|
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.
|
| |
|
|
|
Want to chime in with a review of your own? Post it
in the Players forum in Guitar Talk
at
www.acousticguitar.com.
|
|
