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From
Acoustic
Guitar Magazine, June 1999, No. 78
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CDs
Bad Livers, Industry and
Thrift
Few people in their right minds would try to mix bluegrass with
klezmer, alternative rock, and circus music. But the Bad Livers
have never been in their right minds and that’s why this acoustic
power duo has a place in our hearts. On Industry and Thrift,
Danny Barnes and Mark Rubin thwomp with amazing finesse through
songs that concern a new hat, a sinking ship, life on the farm,
and various aspects of modern love relationships. Barnes writes,
sings, and plays a fierce banjo and guitar (with lower-your-goggles
speed when appropriate); Rubin contributes tuba and virtuosic, slapaholic
standup bass.The result is a surprising, humorous, groove-oriented
CD guaranteed to make you grin. (Sugar Hill)
--Rani Arbo
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Solas, The Words that Remain
Thirty years ago it was radical for Irish folk musicians to arrange
traditional tunes (one Galway-born accordion player called it "all
that startin’ and stoppin’"). Today the tradition encompasses not
just arranging but diverse musical influences. Solas’ new CD pushes
this envelope and could perhaps be described as world beat grafted
onto Irish rootstock. Some of these grafts are powerful, like Peggy
Seeger’s dark warning "Song of Choice" and Anton Shavinez’ lovely
"La Bruxa." Guitarist John Doyle’s playing is focused and intense,
sometimes highly percussive with ideas borrowed from rock and reggae,
and sometimes melodic with sweet voice leading. (Shanachie)
--Sue Thompson
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Scott Hamilton and Bucky Pizzarelli,
The Red Door
Hamilton and Pizzarelli present ten duets honoring late tenor sax
great Zoot Sims, drawn mainly from the classic swing era: "It Had
to Be You," "Gee Baby, Ain’t I Good to You," "Jitterbug Waltz."
Hamilton’s mellow tenor is often in the foreground, but this duo
is an equal partnership. Pizzarelli is a one-man comping college--he
can swing hard or lay back (or, magically, do both at once) and
move from four-to-the-bar to more complex figures. His solos shift
effortlessly between single-string and block-chord work. This CD
is not just great listening; it’s worth studying. (Concord Jazz)
--Russell Letson
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Adrian Byron Burns, Back
to the Wood
Unlike many contemporary bluesmen, Adrian Byron Burns doesn’t pretend
that 60-some-odd years of musical development hasn’t occurred since
Robert Johnson went to San Antonio. Jazz, funk, fusion, soul, R&B,
and even straight-ahead rock 'n' roll influences are apparent in
his hard driving urban blues. His guitar work is clean and percussive,
marked by rapid-fire single-note picking, rhythmic string damping,
and artificial harmonics. While he includes a number of worthwhile
originals, his fresh, contemporary twist on a number of blues classics,
including "Crossroads" and "Sitting on Top of the World," make this
debut album stand out. (Bluetrack)
--David Gold
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The Tannahill Weavers, Epona
You can’t beat the Tannies for sheer consistency. Epona,
their 14th Scottish folk album, rates at the top in conception and
execution. Texturally, their sound continues to be lovely, built
on Roy Gullane’s fine guitar work, as well as pipes, woodwinds,
fiddle, bouzouki, percussion, and tight stacked vocal harmonies.
Gullane’s original songs resonate with history and humanity, dovetailing
beautifully with the traditional pieces. Bouzouki and keyboard player
Les Wilson leads Robert Tannahill’s "Braes O’Gleniffer," as pretty
a Scots song as anything Dougie MacLean ever recorded. A heartfelt
set of songs and dance sets, promising long enjoyment. (Green Linnet)
--Danny Carnahan
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Pat Kirtley, Rural Life
This new collection of solo acoustic instrumentals from Kentucky
guitarist Pat Kirtley shines with originality and fine musicianship.
From the earthy country blues of "Arnold’s Coming Home" to the tender
elegance of "Grandpa’s Lullaby," Kirtley’s tuneful writing draws
from a vivid palette of musical colors, and his playing on knuckle
benders like "Black Pepper" and "The Baghdad Scuffle" demonstrates
agility and precision. A handful of nonoriginal compositions, including
Craig Dobbins’ "Through the Tears" and Stephen Foster’s nostalgic
"My Old Kentucky Home," fit the program like a glove. Rural Life
is a good fingerpicking record throughout. (Mainstring)
--Jim Ohlschmidt
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Ray Kane, Wa'ahila
These nine songs and five instrumentals from the last of the old-generation
Hawaiian slack-key guitarists still performing offer a direct connection
to the heart of the tradition. The lovely title tune, written in
honor of Auntie Alice Namakelua, reaches back to the beginnings
of slack-key. Other selections include standards associated with
Gabby Pahinui ("Hi’ilawe," "I Ka Po Meke Ao," "Wai O Ke Aniani")
and the Sons of Hawai’i ("Hilo ƒ"), as well as the most requested
Hawaiian song ever, "Ke Kali Nei Au (The Hawaiian Wedding Song),"
one of two duets with Kane’s wife Elodia. (Dancing Cat/Windham Hill)
--Russell Letson
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Jeremy Wallace, My Lucky
Day
Jeremy Wallace’s cigarette-scratched voice, jazz-influenced vocal
phrasing, and sharp, self-deprecating songs about drinking, loving,
cheating, and fighting call to mind artists such as Lyle Lovett,
Randy Newman, and Dave Van Ronk. His solo version of "Saint James
Infirmary" and the slow, ragtime shuffle "$1.49" show off his bluesy,
rhythmic fingerpicking, but even up-tempo, full-band rockers such
as "Since You Left" retain a raw, acoustic appeal thanks to a tight
but minimalist rhythm section and the tasteful single-note leads
of guitarists Frank Christian and Matt Balitsaris. This is music
for thinkers as well as drinkers. (Palmetto)
--David Gold
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Videos
Various
artists, Great Guitar Lessons: Fingerstyle Techniques
Various artists, Great Guitar Lessons: Fingerstyle Techniques.
Each lesson in this 75-minute video is an excerpt from a full tape
by Martin Simpson, David Wilcox, Preston Reed, Muriel Anderson,
Chris Proctor, Alex de Grassi, or Laurence Juber. The presentations
touch on a variety of techniques drawn from American and British
Isles folk, traditional country string band, classical, and pop
music. Proctor’s lesson on beginning alternating thumbpicking opens
the tape, but the rest of the material (for example, Juber’s arrangement
of "Martha My Dear") is more advanced. It can be seen as either
a sampler of each teacher’s style or a contemporary fingerstyle
guitar clinic. (Homespun Tapes)
--Gary Joyner
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In Concert: Isato Nakagawa,
John Renbourn, and Peter Finger
The concert footage of these seasoned fingerstylists was filmed
at the 1998 Open Strings guitar festival in Osnabrück, Germany.
Peter Finger’s ability to match speed and strength with a dynamic
musical sensibility is remarkable. His composition "Niemandsland"
runs the gamut from sublime expressiveness to the sort of fireworks
that few guitarists can equal. John Renbourn’s ease and facility
on the guitar are an inspiration to watch, as is Tokyo-born Isato
Nakagawa’s performance of his melodic fingerstyle compositions.
There is much to be absorbed from repeated viewings of these masters
in performance. (Acoustic Music)
--Gary Joyner
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SOURCES
Acoustic Music, Postfach 1945, D-49009 Osnabrück, Germany;
(49) 0541-71-00-20; fax (49) 0541-70-86-67; www.acoustic-music.de/
Bluetrack, PO Box 1028, Oxford OX3 8XX, U.K.; (44) 1865-769695;
user@bluesarchive.com
Concord, PO Box 845, Concord, CA 94522; (925) 682-6770;
fax (925) 682-3508; www.aent.com/concord/
Green Linnet, 43 Beaver Brook Rd., Danbury, CT 06810; (203)
730-0333; fax (203) 730-0345; www.greenlinnet.com
Homespun Tapes, PO Box 340, Woodstock, NY 12498; (800) 338-2737;
www.homespuntapes.com
Mainstring, PO Box 135, Bardstown, KY 40004; (502) 348-6360;
www.win.net/mainstring
Palmetto, 71 Washington Pl. #1A, New York, NY 10011; (800)
725-6237; palmetto@thorn.net
Shanachie, 13 Laight St., Sixth Floor, New York, NY 10013;
(212) 334-0284; www.shanachie.com
Sugar Hill, PO Box 55300, Durham, NC 27717-5300; (919) 489-4349;
www.sugarhillrecords.com
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