Jimmy Turturici
» An inside look at Monterey Peninsula's finest.
Jimmy Turturici is the Monterey Peninsula’s campfire spark of musical wizardry. One generation away from the influential Monterey Pop Festival of 1967, he carries on those storied traditions with a star voyager’s futuristic eye.
A fabled producer, arranger, front-man, composer, musician, performing under various titles with various side projects; Turturici has remained an influential and somewhat elusive figure of the Monterey music scene. Over the course of the millennium’s first decade, he produced music for eclectic evening programming at Pacific Grove’s KAZU 90.3 FM, back when the old station used to believe in real local radio shows and music.
He was once courted by Master P’s No Limit label (which we have more on below) and has provided scores of bands from the peninsula with sound engineering, guitar work and a bevy of effects treatments. Jimmy continues his solo efforts along with his project, The Slowest Ride (fifteen years after shoegaze, five years before chillwave) and creative production duties for the Peninsula’s electro-cult oddity, Hot Dogs in the Sun. He recently worked on a film soundtrack for an indie flick in the works called the The Monarch of Evening Time. Turturici’s solo work and projects go in and out of availability at Vinyl Revolution and Recycled Records on Lighthouse Avenue and at most other Monterey record shops. With no compilation in existence, I have made a brief introductory mp3 set to toast an important and rarely sung tunesmith from California’s great Monterey Coastline:
The Slowest Ride, “Only Friend”
The Monterey press heralded the Slowest Ride as the second coming of Hank Williams and Nick Drake as an electric folk duo or a more cosmic version of the band America. They wowed the sleepy town with a series of sets during the downtown Monterey First Night New Year’s celebration in 2005. Comprised of Jimmy and longtime buddy and collaborator Johnny Aulenta they continue to cradle both a lyrical vulnerability and dedication to a sound beyond trite pigeonholed comparisons. This original mix of “Only Friend” presents the group with a low, four-track demo fidelity with tape loops and moody vocals.
Turturici on his involvement with Rick Brown and No Limit: "In 1997 I met Rick Brown working at Safeway and he introduced me to Shandar who was under the same management ofE-40 and Master P of No Limit. Meeting Rick Brown (aka The Stunt), I gave him a mix of some my musicand he was like 'Oh man, I want to use that for a hip-hop track.' And that song became 'Extacy,' but remained an outtake. Shandar was working at Seahorse Records in Seaside and I produced materials for him too, but nothing ever materialized with Seahorse. I have kept in touch with The Stunt and still work on production for Gabfest in L.A. who work with artists like DJ Quick, Kool Keith, etc."
Recorded for his album Wires for Roots, Jimmy has been mixing and remixing an electronic dream piece cyclone in a blizzard of keyboards, drum machines, more keyboards, overdubs and dramatic overture motions. No wonder he wants to make motion picture soundtracks.
Jimmy Turturici, “Pacific Grove Light”
Continuing with the light motif, “Pacific Grove Light” is the first soundtrack leak from the upcoming Sundance Film Festival entry The Monarch of Evening Time. New wave keyboards give the ambient piece a Blade Runner set in Big Sur feel.
Hot Dogs in the Sun, “Top Cop”
Soon to appear on the upcoming Hot Dogs in the Sun debut Activate Lazers; “Top Cop” is decked out as one of pop radio’s finest. With satirical lyrics by Johnny Aulenta, this self-infatuated dance tune lampoons the bullying attitudes that come with the role of a patrol officer. “I’m a cop, society’s mop, I keep the streets clean by causing a scene, ‘cause I’m a top cop and you better stop, when I say get down, I mean to the ground.” And given the police state situation in Arizona, Jimmy’s timing was impeccable with this one.
Posted on May 11, 2010. More on: jimmyturturici, hotdogsinthesun, montereypenninsula
