Hit List

 

Laura Love, Fourteen Days

The world’s leading Afro-Celtic old-timey funkadelic party band (hey, there’s nothing like owning a category) is in fine form on its latest CD. Fourteen Days features fewer songs about bountiful butts compared to 1998’s Shum Ticky, but there is still plenty to recommend it: a more fully developed soft side--with some lovely vocal harmonies and sparkling acoustic arrangements; the always tasty guitar work of Rod Cook (now supported by Jennifer Todd on flattop guitar and mandolin); and, of course, plenty of bodacious grooves. This band truly comes into its own in front of a boogying festival audience, but there is still plenty of fun and frolic to be found here for these chilly winter months. (Zoë/Rounder)

—Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers

 

Various artists, Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico and Cuba are "two wings of the same bird" and this wonderful collection shows off 11 lovely examples of Afro-Cuban jazz, salsa, bomba, música jíbara, and more. The opening track is Eddie Palmieri’s "Café," a fearless vehicle for Palmieri’s wild piano soloing. Jimmy Bosch’s "Pa’ Mantaner Tradición" gears down to slow guajira, while Ramito wrings emotion out of his cuatro on "Una Mujer en Mi Vida." This collection shows a side of Puerto Rican music that is lighter and more carefree than that of the current crop of Cuban stars. It’s also a nice introduction to some of the lesser-known artists in the island scene that is sure to spice up your day. (Putumayo)

—Danny Carnahan

 

Peter Janson, Across the Bridge

Peter Janson’s luscious tone and elegant compositional ideas permeate this CD of wistful and evocative solo guitar pieces. Janson is a subtle and expressive player who eschews flashy fretboard fanfare; he imbues every note with musical meaning and nuance. He does a beautiful job on Andrew York’s "In Sorrow’s Wake," and his version of Pat Metheny’s "Message to a Friend" is like a captivating novel. And his own compositions have real depth, due to his creative use of voice leading--instead of standard chord sequences--to harmonize his melodies. (Eastern Woods)

—Ron Forbes-Roberts

 

Dan Tyminski, Carry Me Across the Mountain. Long a mainstay of Alison Krauss’ band Union Station, the versatile and multitalented Dan Tyminski emerges on his debut CD as a man capable of shaping his own musical destiny. His true-blue singing and top-notch guitar and mandolin playing are aided on these 11 contemporary bluegrass cuts by Tony Rice, Ron Block, Jerry Douglas, Aubrey Haynie, Adam Steffey, and other stars. Tyminski’s instrumental "Greens Fees" gives everyone a chance to show off the licks that made them famous, while "Sunny Side of the Mountain" takes the listener down to the deep roots of bluegrass. (Doobie Shea)

—David McCarty

 

David Hamburger, Indigo Rose

Singer-songwriter and ace guitarist David Hamburger taps into a number of roots music styles--blues, rockabilly, bluegrass--to provide settings for his contemporary, skillfully written lyrics. The tunes range from the kick-off-your-shoes-and-get-down sounds of "Hound Dog" to the quietly mesmerizing "Every Bird in Bethlehem" to the folky title cut. Hamburger plays great solos on Dobro and electric slide guitar, and his intricate fingerpicking accompaniment on acoustic guitar is dazzling. It’s all tied together with intelligent and thoughtful musicality and provocative lyrics. (Chester)

—Ron Forbes-Roberts

 

Bjarne Kristensen, Ysaÿe Sonatas, Opus 27

Eugène Ysaÿe’s Sonatas for Solo Violin, Opus 27, deserves to be better known to guitarists. Ysaÿe wrote these rich, virtuosic works in tribute to the great violinists of his day and to Bach’s Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin. These pieces quote and imitate Bach’s better-known works, offering a 20th-century parallel to those 18th-century masterpieces. Danish guitarist Bjarne Kristensen has transcribed four of these six works for the guitar and performs them beautifully on this recording, revealing Ysaÿe’s rich and inventive language. These are deep, complex, challenging, and rewarding pieces that have the potential to become an important part of the guitar repertoire. (Glissando/Qualiton)

—Stephen Dick

 

Mary Gauthier, Drag Queens and Limousines

Boston-based singer-songwriter Mary Gauthier is a vivid storyteller with a simple, achy guitar twang and a blue-collar toughness. The 38-year-old Thibodaux, Louisiana, native and former restaurant owner recorded Drag Queens in Limousines during a particularly lonesome breakup. The resulting ten-song set is Gauthier’s paean to the luckless, lovelorn, and shadowy fringe figures with whom she’s connected in life. Gauthier has an unflinchingly cantankerous writing style, so be forewarned of such tracks as the desperate, hollow-voiced "Evangeline." She tends to wield her openhearted verse with impunity. (Groove House/In the Black)

—Karen Iris Tucker

 

Marc Atkinson, The Marc Atkinson Trio

Into the increasingly crowded field of Gypsy swing guitar players steps Marc Atkinson like a breath of fresh air after a night in a smoke-filled Parisian nightclub. Eschewing the blazing speed-demon approach adopted by many Djangophiles, Atkinson concentrates on sweet, clear, swinging music and rich acoustic guitar tones. A gifted arranger, he glides through tunes like "The Mooche" and "Caravan" with the grace of Gene Kelly and is backed by bass and rhythm guitar. The repertoire on this compelling CD ranges from clever original tunes such as "Dunamis" and "Manouche" to compositions by Duke Ellington, Nick Lucas, and even Chopin. (Marc Atkinson)

—David McCarty

Siúcra, A Place I Know

This debut CD from the young, Colorado-based Celtic trio Siúcra is full of hot musicianship, confidence, and unstoppable energy. A five-piece band would be hard-pressed to match the amount of music these three musicians produce. Beth Leachman has a lovely singing voice and a sense of restraint on the bodhran, Shannon Heaton’s flute work is stunningly bright and accurate, and Matthew Heaton nails it all down with his powerful, textured guitar playing. A Place I Know’s inventive settings and surprising twists ("I’m Thinking, Ever Thinking" wrapped around "The Golden Castle") contribute to a CD worth searching out. (Eats, Shoots, and Leaves)

—Danny Carnahan

Dwight Yoakam, dwightyoakamacoustic.net.

There’s always been more than meets the eye in the work of Dwight Yoakam. The mannered country classicism of his songwriting doesn’t quite square with his erudite mind. Hey, the guy writes and directs movies. Then again, no glib Hollywood hillbilly in skintight jeans could pull off a spare guitar-and-voice gem like dwightyoakamacoustic.net. Rollicking solo versions of "Little Ways," "Fast As You," and the Pomus/Shuman nugget "Little Sister" stand out among 25 tracks that span Yoakam’s 15-year recording career. (Reprise)

––Mike Thomas

Eliades Ochoa, Tribute to the Cuarteto Patria

On his second U.S. release, Eliades Ochoa salutes the group he's directed since 1978, when he took the helm from Cuarteto Patria founder Francisco Cobas la O. With a little help from his friends-most notably trumpeter Anibal Avila and legendary Cuban crooner El Guayabero-Ochoa paints poetry de Patria on tunes by everyone from Beny Moré to fellow Buena Vista Social Club guitarist and singer Compay Segundo. The recording is at its most moving, though, on the simple and soulful selections performed by the unadorned Cuarteto Patria. As Ochoa told U.S. crowds during the tour promoting his previous Grammy-nominated album, "It's not for the awards and the glamour that we play; it's for the music and for the people." The beautiful "Que Murmuren" is a perfect example of what Cuarteto Patria has done to preserve Cuban roots music and share it with the people of the world. (Higher Octave World)

—Matthew Kramer

 

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

 

Marc Atkinson, 911 Dunsmuir Rd., Victoria, BC V9A 5C4, Canada; (250) 360-1706; marc@islandnet.com; www.marcatkinson.com .

Chester, 1310A W. 91/2 St., Austin, TX 78703; www.davidhamburger.com/.

Doobie Shea, PO Box 68, Boones Mill, VA 24065; (540) 334-2673; www.doobieshea.com.

Eastern Woods, PO Box 1513, Easton, MA 02334-1513; (508) 238-3270; www.easternwoodsmusic.com.

Eats, Shoots and Leaves, PO Box 4004, Boulder, CO 80306; (303) 554 9031; www.siucra.net.

Groove House/In the Black, www.marygauthier.com.

 

 

Excerpted from Acoustic Guitar magazine, February 2001, No. 98.

 

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