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Travis Vega ~ Just Let It Flow
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When you love to play guitar, you play. Nothing can stop you. When musical ideas are burning in your...When you love to play guitar, you play. Nothing can stop you. When musical ideas are burning in your brain, you play them. Through The Valley (2004) was Travis' expression and his debut album, starting his career as solo musician. George Benson, Wes Montgomery, Norman Brown and Peter White are Travis' idols. In fact these legends have impressed a whole generation of guitarists. Following the mainstream in smooth jazz Travis soon succeeded in placing his music on smooth jazz radio stations throughout the United States. Travis comments: "I really don't know if you can call what I do Jazz parse, I don't consider myself a straight ahead jazz musician, but a musician that has influences of jazz, pop, R&B, hip-hop, rock, I love to combine all those styles that have influenced me and create what feels good to me."
Even other guitarists like Les Sabler profit by Travis' great musical talent. His sophomore album Just Let It Flow (2007) is ready to climb the charts. On his new album one finds no guest musician, no great names, no cover, just pure original music. Travis got some help by his brother Jason Vega, who played percussion on all songs and his sister Kia Vega, background vocals on Just Let It Flow. Travis says: "This is the project that saved me. Just Let It Flow was a project that helped me through the toughest time in my life, it was the opposite of what I was going through, and it represented the positive side of me during a time of negativity. I composed, played, recorded, mixed and mastered Just Let It Flow in four months, I had my brother who tours with me play percussion on most of the tracks. Just Let It Flow became very personnel for me, challenging me to extend myself and think beyond the guitar."
My expectations are high, Travis is a great talent not only as guitarist but also as composer. The short intro indicates his website myspace.com/travisvegamusic, where you have the opportunity to listen to samples of the new album and read about Travis' roots. The 25 years old Travis is fresh on the start to a big career.
Travis' guitar performance has this special ease of an experienced musician. That Feeling has a captivating loop which is transferred in various keys. Many critics compare his performance with a flow of a river. That is easy to explain not only by the title of this album, but also by the steady loudness of his play and the constant tempo. This is significant on his song Just Let It Flow, on which Travis concentrates on the melody and not on various tempi. It is an extremely crucial element of sound, as it can affect the mood and difficulty of a piece. Travis uses instead a trick, he injects the loops with some guitar solos. This kind of performance infects the melody making it hypnotically accessible.
The second part of his magic is the rhythm. When Ever Where Ever is a good example to explain this principle. The melody performed by the electric guitar is repetitious like a loop. All other instruments like keyboards, acoustic guitar, drum loops and bongo patterns are building this tapestry of rhythm, always unobtrusive in the background.
Don't Be Late follows the same method, but this time Travis expands his guitar solos. He has the ability to shine and when he leaves the melody path he is brilliant. On Now & Then Travis is using other instruments for example the flute to interpret the melody. The dynamic touch of the tune is produced by very fast and lively programmed keyboard patterns which I recently observed on the Jeff Lorber produced part of Eric Marienthal's Just Around The Corner.
Very important for the dynamic of an album is constant re-invention of music. Try something different, see the music from another standpoint. I cannot suggest to change the guitar, when someone likes his guitar like Travis. So Travis adds on Dorian another rhythm element, the water drop sound. Also very popular is the applied shuffle beat.
Leaving The Past is a slow ballade showcasing Travis diversity. During the recitation on electric guitar he builds the bridge with his acoustic guitar. This is a highlight in Spanish Flamenco and I regret the shortness of this bridge. The onomatopoeic intro of Valley View would be worth to be longer. Travis has a strong affinity to guitar chords in the way of George Benson, Norman Brown or Nick Colionne. It's really hard to be a chart breaker with such a competition. The only recipe for success beside mastership is creativity and innovation. Surprise the audience!
On Straight Chillin' Travis is using the well-known smooth jazz formula of relaxation and chilling out. The slow ballade Coastal View offers more of Travis' guitar skills. "Those tracks represent the influence that R&B, Hip-Hop and Chill has on me, bringing in that type of production to those songs," comments Travis. The Eastside Story marks the end of the album. The up-tempo style is obviously Travis' strength.
Travis Vega has a good nose for grooves and melodies. Walking on the paths of masters like George Benson he has the condition for a bright future, good compositions and skills. He will certainly make the next step to stardom.
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Just Let It Flow
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"Travis has definitely taken his music to the next level. His new CD is smooth and jazzy, and will f..."Travis has definitely taken his music to the next level. His new CD is smooth and jazzy, and will flow very nicely on The River. We are glad artists like Travis are making our kind of music right here in the valley."
Doug Wulff, Music Director/Co-owner
The River, KRVR, Smooth Jazz 105.5
Modesto, CA
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Flows Like A Cup Of Tea
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"Vega's music flows like a soothing cup of tea first thing in the morning. It's a great way to get u..."Vega's music flows like a soothing cup of tea first thing in the morning. It's a great way to get up and start the day."
— Marc Lutz, Lodi News-Sentinel
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Rhythmic High
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Listening to Travis's music takes you to a rhythmic high that enlightens you with a feeling of cool ...Listening to Travis's music takes you to a rhythmic high that enlightens you with a feeling of cool energy and rekindled love...
The Smooth Groovers Review Podcast
http://www.smoothgroovers.com
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Urban Guitarist
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By Ian Hill
209 Music
February 27, 2007 6:00 AM
While other teens were listening to ska, rock o...By Ian Hill
209 Music
February 27, 2007 6:00 AM
While other teens were listening to ska, rock or rap, Travis Vega was discovering jazz.
When he was 15 or 16, the Lodi native went looking for the solid, bouncing rhythms that made ska so appealing. During his search, he came across the work of pioneering jazz guitarist Wes Montgomery.
"I was hooked," said Vega, 25. "It was just amazing to hear him playing."
He found Montgomery's sound melodic, mesmerizing and different. It led Vega to pursue a career as a guitarist, and a decade later he's getting attention in the contemporary jazz world. "The Smooth Groovers Review," an English podcast, has featured his work, and "Don't Be Late," the single from Vega's new album, "Just Let it Flow," is in rotation on Modesto's KRVR 105.5 FM.
KRVR music director, co-owner and operations manager Doug Wulff said he was impressed by Vega's musicianship as well as the professional sound of "Just Let it Flow."
"I listen to a lot of CDs, even ones that come from other areas of the country," Wulff said. "His, it sounded great."
"Don't Be Late" opens with a quick Latin beat followed by a hot but understated guitar progression. It's both easy and energetic, like a Sunday morning version of Santana.
The track "Dorian," meanwhile, combines a synthesizer and electronic effects with a blues influence. "Just Let it Flow" closes with the upbeat "The Eastside Story," which showcases Vega's ability to create an enticing rhythm with his guitar.
Vega said he first became interested in music when he was 11 and he would try to play his grandfather's acoustic guitar. Later, inspired by Montgomery, Vega joined the Lodi High School jazz band and began to play local shows.
After graduating from Lodi High in 2000, Vega attended the Musicians Institute in Hollywood, where he worked with professional musicians and learned about engineering, songwriting and the music industry.
"We got a 360-degree experience of being an artist," Vega said.
He released his first CD, "Through the Valley," in 2004. Vega's now working to promote "Just Let it Flow" through the Internet, live shows and radio.
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Smooth Moves
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Smooth Moves
By Lauren Nelson
News-Sentinel Staff Writer
It's a beautiful, blue skied afternoon...Smooth Moves
By Lauren Nelson
News-Sentinel Staff Writer
It's a beautiful, blue skied afternoon at the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento and people dressed in work attire, flowing dresses and slacks fill courtyard chairs for the Thursday night jazz series. On stage, Lodi musician Travis Vega dances to his own sounds as he flawlessly plays his amber colored guitar.
The audience is winding down, getting in a smooth mood as they pile their plates with roast beef sandwiches, spinach salad and green Jell-O. They aren't dancing yet, but they will. The seats will loosen up and more people will gravitate to the grassy outskirts and unofficial dance area in front. Vega, who has already jumped down from his platform stage, walks through the aisles, serenading his audience as they sip miniature Starbucks cups of a tea and coffee concoction.
He is always smiling, always moving his body and lips to the sound of the notes he writes. The audience loves him because he gives off an energy that tells every one everything is going to be OK.
He looks like a jazz man in a sleek maroon shirt and loose black slacks. He even sounds like one when he says things like "feel the music" in a deep voice like the smooth-talking disc jockeys of the jazz radio stations playing his songs.
Nobody knows that only an hour ago he was in long denim shorts and Chuck Taylor tennis shoes setting up his own stage under the hot March sun. Nobody saw when museum staff told him to move his own car.
Vega plays his signature amber guitar.
Vega is the 25-year-old musician leading the jazz group known simply as Travis Vega. Travis Vega plays guitar on stage and creates background music with the keyboard. The extent of his singing is a scat here and there and a vocal mimic of guitar chords, but his thoughts show on his face and his expressions mime each pitch. His brother Jason "JV" Vega plays percussion, throwing in sounds with small instruments like the crash, chimes, congas, bongos, tambourine, sticks, casaba and hand symbol. The eldest brother Frank Vega is the band's manager who stands cool and quiet behind the scenes.
On this evening in a courtyard sandwiched between a Victorian museum and a busy downtown Sacramento street, Travis Vega is releasing its second album, "Just Let it Flow." It is a transition to a lighter, more positive note after their first album, "Through the Valley" that Travis Vega describes as chill oriented, ambient and darker in the key of minor.
"Just Let it Flow" represents positive music. It is very light and airy but has a lot of soulfulness," Travis Vega said.
The first guitar Travis Vega played belonged to his brother. It was an old sunburst acoustic that the brothers' grandfather handed down. Travis Vega remembers it smelling of urine, but that didn't matter to him. The 10-year-old Travis Vega continued to sneak the guitar from the closet so he could practice.
In his bedroom he performed, even though the strings on the old guitar were at least an inch from the base. He created his own sound that is also molded from a childhood spent listening to his older brothers' rock, ska and alternative music.
And now, as he sings to his new following in Sacramento, songs that mix alternative, R&B and pop, he is comfortable. He moves gracefully through the crowd as if he is singing and playing for himself. Even with people standing around him and more than 200 sets of eyes on him, it is though he is alone.
"I feel like I'm still that kid in my room," he said. "(My guitar) — it's part of me. Music is my life."
Being a musician is not only his life, it's his livelihood. While his older brothers work day jobs, Travis Vega spends his days networking online, booking gigs, researching, doing the business side from his home in Lodi.
"I'm the baby of the family so I guess I'm lucky," he said.
Still, they work as a team on their group. And Jason Vega, 32, says his younger brother really is all the talent.
Travis Vega attended the Musician's Institute in Hollywood after graduating from Lodi High School. Though he seemed quite the protégé while in Lodi, Hollywood was a different story. He could play the notes, but he couldn't name the chords. He knew the jazz notes, but he didn't know their organization. It took even more practice to get from his stage as a self taught musician to jazz musician who knew what he was playing.
Since he learned how to fine tune his skills under the watch of jazz experts, Travis Vega has been picked up as a regular on the radio station, The River 105.
"They said it's a rarity for a local artist to be put on (a station's) major rotation," Travis Vega said.
It's also due to the Internet, especially Myspace, that the Travis Vega songs are spreading. He went online with Cdbaby.com, a company that distributes independent artists' music to other outlets such as iTunes and Napster. Because of the Internet publicity and River 105, his songs are being played across the world in Georgia, New York, Las Vegas and France.
Travis Vega says he is humbled by many of the experiences he has had already. He is thankful to his parents, Virginia and Frank Sr. Vega, who he calls his angles.
"At the end of the day, I can pick up my guitar and thank God I have my family, my guitar, my health and I have the ability to play this thing," he said.
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Travis Vega - Just Let It Flow
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Review: Travis Vega - Just Let It Flow
Review by John Luciano
While listening to Travis Vega’s...Review: Travis Vega - Just Let It Flow
Review by John Luciano
While listening to Travis Vega’s latest independent release, Just Let It Flow, I spent time on both his web and MySpace sites, trying to familiarize myself with this Northern California guitarist. Vega is probably typical of many young, up and coming, aspiring musicians, who, as talented as they may be – on the local level, never would have gotten a chance at making it on the national stage in the past. Thanks to the internet and sites such as MySpace, along with affordable and accessible laptop- based recording software, musicians with both talent and desire, like Travis Vega, have a whole new way to produce and distribute their music, beyond their local confines.
Vega’s playing, by his own admission, is coming straight out of the Wes Montgomery / George Benson lineage. In fact, he seems as though he could step right into Fattburger and pick up where Steve Laury left off (has it really been 17 years since Laury last recorded with the Burger?). As much as I wanted to like Just Let It Flow, I had trouble getting past the computerized drum track; even though a number of Vega’s original compositions hold promise. I would have really liked to hear him work some of his compositional ideas a little deeper. Perhaps working with more live musicians, instead of sequenced tracks, would have helped. I feel Travis Vega is a guitarist with a great sound and a lot of promise – I look forward to hearing what he comes up with next time.
