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