Hit List

Martin Simpson, The Bramble Briar.

Multifaceted guitarist Martin Simpson revisits his English folk roots on this exquisite blend of guitar virtuosity and traditional balladry that ranks with the best of Nic Jones and Martin Carthy. Simpson’s baroque guitar parts prove that complexity can serve a song as well as simplicity. Fingerstyle guitar freaks will delight in the florid accompaniments on "Fair Annie" and "Rounding the Horn" as well as the quirky phrasing of "Betsy the Serving Maid" and the title track, but Simpson keeps the piquant stories in these trad songs at the forefront. It doesn’t hurt that his guitar tone is at once fat and sparkling. If that’s not enough, Martin Carthy backs Simpson on two instrumentals, "The Princess Royal" and the slide feature "The Lover’s Ghost," and helps create a lush, contrapuntal, two-guitar bed for the modern sea shanty "Sammy’s Bar." (Topic, www.topicrecords.co.uk)

—Scott Nygaard

Paul Chasman, I Hope.

Except for the solo guitar opener, this CD of all original material is scored for two classical guitars and cello, and Paul Chasman’s intricate arrangements make creative and effective use of this instrumentation. Chasman’s compositions are based in a number of western classical music styles, ranging from late-Renaissance to contemporary. All are well conceived and illustrate Chasman’s deft playing skills and harmonic and melodic gifts as well as his ability to develop his compositional ideas in the ensemble format. Standout cuts include the Stravinsky-esque "The Powers That Be" and the dreamy, neo-Impressionist "All the Pretty Little Horses." (Bay View, www.guitarist.com/chasman)

—Ron Forbes-Roberts

Talia Paul, Trails End.

Recorded in living rooms, makeshift studios, and at home on a four-track, this excellent independent release is a collection of beautifully sung folk-pop tunes written and recorded all over the country during the past decade. It sounds like Paul is singing journal entries from the road, especially on such songs as "Gas Money" and "Four Bald Tires." The freedom, loneliness, and struggle of the troubadour life are all laid bare in her lyrics, and the listener gets a sense of the real life and real people behind the songs. (Talia Paul, www.taliapaul.com)

—Drew Pearce

The Be Good Tanyas, Blue Horse.

"I feel like an old hobo." So begins "The Littlest Birds," the opening track to this period piece of a CD, where every aural turn presents quaint, sepia-toned imagery of more romantic times. The understated harmonies on this debut album from Samantha Parton, Frazey Ford, and Trish Klein—the Be Good Tanyas—give the impression that they’ve been jamming together on sunny front porches all their lives. The trio’s mandolin, banjo, and guitar move smoothly between country, roots, and jazz styles. In addition to a brace of originals, the group covers such age-old traditional songs as "The Coo Coo Bird" and "Rain and Snow." A stellar, gentle first outing that manages to blow showier, more layered instrumental efforts out of the water. (Nettwerk, www.nettwerk.com)

—Karen Iris Tucker

Markus James, Nightbird.

Like Ali Farka Toure, San Francisco singer-songwriter Markus James mixes American blues with its Manding roots. Recorded in West Africa, the 11 songs on Nightbird are beautifully textured, with James’ acoustic guitar fingerpicking a slow, steady rhythm while local musicians accompany him on calabash, kamelengoni (a Wassoulou six-string harp), njarka (a Sonrai one-string violin), and talking drum. In one highlight, Mama Sissoko, the former president of Mali’s national orchestra, adds a lead guitar that dances lightly over James’ pattern picking; in another, Hassi Sare’s njarka rises in a descant above James’ slide guitar. James’ quietly hypnotic songs tell stories of nature and history, evolving organically through the rich interplay of west and east. (Firenze, www.firenzerecords.com)

—Kenny Berkowitz

Rani Arbo and Daisy Mayhem, Cocktail Swing.

Cocktail Swing is one of the most refreshing new acoustic swing recordings to hit the scene. Played by a sextet of fine musicians, the music is wide ranging, high spirited, and a barrel of fun. Rani Arbo can sing a sultry blues or a country weeper with equal authority, and she’s a fine fiddler as well. David Hamburger’s guitar work shines particularly brightly on the title cut, and Scott Kessel contributes restrained, dead-on percussion on the "drumship enterprise," a collection of found objects that includes a cardboard box, cat-food cans, cookie tins, and a vinyl suitcase, instead of a standard drum kit. (Signature Sounds, www.signaturesounds.com)

—Sue Thompson

 

Jim White, No Such Place.

Not unlike its creator, whose bio lists stints as a pro surfer, drug dealer, Pentecostal convert, male model, film-school prodigy, and Big Apple cab driver, Florida singer-songwriter Jim White’s music is just a tad unusual. What better candidate to combine southern gothic balladry with the controlled chaos of contemporary urban rhythms? No Such Place opens with "Handcuffed to a Fence in Mississippi," four minutes of banjo, slide guitar, and eerily processed vocals over a slinky street beat. Later, White evokes fellow culture-vulture Beck on "10 Miles to Go on a 9 Mile Road" and Flannery O’Connor on the murder tale "The Wound that Never Heals." He also renders Roger Miller’s jukebox classic "King of the Road" nearly unrecognizable. (Luaka Bop, www.luakabop.com)

—Mike Thomas

Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer, Drum Hat Buddha.

Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer’s moving and mystical 12-song follow-up to their award-winning Tanglewood Tree is a cohesive mix of postmodern folk, spirited country rambles, and poignant duets. Carter’s songwriting draws on numerous musical and mythical traditions to reveal the supernatural within ordinary lives, while Grammer’s rich lead vocals ("Love, the Magician") and tasteful accompaniment on violin ("Disappearing Man") add a polish that Carter could not achieve on his own. Equal parts Joseph Campbell, John Muir, and Johnny Cash, Carter’s road-weary gems advise us to look inward beyond the literal to find our spiritual center. The recording is deftly produced and performed by Carter (guitar, banjo) and Grammer (violin, mandolin), with help from a talented cast of musicians who add percussion, accordion, cello, and resonator guitar. (Signature Sounds, www.signaturesounds.com)

—Bill Meyer

 

Circle Game: Folk Music for Kids.

Circle Game, a collection of well-known ’70s pop-folk songs sung by a studio full of kids, brings powerful new emotional range and depth to such hits as Donovan’s "Happiness Runs," "The Hammer Song," and "Moonshadow," as well as ten other musical gems. The young singers have gorgeous, unaffected voices, and each performance comes straight from the heart. All the tenderness of each composition finds fresh expression in these delicate, guitar-driven, acoustic renditions. Circle Game brings the past, present, and future together in one congruent listening experience that is certain to awaken youngsters to the music their parents have treasured for years. (Music for Little People, www.mflp.com)

—Jessica Baron Turner

 

Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder, History of the Future. On his latest outing, bluegrass standard-bearer Ricky Skaggs delivers some of the most intense, high-powered bluegrass recorded since the death of Bill Monroe. Kicking things off with a rousing rendition of "Shady Grove," Skaggs rips off a blistering mandolin solo, only to be matched note for note in speed, drive, and intensity by hotshot flatpicker Clay Hess. Skaggs’ return to his bluegrass roots has produced a style and sound that fiercely resurrects the vitality and energy of the high lonesome sound, while firmly stamping his own sense of creativity on the proceedings. This record helps drive bluegrass music unself-consciously into the 21st century. (Skaggs Family, www.skaggsfamilyrecords.com)

—David McCarty

Steve Baughman, Frailing the Guitar.

Steve Baughman’s 32-page book offers guitarists new ideas on using banjo-related tunings and techniques through his arrangements of traditional folk tunes and blues, as well as one original composition. Baughman, a renowned Celtic fingerstyle guitarist, begins with patterns involving downbeat thumb plucks combined with various up and down strums by the other fingers. Next, bass notes played with the thumb are moved to the upbeat, imitating the patterns usually played on the banjo’s fifth string. The result is a distinctive bouncing rhythm. The techniques that follow will challenge guitarists who have what Baughman calls "downbeat-itis," and the accompanying CD offers help in assimilating the new sounds. (Mel Bay, www.melbay.com)

—Gary Joyner

 

Visit the reviews archives to read dozens of reviews of great acoustic-guitar oriented CDs.

 

Excerpted from Acoustic Guitar magazine, April 2002, No. 112.

 

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