal joined musical forces with guitarist Paul Cotton to form the group, The Rovin’ Kind. This band recorded for Dunwich Records and following a name change to Illinois Speed Press and a move to Los Angeles, Kal and Paul hit their stride, recording two critically acclaimed albums for Columbia Records, Illinois Speed Press and Duet. ISP was so loved that these albums have recently been re-released by popular demand.
Kal and Paul’s efforts with Illinois Speed Press served them well, for as Paul went on to become guitarist for Poco, Kal moved to Woodstock, New York, where he formed the Fabulous Rhinestones with ex-Electric Flag bassist Harvey Brooks. They recorded three well-received albums: Fabulous Rhinestones, Freewheelin’ for Paramount Records, and Rhinestones for 20th Century Records. With the Rhinestones, Kal refined his talents as a guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter to the point where even today, long after its disbanding, the group is remembered with fondness and respect for its musical contributions.
While in Woodstock Kal met his singing, writing and production partner, Miss Lauri Bono, who is a featured member of Kal’s band. After a move to Los Angeles in 1978, Kal and Lauri made a commitment to the Blues. In the studio or on tour, it was evident in their work with Blues great, Etta James, or Louisiana’s own, Johnny Rivers, Kal on guitar and Miss Lauri and Kal on vocals. In the mid eighties Miss Lauri did a short stint with Bette Midler as a Harlette and Kal joined John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers as featured vocalist and guitarist, replacing Mick Taylor.
As a solo artist in his own right, Kal recorded two albums for SoulCoast Records, Never a Dull Moment and Double Tuff featuring the Tower of Power Horns. With chart topping, impressive sales internationally and numerous television appearances, including a one hour Kal David special on Ohne Filter, Germany’s premier concert series, Kal’s reputation for amazing performances has grown.
A move to Palm Springs, California in search of a more relaxed and creative environment resulted in a decision by Kal and Lauri to open their own incredible Blues club, Blue Guitar. They successfully ran and performed there for more than 6 years. Many of the Blues greats like King Earnest, Finas Tasby, Johnny Dyer, JJ “Badboy Jones,” and Randy Chortkoff and many more were often featured artists in their shows. They delighted many audiences from near and far. They created a “Blue Guitar family,” and when they sold the club in 2004 to keep up with the demand for touring, they were inducted into the Palm Springs Walk of Stars and presented with their own star in front of Blue Guitar. Three live CDs; Kal David… Live at Blue Guitar… by Request, Kal David… Live at Blue Guitar… Last Call and Lauri Bono… Live at Blue Guitar… Last Call, were recorded there.
Kal’s dedication to the proliferation of the music he loves has inspired him to pass along his knowledge and experience to the younger generations. As a guest artist at the esteemed Berklee College of Music, Kal has given several lectures/performances for eager groups of some of the finest upcoming talent in the country. In addition to Berklee, Kal has also taught at the National Guitar Workshop. He and Lauri raise funds and give lectures whenever possible to put instruments and music back in the schools. They believe that every child should have the right and access to music education. It is a proven fact that it helps in all other aspects of learning. Music defines our lives and lights the fire of passion. In another teaching endeavor, Kal’s very popular Blues Guitar Master Class DVD series is fueling the fire for a lot of new and established guitar players. Kal says, “It is incredibly wonderful and satisfying to share my years of learning and passion for what I do with a class and know that I have made a difference in their lives!”
In 2010 Kal and Lauri self produced their latest CD, Crossroads of My Life on the Crytone Record label. This CD pays tribute to Kal’s past 40 years in the recording business… reworking old favorites and newly written songs, all culminating in the title track, “Crossroads of My Life.” The CD has received critical acclaim, and the honor of being in the top 100 for radio play for 2011.
To fully experience Kal David’s tremendous talent, you must see him live. Kal’s soul-baring voice and blazing guitar playing along with Miss Lauri’s sassy, soulful vocals will provide you with an unparalleled electrifying performance!
“Years ago I started a jam at the Cinegrill, in the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel…. It was one of those nights when a lot of players were just coming on stage unannounced and took a turn playing the Blues. One of those players was Kal David. Kal just plugged in and started playing on some long blues medley we were playing. When it came to his solo, it was like a flashback to my childhood in South Louisiana when the real players such as B.B. King, Johnny Guitar Watson, Jimmy Reed, John Lee Hooker, and the like would come thru town. The best of the players knew, this guy was the real deal…. I had found my favorite guitar players all wrapped up in one. Kal’s vocal style and sound matched his guitar playing – it was also the “real deal.” Growing up in Chicago had served him well. However, his singing and playing have since evolved into much more. Kal David has become a combo of all the best Blues guitar and vocal styles of the last 35 years….”
-Johnny Rivers
Guest, Lauri Bono
LAURI BONO
“Artist of the Year”
Kal David and Lauri Bono LIVING THE DREAM
Article by Bruce J Maier of www.damngoodtunes.com
We don’t give away a lot of awards here at DGT. This is due to the fact that we talk to hundreds of artists every year and we try to remain un-biased even if we really dig someone’s work. But each year a few are so outstanding that we just can’t ignore their contribution to music and to the arts. And for that reason, Kal David, with Miss Lauri Bono with their totally insane smash album, “Living The Dream” become our Top Artist(s) of the entire year!
To say that Kal David is just a great Blues Guitarist would be a shame, although he is. But then again other Blues guitarists don’t even come close to the wide range of his styles, the colors on his palette if you will. A short while after the fuzzy glow of the British Invasion had subsided a bit, and being a guitar player myself I immediately started listening to BB King, Muddy and one particular English fellow named John Mayall and his band, the Blues Breakers as I was seeking a higher meaning and more depth, feeling, and that elusive element known as “soul “. The Blues Breakers were home to many great guitar players including Jimi Page and Eric Clapton and one very young and talented Kal David, who was with the band touring and making records for some three years. Knowing that tidbit of history will make most reviewers pen a pretty convincing argument that Mr. David is indeed a fine and experienced Blues Guitarist, which as I said earlier – he is. But they’d miss his depth and the mark by a mile!
Kal David is a singer. He is a true vocalist, a professional with way above average vocal chops to be called a Blues singer. Few of the known men and women in the Blues really have much of a great voice at all with certain exceptions. And if asked, they would probably never dispute that claim either. For example, the now very rich and famous icon of Blues-Pop, Sir Eric Clapton who came from the same school of knocks “across the pond “as most of the American Blues legends had done and had to fight his own long battle upward to stardom, but when you talk to people that you think should know their music, they just go on about the old days of Cream and Yardbirds with no talk of the great songs he wrote and sang and earned Grammys on. He too was passed over as a singer by the critics and the media but I’ve always disagreed with that nonsense. Same is true for Kal David, as when I talked to many of my Blues connections and they speak about his guitar playing, saying how great he was on the guitar years back with little mention about his singing and original songs. Now though, I have re-discovered just what a total “all-around “musician he is and I feel he deserves all the same respect as Sir Eric is accustomed to. And I know that’s a big pill to swallow for some of you but it is this writers’ opinion that the world is about to wake up to a living legend of music, not just the Blues. And then, this is where the road starts to really divide and get interesting….
Miss Lauri Bono, music partner for many years to Mr. David is fully featured in this new record of theirs called “ Living The Dream “ and she is one of the most dynamic and amazing female vocalists I’ve heard in decades! You know how it is, with all these reality Talent shows on TV these days, with the seasonal new crop and even some old bloods who come on to compete with their trademark vocal “ gymnastics. These are the girls who sing a hundred notes a measure just to show that they heard Aretha records and they have something to prove, never knowing that as in the guitar like Kal knows how to play, less is always more. Lauri sings in a way that she can sound like soft velvet or turn on the gravel and guts – raising the old goose bumps on your arm and then, she pulls you right back into another soft passage of her angelic flute- like whispers of melody and you just say whoa…..and it’s like something spiritual just happened in front of the whole church-audience….yep, someone got saved! Now I don’t know a great deal about Miss Lauri and her own up-bringing or where she studied music but I know it is a gift. A gift that she has chosen to share with Kal David as they traverse the globe making records playing concerts, television shows and major VIP events. Most acts that consist of two great singers will usually take turns in the spot light but rarely an act like Peaches and Herb, Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway, Barry Gibb and Barbara Streisand – all seventies legends I might add – comes along and makes music history together singing as a real duet. Music, at least Pop and Country music has for the most part missed this element of the male-female duets and the power of two to tell a story. It worked well for Kenny and Dolly on “Islands In The Stream” and also Lionel and Diana with their “Endless Love “, but producers seem to focus differently these days on developing one icon at a time, one song of the week and one flavor of the month than to foster and market the passion and the power of a duet, as evidenced in this incredible new record by Kal David and Lauri Bono and released on Crytone Records.
We’ve been blessed with this magazine because of all the amazing talent and rising stars we’ve been able to meet, interview and review. And there have been hundreds of talented bands and singer-songwriters! There have been Blues artists who are really great at what they do and some of them were already major stars when we met them, and many were on their way to the top but not one of them were anywhere like or on the level of Kal David and Miss Lauri here on their brand new record, “ Living The Dream “ . There’s something so very special about the chemistry between the notes. You can’t just say “Oh Kal is the star here and write a review about him because they are a TEAM. And a team works synergistically toward the greater good of the total performance, the compete record. The members of the team don’t think they are better than the other; they co-exist because of and for each other. Perfect Harmony.
So we give this award whole-heartedly but not lightly. Kal David and Miss Lauri Bono are the most deserving Artists of the year but if we gave awards for best male-female vocal performance, they would win that one too! Every track of Living The Dream is great and I’ve played it over and over for a month now in my car whenever I travel, so I don’t have a favorite because they are all, forgive the pun….damn good tunes !
Life Changes Show
Come and join the conversation about what's going on and what we can do together about it, with it, and for it. We have the choice, we have the power. We can do magic if we just believe!
A show about the changes going on in us, to us, around us, and because of us. Therefore, it's technically a show about "Everything," only with a how to make it better, see it better, be better.
In the show, there is talk about, and with, people who have either been through major changes, are helping others with major changes, or people who are changing the world for the better in a major way.
The show is a one-hour talk show format with a monologue by the host, a 30 minute interview with a guest of note, capped by a "Producer's Wrap" segment, in which Filippo and Co-Host Mark Laisure, and sometimes surprise guests, bring it all home for the listeners in a sometimes humorous and sometimes touching, but always entertaining conversation.
