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Hi There,

I've been quite busy and I hope everyone is doing OK. The PWE people have kept me quite busy this summer and I'm grateful to them for the work- Thanks Jaime. A lot of nice folks working for him including Tony, Max, Kurt, Alex, Johnny, Cristian and Rich to name a few- You guys always made those gigs easy for me. My student list has been growing as well and I'm priviliged to work with some great and upcoming talent. Thanks goes to Kevin Cloud and Christy Calabro as well as staff @ Hubbadaddy's.

I've recently been working with a solo artist named Gary McGrath who is a Grammy Award winning songwriter. His record "Love is a four letter Word" went Gold in a few territories including England and he plans to take the current band on the road this year and next. I've also have been doing gigs with him and just recorded a fast version of Daydream Beleiver with Brian Friedman up @ Gari Studios up in Westlake Village.

I recently got a call from MTV asking permission to use some of the material I wrote with for Courtney Love in a "Behind the Music" episode. Nice to get paid on work you did years before. Also, I wanted to give a shout out to a friend and coworker over at World Music named Lee Hamilton. Thanks for your help and I'm sure we'll get a chance to have a play in the future.

In the meantime, Everyone be Good and I hope to see you soon in a town near you!

It's been awhile for me writing here and I hope everyone is fine. I've been keeping busy with a few projects during the summer and will do so into the new year. I was in Las Vegas recently playing in a show called "Rockstar: the Tribute" at the Planet Hollywood. What was supposed to be a long engagement turned into only 2 weeks due to the complete unorganization and lack of experience by the show's producers. Its too bad because there was a lot of good talent involved and it could have been quite successful. Thanks to Mike Szuter and Kenny Kanowski -- also Chas West. Nice to know you guys and I'm sure we'll work together in the future.

I've also been doing gigs with an artist named Brad Alden. A nice guy and talented singer-songwriter, we will also be writing some new material together. Thanks to his family and his bandmates as well. He has a new record coming out called "Return to Suburbia" -- pick it up if you can.

Recently, I've reconnected with some old friends that I haven't seen in awhile. Joel Ellis, whom I worked with in Heavy Bones, recently found me on FB and we plan on getting together and doing some work. Also, my friend Reggie Boyle is an aspiring Rock Music writer -- you can reach him at regisboylejr@aol.com. My cousin, Dorian Crozier, rang me recently and has some Disney projects coming up in 2010. We sounded pretty rocking rhythm section wise on Tramp's first solo record "Capricorn". I'm looking forward to carving some grooves with him as he is fairly talented and has quite the studio at his pad.

Lastly, my friend, Mitch Martin, has been going through some very trying times emotionally as well as physically and I want to say that I love you and keep your head up. I'm there for you brother -- most things pass and I'm sure 2010 will be better for all us.

Until next time and Happy holidays!

JB

Greetings and hope everybody is well in life. Times are certainly tough all around now. I'm just back from the BMA's (Blues Music Awards) held in Memphis, Tennessee (USA) every year. It was quite an experience and my thanks go to wife and Rand Chortkoff and his Delta Groove records for making it all possible. I met some great folks that certainly have done time in this business and are great players and warm souls as well. Larry "the Mole" Taylor, bassist for Canned Heat as well as playing Woodstock, was quite nice to befriend as well as Junior Watson. These guy's are legends and were as nice as they are talented. Junior sat next to me on the plane ride home and rapped with me the whole trip. A Big talent and nice Soul. Thanks, Junior. Check these Cats out.

I'm currently in between gigs and my cover band, CoverCharge, plays gigs every month. If you're in L.A. and want to check it out, drop me a line and I will keep you posted. Thanks to Dean, Chooch and Christian.

Have a great Summer and be well.

JB

I just recently reconnected with a dear friend of mine from way back in the day who found me here-Raoul Klokow was a teenage friend who I met when I lived in North Carolina. My brother and I told him to start playing guitar so the 3 of us could jam and he actually paid me a very nice compliment saying that had it not been for us, his career in music would have not existed today.

I just played on a track that he emailed me written for a show airing on the Outdoor channel. I appreciate the work and better yet was the contact from the past- Thanks R to you and your fam.

I've seen some great gigs lately and waiting on the next biggest thing- Also, been busy recording on my Pro Tools rig and trying to become familiar with all the tricks it has to offer. Keeping my chops up at my Wednesday Night gargle-

I recently ran into Mike Mills from REM- Saw his gig and went to his house in L.A. as well. What a nice guy and underrated musician:He writes a lot as well as being a multi-instrutmentalist- Thanks R.

Be Good and I'll catch up to you guys-

Jerry

Hi,

I've just been informed that White Lion will no longer be the Support act for the Poison/Ratt summer tour.
I believe there still will be a White Lion tour this year.

I'll try and keep you guys updated.

Hope everyone had a good new year. I'm currently working with a new artist, Kelly Harper. Thanks to Howie Rosen for calling me in on this gig.Y ou can check her on myspace. Some recording and touring probably will follow shortly as well as a new record.

On a different note, My buddy, Rangy, introduced me to Mr. Roger Daltrey. What a class act this guy is despite the fact The Who has probably sold over a 100 million records. He was cool and we spoke in his hotel room for a little bit.

I also just picked up a 1968 Gibson EB2 bass that I will get a photo of and post it. They didn't make too many of these and I'm lucky to have it.

Stay cool and I'll keep you posted.

Hope you guys are doing well. I've been keeping busy filling in for some friend's of mine. Robert Lankau as been keeping me busy-I played with Stassi, a female singer from New York, filling in for Carmine Rojas. Also, Ana Sidel, has asked me to play. Both of these gig's feature Robert on guitar, and Joe Travers playing drums. Always nice to play with these guys as they are great players and like to have an occasional laugh-I also played on a record by Angie, her band called Orgasmical. It was produced by Johnny X, and should be available soon. Check it out.

On a different note, I need to acknowledge my brother Mick (Wally) Best for a loan of $500 bucks back when I was skinny, probably 25 years ago-I'm sorry, Mick, that I never mentioned how that loan bought me some gear I needed desparately at the time, as well as hitting you up during shop class at your high school... You didn't even flinch-I love you. I'm not sure I ever paid you back as well...

Have a great Holiday and may Peace be with you!

I've just got some new recording software I'm learning about. I've always wanted to do a record of some of my songs,and I hope I will be enabled to with these new programs-Cutting drums is a pain in the ass,and takes a long time;Thanks to Johnny Haro for giving me a cd of his drum tones and playing. Also,I wanted to thank Alex Perez and staff of Fender for building me a one-of-a-kind Jazz bass. What an amazing looking & playing bass! I haven't had time to respond to all my emails,but please be patient-I will get to them.

Peace out until next time!

Greetings,

I've been away for awhile. Since I posted last, I've been keeping my chops up playing covers until the next big thing comes along. The Dr. Fines' have been jamming with an old bro of mine, none other then Mr. Dean Ortega. I've known Freddie for some time and he stepped in when I needed him. Fun time jamming Saturday nites @ SIR. Also, I was filling in for Bad Penny. They had a spat with their bassist and I bailed them out for a couple of months. I knew the minute they kissed and made up, they would let him back in.

It's funny when you help out, especially guys that have a short resume, the Respect factor gets lost in translation. My Manager told me not to help them because the cash was low, but I thought I was doing someone a favor. Never again. I never seen anyone take a Cover band so seriously as these guys. Little league. And they wanted to keep my number to sub; I'm sure the soundman @ the Cantina is available-after all, they listen to him as to who should play.

I'll check with you guys a little later - stay cool during summer!

Happy Holidays to everyone. I hope Peace finds you.

I've recently been playing gigs with my cover band, Dr. Fine. It's been fun. We'll see what the future holds for the Dr.

I also recently reconnected with James Barber. The last time we worked together was under cloudy circumstances with an out of control situation that could have turned out quite positive. This time around, the time spent was quite pleasant surrounded with professional people in a professional room. Matt Genovese is a gifted young singer-songwriter that has large talent. My expectations for him are high. Thanks to Christine, Jim, J Candy & Johnny. Sir J. Candy-always a pleasure. Jim-Nice Vision.

Hey Jim-Keep the spirit alive with this group of folks; Looking forward to the next session-Thanks for the call.

Have a great New Year and Peace!

Hello from California:

Hope everyone got through it this summer. I'm glad to be Alive and Well unlike some of those poor folks in Louisiana. Lend a hand if you can. God,please take care of those people. Alot of us in America have it real good compared to other countries out there. Do some travelling and you'll see what I mean.

I've been doing alot of gigs recently including playing with some great folks. Thanks to Ana Sidel who had me fill in for mr. Carmine Rojas @ the Knitting Factory. She's a great singer & performer with some great players. Such a sweet soul-Drums by mr. Joe Travers and guitar noise by Robert Lankau. Nice to reconnect with Joe as we toured on the same bill back in 1993 (some crazy times in Hamburg). Nice party care of Eva.

Also, been staying busy with the Dr. Fine camp. Some great players, too that I have a great time playing with. Some cool jams on any given night, including Felix and Jay's buddy, Steve. Have you heard J.D.? If not, find him and check him out. Great player and all-around talented guy. Always some great jams late night.

I also wanted to mention a few gigs I played with Mr. Dean Ortega recently. It was just guitar and vocals and was such a cool vibe and nice blend for a change. Nice family outing in the woods. Thanks to you and your fam--we love you guys.

I've also made a few guitar purchases that I will get some pix of in the gear section soon.

Peace & Out for now.

May 2005

Greetings: Hope everyone is well. I've been keeping busy and haven't had a chance to update my site. Got a chance to jam @ The Mint with some folks including Carmine Rojas. He was quite kind to let me blow through his rig. If you don't know about Carmine, he is a world class player as well as a class-act and played for some heavy folks back in the day as well as currently. Check him out if you get the chance.

Dr. Fine has some gigs coming up:

• The Londoner pub, Friday, June 10 th in Santa Clarita.
• Doc’s Inn, Saturday, June 18 th in Santa Clarita and Friday, July 29 th.

If you get a chance, stop by and say hello.

Recently got to check out J.D., a bass player I met through some mutual friends, playing with Ritchie Kotzen. He was smoking as was the band and if you can check them, prepared to get schooled.

Hey Chris--congrats on the gig with Beck. I like that new record.

Peace everybody, have a great summer!

January 2005

Hope Everyone had a great Christmas & Happy New Year. I know I did. I played a few gigs filling in for some friends of mine, The Weekend Warriors. Thanks to Dean, JJ and Scott for some good music and a few drinks.

As always in January, The NAMM show hits Los Angeles and brings out every muso under the sun. This year was no different as you get to see what everyone currently is doing. Ran into some folks including Eric Singer, Brian Tischy, Johnny D., and other assorted characters (which would take too long to list here) - Thanks DT and Robert for a good hang.

The bar at the Hilton is always the place to be after the show, not to mention the numerous, sporadic jams that take place in & around the Convention center. This is always network central for players, and this year was no different - in fact, most are older, fatter & drunker, with a little less hair.

I did get a call from my old boss who needed a bass track to contribute demo-wise for a new album coming out hopefully this year. I will keep you guys posted on this one as I think she’s in the right place now and hoping it will stay that way, for her sake.

Last thing I wanted to mention was a gig I saw last week in Malibu. Farm Fur is a collective, MAJOR talented band consisting of the brothers DeLeo, Steve from AWB, as well as Alex from Carlos Santana’s band. Talk about some serious talent on that tiny stage, these guys ripped from the first note. They also had a horn section, keys, and a second guitarist giving them quite the full sound.

Dean and Robert are two of the nicest guys out there these days playing relevant music. Robert is such an underrated bassist - I hope he reads this because I think he rips and doesn’t even realize the other bassists’out there that are sweating because of his talent… Dean is just a badass, although the other guitarist was making him work that night. Thanks to Mike and DT for a nice night out…

September 2004

Hope everyone had a great summer. Dr Fine managed to squeeze in a few gigs locally with the new concept of the ever-revolving drummer.Anyone out there care to join our "Fine" mess should contact me here.Never too serious and always having a good time are the pre-requisites for this gig.

I happened to get together with some old mates and record in August.We convened at Glenwood Place in Burbank to cut these tracks.The studio and the staff we're the Best, and I would highly recommend this studio to anyone-Great Vibe. Unfortunately, the Black-Eyed Peas left some candles burning and the big room caught fuego. I heard the damage was minor and hopefully it will be up & running in no time.

Shouts out to Johnny,KK and Jaime for a great experience -- The Matt experience that is -- Thanks for your help!...

Jaime's tones are great and I am sure glad you we're able to help me out on this project. Just a little info on Jaime Candiloro... Engineered & somewhat Produced the "Rock & Roll" record by Ryan Adams-If you haven’t heard this record,you should steal it or download it or whatever you have to do to get it, because it is a great piece of work. Also, listen to the last few REM records he was involved in... Great talent.

On a different note,got a chance to meet Lee Ritenour as well as Marc Bonilla (Thanks -- David). Two fine guitarists as well as nice souls. Check out their work. Also, I just purchased a Lion bootleg from the first Japanese tour we did in 1987. It's an audience tape, but I think the band sounds tight.

I also hear from the Courtney camp that things are starting to sound great and she's going to do some shows soon. I met her new bassist and I'm told the rehearsals are coming together well.

May 2004

One of my songs, "I'll Do Anything", from Courtney's record, will be used for the Virgin upcoming soundtrack release as well as use in the "The Simple Life" T.V. program with Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie. The CD release should be available June 15, 2004.

I have also signed on with Chad Jensen of Allclear to administer my publishing worldwide.

April 2004

Welcome to my new site! 2 years of long nights and hard work finally came to fruition with the release of "Americas Sweetheart" by Courtney Love on Virgin records. This record developed in many parts of the world and took on many forms before what you finally hear today. I could not have been a part of this project had it not been for Chris Whitemyer. I thank you deeply on a business level as well as a personal level.

I think this record turned out fairly well with everything considered. I ended up co-writing half of the record which I am grateful to get credit for. Some great tracks of mine didn't make the final cut, however, one riff, "Fly" did make it on the Japanese copy as the prerequisite track for release in their country only. Check it out.

Currently, I'm involved with 2 projects: The 1st project is a band of heavy blues covers called "Dr. Fine" with the infamous Mr. David Tedds leading the charge and including Jay Meierstein on guitar and Dave "Chooch" Chuchian on the skins. This is quite a blast for me as there are no guidelines whatsoever and I get to roll off all my tone and play with fingers on everything.

The 2nd project I'm involved with is my old friend, Kenny Korade. His band is called "The Surge", and it is all of his new material with me playing on some tracks and contributing some bass lines. His intention is a solo release as an EP right now, however turning into a LP later on. Jaime Candiloro has mixed this and sonically, it's sounding good.