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Well, it's been a tragically long hiatus but at least I'm happy to come back with this particular, long awaited post. This album is one that I've been searching for over the past couple of years since I first saw references to its curious cover art and its well respected, though under recorded, artist, one Lloyd Ellis. Most of us jazz guitar geeks are quite familiar with his other album that proclaims his prowess as the world's fastest guitarist! And so we are anxious for any other examples of his work. In the genre of the venerable Hank Garland and Chet Atkins and other fine country pickers who evolved into impeccable jazz musicians, I knew this other album existed and am glad to finally find it. The recording quality here is not so great but for the moment I will consider this much better than the former MIA status. After enjoying the 12 tunes on this album for the first time, I will say it doesn't disappoint. There isn't much to point out as off the charts, just a very solid, enjoyable listen to some jazz standards delivered with clear and spirited guitar mastery. Some of the tunes are perhaps not the most exciting, mostly brief and familiar. But Ellis brings a real sense of confidence and joy to the recording, and you do occasionally pick up on his country roots which is a nice nuance to me. Certainly you have to remark on his agility and clarity, ripping off some lively lines and licks that just ring without a doubt. Pretty impressive. But before you go, just take a good look at this album cover. His other, better known album, seems odd in that the cover proclaims this respectable jazz artist to be such a speedy rock star type champion of the guitar. That always seemed sort of out of place for a traditional jazz guitar rendering. Now you look at this album and it kind of goes the other way with this Minnesota-like lakefront scene contrasted with the "hip" album title, "So Tall, So Cool, So There". Who thought this up? It really added to the intrigue of tracking this recording down, and now I can remove it from the "Does anyone have this record" list. I think you will enjoy the discovery as well. I might dispute just how "tall" this album is, but it is clearly, so cool, and so there.....so there.
Well, the good news is we have a great album here of traditional jazz featuring one of the great all-time guitar players, George Van Eps. The bad news is that my copy of this 1967 LP is pretty rough and I have to apologize for the somewhat excessive noise, pops and crackle that I was unable to remove on this rip. Still, I couldn't readily find a better version of this OOP album out there so I decided to post it for now because it really is absolute classic stuff. Van Eps was just so smooth and relaxed that you can't have a jazz guitar collection without a healthy dose of George in it. Of course he had that 7-string thing going on, as the album name proclaims, and that makes it all the more unique. Although the album obviously features Van Eps' 7-string guitar playing, there is also a lot of marimba player, Frank Flynn, which "frankly" I could live without here, but it has it's moments in complement to George's guitar work. The key is just listening along with this textbook guitar playing. Most of it is relatively simple or understated but it's wonderful work and brings these classic tunes to life so effortlessly. So check this out, forgive the poor quality of the vinyl, and let me know if you come across a better copy of this beautiful album as I will be happy to defer to that reference. But until then, I hope you can enjoy it as is...I did!
Well despite the desperate subject line here, there is something good to come of it, and that comes in the form of a 1969 album by Barney Kessel called "Guitarra". Barney Kessel was one of my early jazz guitar heroes largely by way of an 8-track recording of "The Poll Winners" and especially confirmed upon hearing his blazing work on a tune called "Nagasaki". Barney has pretty much made the grade with every recording of his I've heard since. This apparently little known LP is generally no exception, although I would have to say it's not my absolute favorite Barney recording. When confirming that this album is OOP I first thought I had identified it as an obscure recording called "Reflections In Rome" since, like "Guitarra" it was recorded in Rome in 1969 with what appears to be the same supporting cast of European artists. However, "Guitarra" has an entirely different collection of songs than what I found for the "Reflections..." album. Yet I could find no internet information on any album called "Guitarra". So, whether this is somehow one in the same as the other recording from Rome, or whether it is, as it seems, a second recording done the same year by the same musicians in the same location, it seems that either one is OOP and not easily found in the blogosphere. So here ya go, it's a fairly tame collection of relatively short tunes featuring Barney's "guitarra" and some pretty lively organ work from an Antonello Vannucchi. There's some samba and similar latinesque flavors here in keeping with the setting perhaps. Sometimes it strikes me as a little less than exciting but just as you think you might feel a little bit disappointed, Barney will come out with some fun Kessel-isms and reel you right back in to familiar ground...right back home with Barney and his guitarra...
As noted in a previous post, one of my favorite artists, among my most favorite of instruments, is guitarist Buddy Fite. A relative unknown that I discovered only by the chance of uncovering an 8 track tape of "Changes" sitting unappreciated in a crowded bargain bin at some department store back in the 80's. As bargain binners will sometimes find, the occasional decision to buy something based solely on the cover (and, in this case, the price), can pay off in spades, and as my earlier post and comments on "Changes" atest, Buddy, and everything he touched with a guitar, was pure gold to my ears. The album posted today is a later recording called "Buddy Fite & Friend", the friend being drummer Chick Colburn who ably assists Buddy through this collection of ten smooth tunes. With a couple of standards like "All The Things You Are" and "Don't Take Your Love From Me" along with a handful of great pop classics of the 60's like "This Guy's In Love With You", "My Cherie Amour" and "Something", Buddy accomplishes his usual uncanny transformation of these familiar songs into fresh and glowing jazz artworks. I love his bright metallic tone that rings at just the right moments and his knack for smoothly taking off on a theme effortlessly. Most of these cuts feature Buddy playing his signature comping/soloing while beautifully laying down the bass line all at the same time. Then there is usually an overlay of a second guitar track where he typically plays solos or duet parts. His music is never pretentious, sometimes quite simple and comforting, and then at times powerful and uplifting. Check out "This Guy's In Love..." and even "Something" to feel the wonderful ride he takes you on with those strings. While it would be easy to misread this by appearances considering the presence of two Beatle tunes and even, God forbid, two from the The Carpenters catalogue, trust me, Buddy brings out the best of each tune and if you ever liked these tunes at all you will love these versions. And if you didn't like them before, well, I think you're gonna change your mind here. This record just makes me wish Buddy were still alive today to make more recordings like this. I'd love to hear more. I do have another Fite LP I hope to post at a later date, as well. One odd thing I noticed is that track 4 and 5 on this LP were switched from what the cover documents, so I labeled the tracks according to how they were on the actual record, not the cover. Please excuse the quality being very much of LP origins. I did a lot of click removal here and for the most part I think it came out reasonably well, but it is not CD perfect by any means, offered here at 320 to all my blogster friends & buddies...enjoy!
Scanning my record collection for the next subject to feature on the blog, I pondered numerous guitar heroes for the honor. It can be hard to find something that has preferably never been committed to CD publication. I was somewhat surprised to find, from my search of the web, that this 1976 work by Jimmy Ponder appears to fit the bill. I also could not remember when I had last listened to it so when the first couple of minutes of ripping "Funky Butt" came through I was a little dubious as to whether this was worth the effort. As much as I am a huge fan of Boogaloo Joe Jones, Grant Green, Wes Montgomery and many other soulful/pop/jazz guitarists, the late 70's era of politically correct funkified jazz transition had many disappointments in my mind. Even some of the most talented and tasteful of artists suffered through pathetic attempts to contort their natural strengths into commercial success or some failed sense of mid-life crisis. And, as if the name "Funky Butt" wasn't already a pretty good warning, the initial sound here drew a Parliamentary yawn. But slowly I took more notice of the flat out playing of the well known and respected Mr. Ponder, and then the wah-wah magic began to win me over. "Energy III" again flirts with a fusion styled disaster at first listen, but ultimately proves exciting and a nice contrast to the opener. Then the lovely "Jennifer" solidifies my contentment, and so this post makes it here for your own review and opinion. Side two, by the way, follows with a very similar formula of three contrasting songs that are full of Ponder's impressive techniques and general groove. I have to say that the last song, "Sabado Sombrero", is probably my favorite. It brings a variety of stylings where I can hear moments of Wes, Benson and even, dare I say it, Gabor Szabo! Ahhh, this is a winner after all. It also features some simply awesome bass work by the always awesome Ron Carter, relatively simple but beautiful signature playing. You will also notice a good deal of heavy duty keyboard wizardry from another of my soulful jazz favorites, Ron Foster! While on the surface this is clearly more of a contemporary sound with it's special guitar effects and mix of danceable rythms, even though it is now 33 years old, there is truly a diversified composite that includes traditional jazz, soul, funk, rock and pop, all flawless and enjoyable. I pretty much had a hard time not bopping my head throughout, but key for me is that I could really listen to the man's guitar playing, and it brings a smile.
Not only have I finally gotten back to my blog, but I am finally re-posting my first significant work, Freddy Robinson's "Hot Fun in the Summertime" from 1970. And what better time than this first day of summer.
I haven't had much time to rip LP's the last few weeks but today I was listening to a CD I created from another one of those embarrass- ing 8-track tapes a few years back. At the time I never anticipated posting some of these rips on a blog so I listened with a discriminating ear for imperfections, track breaks, or any qualitative issues that might make me feel unhappy with posting this classic 60's blues rocker instrumental gem from Mel Brown. Eight songs later I decided it was worthy of a post until a better version comes along. With the apparent popularity of Mel Brown's 60's & 70's work I am very surprised that this album seems so hard to find. It has never been committed to commercial CD, long OOP, but with all the recognition this gritty guitarist seems to have, this LP seems unusually scarce. So I decided to add it to this blog until someone can identify a better source. I have the Chicken Fat CD and all Mel's other albums, and I think this one is easily as good or better than any of the others. It's pretty straight forward, simple and pretty raw R&B with tight horns and groovin' support throughout. There are no significant vocals, just a torent of funkified blues guitar licks firing from start to finish. This reminds me somewhat of Freddy King's "Hide Away", which is an all-time favorite. I think this is up there. Keep in mind that this was taken from the lowly 8-track tape so the order of the songs reflects what was committed to that idiom. From what I hear, they were able to divvy things up so as to avoid track change interruptions, a good thing that is greatly appreciated by those of us old school music desperados that committed so many hours of listening to this ill-fated medium. This album starts out with a lively and crisp rendering of "Ode To Billie Joe" and then just sails through one rock-blues workout after another. It's fun, it's infectious, and a great time capsule for the late 60's somewhere between Memphis and Detroit, but you're definitely not in Kansas anymore Dorothy...enjoy!
This post is a unique one in many ways. Offering another vinyl rip from a highly regarded jazz guitarist like Howard Roberts is no surprise, of course. But this one is actually taken from one of my old 8-track tapes, something I did a few years back when I was convinced it was the only way I could ever capture this unusual, fairly obscure recording. Going back and giving it a listen today I decided that the quality wasn't so bad and I don't see much chatter about this particular work anywhere else. The other odd aspect is the content itself. I have a lot of Howard Roberts albums, LP's, CD's, and oh yeah, the 8-track. But this recording strikes me as probably the oddest of them all, which might explain the lack of attention. I really like Howard Roberts' stuff with very little exception. For some reason I am especially taken with his pop cover material of the 60's, much of which seems to be the focus of media criticism more than praise, even though he is always acknowledged to be one of the most highly skilled guitarists of his era. I enjoy interpretations of likable and familiar tunes, pop diddies, when they are treated with subtle creativity and soulful skill as Roberts so often has done over his extensive career. Then there are the more straight ahead jazz outings where he covers more traditional creative jazz works and explores the outer stretches of that genre so impeccably. Here on "Antelope Freeway" however, Roberts really moved into something different. This sort of has a slight psychadelic edge to it with sound bites and other effects all mixed into this meandering tapestry of guitar snippets which are largely rooted in more of a rock/blues side of jazz for sure. When I first rescued this from some 88 cent bargain bin back in the 70's, I have to say I was disappointed that it wasn't more what I was used to in jazz guitar icons. But listening to it again today I have to say that it really is both daring and fairly effective. It's fun and it does contain some really clever, enjoyable music. Some of it borders on brilliant if you are open to this approach at all. But alas, it remains OOP. The track titles were difficult to apply to the recording from my original 8-track; you can't see the grooves to identify transition points and many of the cuts here simply bleed into one another. It makes for a nice overall composition and creative impression but it's hard to tell where one "song" finishes and the next one starts. As a result, I chose to simply record the whole album in two sections/tracks. Checking out references for this album I saw that many reports were similarly confused with name run-ons and differing numbers of tracks all together. Kind of funny. Basically, my first "track" includes the first five cuts from the album while my second "track" includes the last four album cuts. Be my guest if you want to try your luck at distinguishing the details, but in the end, I don't think it matters, either way, you should enjoy a listen. So go ahead and find out why those antelope are crowding the freeways to hear a guitar master having some fun....
Alright, that subject header is a bad pun and doesn't make a whole lot of sense but then one could say, when it comes to guitar playing, Jack Wilkins really does it for all it's worth. Foregoing my usual diatribe here, I will get to the point; Wilkins can flat out play. Ever since I heard a cut off of his album Merge, back in the early 80's, I knew he was a keeper. Unfortunately there is far too little of his work out there. You don't see him that often as a side man and he only has a handful of albums to his name. But what's there is generally great, just as you will hear in this album, "Captain Blued". This is a curious recording in that I can find very little evidence that it was ever made! It's produced by Creed Taylor on the Greenstreet Record label and it includes the accompaniment of one of the best alto sax guys you could want, the great veteran Phil Woods, along with other familiar names like Harvie Swartz on bass. Yet there is little mention of this recording anywhere. Doesn't appear to be available these days, so I felt it my duty to let folks hear what they might be missing. Some of these songs, like "Captain Blued" and "Mexico", were also recorded (different versions I believe) on other albums so you should be able to find some of that out there to buy on CD. This particular LP is definitely another winner for Wilkins. Not only is his work effortless, creative and inspiring, but the tunes are all enjoyable and nicely arranged. Add to that the wonderful voicings from Mr. Woods and great contributions from all the other supporting cast (with a good deal of solo work for all) and I will predict that you will be glad you gave this a listen. Although this is all generally straight ahead jazz, you will find diversity in the moods and stylings here. Many exciting moments to enjoy. It should make you want to hear more of this master guitarist and he does have a site that offers listens and downloads from many of his other albums, including a bunch of live gig cuts. So I hope you will agree that this guy is the cream of the crop, and cream leads to milk, and there I go milkin' it for all it's worth...
Well there aren't many of these left around these days, drive-in movies that is. If you're over 40 years old you should have a fair recollection of that special experience that collected hundreds of people, in their cars, in a big old paved lot to watch one giant screen once the sun let down it's glowing curtain. Kids would run through the maze of cars and gather in special play areas where there were often swings and "dizzy-go-rounds", monkey bars and assorted other items of liability. Teenagers would hang out in their cars, free of adult supervision and do what teenagers want to do when unsupervised. Adults would settle in for an evening of popcorn, hot dogs and hamburgers (the ones that didn't actually dance and party), soda pops (some of them could dance too) and a relatively inexpensive night out to entertain the family. I remember seeing "Hard Day's Night" starring The Beatles as a particularly standout drive-in experience but there were countless others including my own teenage adventures for the likes of "Mandingo", all complete with that clumsy hunk of metal precariously dangled from the top of one of the windows (which you may have had to keep pretty well closed to keep out mosquitoes) that kept your car anchored at its post. And which post did you choose? Ahhh, the ambling about the lot looking for the best available space. Something with a decent view of the screen, not too close, not too far, decent proximity to the bathrooms and snack bar, consider the neighboring cars and the potential anxieties as you quickly profile the occupants of each. It was normal practice to explore several potential spots before settling on a final destination. Then you just had to hope the damn speaker box you got would work. Some didn't work at all, some had bags over them (out of order) and some were crackly or didn't have enough volume. All of them sounded pretty lousy but that was part of the charm I suppose. And that brings us to something that sounds pretty darn good, Mr. Freddy Robinson. As my original music post on this blog was my most coveted Freddy album, this one, "At The Drive-In ", is not quite so scarce, but it again features some fine guitar work and more of Freddy's distinctive vocals, as well. What drove me crazy here was that this is not a particularly pristine copy of the album. I bought it as a NM but it is more a VG at best. I had to do a lot of click removal and there is still a share of crackle here and there but I wouldn't post it if it were really bad so I think it is a passable version until a better one comes along. There must be other postings out there but I haven't come across one. Actually I see where a few of these tracks appear on a recent, long overdue, collection of Freddy's work called "Bluesology". I am looking to buy that as it includes quite a few never before released tracks, and i recommend you do the same. But if you want a good sample of what Freddy does with his unique mix of R&B and jazz, then check out this OOP recording from 1972 and I think you'll enjoy it, despite the less than perfect quality here. Taken from the LP at 320kbps , hopefully it will be drive-in' you crazy too, in a good way....
Many years ago, there was a child born in Waterbury, Connecticut. A proud set of parents beginning a family amidst the historic confines of Yankee tradition and the comfort of the industrial plateau. It wouldn't be long before the kindergarten years would find this same young boy coming to terms with what would be a lifelong pronouncement of, the only child. And yes, this "only child" would be me, now entrenched some 52 years in this cozy little world that has managed to define me in the eyes of Catholic families everywhere, in the minds of struggling street smart urchins, and even deep within my own shadowy world of unbridled imagination and introspection. I soon came to understand that "only child" was generally not a moniker to be proud of, especially among peers where it usually was applied to someone thought to be unfairly privileged, someone unusually coddled, a "momma's boy", protected and insulated from the spirit of the real world below. These connotations seemed to build up in my little head as I progressed through those first few years of grade school and it became a source of embarrassment, at least in my mind, that I worked hard to avoid or erase. Early on it came with undoing any effort my mother put into my appearance. She would lay out the clothes and I would do my best to dismantle the intended choreography. Sometimes I just managed to do a last minute switcheroo before bolting out the door for school, sometimes I just had to tear everything apart between the backdoor and the schoolyard, the clip-on bow tie, the knee socks, the jaunty cap, oh God, it was horrible, but fairly easy to address (or undress as the case may be). So other than the inescapable class photo days, I managed to avoid segragation, and from that point it was just being a kid with no siblings. Although the lack of Christmas day competition and singular annual birthday festivities certainly made their marks on my tendancy to expect attention, these same conditions also resulted in the inevitable lack of attention. It was easy for a family of three to operate as three independent entities, especially as I got older and could take care of myself. This was great for developing a certain confidence in survival and self-sufficiency, it proved a fertile field for my creative juices and entertaining imagination, but it also made some of the social challenges a bit more uneasy than they should be. On the one hand I was devoid of the interactions a larger family would naturally offer, while on the other hand I was somewhat unabashed in my constant mission to weasel into other people's privacy. I had enough of my own privacy so I just assumed everybody else was just as much in need of some outside interaction as I was. So I would be throwing stones at my neighbor's window trying to get my buddy to come out and play. I would knock on every door until somebody would open it wide enough for me to squeeze by, and then let the games begin! So some families took me in like some homeless wretch, I would raid their fridges, sit down to dinner and break bread, watch TV with them, run around and get in trouble (but I never would get the whoopin'), I became an appendage to more than one neighborhood family, and somehow some of these poor victims remain close friends that seem to recall those days fondly if not with a certain humorous disbelief. As far as I was concerned, it all worked out fine, I generally found ways to deal with my supposed disadvantage of what some might call an incomplete family, while at the same time enjoying the advantages of the freedoms that same situation created. My parents and I were like three separate entities all dashing about on wildly different missions on a day to day basis. I had a lot of independence, even for those days, often wandering most anywhere I wanted. There weren't many restrictions or penalties for me...fortunately that never got me in any real trouble so I guess I/we were lucky that way. It also meant that I really came to love my situation. While I came to understand the special qualities of a larger family with siblings and firm traditions and schedules, I also have relished my somewhat unique combination of chaos and calm. I have come to crave activity and social interaction but I also need my own time to be quiet, to lose myself in that same world that followed me from cradle to college. That vast world that speaks to me through all the noise in a singular voice, and fills the shadows with color and light. I have always said that I could stare at wallpaper and be relatively entertained. Boredom is inexcusable to me, there should be no such thing. Life has too much to offer, never a dull moment, depending upon your outlook. And speaking of something to offer, here I offer you another great OOP album from Cal Collins. This one is a solo effort, just Cal and his guitar, and it's a gem, from the vinyl at 320kbps. You can hear the gentle, warm feeling just melt from the strings. This is an easy going but so impressive work from Cal Collins. Bluesy, relaxed, and yet some flurries of ideas come at you at times that will have you shaking your head (that's a good thing). If you like swinging traditional jazz guitar, there is some great stuff here for you to check out...enjoy it...all by yourself.
Back to guitars...Elek Bacsik was a very unique artist within the jazz realm and I had come to know this Hungarian born, cousin to Django Reinhardt no less, as a guitarist. Although I was vaguely aware that he was similarly known for talents on the violin, the instrument he started on apparently, I had become accustomed to his guitar and expected more of my favorite instrument featured on this LP, "I Love You", when I bought it. Well, such was not the case. It turns out that only one song of the eight on this album features Elek on electric guitar while all the others have him on violin or the violectra. So, once over the general disappointment, I can say that this long OOP album is a very worthwhile listen none-the-less. Like Elek's guitar style, his violin work is gritty and notably different within the traditional gypsy-ish jazz genre. This has Grapelli-like sounds but it isn't quite that either. He sounds like he is very loose and having fun. There's a certain careless quality that translates into an emotional feel and the list of accompanying musicians is very impressive on the Bob Theile Music recording. This is apparently the first American recording that Bacsik made and he didn't do much after this from what I can tell. He has a couple albums available on CD, it's all good, but I remain partial to the guitar as always. But I don't really have anything against violins...maybe just a little anarchy anyway....enjoy.
My guess is that the majority of folks out there, though declining in numbers they may be, are still pretty soft on the whole Christmas holiday ordeal. I mean that most of us, no matter how hardened by the relentless march of time, get a certain refreshing childhood joy out of Christmas trees and lights, various decorations and gatherings with friends and families, presents wrapped colorfully and cards in the mail with assorted artistic renderings that attempt to capture the "true" spirit of Christmas. From the religious to the pagan to the weather oriented themes, and the just good old kind-spirited messages of peace and good will. They tend to weaken the knees of most of us still, I think. Maybe I'm wrong, as I see the stream of holiday cards continue to decline steadily, the party invitations wane, the messages becoming more generic and less intense in commercial and personal terms alike. Or maybe I'm just becoming old and unpopular! But here we are in the aftermath of yet another season of the Christ Mass, all born of some odd mix of druid ritual, post harvest and a clashing of multitudes of other coincidental celebrations generally focused in the western world on the baby in a manger, the hope and quiet of a black-blue night illuminated by an unbelievable light, the peace of the knowing animals and the awesome sight of angels and inconceivable love and compassion. Where is faith in all this, what is the consensus of mankind, where do we as individuals end up in this incredible picture of what we might all hope? Well, for the time being it is right here, 2009 AD, a largely ignored posting in a largely inconceivable internet world, a trail of Bing Crosby and Manheim Steamroller tunes fading into another new year. The cookies and the expanded waistlines taking their place in the reality of a familiar but uncertain calendar, a procession of more holidays, more, or less, cards, and so much unfathomable humanity piled into our anxious hopes for happiness and our endless fear of the unknown. So the Christmas season has stroked our unsettled hearts once again, come and gone like Santa, like the 24 hours of "A Christmas Story", like my friend Eric who died at the age of 49 in a shocking moment hidden innocently in the afterglow of holiday revelry. Christmas reminds us so much of how human we are, of what we have come to expect and what we will forever miss. It is like gasoline on a tiny fire that burns off so quickly. We huddle in the warmth pretending that it might not extinguish, knowing full well it will, knowing, long before the flame settles. And for me, there in that momentary swell of brightness, there is the image I have crafted of my life. Be it Jesus, or my father, or my very own countenance superimposed on the elusive volume that recounts my story, there burns the sum value of what erupts year after year, December after December, before and after, until the dinosaurs return I suppose. Christmas is just a painting that we perceive deep within. It's purpose is to remind us of what most comforts us before tackling the next spanse of time and energy. It's a dreamlike state that puts the old year to rest, with all it's memories and all the memories it had put to rest before it, and so on. Ideally it hits each of us hard at some striking of the clock, where we stand trembling in our bed clothes, cold from the darkness yet warm from the faith that we vaguely understand the goodness in each of us. Life will never be all together perfect, of course. Nor will Christmas and it's ongoing story. But we do know the story, we look forward to it every year, we need it to replenish. Whether it be Charlie Brown, Ebenezer, or the candle glow of a midnight mass, we reach for the star that seemingly parts the darkness. We wonder if we feel it's warmth, we hope for those who have gone before us to be waiting, we breath perhaps our last as another Christmas season is lost in the dying flames. And with that I offer you another little piece of myself, some "home grown" free form music I created with my friends Matt & Mike of Mittimus. I'm the obnoxious guitar in the forefront most of the time while Matt provides the highly tasteful other guitar and bass parts and Mike lays down some awesome drums & percussion. This is a departure from my primary purpose here on the DYHWIH blog, but I thought someone just might have an interest and leave a comment that isn't obscene. This was recorded on December 7th, 2009, Pearl Harbor, Christmas tree having just been erected, and it was a particularly fine one this season.........
Why not a twofer with Cal Collins? I will try to post at least one other LP of his as well, but for now let's settle for the two (along with my previous post of "San Francisco") that I digitized a couple of years ago including this wonderful work called "Blues On My Mind". This was the first album I ever even heard of by Cal, and once I heard it, I was a fan. He always sounds relaxed and sure with unique subtlety in his ideas. There's not much else needed to be said, every song here is a treat. Until this guitarist gets his just rewards to have his work put to CD, you'll just have to settle for this offering straight from the vinyl. Hope you don't mind....
Cal Collins is a jazz guitarist that I wasn't aware of during my early years of following such music. As obsessed as I was with jazz guitarists through my college years and beyond, I continue to discover new names and amazing talents as the years progress. I came across my first Cal Collins album a few years back and for $3 figured there's always room for another jazz guitarist in the collection, but I was more impressed than I might have expected. He combines a natural blues feeling over some plain old righteous traditional jazz interpretations. I now own several of his albums, all of which are out of print LP's that have yet to see a commercial CD output, and all of them are very good. He has a fair number of recordings to choose from and I just don't get why there is so little exposure. Some company will eventually release these for contemporary consumption, but until then, please enjoy this great piece of San Francisco in the state of Cal...
out quite a stable of albums, some of which were more challenging than others. At the very least, he shows great tone and touch, and this pretty album, that obviously sticks to the quiet side of things, offers lots of nice work that any guitar lover will enjoy. Mottola was Perry Como's guitar accompanist for 16 years and you can see somewhat of a parallel there, smooth and sweet. Sure, much of this could easily fit into any elevator "mix-tape", but man I would be happy to just surf floors for the afternoon if this kind of stuff was playing. I mean, this is definitely some beautiful jazz guitar playing. It may not be my favorite in this genre, but it is solid stuff that deserves credit from anyone that knows good music. So if you're truly a guitar lover, then you need a Romantic Guitar...here ya go...
