Hit List

The Flatlanders, Now Again.

In the 30 years since their last album as the Flatlanders, Joe Ely, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, and Butch Hancock have moved on to separate careers, but they never stopped covering one another's songs. Recorded in Ely's studio, Now Again finds them at their best, writing alone and together and playing with all the pleasure of being among friends. From start to finish, it's a freewheeling mix of country (Ely's "I Thought the Wreck Was Over"), folk (Hancock's "Julia"), and honky-tonk (Gilmore's "My Wildest Dreams Grow Wilder Every Day"), sung in high spirits and played by three equally tight ensembles, with parts split between seven different guitarists. It's not just a reunion; it's a reason for celebration. (New West, www.newwestrecords.com)

—Kenny Berkowitz

Luciana Souza, Brazilian Duos.

Brazilian vocalist Luciana Souza duets with three of her country's finest guitarists on this superb set of bossas, sambas, and ballads by (among others) Antonio Carlos Jobim, Djavan, and Souza's father, Walter Santos, a stalwart of Brazil's music scene since the '60s. Marco Pereira (on eight-string), Romero Lubambo, and Santos play gorgeous, intricate arrangements that intertwine with Souza's elegant, sensual vocals rather than simply backing them. Whether sprinting through the rhythmic flag-waver "Respeita Januàrio" or finessing the yearning, sultry "Suas Mãos," singer and guitarist are bound inextricably together in a warm musical embrace. This is an essential album for lovers of Brazilian music. (Sunnyside, www.sunnysidezone.com)

—Ron Forbes-Roberts

Tift Merritt, Bramble Rose.

A product of her small North Carolina hometown, alt-country's Tift Merritt demonstrates on her debut the eye for detail often found in those who long to leave yet love the place in which they spend their lives. There's something charmingly old-fashioned about her well-crafted songs, which borrow from Patsy Cline, country rock, and even '60s girl groups. Merritt's quavering, expressive vocals are reminiscent of the best of Emmylou Harris, Sheryl Crow, and Dusty Springfield. In fact, "Sunday" could be a lost track from Springfield's Dusty in Memphis, with Merritt's vocals and slice-of-life lyrics creating a tension between strength and fragility, perfectly capturing the lonely melancholy only a Sunday can elicit. (Lost Highway, www.losthighwayrecords.com)

—Nicole Solis

 

Ozzie Kotani and Steve Sano, A Taro Patch Christmas.

Even though Steve Sano and Ozzie Kotani are both excellent slack-key guitarists and all the songs on this recording are played in the G taro patch tuning, this is not a collection of holiday songs played in slack-key style. Instead Sano and Kotani use familiar songs like "Deck the Halls" and "I'll Be Home for Christmas" as well as original compositions like "Kai Po'i Kau Anu" as starting points to explore the harmonic and melodic possibilities of the tuning (D G D G B D). Sano and Kotani's arrangements feature lush, jazzy chords and gently swinging rhythms that sometimes have a Latin feel. They achieve a nearly impossible feat on these tracks: taking familiar songs like "Little Drummer Boy" and "Jingle Bells" and making them sound fresh and interesting. (Daniel Ho, www.danielho.com)

—Michael Simmons

Duo Gvito, Duo Gvito.

This debut recording from Norwegian classical guitar duo Marius Gundersen and Gjermund Titlestad, known collectively as Duo Gvito, offers music for two guitars from some unusual sources. Most of the recording is Per Bjerkeng arrangements of piano music by late Norwegian composer Øistein Sommerfeldt. Rich in melody and well suited to the guitar, these pieces are worth investigation by other guitar duets looking to expand their repertoires. A new addition to the repertoire is Sven Lundestad's arrangement for two guitars of Johann Sebastian Bach's harpsichord take on Allesandro Marcello's oboe concertoÑa roundabout way of finding new music for the guitar, but a very productive one. The recording also features the "Valses Poeticos" by Enrique Granados, but this duo really shines on the Sommerfeldt pieces, displaying a rich tone and well-developed sense of melody. (www.gvito.com)

—Stephen Dick

 

David Jacobs-Strain, Stuck on the Way Back.

What can you say about a teenager who sings like a soulful 45-year-old and plays lights-out acoustic blues? Already a veteran performer and teacher at festivals in the Northwest, David Jacobs-Strain, all of 19, delayed enrollment at Stanford University last year to record this debut CD. Fans of Jacobs-Strain's mentor Otis Taylor will recognize Taylor's minimalist approach on songs like "River Was Green" and "Black and Blue," which feature stark, repetitive chord riffs, impassioned vocals, and lots of atmosphere in the production. But Jacobs-Strain's style has matured well beyond imitation. Showing off his considerable chops on the blistering "Sidewalk Rag," he makes an emphatic statement about old forms becoming new again. And in "Linin' Track," he turns a Leadbelly holler into a rollicking slide guitar number, making the tune his own. (Northern Blues, www.northernblues.com)

—Ian Zack

Hayes Carll, Flowers and Liquor.

Raised in the suburbs of Houston, tall, lanky Hayes Carll invites comparison to Townes Van Zandt, sharing a love of telling stories, singing the blues, and writing songs that go straight for the heart. On this debut, produced with a sharp sense of Texas grit by Lisa Morales, Carll sounds much older than his 26 years, fingerpicking the solo "Arkansas Blues" and confidently leading the band through a set of country-folk songs about fast-running, hard-drinking losers in love. On lead guitar, David Spencer alternates between acoustic and electric, plays Dobro on the quiet numbers and stinging slide solos on the honky-tonkers, always finding the perfect voice for the song and making this an enormously impressive debut. (Compadre, www.compadrerecords.com)

—Kenny Berkowitz

Jacques Stotzem, Sur Vesdre.

Jacques Stotzem has long been a mainstay of the European fingerstyle scene, and his latest album reminds us why. A master at blending country bluesÐbased technique with a neoclassical sense of melody and dynamics, Stotzem continues to impress with a voice that's wholly his own. Sur Vesdre may well be his strongest recording to date. The CD's title cut is a textbook example of form, beauty, and space. A quiet mood prevails on much of this recording, but compositions like "A Taxi Trip to Belfast" and "Traces" allow Stotzem to show that he's equally comfortable with up-tempo grooves. (Acoustic Music, www.acoustic-music.de)

—Teja Gerken

Yolanda Aranda and Enrique Coria, Intimo.

There is power in simplicity. Producer David Grisman understood this well when he paired Yolanda Aranda's glowing alto with Enrique Coria's impassioned guitar and simply stayed out of their way. This recording is so intimate and clear you can practically feel Aranda's breath and the wood of Coria's guitar on each of the 15 Latin-American canciones. The songs share a romantic tenderness, whether well known (the Mexican classic "La Malagueña") or more unusual (the Galician "Lela"). Coria's instrumental intros and connecting passages are masterpieces of confident restraint. "Quiero Ser Tu Sombra," for one, is astonishing, as he alternates between waltz and pasillo rhythms. A musical and emotional feast. (Acoustic Disc, www.acousticdisc.com)

—Danny Carnahan

Mike Doughty, Smofe and Smang: Live in Minneapolis.

This is a fun record. Backed only by percussive partial chords on acoustic guitar, the former Soul Coughing frontman keeps his imaginative, catchy songs and fluid, rap-rhythm vocal style in the spotlight. Doughty has an amazing skill for using words whose sounds are as integral to the tune as they are to the narrative. Some songs are so new that they use fake words or funny banter as placeholders for bridges. Rather than feeling unfinished, though, the songs sound alive, and you can hear what a great time everyone in the room is having. (Mike Doughty, www.superspecialquestions.com)

—Drew Pearce

Jim Hurst, Second Son.

Jim Hurst's sophomore solo album is a remarkably well-rounded disc filled with great singing, wonderful renditions of classic and contemporary tunes, and lots of hot picking by some of Nashville's bluegrass elite. Hurst was the International Bluegrass Music Association's Guitarist of the Year in 2001, but the revelations on Second Son are his stirring baritone voice and soulful delivery, as heard on songs like "Big Iron" and "The Long Road." Flatpick fanatics will love his solo on "Lonesome Road Blues" and the fiery fretwork he dishes out on "Stafford's Stomp" backed by pals Missy Raines (bass), Stuart Duncan (fiddle), and Tim Stafford (guitar). Second Son proves that Hurst is first class in every area. (Pinecastle, www.pinecastle.com)

—David McCarty

Excerpted from Acoustic Guitar magazine, December 2002, No. 120.

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