News

Hey Everyone,

I wanted to inform you of a show I'm doing with Jane Fuller. I will
playing Nylon String guitar as well as some fretless bass. If you're
wanting to sit in, send me an email first and I can make arrangements
to have an amp or whatever you might need. The food and drink are
fantastic and affordable. Please come if you have never been to this
great restaurant. Hope to see you there!!

Yours truly,

Ruben



Wednesday, April 30th, 2008
Cafe 322 - http://www.cafe322.com
Jane Fuller and Ruben Ramos duo - 7:00pm - 11:00pm
322 W. Sierra Madre Blvd
Sierra Madre, Ca 91024
626-836-5414
Price: No cover

Some bio on Jane and myself from the Pasadena Weekly:


Fuller, Ramos team up at 322

By John Sollenberger 04/24/2008

Businesses have come and gone out of the building where Sierra
Madre's Café 322 sits, but the music has always been there. The
tradition continues Wednesday night as local musicians Jane Fuller
and Ruben Ramos team up for a show.

Singer, songwriter, guitarist and Pasadenan Fuller performs jazz
standards and contemporary blues, characterized by a cool, sensual
feel and straight-up groove. She works frequently with a circle of
established jazz musicians around the area, has toured the West and
her music has been played on various radio stations and national TV.
Her debut CD, "You're Coming Back Again," is available on CD Baby and
at her live gigs.

Like Fuller, East LA-born bassist Ramos started playing at an early
age, starting out on guitar and switching to bass in high school.
He's performed in everything from rock bands to musical theatre and
chamber ensembles. Ramos lists a page full of musical influences,
from the Beatles to Brahms, stating in his bio, "...I'm no musical
zealot. In the scheme of existence, all good music is valid and has
its place and we're lucky to have so much diversity in the world."
Amen.

Music starts at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Café 322, 322 W. Sierra Madre
Blvd., Sierra Madre. Call (626) 836-5414.

Hey Everyone,

I wanted to inform you of a show I'm doing with Jane Fuller. I will
playing Nylon String guitar as well as some fretless bass. If you're
wanting to sit in, send me an email first and I can make arrangements
to have an amp or whatever you might need. The food and drink are
fantastic and affordable. Please come if you have never been to this
great restaurant. Hope to see you there!!

Yours truly,

Ruben



Wednesday, April 30th, 2008
Cafe 322 - http://www.cafe322.com
Jane Fuller and Ruben Ramos duo - 7:00pm - 11:00pm
322 W. Sierra Madre Blvd
Sierra Madre, Ca 91024
626-836-5414
Price: No cover

Some bio on Jane and myself from the Pasadena Weekly:

http://pasadenaweekly.com/cms/story/detail/fuller_ramos_team_up_at_322/5912/

Fuller, Ramos team up at 322

By John Sollenberger 04/24/2008

Businesses have come and gone out of the building where Sierra
Madre's Café 322 sits, but the music has always been there. The
tradition continues Wednesday night as local musicians Jane Fuller
and Ruben Ramos team up for a show.

Singer, songwriter, guitarist and Pasadenan Fuller performs jazz
standards and contemporary blues, characterized by a cool, sensual
feel and straight-up groove. She works frequently with a circle of
established jazz musicians around the area, has toured the West and
her music has been played on various radio stations and national TV.
Her debut CD, "You're Coming Back Again," is available on CD Baby and
at her live gigs.

Like Fuller, East LA-born bassist Ramos started playing at an early
age, starting out on guitar and switching to bass in high school.
He's performed in everything from rock bands to musical theatre and
chamber ensembles. Ramos lists a page full of musical influences,
from the Beatles to Brahms, stating in his bio, "...I'm no musical
zealot. In the scheme of existence, all good music is valid and has
its place and we're lucky to have so much diversity in the world."
Amen.

Music starts at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Café 322, 322 W. Sierra Madre
Blvd., Sierra Madre. Call (626) 836-5414.

Guitarra Exotica's First Gig

We played our first gig on Sat in Valencia for special friends and family. The gig had it's rough edges but the "diamond in the rough" as Jim calls it, will soon show it's powerful versatility and artistic mastery. The band is made up of Jim on guitar, yours truly on guitar and bass, Anna Stafford on violin, and Bryan Brock on loops and percussion. We got a standing ovation at the end and it was nice to have those same feelings come back like when playing with the Tenors in 2005. People want postive music, role models and something they can go home feeling good about. For those friends who made it out, I thank you for coming and supporting my artistic endevours. My brother Claudio was so sweet. He couldn’t stop talking about how great it was and he even got all our autographs. Claudio is like a father to me and it was very special to have him there and say how proud he was of me.The group is tremendous and I encourage you to see the upcoming shows at the Coffee Gallery and in Catalia. We also have more dates coming so check my page for updates. The CD is out on iTunes and Amazon. It had sold out on Amazon but there are more available now. Viva la musica que cambia el mundo! -Ruben

So, here we are. Two canidates slinging mud at each other. One making poor analogies of Iraq and Vietnam and why we shouldn’t leave. But while all this is going on, the economy is starting to show it’s real colors, and more blatantly, it’s ugly side. As a musician, especially those who do not have a day job and make their entire income in music, we’re used to those slow months and try to collect enough walnuts during times while we feast on the greenbacks flowing in our bank account. Ironically I’m actually doing better than what some are having to deal with. But how long will last until every American has to tighten that belt and the club owner or hotel manager can’t afford to have live music anymore? Or the soccer mom who tries really hard to get their kids good schools, tutors, karate lessons, and "music lessons"? And she calls you up and says; "I’m so sorry but my husband got a pay cut and we can’t afford lessons."

I’ve noticed a huge drop from my main lessons studio at The Fret House from last year, my teaching home for more than 13 years. Last year I was teaching five days a week. Presently, 2 days week. Small music stores are not getting as many students and the competition is getting fierce.

But I have another observation. With that knowledge I decided to be very proactive in marketing myself on the web. And let me tell you, it has proven to be the way to be in this ever so fast moving digital world. I’ve been able to teach more at home and create a bigger network for myself as a player and teacher. It has allowed me to run my business for myself and take more control on who I take on as a student. People search on Google far more than they did a year ago. Of course, I’m speculating. That’s based on Google’s increased market share and visablilty. I couldn’t, ironically, "Google" the data on the numbers. If any of you can tell me where to go, I would be very interested in seeing those numbers.

Jim Stubblefield, the leader of my new wonderful band "Guitarra Exotica", mentioned that his other established group "Incendio" wasn’t selling as many CD’s at their shows. It’s seemd that the "download generation" has grown up and they just want to download the CD at whatever site they use. Paid or non-paid (illegal downloads). Jim is on the path to figure out new ways for us to survive in a world where music can be taken over a phone or cable line for free.

ASCAP and BMI have also started wars with small businesses since these overpaid CEO’s are trying to hold on to their fat paychecks by going after small businesses by calling and, also almost borderline, harrassing them by asking how many days they have live music, how big is the place, etc etc. And keep in mind, these are mom and pop restaurants, coffee shops and venues. They don’t really pay much and some musician play for tips to suppliment the pay. While they should be spending the money developing new music and support future artist that will someday feed them, they go and bite the hands off of the host who gives musicians a place to develop. In the end this method will create a musical facsism state and musicians won’t trust any label, even if their honest and fair. Only big corporations will be able to do live music and the small independant venues won’t be able to because it will cost too much. I know that’s a presumptious generalization but that how some of us feel about it.

Overall my music is keeping me going and I’m getting busier all the time. But I believe it’s from being proactive and not waiting for the phone to ring. Practicing, markerting, composing, hustling gigs. So on, and so on. But I can still see a black cloud coming and I hope to have a place to go when the economic tornado hits. It’s just a matter of time unless we turn it around and quick. I’m also developing a network of musicians working on the same goals. Please send me your info so we can pull our weight togther. Musicians need to organize more and develop a vision for the future.

Hey Friends, Yeah I know, "Ruben hasn't blog for months". Life has been busy and writing news is tough when other things pull you away. So enough of me looking for pity. I have been playing with a friend of Bill Dumas who is and actor and film maker. He writes cool music and lends itself for me adding my twist of what I think electric guitar should be. We're playing at The Whisky A Go-Go on Sat March 31st at 8:00 pm sharp. I looking forward to it since I haven't played there as of yet. My guitar is finally coming together after 25 years of re-doing, re-finishing, new pickups etc etc etc... Sammy Sanchez was the last guy to work on it and it is amazing now. I promise some unique sounds from me. We'll see how well I do. I work at a middle school during the day now as a teaching assistant. I'm back in school which allows me to work for a school dist. I really like the job I have been helping so many kids that have language issues as in ESL and Special Ed. Here's a pic from the Pig N' Whistle gig we did a few weeks ago right by Highland and Hollywood Blvd.

 

Wow... Ithaca was great. Christina and Los Pochos sounded awesome. If you like conjunto music, Los Pochos sum up a quality not heard too often in this genre. I played well but my chops on bass are down since I played guitar for almost a week. But too much staying out late really pooped me out. Monday night I got a good nights sleep after this first stress out day.

NYC is hustle and bustle but I wasn't prepared for this crazy day.

Mon:

I was trying to line up an upright bass beforehand so I wouldn't have to rent. But it fell through and found myself in a pickle since we had a rehearsal space reserved at 5pm until 7pm. I got in at 3pm from Ithaca and cabbed it to Tasha's and Elan's apt in the upper east side near the East River. Tasha's brother Danny had a Volvo station wagon and drove us to the famous bass shop of David Gage. The rental burned a hole in my pocket but well worth the price since his basses are setup great and you get the best pickup out there. So we get there about 4:30pm and get out about 4:50. We end being late to the rehearsal and the drummer had to leave early. Yes. I got a rash from the strap since they didn't have a wheel to move the bass around. But we burned through to charts and it should be a good show. If you or any New Yorkers are reading this, please come by to the Skylight room at 7pm. Yeah!! Playing jazz in NYC!!!

-Ruben

Wow... Ithaca was great. Too much staying out late. I got a good nights sleep after a stress out day.

NYC is hustle and bustle but I wasn't prepared for this crazy day.

Mon:

I was trying to line up an upright bass beforehand so I wouldn't have to rent. But it fell through and found myself in a pickle since we had a rehearsal space reserved at 5pm until 7pm. I got in at 3pm from Ithaca and cabbed it to Tasha's and Elan' apt. Tasha's brother Danny had a Volvo station wagon and drove us to the famous bass shop of David Gage. The rental burned a hole in my pocket but well worth the price since his basses are setup great and you get the best pickup out there. So we get there about 4:30pm and get out about 4:50. We end being late to the rehearsal and the drummer had to leave early. Yes. I got a rash from the strap since they didn't have a wheel to move the bass around. But we burned through to charts and it should be a good show. If you or any New Yorkers are reading this, please come by to the Skylight room at 7pm. Yeah!! Playing jazz in NYC!!!

-Ruben

Hey.... Last night's gig with Sharmila Guha was great. She has a great book and she sings wonderful. Jon Nathan on drums and Mark Wagoner on guitar were perfect in every sense. Ears, chops, vocabulary and overall command of playing jazz. My high school buddy Daniel Diaz and his son Steven along with his La Mirada high school band friend Julio came to the show and was a real pleasant surprise. Julio has a dream of doing music for a living at such a young age that it's inspiring to see such enthusiasm for music.

Thurs I saw Randy who is one of my students do the Marx brothers stage version of Animal Crackers. Randy did a great job as well as all the other fine actors. I enjoyed the show and got some great pictures.

I'm still looking for more students on guitar, bass and vocals. So if you know anyone who wants music lessons in Covina, Sierra Madre (Pasadena area) or on the west side of L.A. I have teaching studios in three locations.

Make sure to check out my calendar for more dates in July. see you soon!!

-Ruben

I have finished another semester playing for the MSAC vocal jazz as their bassist. The concert went real well. My bass has never sounded better thanks to some upgrades I did last year. I have a lot more recording gear and Chris Lawrence have started on doing an album together. It will be 60's meets country meets funky. We're doing an album called "Music To Make A Movie By".

I'll be in Upstate NY in Ithacca for The Grassroots Festival and then afterwards a week in NYC hanging and hopefully playing some gigs. This time I'll have pizza in Brooklyn since thats where the good slices are.

One of my students got accepted to the music dept at Biola University in composition. Randy is a very nice young man and I know he'll do wonderful music. I'm very proud of him!!

The music scene here in town is weird since it's harder to drive and network and end up selling things just to buy gas. So hence more teaching and recording at home. But I'll hopefully get some gigs near home.

Things are pretty good. This month turned out to be busier than I thought. I'm playing a lot of jazz gigs around town. So I can't complain.

The NAMM show is later this month. For those of you who don't what that is. It's the big music merchants trade show in Anaheim Ca. I'll be going not so much for looking at new gear but using that time to network with other musicians. The place is so huge you can't see it in one day. It usually takes 2-3 days.

Keep in mind that my Groove-tet is playing this Fri at Beantown. The band will be great and I hope you can make it.

-R

I hope everyone's Christmas was a good one. I had a lovely time at Bliss's house for Christmas. She cooked some amazing eats. It was a feast. Chris cracked open some great wines and it was just a tongue/pallette overload!! Jason & Earl were there also. My friend Thomas Nordegg was there and heard about his scooter accident. He aparently he was at a light and didn't see an oncoming car. He had a fender bender but enough to total the scooter. It's a very short scooter now. I'm glad he's O.K. But he's driving around in his huge work van which is less covenient than a small scooter. Thomas is a great guy and I'm glad I got to see him. This Christmas was bitter sweet since there are some people I miss dearly and was hoping to see them for the holidays. But life's not perfect unless you embrace every waking moment and don't sweat the small stuff. Here's a pic of Thomas and me. Have a Happy New Year! -Ruben

Here's a picture I just got from my friend Danny who I grew up with. It was taken at Edwards Air Force base in Oct 1978. I was 13 years old!! Damn, time flies! Enjoy your day. Yes the plane is a Northrop T-38 "Talon" used by the air force's "Thunderbirds".

-Ruben

Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas and however you choose to celebrate or not celebrate. Bless you anyway! I played with Sharmila Guha this last weekend who is a awesome jazz vocalist. Her site is "www.sharmilaguha.com".
I had a lot of fun. The guitarist was Mark Waggoner and the drummer was Jon Nathan. Both were amazing musicians and I'll let you know when I play with her again.

I have a date for Beantown for the Ruben Ramos Groove-tet Fri Jan 13th. The lineup is Craig Bunch-drums, Chad Edwards-piano, Daren Burns-bass, Michael Bagasao-sax and yours truly on groovey guitar. I promise real funky fun. So see you there.

I plan a very quiet Christmas day. The first part I'll spend with my mom who is almost 80 years old. The later part will be with some very close friends. And any old friends or past girlfriends and/or their kids that may be reading this and I haven't seen or spoke to you in a while, please know I care about you and love you and wish you a wonderful holiday. Please feel free to contact me. I won't bite! Really!

Have a wonderful holiday!! MERRY CHRISTMAS AND GOD BLESS YOU!

Hi Folks,

I have my Brawley six string bass on eBay. It's been a good worker but my new 5 string is a better instrument for my small hands and it sounds amazing. If you thought of bidding on this, here's the link: http://cgi.ebay.com/Brawley-6-string-electric-bass-flame-maple-neckthrough_W0QQitemZ7372391052QQcategoryZ4713QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I had a very nice Thanksgiving with Chris & Bliss two very beautiful friends I've known for quite a while. Bliss outdid herself with cooking again. We ate and ate! On Fri I cooked for my girlfriend Tracy, her daughter Rachel and her son Randy and afterwards we played some games. I had a lot of fun and I managed to sneak some very pretty pictures of Tracy and Rachel. Yeah they hate having their pictures taken but I got lucky!

Things are pretty busy with holiday gigs. You wouldn't know that from the calendar but most of the gigs are private casual gigs for parties and corporate events. So I won't list a gig unless it's something someone can attend or maybe it's for other reasons I won't go into.

I hope to have an album recorded next year with all my own music. I have about 12 tunes written and I'm trying to decide of the 12 which pieces will be the ones I use for a template for an entire album. In other words, I want the entire album to be around a theme rather than an album that sounds like someones demo. So that means once I decide, I'll be writing 10 or 11 tunes that go with that piece of music. Sort of a Theme and variations idea. A concept album comes to mind.

The San Diego Ten Tenors gig was a lot of fun. I had a small glimpse of the Christmas show they're doing all over Germany. Steven and Flash asked me to do some read throughs during that week. Steven I have to say is highly skilled in his arranging skills and I admire his musicianship. So if your in Germany and see Steven, make sure to tell him that. The tenors seem to get most of the praise but there are many peole behind the scenes that make that show what it is. Keep that in mind when you see a show.

Here I'm plugging my new web gallery again. Most of the rehearsal shots (99% of them) were done by me. Liam & Burce did a couple and Drew show all the "In concert" pics.
Click on this link
"The Ten Tenors San Diego Civic Center".

Hi Folks,

The week is going very well indeed. I miss my girlfriend Tracy but I will soon see her along with Rachel and Randy on Sat when they see the show over the weekend.

The band is starting to kick some serious ass thanks to some of the best musicians and vocalist around. I can finally get my eyes a little more out of the music stand the last night. Flash & Steven knows the music so well they don't even look at any charts most of the time! These guys are truely gifted. I'm very proud to play some great music with these guys.

I took Flash and Baker to Best Buy, CompUSA and Staples since I drove myself down here. We picked up some small items and Flash and Baker got new Canon digital cameras. Nice!

We also found a Japanese market like you would find in Little Tokyo in L.A. Awesome and cheap noodles and sushi!

I have pictures on a page with thumbnails finally.
Click on this link
"The Ten Tenors San Diego Civic Center".
and you will see some of my photo work show with a real camera! Enjoy!

-Ruben

Opening night was marvelous. The Tenors sounded wonderful! I really missed these chaps! I look forward to a great week making more beautiful music. My new 5 string bass exceeded my expectations thanks to my friend and luthier Matthew Levonian who got this bass working just great. San Diego has become more cross-cultural from the last time I was here 10 years ago and I like it. So here's a pic of my "Office" for this week! Nice!

-R

Here's some photoshop pics I've done in recent months.

Hi again,

I just played Sat night at Gulfstream in Century City with Joe Lo Piccolo and drummer Mark San Filipo. Joe's original music is just beautiful. I love playing originals all night. Mark was one of the finest Jazz drummers I've played with in a long time. He has tremendous ears and reacts to subtle things Joe and myself do. Joe has a great sense of melody and time. His compositions are very challeging at times and that makes for great music. I look forward to more gigs with Joe and it inspired me to write some more originals to have a full book of tunes.

-R

Here's a pic:

Well Hello folks,

I just saw a wonderful cello recital last night at USC given by Fang Fang Xiu. She's working on a Doctoral degree and gave a surperb performance by the works of Strauss, Britten and Casals. My girlfriend Tracy her son Randy and her daughter Rachel had never seen a classical recital. They really liked it. I'm so glad they went and were exposed to some new things in the arts.

On the music front, I've been busy adding more gigs with the upcoming holidays. I need to finish some music projects with some friends in the next week. Don't forget I will be in San Diego doing a gig with The Ten Tenors from Australia. It should be a load of fun since I'm a Southern California Dude and can be the guy taking them to see cool things! I will make sure the guys get a real Mexican meal while in "Cahleefoernia". Yes I think Arnold is a big #$%#&^@ prick and deserves to be outed from his Sacramento office next year but that's another story. Anyway back to the Tenors, I'll also make sure they get a good cultural experience in what short time we have. So I will be making calls to cousins and Googling for cool stuff to do. I may be surprised to find some havens that sum up the true California fusion of Mexican and American cultures. It will be a blast so please, I highly reccomend the show so try to make it if you can. Peace!

Btw here's a pic of the wonderful three.

-Ruben

Well,

It's hard to be back in town and not be with the Tenors. I had an enormousely great time with TTT and I look forward to the San Diego dates the week of Nov 15th - 20th. These guys can sing their asses off! I love the combined sound of all the voices. I found some new words that we in the states we use but Americans are in general are poor at using words that may seem too proper. I learned that "Cheers" is not just a drinking salutation but a way of saying thank you and or saying hello or goodbye. And adding "Mate" is a descriptive on like saying "Friend" or "Pal". The word "Lovely" can be efeminate in the states but I will start using it since it a great postive word. All in all the experience was wonderful to say the least. The positive expreience makes me want to visit Australia in 2006 and see my nephew Jose "Chema" and his Aussie wife "DeChantal" much sooner than later and hang out with the tenors while back home from the road.

I enjoy other cultures tremendousely. And Aussies are a great people! Not just these guys but the culture in general. One Aussie many years ago on Bill Maher's HBO show made a point of the difference between Americans and Australians. He said that Americans were settled by uptight Puriitans with the belief that sex and many of lifes pleasures were motal sins and one needed to be in extreme to gain a way to heaven. So they wern't running away from England for religious freedom but religious domination. The Nazis tried something similar. The Aussies were generally settled by ex-convicts. Now I know that's a big generalization on a culture that has more dimension than that statement but there is much truth in that and it's a postitive thing and not a negative view. Australia was once a penal colony. The Aussies are very progressive and overall more socially liberal than us Americans. I love hanging with people that keep up with world events and understand geo-political things that effect everyone. Long live Australia!

I got to see the National Air Force Museum in Dayton. What an amazing place!! I'm not into war machines anymore but it was really a beautiful display of early flight, space and I got to stand in JFK's Air Force One. The one that took him to Dallas and brought his body back. I felt the dark vibe in the plane. Here's some pics: That's Micheal "Flash" Makinus in the space suit I photoshopped. And one of me fantasizing. And I do have to mention that military buses are really crappy. In order to get to see the Air Force One's. We needed to get clearance to get on base to see the planes. So the special planes cannot be in the regular museuem. The bus heater was working way too well. It worked so well that we almost cooked to death from super heated gases.

I also got to see some of the rehearsal for the Christmas show for the Deutchland (Germany) tour. Here's a pic:

Well, the two last shows are tomorrow with a href=""The">http://thetentenors.com/calendar.htm">"The Ten Tenors".

This group has exceeded my expectations. They are very inspiring and a great group of fine chaps. I will playing with them in San Diego in Nov. Check the tenors website for dates. The shows this week have been awesome and the band is getting better. I'm looking to kicking some serious ass on Sun. See you all this week in L.A. for gigs. lessons and rehearsals. Thanks for those who came out to see the show.

-Ruben

Hi,

The shows have been just awesome. The Tenors are SO amazing! I love hangin' and performing with such good souls. We're even learning some Texas Holdem' card games when we have free time. By the way, last night Shannon (Bomber) was doing his Opera faces bit and then when he got to the Italian gibberish he very cleverly added my name at the end of the moltopiazzadulche....etc etc since it could pass as an Italian word! He had spaced out the night before when it's time to introduce the band by name. He forgot my name and what I played. Tim, Micheal (Flash) and myself were in stitches from laughing when he made up for it by adding my name to for fun.

The gig in San Diego is coming in Nov and I highly encourage you to attend the shows since the group is incredible and I promise you some of the best music you'll hear all year.

See ya soon!

-Ruben