Pierre Bidondo: Acoustic & electric guitars, mandolin;
Craig Bidondo: Piano, Hammond B-3 organ, synthesizers, drum programming;
Extra studio cats:
Graham Lear: Drums and percussion;
Ted Swenson: Electric bass;
Tim Gilson: Upright acoustic bass;
Dean Baskerville: Mixdown & mastering engineer;
Influences
Gipsy Kings, Wes Montgomery, Chick Corea, Santana, Stevie Wonder, Leslie West, Michael Omartian, unknown Flamenco monsters, Keith Jarrett, Larry Carlton, Michael Omartian, Focus (Jan Akkerman and Thijs van Leer), Phil Keaggy, Peio Serbielle, Kepa Junkera, etc.
Sounds Like
Cool jazz blended with the fire of flamenco, rock with the soul of samba, funk with the heart of country, this is a raucous "World-Jazz" mix of instrumental tastes featuring the guitar and keyboard talents of two Alaskan-French-Basque-Viking brothers. Think: "soundtrack for your extended life..."
Pierre Bidondo (guitarist) and Craig Bidondo (keyboardist) grew up as brothers with a shared heritage and love of music. But as adults, with Pierre in their home state of Alaska and Craig eventually resettling in Oregon, the brothers had few chances to create music together since they were kids.
Several years ago they decided that Pierre would make yearly visits to Craig’s studio, and they would do a CD together of instrumental music they had written. It’s taken them six years of traveling back and forth (as well as the assistance of several friends, including former Santana drummer Graham Lear and engineer Dean Baskerville) to complete the whole thing.
What’s the result? A raucous World-Jazz fling, a fusion of samba, “cool jazz”, bossa nova, rock, reggae, R&B, flamenco, blues, folk, “smooth jazz”, country, and classical influences, all filtered through their Alaskan-French-Basque-Viking passion, humor and outlook on life. All in all, it’s The Brothers Bidondo… being who they are and doing what they love.
Have I ever mentioned how much I love saying your last name? Ha ha. But seriously, the best part of working Sundays for me is hearing you and Tim play. Wednesdays not so much 'cause Tim isn't there. Just kidding =)
Yeah, my friend went camping for her birthday and one of the girls there asked me when i was sitting on the bench "are you sitting down?" and that got us started on asking stupid questions and stupid answers. We think they should make a napoleon dynamite 2 and put that quote in it. See you thursday.
We knew you were in Alaska, yet still were drawn to Jazzy Bagels at 11 a.m. on Saturday... habits are hard to break. Hope you are having a wonderful time. Hi to the family. MCR&L
Hey My Brothers,Thanks For Letting Me Jam With You At The Yukon In Seward,Alaska."YOU TWO ROCK",And Craig I Was So Happy To Meet You Since We Were Already My Space Freinds...Gotta Love This Place...Geno D.
Thanks for the add request, we're glad to be friends! It was so wonderful being a "face in the crowd" at your Thursday night gig. . . . you are an outstanding entertainer Craig, and the stuff you've done with Pierre is fabulous! Here's wishing all your musical dreams come true and we meet again soon! (hmmmm. . . . a little bluegrass/jazz/fusion "Foggy Mt. Breakdown" in your future?)
It was an honor to share the stage with you, you are truly a kick--- artist, thank you sooooo much for inviting us. Dana has been wanting to propose for a long time, but he really wanted to do it up big, he loved Tony's and when you asked me to sit in w/ you a month ago, he saw it as a chance to hatch his plan..... thank you for helping make it possible. I hope you enjoyed the turnout, that's Dana for you. And thank you also for having Kimberly sing, Isn't she awesome? You is such good peoples.....love you...The Varaynes....... I'll keep an eye on your schedule, but keep us posted, okay?....forever a fan....
I'm all embarrassed cuz there's a scandanavian woman posted a message two messages before you, she makes pretty neat music, you should check her out. It says she's from the Chugach Mountains, I'm almost from there too. Anyway, this girl called me her internet friend, and that made me think she gets my song, "internet friend", although the words are unintelligable, but it makes me take heart, you know?
Hi Craig, i'm showing your myspace page to a swedish girl on yahoo messenger, she really likes you guys. The snow's all melted here again, I should go for a motorcycle ride.
Great work on the CD and thank you for the kind words LOL. You've got a great team of people on your CD from the musicians to the engineer. Congratulations! PS check out our new video from Oregon Public Broadcasting I posted..
