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Gasification

Gasification is a process that converts biomass- or fossil fuel-based carbonaceous materials into gases, including as the largest fractions: nitrogen (N2), carbon monoxide (CO), hydrogen (H2), and carbon dioxide. This is achieved by reacting the feedstock material at high temperatures (typically >700 °C), without combustion, via controlling the amount of oxygen and/or steam present in the reaction. The resulting gas mixture is called syngas (from synthesis gas) or producer gas and is itself a fuel due to the flammability of the H2 and CO of which the gas is largely composed. Power can be derived from the subsequent combustion of the resultant gas, and is considered to be a source of renewable energy if the gasified compounds were obtained from biomass feedstock.

An advantage of gasification is that syngas can be more efficient than direct combustion of the original feedstock material because it can be combusted at higher temperatures so that the thermodynamic upper limit to the efficiency defined by Carnot's rule is higher. Syngas may also be used as the hydrogen source in fuel cells, however the syngas produced by most gasification systems requires additional processing and reforming to remove the contaminants and other gases such as CO and to be suitable for low-temperature fuel cell use, but high-temperature solid oxide fuel cells are capable of directly accepting mixtures of H2, CO, CO2, steam, and methane.

Syngas is most commonly burned directly in gas engines, used to produce methanol and hydrogen, or converted via the Fischer–Tropsch process into synthetic fuel. For some materials gasification can be an alternative to landfilling and incineration, resulting in lowered emissions of atmospheric pollutants such as methane and particulates. Some gasification processes aim at refining out corrosive ash elements such as chloride and potassium, allowing clean gas production from otherwise problematic feedstock material. Gasification of fossil fuels is currently widely used on industrial scales to generate electricity. Gasification can generate lower amounts of some pollutants as SOx and than combustion.

History

Energy has been produced at industrial scale via gasification since the early 19th century. Initially coal and peat were gasified to produce town gas for lighting and cooking, with the first public street lighting installed in Pall Mall, London on January 28, 1807, spreading shortly to supply commercial gas lighting to most industrialized cities until the end of the 19th century when it was replaced with electrical lighting. Gasification and syngas continued to be used in blast furnaces and more significantly in the production of synthetic chemicals where it has been in use since the 1920s. The thousands of sites left toxic residue. Some sites have been remediated, while others are still polluted.

During both world wars, especially the World War II, the need for fuel produced by gasification reemerged due to the shortage of petroleum. Wood gas generators, called Gasogene or Gazogène, were used to power motor vehicles in Europe. By 1945 there were trucks, buses and agricultural machines that were powered by gasification. It is estimated that there were close to 9,000,000 vehicles running on producer gas all over the world.

Another example, the Xe than (literally, "coal car" in Vietnamese) was a minibus that has been converted to run on coal instead of gasoline. This modification regained popularity in Vietnam during the subsidy period, when gasoline was in short supply. Xe than became much less common during the Đổi Mới period, when gasoline became widely accessible again.

Chemical reactions
In a gasifier, the carbonaceous material undergoes several different processes:
 * 1) The dehydration or drying process occurs at around 100 °C.  Typically the resulting steam is mixed into the gas flow and may be involved with subsequent chemical reactions, notably the water-gas reaction if the temperature is sufficiently high (see step #5).
 * 2) The pyrolysis (or devolatilization) process occurs at around 200–300 °C.  Volatiles are released and char is produced, resulting in up to 70% weight loss for coal. The process is dependent on the properties of the carbonaceous material and determines the structure and composition of the char, which will then undergo gasification reactions.
 * 3) The combustion process occurs as the volatile products and some of the char react with oxygen to primarily form carbon dioxide and small amounts of carbon monoxide, which provides heat for the subsequent gasification reactions. Letting C represent a carbon-containing organic compound, the basic reaction here is C + O2 → CO2.
 * 4) The gasification process occurs as the char reacts with steam and carbon dioxide to produce carbon monoxide and hydrogen, via the reactions C + H2O → H2 + CO and  C + CO2 → 2CO.
 * 5) In addition, the reversible gas phase water-gas shift reaction reaches equilibrium very fast at the temperatures in a gasifier. This balances the concentrations of carbon monoxide, steam, carbon dioxide and hydrogen: CO + H2O ⇌ CO2 + H2.

In essence, a limited amount of oxygen or air is introduced into the reactor to allow some of the organic material to be "burned" to produce carbon dioxide and energy, which drives a second reaction that converts further organic material to hydrogen and additional carbon dioxide. Further reactions occur when the formed carbon monoxide and residual water from the organic material react to form methane and excess carbon dioxide (4CO + 2H2O → CH4 + 3CO2). This third reaction occurs more abundantly in reactors that increase the residence time of the reactive gases and organic materials, as well as heat and pressure. Catalysts are used in more sophisticated reactors to improve reaction rates, thus moving the system closer to the reaction equilibrium for a fixed residence time.

Processes
Several types of gasifiers are currently available for commercial use: counter-current fixed bed, co-current fixed bed, fluidized bed, entrained flow, plasma, and free radical.

Counter-current fixed bed ("up draft") gasifier
A fixed bed of carbonaceous fuel (e.g. coal or biomass) through which the "gasification agent" (steam, oxygen and/or air) flows in counter-current configuration. The ash is either removed in the dry condition or as a slag. The slagging gasifiers have a lower ratio of steam to carbon, achieving temperatures higher than the ash fusion temperature. The nature of the gasifier means that the fuel must have high mechanical strength and must ideally be non-caking so that it will form a permeable bed, although recent developments have reduced these restrictions to some extent. The throughput for this type of gasifier is relatively low. Thermal efficiency is high as the temperatures in the gas exit are relatively low. However, this means that tar and methane production is significant at typical operation temperatures, so product gas must be extensively cleaned before use. The tar can be recycled to the reactor.

In the gasification of fine, undensified biomass such as rice hulls, it is necessary to blow air into the reactor by means of a fan. This creates very high gasification temperature, as high as 1000 C. Above the gasification zone, a bed of fine and hot char is formed, and as the gas is blow forced through this bed, most complex hydrocarbons are broken down into simple components of hydrogen and carbon monoxide.

Co-current fixed bed ("down draft") gasifier
Similar to the counter-current type, but the gasification agent gas flows in co-current configuration with the fuel (downwards, hence the name "down draft gasifier"). Heat needs to be added to the upper part of the bed, either by combusting small amounts of the fuel or from external heat sources. The produced gas leaves the gasifier at a high temperature, and most of this heat is often transferred to the gasification agent added in the top of the bed, resulting in an energy efficiency on level with the counter-current type. Since all tars must pass through a hot bed of char in this configuration, tar levels are much lower than the counter-current type.

Fluidized bed reactor

The fuel is fluidized in oxygen and steam or air. The ash is removed dry or as heavy agglomerates that defluidize. The temperatures are relatively low in dry ash gasifiers, so the fuel must be highly reactive; low-grade coals are particularly suitable. The agglomerating gasifiers have slightly higher temperatures, and are suitable for higher rank coals. Fuel throughput is higher than for the fixed bed, but not as high as for the entrained flow gasifier. The conversion efficiency can be rather low due to elutriation of carbonaceous material. Recycle or subsequent combustion of solids can be used to increase conversion. Fluidized bed gasifiers are most useful for fuels that form highly corrosive ash that would damage the walls of slagging gasifiers. Biomass fuels generally contain high levels of corrosive ash.

Fluidized bed gasifiers uses inert bed material at a fluidized state which enhance the heat and biomass distribution inside a gasifier. At a fluidized state, the superficial fluid velocity is greater than the minimum fluidization velocity required to lift the bed material against the weight of the bed. Fluidized bed gasifiers are divided into Bubbling Fluidized Bed (BFB), Circulating Fluidized Bed (CFB) and Dual Fluidized Bed (DFB) gasifiers.

Entrained flow gasifier
A dry pulverized solid, an atomized liquid fuel or a fuel slurry is gasified with oxygen (much less frequent: air) in co-current flow. The gasification reactions take place in a dense cloud of very fine particles. Most coals are suitable for this type of gasifier because of the high operating temperatures and because the coal particles are well separated from one another.

The high temperatures and pressures also mean that a higher throughput can be achieved, however thermal efficiency is somewhat lower as the gas must be cooled before it can be cleaned with existing technology. The high temperatures also mean that tar and methane are not present in the product gas; however the oxygen requirement is higher than for the other types of gasifiers. All entrained flow gasifiers remove the major part of the ash as a slag as the operating temperature is well above the ash fusion temperature.

A smaller fraction of the ash is produced either as a very fine dry fly ash or as a black colored fly ash slurry. Some fuels, in particular certain types of biomasses, can form slag that is corrosive for ceramic inner walls that serve to protect the gasifier outer wall. However some entrained flow type of gasifiers do not possess a ceramic inner wall but have an inner water or steam cooled wall covered with partially solidified slag. These types of gasifiers do not suffer from corrosive slags.

Some fuels have ashes with very high ash fusion temperatures. In this case mostly limestone is mixed with the fuel prior to gasification. Addition of a little limestone will usually suffice for the lowering the fusion temperatures. The fuel particles must be much smaller than for other types of gasifiers. This means the fuel must be pulverized, which requires somewhat more energy than for the other types of gasifiers. By far the most energy consumption related to entrained flow gasification is not the milling of the fuel but the production of oxygen used for the gasification.

Plasma gasifier
In a plasma gasifier a high-voltage current is fed to a torch, creating a high-temperature arc. The inorganic residue is retrieved as a glass like substance.

Feedstock
There are a large number of different feedstock types for use in a gasifier, each with different characteristics, including size, shape, bulk density, moisture content, energy content, chemical composition, ash fusion characteristics, and homogeneity of all these properties. Coal and petroleum coke are used as primary feedstocks for many large gasification plants worldwide. Additionally, a variety of biomass and waste-derived feedstocks can be gasified, with wood pellets and chips, waste wood, plastics and aluminium, Municipal Solid Waste (MSW), Refuse-derived fuel (RDF), agricultural and industrial wastes, sewage sludge, switch grass, discarded seed corn, corn stover and other crop residues all being used.

Chemrec has developed a process for gasification of black liquor.

Waste disposal

Waste gasification has several advantages over incineration:
 * The necessary extensive flue gas cleaning may be performed on the syngas instead of the much larger volume of flue gas after combustion.
 * Electric power may be generated in engines and gas turbines, which are much cheaper and more efficient than the steam cycle used in incineration. Even fuel cells may potentially be used, but these have rather severe requirements regarding the purity of the gas.
 * Chemical processing (Gas to liquids) of the syngas may produce other synthetic fuels instead of electricity.
 * Some gasification processes treat ash containing heavy metals at very high temperatures so that it is released in a glassy and chemically stable form.

A major challenge for waste gasification technologies is to reach an acceptable (positive) gross electric efficiency. The high efficiency of converting syngas to electric power is counteracted by significant power consumption in the waste preprocessing, the consumption of large amounts of pure oxygen (which is often used as gasification agent), and gas cleaning. Another challenge becoming apparent when implementing the processes in real life is to obtain long service intervals in the plants, so that it is not necessary to close down the plant every few months for cleaning the reactor.

Environmental advocates have called gasification "incineration in disguise" and argue that the technology is still dangerous to air quality and public health. "Since 2003 numerous proposals for waste treatment facilities hoping to use... gasification technologies failed to receive final approval to operate when the claims of project proponents did not withstand public and governmental scrutiny of key claims," according to the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives. One facility which operated from 2009–2011 in Ottawa had 29 "emissions incidents" and 13 "spills" over those three years. It was also only able to operate roughly 25% of the time.

Several waste gasification processes have been proposed, but few have yet been built and tested, and only a handful have been implemented as plants processing real waste, and most of the time in combination with fossil fuels.

One plant (in Chiba, Japan, using the Thermoselect process ) has been processing industrial waste with natural gas and purified oxygen since year 2000, but has not yet documented positive net energy production from the process.

In 2007 Ze-gen erected a waste gasification demonstration facility in New Bedford, Massachusetts. The facility was designed to demonstrate gasification of specific non-MSW waste streams using liquid metal gasification. This facility came after widespread public opposition shelved plans for a similar plant in Attleboro, Massachusetts. Today Ze-gen appears to be defunct, and the company website was taken down in 2014.

Also in the US, in 2011 a plasma system delivered by PyroGenesis Canada Inc. was tested to gasify municipal solid waste, hazardous waste and biomedical waste at the Hurlburt Field Florida Special Operations Command Air Force base. The plant, which cost $7.4 million to construct, was closed and sold at a government liquidation auction in May 2013. The opening bid was $25. The winning bid was sealed.

In December 2022, the Sierra BioFuels Plant opened in Reno, Nevada, converting landfill waste to synthetic crude oil.

Current applications
Syngas can be used for heat production and for generation of mechanical and electrical power. Like other gaseous fuels, producer gas gives greater control over power levels when compared to solid fuels, leading to more efficient and cleaner operation.

Syngas can also be used for further processing to liquid fuels or chemicals.

Heat
Gasifiers offer a flexible option for thermal applications, as they can be retrofitted into existing gas fueled devices such as ovens, furnaces, boilers, etc., where syngas may replace fossil fuels. Heating values of syngas are generally around 4–10 MJ/m3.

Electricity
Currently Industrial-scale gasification is primarily used to produce electricity from fossil fuels such as coal, where the syngas is burned in a gas turbine. Gasification is also used industrially in the production of electricity, ammonia and liquid fuels (oil) using Integrated Gasification Combined Cycles (IGCC), with the possibility of producing methane and hydrogen for fuel cells. IGCC is also a more efficient method of CO2 capture as compared to conventional technologies. IGCC demonstration plants have been operating since the early 1970s and some of the plants constructed in the 1990s are now entering commercial service.

Combined heat and power
In small business and building applications, where the wood source is sustainable, 250–1000 kWe and new zero carbon biomass gasification plants have been installed in Europe that produce tar free syngas from wood and burn it in reciprocating engines connected to a generator with heat recovery. This type of plant is often referred to as a wood biomass CHP unit but is a plant with seven different processes: biomass processing, fuel delivery, gasification, gas cleaning, waste disposal, electricity generation and heat recovery.

Transport fuel
Diesel engines can be operated on dual fuel mode using producer gas. Diesel substitution of over 80% at high loads and 70–80% under normal load variations can easily be achieved. Spark ignition engines and solid oxide fuel cells can operate on 100% gasification gas. Mechanical energy from the engines may be used for e.g. driving water pumps for irrigation or for coupling with an alternator for electrical power generation.

While small scale gasifiers have existed for well over 100 years, there have been few sources to obtain a ready-to-use machine. Small scale devices are typically DIY projects. However, currently in the United States, several companies offer gasifiers to operate small engines.

Renewable energy and fuels
In principle, gasification can proceed from just about any organic material, including biomass and plastic waste. The resulting syngas can be combusted. Alternatively, if the syngas is clean enough, it may be used for power production in gas engines, gas turbines or even fuel cells, or converted efficiently to dimethyl ether (DME) by methanol dehydration, methane via the Sabatier reaction, or diesel-like synthetic fuel via the Fischer–Tropsch process. In many gasification processes most of the inorganic components of the input material, such as metals and minerals, are retained in the ash. In some gasification processes (slagging gasification) this ash has the form of a glassy solid with low leaching properties, but the net power production in slagging gasification is low (sometimes negative) and costs are higher.

Regardless of the final fuel form, gasification itself and subsequent processing neither directly emits nor traps greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide. Power consumption in the gasification and syngas conversion processes may be significant though, and may indirectly cause CO2 emissions; in slagging and plasma gasification, the electricity consumption may even exceed any power production from the syngas.

Combustion of syngas or derived fuels emits exactly the same amount of carbon dioxide as would have been emitted from direct combustion of the initial fuel. Biomass gasification and combustion could play a significant role in a renewable energy economy, because biomass production removes the same amount of CO2 from the atmosphere as is emitted from gasification and combustion. While other biofuel technologies such as biogas and biodiesel are carbon neutral, gasification in principle may run on a wider variety of input materials and can be used to produce a wider variety of output fuels.

There are at present a few industrial scale biomass gasification plants. Since 2008 in Svenljunga, Sweden, a biomass gasification plant generates up to 14 MWth, supplying industries and citizens of Svenljunga with process steam and district heating, respectively. The gasifier uses biomass fuels such as CCA or creosote impregnated waste wood and other kinds of recycled wood to produces syngas that is combusted on site.

Examples of demonstration projects include:
 * The 32 MW dual fluidized bed gasification of the GoBiGas project in Gothenburg, Sweden, produced around 20 MW of substitute natural gas from forest residues and fed it into the natural gas grid since December 2014. The plant was permanently closed due to technical and economical problems in April 2018. Göteborg Energi had invested 175 million euro in the plant and intensive attempts to sell the plant to new investors had failed for a year.
 * Those of the Renewable Energy Network Austria, with GRESCO achieving 8000h of operability, including a plant using dual fluidized bed gasification that has supplied the town of Güssing with 2 MW of electricity, produced utilising GE Jenbacher reciprocating gas engines and 4 MW of heat, generated from wood chips, since 2001. The plant was decommissioned in 2015.
 * Go Green Gas' pilot plant in Swindon, UK has demonstrated methane production from waste feedstocks at 50 kW. The project has prompted the construction of a £25million commercial facility that aims to generate 22GWh per annum of grid-quality natural gas from waste wood and refuse derived fuel, due for completion in 2018.
 * Chemrec's pilot plant in Piteå that produced 3 MW of clean syngas from entrained flow gasification of black liquor. The plant was closed down permanently due to financial problems in 2016
 * The High Temperature Winkler (HTW), a pressurized circulating fluidized bed gasification process. During the 1990s HTW was tested with a variety of different feedstocks, including low-rank coals and various forms of biomass; wood, refuse derived fuel (RDF) and municipal solid waste (MSW). The last HTW facility closed permanently in 2002. Since 2015 tests of the process continues at a 0.1 t/h pilot unit at Darmstadt University, while redesigned full-scale units are proposed in Amsterdam and Rotterdam

title: Gasification


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Tadd Dameron

Tadley Ewing Peake Dameron (February 21, 1917 – March 8, 1965) was an American jazz composer, arranger, and pianist.

Biography
Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Dameron was the most influential arranger of the bebop era, but also wrote charts for swing and hard bop players. The bands he arranged for included those of Count Basie, Artie Shaw, Jimmie Lunceford, Dizzy Gillespie, Billy Eckstine, and Sarah Vaughan. In 1940-41 he was the piano player and arranger for the Kansas City band Harlan Leonard and his Rockets. He and lyricist Carl Sigman wrote "If You Could See Me Now" for Sarah Vaughan and it became one of her first signature songs. According to the composer, his greatest influences were George Gershwin and Duke Ellington.

In the late 1940s, Dameron wrote arrangements for Gillespie's big band, who gave the première of his large-scale orchestral piece Soulphony in Three Hearts at Carnegie Hall in 1948. Also in 1948, Dameron led his own group in New York, which included Fats Navarro; the following year Dameron was at the Paris Jazz Festival with Miles Davis. From 1961 he scored for recordings by Milt Jackson, Sonny Stitt, and Blue Mitchell.

Dameron also arranged and played for rhythm and blues musician Bull Moose Jackson. Playing for Jackson at that same time was Benny Golson, who was to become a jazz composer in his own right. Golson has said that Dameron was the most important influence on his writing.

Dameron composed several bop and swing standards, including "Hot House", "If You Could See Me Now", "Our Delight", "Good Bait" (composed for Count Basie) and "Lady Bird". Dameron's bands from the late 1940s and early 1950s featured leading players such as Fats Navarro, Miles Davis, Dexter Gordon, Sonny Rollins, Wardell Gray, and Clifford Brown. In 1956 he led two sessions based on his compositions, released as the 1956 album "Fontainebleau" and the 1957 album "Mating Call". The latter featured John Coltrane. Dameron developed an addiction to narcotics toward the end of his career. He was arrested on drug charges in 1957 and 1958, and served time (1959–60) in a federal prison hospital in Lexington, Kentucky. After his release, Dameron recorded a single notable project as a leader, The Magic Touch, but was sidelined by health problems; he had several heart attacks before dying of cancer in 1965, at the age of 48. He was buried at Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York.

Tributes

 * In the 1980s drummer Philly Joe Jones and trumpeter Don Sickler founded Dameronia, a band which performed the music of Tadd Dameron.
 * Saxophonist Dexter Gordon called him the "romanticist" of the bop movement.
 * Music critic Scott Yanow called Dameron the "definitive arranger/composer of the bop era".
 * Saxophonist Joe Lovano included five Dameron tunes on his 2000 album 52nd Street Themes.
 * In 2006, trumpeter Peter Welker released Duke, Billy And Tadd as a tribute to Duke Ellington, Billy Strayhorn, and Dameron.
 * Turkish drummer Ferit Odman released Dameronia with Strings, an album featuring eight Dameron tunes, in 2015.
 * Trumpeter Joe Magnarelli's 2019 album If You Could See Me Now is a tribute to Dameron.
 * In 2019, singer Vanessa Rubin released an album titled The Dream Is You: Vanessa Rubin Sings Tadd Dameron.

As sideman
With John Coltrane
 * John Coltrane Plays for Lovers (Prestige, 1966)
 * Trane's Blues (Giants of Jazz, 1990)

With Miles Davis
 * At Birdland (Durium, 1976)
 * The Early Days Vol. 1 (Giants of Jazz, 1985)
 * Birdland Days (Fresh Sound, 1990)

With Dexter Gordon
 * New Trends of Jazz Volume 3 (Savoy, 1952)
 * Long Tall Dexter (Savoy, 1976)
 * Dexter Rides Again (Savoy, 1985)

With Fats Navarro
 * Memorial Album (Blue Note, 1951)
 * New Trends of Jazz Vol. 5 (Savoy, 1952)
 * Fats Bud-Klook-Sonny-Kinney (Savoy, 1955)
 * Fats Navarro Memorial Theodore "Fats" Navarro 1923–1950 Volume I (London, 1956)
 * The Fabulous Fats Navarro, Vol. 1 (Blue Note, 1957)
 * The Fabulous Fats Navarro, Vol. 2 (Blue Note, 1957)
 * Fats Navarro Featured with the Tadd Dameron Quintet (Jazzland, 1961)
 * Fats Navarro Memorial Volume 1 (CBS, 1964)
 * Prime Source (Blue Note, 1975)
 * Fat Girl (Savoy, 1977)
 * Featured with the Tadd Dameron Band (Milestone, 1977)
 * At Royal Roost Volume 1 (Jazz View, 1991)
 * Fats Blows 1946–1949 (Giants of Jazz, 1991)
 * Royal Roost Sessions 1948 (Fresh Sound, 1991)

With Charlie Parker
 * Bird Lives (Continental, 1962)
 * Pensive Bird (Ember, 1969)
 * Broadcast Performances Vol. 2 (ESP Disk, 1973)

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Tadd Dameron


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IEEE 802.6

IEEE 802.6 is a standard governed by the ANSI for Metropolitan Area Networks (MAN). It is an improvement of an older standard (also created by ANSI) which used the Fiber distributed data interface (FDDI) network structure. The FDDI-based standard failed due to its expensive implementation and lack of compatibility with current LAN standards. The IEEE 802.6 standard uses the Distributed Queue Dual Bus (DQDB) network form. This form supports 150 Mbit/s transfer rates. It consists of two unconnected unidirectional buses. DQDB is rated for a maximum of 160 km before significant signal degradation over fiberoptic cable with an optical wavelength of 1310 nm.

This standard has also failed, mostly for the same reasons that the FDDI standard failed. MANs are traditionally designed using Synchronous Optical Network (SONET), Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH) or Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM). Recent designs use native Ethernet or MPLS.

title: IEEE 802.6


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Steve Vai

Steven Siro Vai (born June 6, 1960) is an American guitarist, songwriter, and producer. A three-time Grammy Award winner and fifteen-time nominee, Vai started his music career in 1978 at the age of eighteen as a transcriptionist for Frank Zappa, and played in Zappa's band from 1980 to 1983. He embarked on a solo career in 1983 and has released eight solo albums to date. He has recorded and toured with Alcatrazz, David Lee Roth, and Whitesnake, as well as recording with artists such as Public Image Ltd, Mary J. Blige, Spinal Tap, Alice Cooper, Motörhead, and Polyphia. Additionally, Vai has toured with live-only acts G3, Zappa Plays Zappa, and the Experience Hendrix Tour, as well as headlining international tours.

Vai has been described as a "highly individualistic player" and part of a generation of "heavy rock and metal virtuosi who came to the fore in the 1980s". He released his first solo album Flex-Able in 1984, while his most successful release, Passion and Warfare (1990), was described as "the richest and best hard rock guitar-virtuoso album of the '80s". He was voted the "10th Greatest Guitarist" by Guitar World magazine’s readers, and has sold over 15 million records.

Early life
Steve Vai, a descendant of Italian immigrants, was born in Carle Place, New York on June 6, 1960. He is the fourth son of John and Theresa Vai. Vai was raised Roman Catholic. He described his first experiences with music as, "at the age of five I walked up to [a] piano, hit a note, and noticed that to the right the notes go higher and to the left the notes go lower. In that very moment, I had a full-on epiphany. I was flooded with the instinctual realization of how music was created and how it worked from a theoretical standpoint—the whole language of music was very obvious. I also understood immediately, instinctually, and unequivocally something that has only deepened through the years that the creation of music is an infinite personal expression. I realized that I could do this, I could make music, and it could be whatever I want."

It was a year later, at the age of six, that Vai experienced his first introduction to the guitar, remembering that, "I saw this nine-year-old boy playing the guitar in my grade school auditorium, and that was another epiphany that I had. It was my first recognition of the instrument. When I saw that guitar and I saw this kid playing it, I knew instinctually that I was going to play the guitar someday, and that it would be my instrument. Don't ask me how I knew, I just knew. It was the coolest thing I had ever seen."

As a young child, Vai was influenced by the music his parents had listened to. One album in particular that he cites as his "musical awakening" was the original motion picture soundtrack to the 1961 film West Side Story. At age eleven, Vai was introduced to the contemporary rock and progressive music of the era, and after hearing the guitar solo to Led Zeppelin's "Heartbreaker" at age twelve, decided to begin playing the guitar.

In 1973, Vai began to take guitar lessons from fellow New York native Joe Satriani, and played in local bands (The Ohio Express, Circus, and Rayge) throughout his high school years. He spoke of when his friend John Sergio gave him Joe Satriani's number to Steve for him and his friend Frankie Munn to get guitar lessons. Vai cites artists such as Jimmy Page, Brian May, Ritchie Blackmore, Jeff Beck, Jimi Hendrix, as well as jazz fusion guitarists Allan Holdsworth and Al Di Meola as some of his major influences in that time period. In 1978, to further pursue his interest in music composition and theory, Vai attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts after graduating from Carle Place High School. While at Berklee, Vai began working for Frank Zappa as a transcriptionist, and in the middle of his fourth semester, moved to California to start his career as a session and touring artist for Zappa. Also while at Berklee, Vai met his future spouse Pia Maiocco. They have been together since they met and have two children. In 2003, Vai was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Music from Berklee.

Early music career (1978–1986)
In 1978, Vai sent both a notated transcription of Frank Zappa's "The Black Page", and a recording of his college band, Morning Thunder, to Zappa. Impressed by this, Zappa responded by putting Vai on salary to transcribe his work, which included pieces from the Joe's Garage and Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar albums. After leaving Berklee College of Music and moving to California, Vai auditioned for and became a full-time member of Zappa's band, going on his first tour with Zappa in late 1980. Zappa often referred to Vai as his "little Italian virtuoso", and Vai is frequently listed in the liner notes of Zappa's albums as having performed "stunt" or "impossible" guitar parts.

Vai was a featured artist on the 1993 release Zappa's Universe, and in 2006, Vai appeared as a special guest on Dweezil Zappa's Zappa Plays Zappa tour; both projects won Vai a Grammy Award.

After moving on from Zappa's employ in 1983, Vai bought a house in Sylmar, Los Angeles, where he built his first professional studio. During this period, Vai formed two bands (The Classified and 777) as well as writing and recording a large amount of music that was not originally intended for release. Out of this material, Vai compiled his first studio album Flex-Able. He created his own record label, Akashic Records (later Light Without Heat Records), which he used to take Flex-Able directly to distribution channels. Flex-Able was released in January 1984.

Vai began his rise to public acclaim in 1983 when, shortly before the release of Flex-Able, his composition "The Attitude Song" was published in Guitar Player magazine. The song centered itself on a main guitar riff in the time signature 7/16, played over a rhythm section centered in 4/4. Each following section of the song showcased a number of specialized techniques (such as two-handed tapping, whammy bar acrobatics, sweep picking, alternate picking, multi-part harmonies, and odd phrasing) used in angular and exaggerated ways that were unique to the song at the time. Interest from the public grew even greater when Vai's song "Blue Powder" (a demonstration for the Carvin X100b amplifier) was published in Guitar Player as well, which showed the virtuoso side of Vai's compositional process. Also in 1986, Vai was cast in the film Crossroads as the Devil's guitar player "Jack Butler". In the famous "duel scene" between Vai and Ralph Macchio's character, Vai wrote and performed all guitar parts with the exception of the slide guitar, which was performed by Ry Cooder.

In between solo work, Vai replaced Yngwie Malmsteen in June 1984 as the lead guitarist of Alcatrazz, with whom he recorded the album Disturbing the Peace. Vai left shortly after the subsequent tour to join David Lee Roth's band.

With David Lee Roth (1985–1989)
In 1985, Vai joined David Lee Roth's post-Van Halen band as lead guitarist, together with former Talas bassist Billy Sheehan on bass; and former Maynard Ferguson drummer Gregg Bissonette on drums. The foursome's debut album Eat 'Em and Smile, released on July 7, 1986, was both a critical and commercial success, reaching number four on the Billboard 200 albums chart and selling over two million copies. Guitar World magazine editor Brad Tolinski commented on Vai's playing at the time, saying that "Steve Vai's guitar wizardry is so profound that in earlier times he would have been burned as a witch." Retrospectively, Eat 'Em and Smile is frequently evaluated as one of the greatest rock albums of the 1980s. The group's Eat 'Em and Smile Tour began in August 1986 and continued through February 1987.

Roth's subsequent album Skyscraper, released in 1988, was produced by both Roth and Vai. Like its predecessor, the album was a commercial success, reaching number six on the Billboard 200 chart. In 1989, following the successful Skyscraper Tour, Vai departed from the band. He was replaced by Cacophony guitarist Jason Becker.

In 1985, after having joined Roth's band, Vai designed the JEM guitar, a unique instrument that incorporated a series of groundbreaking designs that have since become staples in feature throughout the guitar industry, such as the inclusion of 24 frets on a guitar with humbuckers, single-coil middle pickup and a locking tremolo system. Vai began working with Ibanez in 1986 to develop the guitar, and the first production Ibanez JEM 777 guitars were released in 1987.

1990s
From 1985 to 1990, Vai recorded Passion and Warfare at his home studio, his second studio solo album. After leaving Roth's band in 1989, Vai bought out of his Capitol Records contract and signed on with Relativity Records for the release of Passion and Warfare, which was completed shortly after he began recording the guitar parts for Whitesnake's Slip of the Tongue album, where he replaced the injured Adrian Vandenberg.

Upon its release in November 1989, Slip of the Tongue sold over three million copies worldwide, reaching number 10 on the Billboard 200 while Vai joined the band on their thirteen-month world tour.

In May 1990, Vai released Passion and Warfare through Relativity Records, and following its release, the album had reached number 18 in the Billboard 200, selling over a million and a half copies worldwide. Passion and Warfare won Vai a number of awards such as Guitar World and Guitar Player's "Best Album" and "Best Rock Guitarist" awards. Passion and Warfare has been cited as one of the most pertinent instrumental albums released.

1990 also saw the release of the Ibanez Universe seven-string guitar co-designed by Vai in conjunction with Ibanez. Vai left Whitesnake in 1990 to pursue his own musical avenues and formed a band that included Devin Townsend on vocals, T. M. Stevens on bass, and Terry Bozzio on drums. The group released Sex & Religion on July 23, 1993, that was described as visceral in nature, combining a compositional and progressive metal rhythm section with Devin Townsend's vocal arrangements. After the following tour in support of the album, the group disbanded. Vai began working with Ozzy Osbourne in 1994, with whom he wrote and recorded the Ozzmosis album. Due to conflicts, the album was re-written and recorded with Zakk Wylde on guitar. In 1994, Vai won a Grammy award for his performance of "Sofa", from Zappa's Universe.

While recording his fourth studio album Fire Garden, Vai took time to record and release the stripped down EP Alien Love Secrets. A departure from the often highly compositional and heavily produced style of his previous projects, the seven-track EP was recorded in four weeks and released through Relativity/Epic Records on March 21, 1995. Vai cites this record as one of his favorites, saying "The recording and release of Alien Love Secrets marked another turning point in my personal evolution. I was more concerned with making the record that I wanted to make, and not worry about what some others thought I should be doing."

On September 17, 1996, Vai released Fire Garden, 19-track double album, through Epic, with the first half being primarily instrumental while the second half featured Vai on vocals. After the release of Fire Garden, Vai joined his former teacher Joe Satriani, along with guitarist Eric Johnson, for the second installment of the ongoing G3 concert tours. On each G3 tour, three guitar-centric headlining acts are chosen to perform their own sets, and then collectively jam to fan favorite songs at the end of the show. G3: Live in Concert, a video of the 1996 tour was filmed in Columbus, Ohio and released on June 3, 1997.

In 1998, Vai independently released a performance footage DVD of Alien Love Secrets. Also in 1998, Vai started the Make a Noise Foundation with his then-manager Ruta Sepetys. The goal of the foundation was to provide funding for musical education to those otherwise unable to attain it. Today, Vai often auctions items in his possession with proceeds going to the foundation.

At the close of the decade, Vai provided guitar for Joe Jackson's Symphony No. 1, released in 1999 and winner of the 2001 Grammy for Best Pop Instrumental Album.

2000s
In December 2001, Vai recorded two performances at The Astoria in London, with his band The Breed (composed of former David Lee Roth bandmate Billy Sheehan, guitarist/pianist Tony MacAlpine, guitarist Dave Weiner, and drummer Virgil Donati). This live show was released independently in DVD format as Steve Vai: Live at the Astoria, London in 2003, and was Vai's first of many successful live concert DVD projects. In 2004, Vai released twelve tracks from the DVD in an online only release.

2001 saw the limited release of The Secret Jewel Box, a conceptual ten-CD box set containing unique material from various eras of Vai's career. Four compilation albums (The Elusive Light and Sound Vol. 1; Mystery Tracks – Archives Vol. 3; Various Artists – Archives Vol. 4; and Vai: Piano Reductions, Vol. 1) included as part of the box set, were released to the public both in 2001 and the years following. Also in 2001, Vai's record label Favored Nations released No Substitutions: Live in Osaka. The release, which Vai himself produced and engineered, won him his second Grammy award for Best Pop Instrumental Album in February 2002.

While most widely recognized for his stature as a rock guitar player, Vai is also a musical composer fluent in the composition and arranging of orchestral music. In May 2004, Vai premiered "The Aching Hunger", a project commissioned by the Netherlands Programme Service and performed with the Netherlands' Metropole Orchestra. "The Aching Hunger" performances consisted of two parts: the first showcasing Vai's original contemporary orchestral compositions, and the second consisting of Vai (on guitar) playing newly arranged material from his catalog with the orchestra. This project yielded both the Visual Sound Theories DVD and the Sound Theories Vol. I & II album, which were recorded in 2005 during multiple "Aching Hunger" performances and released in June 2007. While "The Aching Hunger" and its following releases started Vai's public career as an orchestral composer, Vai had been composing since he began a music theory class (taught by Bill Westcott) in high school. While reflecting on his time with Westcott, Vai said "He taught me how to write, compose and appreciate music. There was no greater musical influence in my life."

In 2005, Vai released Real Illusions: Reflections, the first installment in an ongoing three-part trilogy concept album. Each of the three installments to the series contain material (songs, lyrics, and both spoken and written narration) with particular relationships to the storyline, purposefully left out of order. Upon the release of the third installment, Vai intends to complete a fourth album of material, which will then be released with the previous three installments and completed storyline in order. In speaking of the storyline, Vai says "It's a human interest story, about the human condition. ... It's a story about this man who has a traumatic experience in his life, and it drives him insane. We see the story through his eyes. It also involves the town he lives in and this stranger that enters the town who's like a shaman; he builds this giant edifice, like a reflecting pond, and when people come to it they see aspects of their personalities and identities and discover things about themselves. There's some comedy involved, too, but it's pretty esoteric. It's about a lot of lofty principles, so it's not a bad idea to dish this all out slowly." The installments to the series will be released over periods of time, with the second, The Story of Light, having been released in 2012.

In 2006, Vai joined the Zappa Plays Zappa tour as a special guest, alongside additional Zappa band alumni Terry Bozzio and Napoleon Murphy Brock. In 2008, for his performance of "Peaches en Regalia" from the Zappa Plays Zappa tour, Vai won his third Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance. Having always enjoyed the aspect of teaching and sharing his experiences in life and in the music business, Vai began a series of "Alien Guitar Secrets" masterclasses in 2006- a touring masterclass in which Vai holds open forum discussion about his own experiences in the music industry, explains the key principles to understanding success, plays to backing tracks (often inviting class attendees to jam with him), answers questions, articulates key points of guitar technique, and more importantly goes beyond the technique and into the more profound esoteric principles at play (see Notable contributions for more on this).

In support of Sound Theories Vol. I & II and Visual Sound Theories, Vai put together a new band for a five-month world tour of the United States, Europe, South America, and Australia. While evaluating unique options for the band (which included ideas for a horn section or percussion section), Vai began auditioning violin players to complement the new lineup. This new band, known as the String Theories band, featured previous The Breed members Jeremy Colson (drums) and Dave Weiner (guitar and sitar), along with new members Bryan Beller (bass), Alex DePue (violin), and Ann Marie Calhoun (violin). During a month of twelve- to fifteen-hour a day rehearsals, Vai and the band perfected the performance (which consisted of pieces from Vai's catalog, arranged by Vai to include the two violins). The tour began in June 2007 and ended in December the same year.

Midway through the String Theories tour in 2007, Vai recorded a performance at the State Theatre in Minneapolis, which yielded the acclaimed 2009 live concert DVD and Blu-ray release of Where the Wild Things Are. Certified gold in the United States and Canada, Where the Wild Things Are showcased the diverse musical range of the String Theories band, with pieces such as the visceral Grammy-nominated "Now We Run", to the dynamic ballad "Angel Food".

2007 also marked the 20th anniversary of the production of the Ibanez JEM guitar, a milestone which was commemorated with the 20th anniversary JEM model. Made of an acrylic body with three-dimensional "swirl painted" interior, this guitar can be seen in the beginning of the Where the Wild Things Are DVD. In 2008, Vai announced the release of his signature Ibanez Jemini distortion pedal, a twin distortion pedal with both a custom overdrive and lead distortion section.

2010s
2010 marked the twentieth anniversary of the production of the Ibanez Universe guitar, which was commemorated with a twentieth anniversary Universe model. A reissue of the early 1990s Universe 77 MC (multi-color swirl), the model included a new five-piece maple/bubinga Universe neck and original swirl-paint job by Darren Johansen (the painter of the original Universe 77 MC guitars).

In February 2010, Vai announced the introduction of "VaiTunes", a platform used to release digital-only singles via iTunes and other digital media outlets. In April, Vai performed with Mary J. Blige, Orianthi, Randy Jackson, and Travis Barker for a rendition of the Led Zeppelin classic "Stairway to Heaven", on the hit television show American Idol.

October 2010 saw more movement from Vai as a composer, with the premiere of two original symphonies at the Steve Vai Festival in Groningen, the Netherlands, and performed by the North Netherlands Orchestra. Shortly after the festival, Vai embarked on the Experience Hendrix tour (along with Eric Johnson, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Susan Tedeschi, Billy Cox, Vernon Reid, Robert Randolph, Jonny Lang, Brad Whitford, and others) for a nationwide tour of the United States.

In March 2011, Vai (in conjunction with the online education division of Berklee College of Music) set a Guinness World Record for the world's largest online guitar lesson. The lesson was held as a promotion for Berklee's online "Steve Vai Guitar Techniques" course, which Vai helped to construct. In April 2011, Vai (along with music and technology entrepreneur Andy Alt) announced the launch of GuitarTV, an online streaming website dedicated to bringing free guitar-related content to the community of guitar players around the world.

Vai's eighth studio album, The Story of Light, was released in August 2012 as the second installment in the Real Illusions concept album trilogy. The Story of Light tour, which began on the month of the album's release, spanned 254 engagements in 52 countries, ending in September 2014. This tour yielded the 2015 release of Vai's fourth live DVD project Stillness in Motion, filmed in October 2012 during his Story of Light tour at the Club Nokia in Los Angeles. Released on April 7, the double-disc set contained a copy of the Stillness in Motion concert footage and a special bonus feature disc called The Space Between the Notes. The latter is a complete chronological timeline of the Story of Light tour, with a video or picture representation of each show of all of the 254 engagements attended.

2014 saw the announcement of a new, intensive guitar camp called the "Vai Academy", which was an evolution of the Alien Guitar Secrets masterclass. Each year the camp is held, Vai creates a syllabus with a particular theme and invites special guests to help him teach it. During the day, Vai and the special guests (of whom have included Guthrie Govan, Jeff Baxter, Vernon Reid, Eric Johnson, Sonny Landreth, and others) hold classes in which they add their insight and perspective to the theme. Each evening, Vai and the special guests jam with the campers. The themes have included 2014's Vai Academy- Song Evolution Camp, and 2015's Vai Academy: All About the Guitar.

Vai has announced an upcoming 2016 release commemorating the 25th anniversary of Passion and Warfare. This release contains remastered songs from the album, as well as the inclusion of a new album of material written from the time between the recording of Passion and Warfare and his first solo album Flex-Able. After the release, Vai held a world tour in which he played the entire Passion and Warfare album, along with material from the new release. The tour would continue during the first half of 2017.

In 2014, Steve Vai with Roman Miroshnichenko's rock-band and the 80-piece Russian Philharmonic performed in Russia. Next year, double disc DVD “Stillness in Motion: Vai Live in L.A.Stillness In Motion" was released with a bonus disc premiering “The Space Between the Notes", a revelatory video diary consisting of more than three and a half hours of footage, lensed around the world on-stage, off-stage and behind-the-scenes, rehearsal and the show moments of Steve's joint performance with Roman Miroshnichenko and orchestra during Vai’s "Story of Light" World Tour.

In 2016, Vai played an uncredited guitar solo on the track "Go!," from the album Junk by French electronic band M83. In April an May of the same year, Vai took part in the Generation Axe tour, alongside Tosin Abasi, Nuno Bettencourt, Yngwie Malmsteen, and Zakk Wylde. Starting in June, Vai embarked on the Passion and Warfare 25th Anniversary World Tour, where he played the album in its entirety for the first time.

Vai is a featured artist on the track "Do You Feel Love" from Jacob Collier's 2019 album Djesse Vol. 2.

2020–present
On December 1, 2021, Steve Vai announced the release of his tenth studio album, entitled Inviolate, alongside its lead single "Little Pretty". The album was released on January 28, 2022. Upon release, it debuted at No. 1 on the Current Hard Rock Albums chart (his first No. 1 album), No. 8 on Top Hard Rock Albums, and No. 40 on Top Album Sales. To support the album, Vai embarked upon a 54-date American tour of the same name. In 2021, Vai was also featured on a track called "Lost Children of the Universe" on the latest album by Star One, a project led by Arjen Anthony Lucassen.

In 2022, Vai was featured on Polyphia's track "Ego Death".

On November 10, 2022, Vai announced his latest album, Vai/Gash, alongside its lead single "In The Wind". Vai and singer Johnny "Gash" Sombrotto had recorded the album in 1991, but it remained unpublished after Sombrotto's death in a motorcycle accident on September 7, 1998. Vai and Sombrotto had bonded over a shared love of motorcycles. The album cover features a photo of Sombretto, showing the extensive burn scars he sustained in a 1977 motorcycle crash. The album released on January 27, 2023.

Having previously covered her composition, Mullach a tSí for The Story of Light in 2012 and performing together in Vicar Street in Dublin, Vai collaborated with Pádraigín Ní Uallacháin for the title track of her Seven Daughters of the Sea album, released in 2023.

In early 2024, Vai, Satriani, and Eric Johnson embarked on a limited-run "Reunion" tour of the original G3 lineup. Subsequently, Vai and Satriani continued touring as a double-bill. After more than 50 years of professional and personal friendship, the pair wrote and recorded their first single "The Sea Of Emotion, Pt.1", released on March 29, 2024.

Steve Vai – His First 30 Years: The Documentary
In 2022, a 77 minutes long documentary was released to honor his first 30 years. This is the first documentary covering Vai's life from 1960 to 1990. It was co-written by Steve Vai. The video covers his life growing up, attending Berklee College of Music, playing with several artists like Frank Zappa, Alcatrazz, the David Lee Roth band, and Whitesnake, the recording of both his solo albums Flex-Able and Passion and Warfare, plus Vai's role in the movie Crossroads, and how he helped create the Ibanez JEM guitar.

Video games
"Juice", from Alien Love Secrets, was featured on the 1996 video game Formula One for the PlayStation. Vai's guitar work also appeared in the 2002 video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. David Lee Roth's "Yankee Rose" was featured on Vice City's soundtrack, as well as "God Blessed Video" by Alcatrazz, as part of the Lazlow-led, 1980s rock/metal radio station "V-Rock." In 2004, Vai was featured on the soundtrack to the Xbox video game Halo 2, performing a heavy rock guitar rendition of the "Halo theme", known as "Halo Theme (MJOLNIR Mix)". He also performed on the track "Never Surrender". He later featured in the second volume of the soundtrack, where he performed on the track "Reclaimer". Vai returned to re-record his Halo work for the Halo 2 Anniversary Original Soundtrack, which was released in 2014 and included as part of the anniversary edition of Halo 2. In an interview shot during the development of Halo 2 Anniversary, Vai reveals that his part in the "MJOLNIR Mix" was a last-minute inclusion in the song.

In 2008, Vai's song "For the Love of God" and "Halo Theme (MJOLNIR Mix)" were featured as downloadable tracks for the game Guitar Hero 3. A live version of "For the Love of God" was also available on the Rock Band Network service, as well as the song "Get the Hell Out of Here" from his 2002 compilation album The Elusive Light and Sound Vol. 1 on March 4, 2010. "The Attitude Song" and a live version of "The Crying Machine" were both also added to the Rock Band Network. A re-recording of "Speeding" is featured in the 2010 video game Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock for Xbox 360, Wii and PlayStation 3.

Films
In 1986, Vai was cast in director Walter Hill's film Crossroads as the Devil's guitar player "Jack Butler." In the "cutting heads" scene between Vai's Jack Butler and Ralph Macchio's Eugene "Lightning" Martone, Vai wrote and performed all guitar parts with the exception of the slide guitar (which was performed by Ry Cooder). The main body of the final piece performed in the duel scene (the fast-paced neoclassical track "Eugene's Trick Bag") was based heavily on Niccolò Paganini's Capriccio number 5. The Crossroads duel appeared on the 2002 album The Elusive Light and Sound Vol. 1.

In 1987, Vai performed "Amazing Grace" in the film Dudes. In 1991, Vai performed on the film Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey, as well as on 1992's Encino Man, PCU (1994), and John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars (where he played on the tracks "Ghosts of Mars" and "Ghost Poppin'").

In 2010, Vai's record label Favored Nations produced and released the award-winning original motion picture Crazy. An independent film, Crazy was inspired by the life and music of the guitarist Hank Garland.

Style and influence
At the age of thirteen, after having purchased his first guitar and begun taking his first lessons from fellow New York native Joe Satriani, Vai became obsessed with the discipline of practice. Vai's practice routine, consisting of a rigid and structured regimen of ten-to-fifteen hour-a-day practice schedules, became the basis of his work ethic for the rest of his career. During his employment by Frank Zappa, Vai transcribed and played very rhythmically complex music, believing that if started slow and perfected, any piece of music could be played.

Vai's first solo album, Flex-Able, began his career as a solo artist in 1984. During the period of time that the album was recorded, Vai was heavily influenced by his previous tenure in Frank Zappa's band. Originally not intended for release, Flex-Able expressed a certain creative "quirky" and "angular" freedom in the eclectic nature of Vai's writing style. Passion and Warfare, Vai's second solo album, expressed a more mature and evolved "signature" style but retained a certain freedom of unfettered inspiration that would continue to influence Vai's future releases. In speaking of his inspiration, Vai has said that it comes to him in many forms (even from the flowers pushed up against a fence outside of his studio, which he transcribed and used in the ninth track "Weeping China Doll", from The Story of Light. While expressing that he is not continuously inspired, Vai uses a concept he calls "musical meditation" to enter a state of consciousness that he calls "The Ultra Zone". When inside this un-critical frame of mind, Vai is able to achieve inspiration in the form of musical ideas (often in forms of melody or rhythm). For these moments of inspiration, Vai created what he calls the "Infinity Shelf", a drive of thousands of snippets of song ideas that he has collected over his entire career. These esoteric principles are taught by Vai during his Alien Guitar Secrets masterclasses, among a host of other information.

Vai's playing style utilizes specialized guitar techniques (such as two-handed tapping, alternate picking, legato, hybrid picking, sweep picking, whammy bar acrobatics, and circular vibrato) in his music, as well as a wide range of recording techniques.

Work with Frank Zappa
As a transcriptionist for Frank Zappa, Vai transcribed some of Zappa's most rhythmically complex music, using a range of conceptualizations for the notation of rhythmic music. Vai says "While transcribing the material, I was often confronted with situations that led me to reach into the intuitional areas of my imagination to come up with various notational devices and constructions that I had never seen before. I soon discovered that many contemporary composers were then (and are still) using these notations". These concepts can be seen throughout the "Frank Zappa Guitar Book", which were composed of Vai's guitar and drum transcriptions from various Zappa albums. Vai toured with Zappa from 1980 to 1983, performing selections of this technically demanding music with Zappa's band at the time.

JEM, PIA, and Universe guitars
Vai designed the Ibanez JEM guitar, a unique instrument that incorporated a series of groundbreaking designs that have since become staples in feature throughout the guitar industry, in 1985. In speaking of the development of the guitar, Vai says, "Stratocasters had whammy bars—which were fantastic—but they were very limited, were always going out of tune, and had single-coil pickups. Les Pauls had humbuckers—which gave you that real scream in the bridge position—but no whammy bar, and I didn't like the way they sat. Neither guitar had twenty-four frets. So I went to a guitar shop in Hollywood, where I had these elements implemented into a guitar (what would have been considered a Superstrat at the time). The guitar was designed with a sharper body shape, a large cutaway around the neck, twenty-four frets, a fully floating tremolo system, a specially wired five-way pickup selector switch, and an output jack angled on the side of the body (so that when you step on the cable, it doesn't pull out of your guitar). I knew of course that these features would eventually be taken and used in other guitars, so I did something completely preposterous: I said, 'Put a handle in it!' That way, during videos and photoshoots I could swing the guitar around."

Vai had several custom prototypes of these guitars built (which were used on the Eat 'Em and Smile tour) by Joe "Jem" Despagni, a custom guitar luthier and friend of Vai's. Due to Vai's highly coveted position in Roth's band, many guitar companies were eager to propose endorsement opportunities. In response to these offers, Vai sent out the specifications of the JEM guitar, detailing that the company that returned the best guitar would be given the endorsement. Dissatisfied with the guitars returned and unwilling to compromise, Vai held out on a guitar endorsement until Ibanez approached him, sending him an instrument superior to that of the other companies and willing to follow his instructions. After the pre-production prototypes were perfected, the first production Ibanez JEM 777 guitars were unveiled at the NAMM Show in 1987. Since its original 1987 release, the JEM has become one of the longest-running and most successful signature series guitars in history, with its sister guitar, the Ibanez RG, being the second highest-selling guitar (behind the Fender Stratocaster) on the market.

Another design by Vai was the Ibanez Universe, the first production seven-string guitar, which was released in 1989. The Universe incorporated many of the aspects that made the JEM a unique instrument (2 octave fretboard, full floating tremolo, humbucker/single coil/humbucker pickup configuration, angled output jack and deeper body cutaways), with an added low 'B' string, allowing for new low-range sonic possibilities. Used by Vai on much of Passion and Warfare and all of Whitesnake's Slip of the Tongue, the Universe was a large stepping stone for the burgeoning Nu-metal genre (with bands such as Korn, Limp Bizkit, Fear Factory and Meshuggah having adopted the instrument and incorporating it into their signature sound).

On April 4 of 2020 the Ibanez PIA was introduced, which Vai says is the modernisation and maturing of his original JEM. The PIA model (named after his wife Pia Maiocco), features an alder body and a 5-piece maple / walnut neck with 24 frets, rosewood fretboard with the usual floral inlays. The neck is styled in the classic Ibanez wizard III neck - 430mmR neck radius. The primary way model differs from the JEM for its softer body curves and a Petal Grip handle replacing the original Monkey Grip cutout. It also sports DiMarzio UtoPIA pickups in an HSH configuration, gold hardware and a Prestige locking vibrato unit.

Alien Guitar Secrets masterclasses
Having always enjoyed the aspect of teaching and sharing his experiences in life and in the music business, Vai began a series of "Alien Guitar Secrets" masterclasses in 2006- a touring masterclass in which Vai holds open forum discussion about his own experiences in the music industry, explains the key principles to understanding success, plays to backing tracks (often inviting class attendees to jam with him), answers questions, articulates key points of guitar technique, and more importantly goes beyond the technique and into the more profound esoteric principles at play. Vai details certain concepts he has discovered that have helped him in all areas of his life and career, both in playing guitar/ musically as well as spiritually. Vai accessibly shares these concepts with masterclass participants using examples from his own experiences, delving into the ongoing process of identifying the self-critical nature of one's own thoughts. Vai explains the techniques and exercises he uses to circumnavigate one's own insecurities and thoughts of self-doubt, and encourages masterclass participants to use these tools in their own lives. Often embarking on masterclass tours through Europe, South America, and Russia, Vai considers this ongoing series of classes as one of his most important contributions.

Eventide H3000 Ultra-Harmonizer
Guitar effects manufacturer Eventide approached Vai in the mid-1980s to contribute unique ideas for their H3000 effects unit. Vai suggested many specific concepts, such as diatonic pitch change and multi-voice harmony, that were used in the unit and have since become standard algorithms in guitar effects processors.

DiMarzio pickups
In 1993, Vai's signature series high-output "Evolution" humbucker pickup set was released by DiMarzio. The Evolution pickups use DiMarzio's patented "Dual-Resonance" design. The "EVO 2" humbucker, a lower output model, was released in 2004.

Carvin Legacy amplifier
In 1997, Vai had begun working with the Carvin Corporation to design a signature series of Legacy amplifiers, which were used on his 1999 Epic Records release The Ultra Zone. The original Legacy I model was released in 1999, with the most recent Legacy III being released in 2012.

Touring
In the 1990s, Vai began touring in European and Asian countries (such as Russia and China) as well as South America, often having been the first American rock act in history to have performed in these areas. In 2014, Vai performed on the Chinese television station BTV's Spring Festival Global Gala, a program broadcast to over two billion viewers. With the broadcasting of this event on January 26, 2014, Vai became the first rock artist ever broadcast on a Chinese television program.

Equipment
Vai's personal studio, The Harmony Hut, is a large edifice located in his backyard equipped with a full control room and performance room. The studio, built in 2011, is where Vai currently produces, records, and mixes his new material. Vai has two main signature series Ibanez JEM six-string guitars (dubbed "EVO" and "FLO III" ) that he uses live and in the studio. "EVO", a prototype Ibanez JEM 7VWH, was received in 1993 while developing Vai's signature DiMarzio Evolution pickups (hence the name of the guitar), and "FLO III" is a basswood Ibanez Los Angeles Custom Shop JEM 7VWH equipped with a Fernandes Sustainer system and a DiMarzio PAF Pro pickup in bridge position. Since early 2022, Vai has been frequently using the 2nd prototype of the Onyx Black Ibanez PIA along with "EVO" and "FLO III", which he nicknamed "ONYX". "ONYX" is outfitted with a Sustaniac system and a lightly scalloped neck.

His other favourite guitars include "BO", a JEM77BRMR prototype, also equipped with Fernandes Sustainer system and blue LED dot inlays, which was stolen in 2015, but later recovered; the original "FLO" guitar, a transformed original 77FP JEM to 7VWH specifications, also equipped with Fernandes Sustainer System and EVO 2 bridge pickup; "Bruno" aka "For the Love of God" Ibanez Universe UV77MC seven-string guitar with burnt finish and mirror pickguard (this guitar was used in the For the Love of God music video); "NILE", 1st Onyx Black PIA prototype used heavily on Inviolate album; and "XAVIA", a customised 2007 JEM 7VWH with heavily scalloped neck and Fernandes Sustainer system usually used as a backup for or in place of "FLO III". Vai uses his signature Carvin Legacy amplifier, as well as Morley Pedals, with whom he has his signature Bad Horsie and Bad Horsie II wah pedals, and Little Alligator volume pedal. Vai uses the Ibanez Jemini distortion pedal, a signature twin distortion pedal with separate overdrive and distortion sections.

Before his endorsement with Ibanez, Vai was endorsed by Charvel guitars, most notably using a green and black San Dimas model. In addition, over the course of his career, Vai has used guitars made by various other companies, including Jackson, Fender, and Gavtone.

Vai's preferred string gauge has usually been 9-42 Ernie Ball Strings.

Guitar rig and signal flow
Vai's 2016 live guitar rig utilizes his signature Carvin Legacy amplifier (now on its third version), the Fractal Audio Axe-Fx II XL, and an MFC-101 foot controller.

Depending on the location and venue, Vai will use either his Legacy I or Legacy III heads, and Carvin Legacy 4x12 speaker cabinets loaded with Celestion Vintage 30 speakers. Vai uses EL-34 tubes by Groove Tubes in his Legacy amps.

Vai uses the Fractal Audio Axe-Fx II XL as the only modulation effects unit in his guitar rig. Generally for live use he utilizes the unit for stereo effects such as delay, chorus, and phase, with a separate preset for the parameters of each different song in his setlist. The Axe-Fx MFC-101 foot controller is set up in conjunction with the unit, allowing Vai to switch effects on and off in a fashion reminiscent to that of standard stompboxes.

Vai's pedalboard consists of a wah-wah pedal (either his Morley Bad Horsie signature pedal, or a Dunlop Cry Baby 95q), an Ibanez Jemini twin distortion pedal, and DigiTech Whammy DT pitch shifting pedal. The centerpiece of the pedalboard is the Axe-Fx MFC-101 foot controller for the Axe-Fx II XL, which, as previously mentioned, controls the effects in a manner similar to switching on and off stompboxes. There are two expression pedals used for the Axe-Fx, one to act as a volume pedal, and the other to control the harmonizer built into the Axe-Fx unit.

The signal from the guitar (usually one of the main guitars "EVO", "FLO III" or more recently, "ONYX") goes into either the Morley Bad Horsie or Dunlop 95q wah pedal. From there, it goes directly into the Ibanez Jemini twin distortion pedal, and then to the Digitech Whammy DT. From the output of the Whammy, the signal heads into the input of the Carvin Legacy amplifier head. Out of the effects loop of the Legacy, the signal heads directly into the Axe-Fx II XL, where it is split into stereo and the effects are applied (and controlled via the MFC-101 foot controller). Out of the output of the Axe-Fx, one signal is sent back to the original Legacy head return, and a second is sent to a second Carvin Legacy head return, bypassing the preamp stage completely and acting as a slave power amp. Vai utilizes his stereo setup on effects like delay, where he sets up two separate delay times (one slower and one faster) and allows them to alternate back and forth. The signal is then sent from the amp to the 4x12 Carvin Legacy speaker cabinets loaded with Celestion Vintage 30 speakers. Vai uses AKG microphones to mic his amps, and uses a separate Carvin power amp to power a direct guitar monitor cabinet instead of relying on the PA.

Detailed gear diagrams of both Vai's 1999 and 2007 guitar rigs are well-documented.

Personal life
Since the late 1990s, Vai has resided in Encino, Los Angeles with his family. Vai is married to Pia Maiocco, former bassist of the band Vixen (who can be seen in the 1984 film Hardbodies), with whom he has two children, Julian and Fire Vai. Vai is also a vegetarian and a beekeeper, regularly tending to the beehives kept on his Encino property.

Band history
Not including guest appearances.

Early bands
 * The Ohio Express (1971–1972)
 * Circus (c. 1973 to 1976)
 * Rayge (c. 1973 to 1976)
 * Bold As Love (1977)

Berklee bands
 * Axis (1978–1979)
 * Morning Thunder (1979)

Professional bands
 * Frank Zappa (1980–1982)
 * The Out Band (c. 1983)
 * The Classified (1984)
 * 777 (1984)
 * Alcatrazz (1984–1985)
 * David Lee Roth (1985–1989)
 * Whitesnake (1989–1990)

Solo band (1992–94)

Sex & Religion album
 * Vocals: Devin Townsend
 * Guitar: Steve Vai
 * Bass: TM Stevens
 * Drums: Terry Bozzio

"Sex & Religion" tour
 * Vocals, Guitar: Devin Townsend
 * Guitar, Vocals: Steve Vai
 * Bass: Scott Thunes
 * Keys: Will Riley
 * Drums: Abe Laboriel, Jr., then Toss Panos

1995 This band toured Russia twice, South America and the US (opening for Bon Jovi).
 * Guitar: Steve Vai
 * Bass: Tony Pimental, then Scott Thunes
 * Keys: Will Riley
 * Drums: Chris Frazier

1996–99
 * Guitar, Vocals: Steve Vai
 * Guitar, Vocals and Keys: Mike Keneally
 * Fretted & Fretless Bass, Vocals: Philip Bynoe
 * Drums: Mike Mangini

2000
 * Guitar, Vocals: Steve Vai
 * Guitar, Vocals and Keys: Mike Keneally
 * Guitar: Dave Weiner
 * Fretted & Fretless Bass, Vocals: Philip Bynoe
 * Drums: Mike Mangini
 * Keyboards (South American Tour): Eric Goldberg
 * Drums (South American Tour): Chris Frazier

2001–02 – "The Breed"
 * Guitar, Vocals: Steve Vai
 * Bass, Vocals: Billy Sheehan
 * Guitar, Vocals and Keys: Mike Keneally, then Tony MacAlpine
 * Acoustic & Electric Guitars, Sitar: Dave Weiner
 * Drums: Virgil Donati

2003–05 – "The Breed"
 * Guitar, Vocals: Steve Vai
 * Bass, Vocals: Billy Sheehan
 * Guitar, Vocals and Keys: Tony MacAlpine
 * Acoustic & Electric Guitars, Sitar: Dave Weiner
 * Acoustic & Electronic Drums & Percussion: Jeremy Colson

2007 – "String Theories"
 * Guitar, Vocals: Steve Vai
 * Fretted & Fretless Bass: Bryan Beller (Philip Bynoe on the South American leg)
 * Violin and Keys: Ann Marie Calhoun
 * Violin and Keys: Alex DePue
 * Acoustic & Electric Guitars, Sitar: Dave Weiner
 * Acoustic & Electronic Drums & Percussion: Jeremy Colson

2012 – "The Story of Light Band"
 * Guitar, Vocals: Steve Vai
 * Fretted & Fretless Bass, Vocals: Philip Bynoe
 * Acoustic & Electric Harp: Deborah Henson-Conant
 * Acoustic & Electric Guitars, Sitar: Dave Weiner
 * Acoustic & Electronic Drums & Percussion: Jeremy Colson

2013 – "The Story of Light Band, Australia, New Zealand and Asian Leg"
 * Guitar, Vocals: Steve Vai
 * Fretted & Fretless Bass, Vocals: Philip Bynoe
 * Acoustic & Electric Guitars: Dave Weiner
 * Acoustic & Electronic Drums & Percussion: Jeremy Colson
 * Keyboards: Michael Arrom

2015 – "Stillness in Motion: Live DVD Band"
 * Guitar, Vocals: Steve Vai
 * Fretted & Fretless Bass, Vocals: Philip Bynoe
 * Acoustic & Electric Guitars: Dave Weiner
 * Acoustic & Electronic Drums & Percussion: Jeremy Colson
 * Sitar: Fire Vai

Discography
Vai started his recording career in 1980 with Frank Zappa, and has since recorded with a plethora of artists and bands. In 1983, Vai began his career as a solo artist with his release of Flex-Able, and solidified his place as a virtuoso rock guitarist with his acclaimed 1990 release of Passion and Warfare. His discography consists of nine studio albums, two EPs, two special albums, eight live albums, twelve soundtracks, twenty compilation albums, and six DVD releases.

Studio albums:
 * Flex-Able (1984)
 * Passion and Warfare (1990)
 * Sex & Religion (1993)
 * Alien Love Secrets (1995)
 * Fire Garden (1996)
 * Flex-Able Leftovers (1998)
 * The Ultra Zone (1999)
 * Real Illusions: Reflections (2005)
 * The Story of Light (2012)
 * Modern Primitive (2016)
 * Inviolate (2022)
 * Vai/Gash (2023)

Grammy Awards
These are the three wins from Vai's 15 solo or collaborative nominations:
 * 1993: Steve Vai - Best Rock Instrumental Performance for "Sofa" from Zappa's Universe
 * 2002: Steve Vai et al - Best Pop Instrumental Album for No Substitutions: Live in Osaka
 * 2008: Steve Vai et al - Best Rock Instrumental Performance for "Peaches en Regalia" single from a Zappa Plays Zappa tour

title: Steve Vai


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Bull Moose Jackson

Benjamin Clarence "Bull Moose" Jackson (April 22, 1919 – July 31, 1989) was an American blues and rhythm-and-blues singer and saxophonist, who was most successful in the late 1940s. He is considered a performer of dirty blues because of the suggestive nature of some of his songs, such as "I Want a Bowlegged Woman" and "Big Ten Inch Record".

Career
Jackson was born Benjamin Joseph Jackson in Cleveland, Ohio. He played violin as a child but quickly became drawn to the saxophone and started his first band, the Harlem Hotshots, while he was still in high school. In 1943, he was recruited as a saxophonist by the bandleader Lucky Millinder, and the musicians in Millinder's band gave him the nickname "Bull Moose" for his appearance. He began singing when he was required to stand in for Wynonie Harris at a show in Lubbock, Texas.

Millinder encouraged Jackson to sign a solo contract with Syd Nathan of King Records to play rhythm and blues. The first recording in his own right was "I Know Who Threw the Whiskey", in 1946, an answer song to Millinder's "Who Threw the Whiskey in the Well". The following year, his recording of "I Love You, Yes I Do" reputedly became the first R&B single to sell a million copies, holding the number 1 spot on the R&B chart for three weeks and crossing over to the pop chart, where it reached number 24.

He formed his own group, the Buffalo Bearcats, and over the next five years recorded in a wide variety of musical styles, including both romantic crooning and bawdy jump blues. His big hits in 1948 included the double-sided hit "All My Love Belongs to You" / "I Want a Bowlegged Woman", and his biggest R&B chart hit, "I Can't Go on Without You", which stayed at number 1 on the R&B chart for eight weeks. He also made an appearance in the 1948 film Boarding House Blues, with Millinder.

In 1949, Jackson covered "Why Don't You Haul Off and Love Me", a song that been successful for Wayne Raney and also for several country-and-western performers. In May 1951 he recorded "Wonder When My Baby's Coming Home" with his Bearcats.

Jackson toured throughout the late 1940s and early 1950s. Around 1951, his band included the bebop composer and arranger Tadd Dameron on piano and Benny Golson, another jazz musician, on saxophone.

Some of Jackson's later risqué material, including "Big Ten Inch Record" and "Nosey Joe" (written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller), caused a sensation during live performances but were too suggestive for the radio, and few of the records were sold. However, his band faithfully played "Big Ten Inch Record" at every show.

By the mid-1950s, Jackson was tired of touring and retired from music to work for a catering firm in Washington, D.C., although he occasionally still performed at private parties. In 1961, he re-recorded "I Love You, Yes I Do" with modern high-fidelity equipment and had a minor hit.

Twenty years later, the Flashcats, a blues band that performed in western Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia, regularly included "Big Ten Inch Record" in their performances. A local DJ reputedly told the Flashcats that he knew Bull Moose Jackson, and the band's frontman, Carl Grefensette, found him catering at Howard University. Grefensette convinced Jackson to perform with them, and they quickly became a sensation in western Pennsylvania. Jackson then made the Flashcats his backing band and began a revival of his career. He also recorded a comeback album, Moosemania! (1985).

During the 1980s, Jackson, then in his 60s, had an extremely successful run performing in the United States and internationally. However, he fell ill with lung cancer in 1987 and retired from the touring circuit in the spring of 1988. An old girlfriend of his came back to care for him during his final illness. He died in Cleveland on July 31, 1989.

title: Bull Moose Jackson


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Ansgar Elde

Ansgar Elde (27 November 1933 – 4 December 2000) was a Swedish artist famous for his work in ceramics.

Elde was a member of the Situationist International (SI). On March 15, 1962, Elde was excluded from the SI along with Jørgen Nash. Both had been on the central committee and were accused of conspiring with certain art collectors. In fact, they had defended Ervin Eisch, Lothar Fischer, Dieter Kunzelmann, Renee Nele, Heimrad Prem, Gretel Stadler, Helmut Sturm and Hand-Peter Zimmer who had been excluded on February 10, 1962.

He went on, with Jørgen Nash and others, to work on the Second Situationist International.

Elde collaborated with Asger Jorn on the large ceramic work made in Albisola, Italy, transported to Aarhus, Denmark by train.

In 1964 in Chicago he received the Copley Foundation Award.

In the early nineties Heike Arndt met Ansgar and accepted his invitation to Savona, Italy, where she developed her work.

The highest know price for an item made by Elde at auction is 4,446 USD for "Senza titolo" that was sold by the Il Ponte Auction House, Via Pontaccio in 2018.

title: Ansgar Elde


text:
User talk:Acid-burndexcite.com

Hello Acid, welcome to Wikipedia. I hope you enjoy editing here and being a Wikipedian. You can learn more on the how to edit page. The naming conventions and manual of style pages are also useful. Feel free to experiment at the Sandbox. If you have any questions about the project then check out Help or add a question to the Village pump. Angela

title: User talk:Acid-burndexcite.com


text:
Andrea Gabrieli

Andrea Gabrieli (1532/1533 – August 30, 1585) was an Italian composer and organist of the late Renaissance. The uncle of the somewhat more famous Giovanni Gabrieli, he was the first internationally renowned member of the Venetian School of composers, and was extremely influential in spreading the Venetian style in Italy as well as in Germany.

Life
Details on Gabrieli's early life are uncertain. He was probably a native of Venice, most likely the parish of S. Geremia. He may have been a pupil of Adrian Willaert at St. Mark's in Venice at an early age. There is some evidence that he spent time in Verona in the early 1550s, due to a connection with Vincenzo Ruffo, who worked there as maestro di cappella – Ruffo published one of Gabrieli's madrigals in 1554, and Gabrieli also wrote some music for a Veronese academy. Gabrieli is known to have been organist in Cannaregio between 1555 and 1557, at which time he competed unsuccessfully for the post of organist at St. Mark's.

In 1562 he went to Germany, where he visited Frankfurt am Main and Munich; while there he met and became friends with Orlande de Lassus, one of the most wide-ranging composers of the entire Renaissance, who wrote secular songs in French, Italian, and German, as well as abundant Latin sacred music. This musical relationship proved immensely fruitful for both composers: while Lassus certainly learned from the Venetian, Gabrieli took back to Venice numerous ideas he learned while visiting Lassus in Bavaria, and within a short time was composing in most of the current idioms, including one which Lassus entirely avoided:  purely instrumental music.

In 1566 Gabrieli was chosen for the post of organist at St. Mark's, one of the most prestigious musical posts in northern Italy; he retained this position for the rest of his life. Around this time he acquired, and maintained, a reputation as one of the finest current composers. Working in the unique acoustical space of St. Mark's, he was able to develop his unique, grand ceremonial style, which was enormously influential in the development of the polychoral style and the concertato idiom, which partially defined the beginning of the Baroque era in music.

His duties at St. Mark's clearly included composition, for he wrote a great deal of music for ceremonial affairs, some of considerable historical interest. He provided the music for the festivities accompanying the celebration of the victory over the Turks in the Battle of Lepanto (1571); he also composed music for the visit of several princes from Japan (1585).

Late in his career he also became famous as a teacher. Prominent among his students were his nephew Giovanni Gabrieli; the music theorist Lodovico Zacconi; Hans Leo Hassler, who carried the concertato style to Germany; and many others.

The date and circumstances of his death were not known until the 1980s, when the register containing his death date was found. Dated August 30, 1585, it includes the notation that he was "about 52 years old"; his approximate birth date has been inferred from this. His position at St. Mark's was not filled until the end of 1586, and a large amount of his music was published posthumously in 1587.

Works
Gabrieli was a prolific and versatile composer, and wrote a large amount of music, including sacred and secular vocal music, music for mixed groups of voices and instruments, and purely instrumental music, much of it for the huge, resonant space of St. Mark's. His works include over a hundred motets and madrigals, as well as a smaller number of instrumental works.

His early style is indebted to Cipriano de Rore, and his madrigals are representative of mid-century trends. Even in his earliest music, however, he had a liking for homophonic textures at climaxes, foreshadowing the grand style of his later years. After his meeting with Lassus in 1562, his style changed considerably, and the Netherlander became the strongest influence on him.

Once Gabrieli was working at St. Mark's, he began to turn away from the Franco-Flemish contrapuntal style which had dominated the music of the 16th century, instead exploiting the sonorous grandeur of mixed instrumental and vocal groups playing antiphonally in the great basilica. His music of this time uses repetition of phrases with different combinations of voices at different pitch levels; although instrumentation is not specifically indicated, it can be inferred; he carefully contrasts texture and sonority to shape sections of music in a way which was unique, and which defined the Venetian style for the next generation.

Not everything Gabrieli wrote was for St. Mark's, though. He provided the music for one of the earliest revivals of an ancient Greek drama in Italian translation: Oedipus tyrannus, by Sophocles, for which he wrote the music for the choruses, setting separate lines for different groupings of voices. It was produced at the inauguration of the Teatro Olimpico,  Vicenza, 1585.

Evidently Andrea Gabrieli was reluctant to publish much of his own music, and his nephew Giovanni Gabrieli published much of it after his uncle's death.

Editions

 * Sacrae Cantiones, Venezia, Angelo Gardano 1565, modern edition Verlag C. Hofius, Ammerbuch (Germany) 2013, ISMN 979-0-50248-001-1
 * Il Primo Libro di Madrigali a cinque voci, Venezia, Angelo Gardano 1566, modern edition Ricordi, Milano 2008
 * Il Secondo Libro di Madrigali a cinque voci, Venezia, Angelo Gardano 1570, modern edition Ricordi, Milano 1996
 * Primus Liber Missarum, Venezia, Angelo Gardano 1572, modern edition Verlag C. Hofius, Ammerbuch 2014, ISMN 979-0-50248-000-4.
 * Libro Primo de Madrigali a tre voci, modern edition Ricordi, Milano 1999
 * Ecclesiasticum Cantionum quatuor vocum omnibus sanctorum solemnitatibus deservientium. Liber primus, Venezia, Angelo Gardano 1576, modern edition Ricordi, Milano 2001
 * Opere edite in vita: Psalmi Davidici, qui poenitentiales nuncupantur, tum omnis generis instrumentorum, Venezia, Angelo Gardano 1583, modern edition Ricordi, Milano 1988
 * Opera postume. Concerti di Andrea et di Gio. Gabrieli, Venezia, Angelo Gardano 1587, modern edition Ricordi, Milano 1989
 * Chori in musica composti sopra li chori della tragedia di Edippo Tiranno: recitati in Vicenza l'anno MDLXXXV, Venezia, Angelo Gardano 1588, modern edition Ricordi, Milano 1995
 * Il terzo Libro de Madrigali a cinque voci, con alcuni di Giovanni Gabrieli, Venezia, Angelo Gardano 1589, modern edition Ricordi, Milano 2012
 * Madrigali et ricecari a quattro voci, Venezia, Angelo Gardano 1589/90, modern edition Ricordi, Milano 2012
 * Le composizioni vocali di Andrea Gabrieli in intavolature per tastiera e liuto, modern edition Ricordi, Milano 1993/1999
 * Complete Keyboard Works (edited by Giuseppe Clericetti), 6 Vol. + Critical Report, Wien 1997-99, Doblinger (Diletto Musicale 1141-46, 09671).

title: Andrea Gabrieli


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User talk:FlinkBaum

Hello FlinkBaum, welcome to Wikipedia. I hope you enjoy editing here and being a Wikipedian. You can learn more on the how to edit page. The naming conventions and manual of style pages are also useful. Feel free to experiment at the Sandbox. If you have any questions about the project then check out Help or add a question to the Village pump. Angela

Image copyright problem with Image:Jon lord 2005.jpg
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If you have any questions, please feel free to ask them at the media copyright questions page. Thanks again for your cooperation. Polly (Parrot) 16:20, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

Speedy deletion of Image:Jon lord 2005.jpg
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title: User talk:FlinkBaum


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Kaokor Galaxy

Kaokor Galaxy, also written as Khaokor Galaxy (Thai: เขาค้อ แกแล็คซี่, born, May 15, 1959) is a Thai former professional boxer who competed from 1985 to 1989. He held the WBA bantamweight title twice between 1988 and 1989. Khaokor and his twin brother Khaosai Galaxy became the first twins to win a boxing world title.

Personal life
Khaokor Galaxy was born as "Virote Saenkham" (Thai: วิโรจน์ แสนคำ, nicknamed: Rote) and raised in Ban Chaliang Lab, Tambon Na Pha, Mueang Phetchabun, Phetchabun, Thailand. Although he was born after Khaosai, he was still considered by the Thai as the older brother because of their ancient belief regarding twins.

Khaokor graduated at Phetchabun Technical College same as Khaosai. Khaokor and Khaosai always liked boxing and fighting since they were children. Their parents bought them their first Muay Thai gloves. Their parents eventually took them to meet their first Muay Thai trainers, Prakan Vornsiri and Mana Lhawpradit.

Khaokor was nicknamed as Denja Mueangsritep (Thai: เด่นจ๋า เมืองศรีเทพ) for a Muay Thai competition, which is related to Khaosai's nickname, Dawden Mueangsritep (Thai: ดาวเด่น เมืองศรีเทพ). Both of them competed around Phetchabun and the nearby provinces. Khaokor started joining competitions before Khaosai and would use his twin brother's name. Niwat Lhawsuwanwat (Thai: นิวัฒน์ เหล่าสุวรรณวัฒน์) would take them to Bangkok for a professional training program and later, joined many competitions in Bangkok.

Professional career
Like his brother, he started his career in kickboxing and would later switch to boxing. After becoming a star in Thailand, he followed a long-standing Thai custom of adopting an attention-getting ringname and thus he became known as Khaokor Galaxy (เขาค้อ แกแล็คซี่) after Khaokor, a renowned natural tourist attraction at his birthplace.

Khaokor Galaxy made his professional boxing début in 1985, winning his first seven fights before capturing the Thailand bantamweight title in July 1986. On 9 May 1988, he won against Wilfredo Vazquez to take the WBA bantamweight title. With this victory, the Galaxy brothers became the first twins to be world champions. Khaokor would also be the first Thai bantamweight champion.

After Khaokor and Khaosai won their titles, Tam Pai Doo, a variety TV show on Channel 9, organized an exhibition bout that pitted the twins against each other, the contest was produced at Rajadamnern Stadium, Bangkok. Khaosai beat Khaokor by points in three rounds.

Khaokor lost the title three months later in his first defense against Korean Sung-Kil Moon, when an accidental clash of heads caused a sixth-round stoppage with Khaokor behind on points. He bounced back with five straight wins to earn a rematch with Moon on 9 July 1989. Khaokor won the rematch easily, winning in all 12 rounds on two scorecards and 11 on the third scorecard. Once again though, Khaokor lost the title in his first defence three months later, against Luisito Espinosa. Surprisingly, he retired at that point with a record of 24 wins and 2 losses. The defeat to Espinosa was unexpected, but Khaokor was caught with a left hook, and about 20 seconds later just collapsed out of thin air.

Retirement
Two months after Khaokor lost his title, the twins had a fan meeting event in Phetchabun. While driving home, they had a car accident which was driven by Khaosai. Khaokor was sent to the ICU for 21 days while, Khaosai only suffered minor injuries and would later be back to professional boxing.

Khaokor decided to retire after his recovery from the car accident but still helped Khaosai in his trainings. When Khaosai decided to retire, Khaokor went back to look after his business full-time, a snooker club.

In his retirement, he got a film job as a main actor for a low-budget Thai movie titled "My name is..Mahingsa" (Thai: ข้าชื่อ..มหิงสา). He was also a boxing trainer for Siriporn Thaweesuk (Thai: ศิริพร ทวีสุข), the first female Thai professional boxing champion. Khaokor had many businesses such as a snooker club, selling car roof accessories, and a restaurant in Bangkok. He also used to work as a recreation attendant for the Phetchabun Government and also worked in a pawnshop.

He would later be broke after poor financial activities such as spending a lot of money with his ex-girlfriends. Although he got broke, he still got many opportunities in getting jobs and eventually settled in. Currently, Khaokor married Tak Jirapwan (Thai: แต๊ก จีรวรรณ) and have two sons, with four years age difference.

title: Kaokor Galaxy


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1988 Governor General's Awards

Each winner of the 1988 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit received $5000 and a medal from the Governor General of Canada. The winners and nominees were selected by a panel of judges administered by the Canada Council for the Arts.

title: 1988 Governor General's Awards