MWE3.COM
MUSIC NEWS & NOTES
MAY
2011 RECORD LABEL SPOTLIGHT
POP
& ROCK
ANGEL
AIR RECORDS - Fabled ‘60s rockers Badfinger were dealt
a near fatal blow when it’s two founding members—Pete Ham
and Tom Evan—passed away so young. Even so, Joey Molland soldiered
on through various incarnations of Badfinger. One member working with
Molland on various Badfinger projects, Mark Healey, released
a great new power pop album that has been released in the U.K. on
Angel Air Records and in the U.S. on New Folk Records. The nine track
Inside Out features a fine Badfinger type pop rock sound
and backing up Healey’s songs, vocals and bass guitar work are
a number of players including guitarists Joey Molland, Austin Healey
and Doug Orcutt. The cut throat nature of the music business
aside, both Pete Ham and Tom Evan—may they rest in peace—would
have loved Mark Healey’s 21st century pop masterpiece. Healey—having
been active in music since the ‘60s—is no newcomer to the
pop world and although it’s a long time in the making, the 2011
CD release of Inside Out should go far to well establishing
Healey’s name among pop-rock fans world wide. www.AngelAir.co.uk
BUNNY RAE RECORDS - Kids today, and in fact, anyone under
40 years old, simply have no idea how big The Moody Blues were
in the music world between 1965 and 1973. The second time I saw them
perform live at Madison Square Garden in October 1973, they were peaking
after their Seventh Sojourn album and, in fact when the Moodies
burst on stage that night, they proceeded to play the entire first
side of their late '69 To Our Children’s Children’s 
Children
Lp, note perfect. Now, just about 30 years after the release of
the first ever Moody Blues album without founding member and group
visionary Mike Pinder at the helm, the original band, and the
post-Pinder band, is paid a country music style tribute / covers album
called Moody Bluegrass Two...Much Love. It seems
what the Moody Blues turned into after they released that album in
1981 is still greatly loved in the heartland of America. Well, thankfully
there’s no “Nights In White Satin” or “Question”
or here, yet also there’s no “A Simple Game” or “Out
And In” either. Instead, some of this sounds like Buck Owens,
may he rest in peace, doing country style versions of some of the
more commercial Moodies music. There’s even an 8 year old little
girl singer doing a country music style edit of “Voices In The
Sky.” There’s no doubt that there's some great musicianship
on the CD, including faithful session work featuring the best pickers
in Nashville, including cats like acoustic guitar maven Tim May
and vocalists Ricky Skaggs, Sam Bush and Larry Cordle.
Despite these faithful covers of music written by Justin Hayward,
the album does take a bit too many liberties with their cover of the
Mike Pinder composed “Dawn Is A Feeling”. Despite
being a fine singer, Peter Rowan really misses key notes on
that track and he over accentuates the subtlety of Mike Pinder’s
musical genius. Likewise, another Pinder cover here, “Have You
Heard” is overdone and the vocal is way too accented and strained.
It’s not bad and if you’ve never heard the song before,
you might not know where the song came from in the first place. Isn’t
that the modus operandi of the Moodies regarding our Pinder brother
anyway? To disregard and rewrite rock history does not cut it with
people who know the subject in the first place. To its credit, and
to add to its authenticity, this 2011 Moody Bluegrass Two, “Much
Love” CD does manage to feature appearances by Justin Hayward,
John Lodge (taking the vocals on a fairly tasteful country-esque
version of his own “Send Me No Wine”), Ray Thomas (adding
flutes to his “Dear Diary”) and even Graeme Edge gets
a spotlight with his latest mangled version of Mike Pinder’s
ingenious keyboard / electronics drenched arrangement of “Higher
And Higher.” The album credits list Mike Pinder on a couple tracks
but you really can’t hear Mike, his tron or his vision, which
kind of adds to the overall disappointment. What really needs to happen
with the Moody Blues Today, in my humble opinion, is for Justin Hayward
and John Lodge to bring back Mike Pinder’s songs and mellotron
style in again and let his sons, The Pinder Brothers perform Mike's
key songs from the catalog of the Moody Blues. Ultimately, they also
need a producer, along the lines of the Classic 7 Moodies producer
/ genius Tony Clarke, who can try to recapture any of the original
reasons that we’re even still talking about this. www.MoodyBluegrass.com
EAGLE RECORDS - Although they’re world renowned for their
incredible DVD releases, Eagle also has their Eagle Records imprint
and they often release some pretty darn cool CD releases. Acclaimed
for their many blues related albums and DVD titles from late great
guitar greats like Rory Gallagher and Gary Moore, Eagle turns their
attention to the late great Ian Stewart with the 2011 release
of Boogie For Stu. Recorded by keyboardist Ben
Waters, Boogie For Stu pays respect to the late Ian
Stewart—the piano great long associated with The Rolling
Stones. Ostensibly a blues rock album, featuring fresh cover versions
of classic rock and blues favorites, the eleven cut Boogie For
Stu features numerous musicians who knew Ian Stewart, including
Rolling Stones members like drummer icon Charlie Watts. A smokin’
cover here of Bob Dylan’s “Watching The River Flow”
teams Waters with an all too rare reunion of Mick Jagger, Keith
Richards, Bill Wyman and Ronnie Wood. Also lending
a hand is legendary U.K. engineering genius Glyn Johns, who
is credited here with mixing the CD. Blues For Stu also features
other U.K. music greats including Jools Holland, singer P.J.
Harvey, who is related to Waters, and many more. Extensive
liner notes by Waters, full credits and fine cover art, pics and packaging
makes Boogie For Stu an essential Eagle Rock CD classic for
Rolling Stones fans. www.EagleRockEnt.com
/ www.BenWaters.com
MINSTREL HALL MUSIC - Back in the late 1960s, guitarist
Ritchie Blackmore blew many a mind with his early work on those
now historic first Deep Purple albums. Years before “Smoke On
The Water” became bigger than the National Anthem, Blackmore
was blowing minds with early Purple covers of “Hush” and
“River Deep Mountain High”. Steve Morse is the guitarist
in Deep Purple and has been for the past two decades already but Blackmore
continues amazing his millions of fans with his work in the Long Island
based Blackmore’s Night. The best Blackmore’s Night
album yet, Autumn Night is actually dedicated to the
new child of Blackmore and his Blackmore’s Night partner Candice
Night. Featuring support from a tight band, there’s plenty
of Blackmore’s patented guitar work on the 15 track CD, yet the
mood is much more progressive and poppy compared to the famous sonic
assault of Deep Purple. Fans of great gothic prog bands like Jethro
Tull or Gryphon will love Autumn Sky. Commenting on the making
of the album, Ms. Night adds, ‘On the new record, which features
many originals, I am not only the lyricist and lead vocalist, but
I am playing all the Renaissance woodwinds, as well as a nine-piece
woodwind ensemble that I recorded when I was nine months pregnant.
Many of my lyrics for the songs on this release were inspired by legends,
myths or fairy tales from the places Ritchie and I have visited and
picked up the local folklore, such as “Vagabond,” which
was inspired by the old story “The Little Match Girl”, by
Hans Christian Andersen in 1845.’ The album kicks off with a
beautiful mid ‘70s, Tull inspired track called “Highland”
which perfectly sets the musical scene for the CD. Among the many
fine original tracks is a Blackmore’s Night cover of the Kinks
classic “Celluloid Heroes,” from the 1972 Kinks album Everybody’s
In Showbiz. The song is developed and delivered with such emotion
and panache that Blackmore’s Night truly makes the song their
own. It’s now been 22 years since Ritchie Blackmore met Candice
Night at a 1989 charity event featuring Deep Purple and after releasing
eight albums and achieving worldwide acclaim, Blackmore’s Night
truly hits their stride with the magically musical vibe of Autumn
Sky. www.BlackmoresNight.com
/ www.CandiceNight.com
MS
MUSIC - If there is such a thing as “California Feeling”
you can hear it on a much welcome 2011 album of the same name. The
album California Feeling is credited to Stephen Kalinich
& Friends and was superbly produced by Beach Boys associates
Mark Linett, Alan Boyd and executive producer Carol
Schofield. In case some young folks don’t know that
name, back in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s Kalinch was a
renowned song writing partner of both Brian Wilson and Dennis Wilson
of the Beach Boys. With his pedigree including lyricist to the stars
back during the heyday of pop history, Kalinich, in more modern times
is joined on the 23 track California Feeling album by West
Coast pop icons including Brian Wilson’s ex-wife Marilyn Wilson
(her group The Honeys), Wilson daughters Carnie &
Wendy Wilson, Brian Wilson band member Probyn Gregory,
famous U.K. producer David Courtney along with a host of esteemed
singers and musicians taking part in this tribute to the words of
Stephen Kalinich and the musical style of all these great artists.
Despite being an L.A. native who wound up living in England, on his
web page, Kalinich goes into detail about his famous poetry and song
writing associations and his near obsession with that rare sunswept
thing known as the “California Feeling.” www.stephenjohnkalinich.co.uk
INSTRUMENTAL
BLUES
LION RECORDS - Kicking off with a track entitled “Voodoo
Guitar”—taken from the 2010 CD release of Deep Down Blues—the
2011 CD release of Wings Of Fire presents the first
ever album compilation showcasing some of the best works of New York
guitarist Mark Cloutier. Subtitled the Blues Lion Collection,
the 19 track CD draws on tracks culled from nearly ten of Cloutier
albums that the guitarist has released over the past decade. A colorfully
packaged and tastefully designed CD, Wings Of Fire presents
Cloutier in a splendid light—a guitarist sounding clearly inspired
by rock guitar greats like Jimi Hendrix and Johnny Winter as well
as more traditional blues, R&B and jazz guitarists as diverse
as Buddy Guy, Steve Cropper, Robin Trower and Kenny Burrell. In other
words, Cloutier is a guitarist who’s not afraid to break through
with a hard rock riff before moving on to jazzing things up when he
has to. Case in point are the first three tracks on the Wings Of
Fire CD. Both “Voodoo Guitar” and “Psychedelia
Man” (tracks 1 and 3, both from the aforementioned Deep Down
Blues) as well as the title track “Wings Of Fire” (track
2 here, from Cloutier’s album 6 Strings Of Passion) offers
solid proof of Cloutier’s skillful and imaginative guitar style.
All in all, Wings Of Fire offers a revealing introduction to
Cloutier’s electrifying blues meets jazz meets rock guitar style
of writing and recording. Of course the entire album is completely
instrumental making Wings Of Fire a great choice for instro
rock and blues fans who enjoy in-your-face, hard driving sounds as
well as surf-rock and jazz guitar fans who like hard rocking, dynamic
and filler free instrumental guitar music. www.BluesLionRecords.com
CHESKY RECORDS - While listening to the 2011 CD from composer
David Chesky—entitled Urbanicity: Concerto For Electric
Guitar & Orchestra I thought about those great soundtracks
to the original Superman shows (the TV show with George Reeves).
Divided into three distinct sections, the nine track CD is retro sounding
with almost with a B&W, late ‘50s / early ‘60s vibe.
Even so, in the liner notes of the CD, there’s a mention of rock
guitarists recording with symphony orchestras, including Frank Zappa,
Terje Rypdal and Glenn Branca. The spirit may be timeless but there’s
plenty of guitar flecked, avant gard instrumental orchestral ravings
on hand to make Chesky’s Urbanicity album pertinent to
21st century music listeners. For the centerpiece of his huge orchestra
meets rock guitar opus—the 3 part “Guitar Concerto”—Chesky
enlisted guitarist Bryan Baker. Case in point is the CD’s
track 4, “Movement I”, the lead off part of the Concerto,
which features Baker’s searing electric guitar flaming with orchestra.
Commenting on the pairing of the orchestra with electric guitar, Chesky
adds, ‘My feeling is, we live in a contemporary age and we need
to treat the electric guitar just like a violin. It’s part of
our vocabulary today. And for the orchestra world to survive, it needs
to be contemporary and reflect the world around it.’ Although
he grew up around Latin music, rock, jazz, hip hop and the great classical
composers, Chesky’s orchestral symphonic sound is also greatly
influenced by living in New York, which he states is ‘one of
the most electrifying cities on the planet, surrounded by the sights
and sounds of people from all over the world.’ Although Zappa,
Rypdal and even Edgard Varese took the orchestra deep into the world
of the avant gard in the past, clearly Chesky is carrying on that
great tradition of breaking down musical walls today. www.chesky.com
DALLAS
RECORDS - Okay here’s a much welcomed 2011 CD release by
Croatian guitar ace Nebo Buhin on a company that interestingly
goes by the name Dallas Records. Back in 1985, as the owner of Breakthru’
Records I released a fantastic album here in the U.S. called Traffic
by Swedish guitar legend Janne Schaffer. Filled with driving melodic
rock instrumentals, Traffic reminds me a little of the new
Nebo Six String Diary album. Nebo’s 2007
CD Guitar Language was a hit for guitar fans yet Six String
Diary is even better. What better way than to prove that guitar
instrumental music is truly the world’s best and most powerful
communication device, then by listening to this album. Nebo gets solid
support throughout the ten track CD from his band. Another interesting
thing here is that drums are recorded by Mike Gage in, you
guessed it...Dallas, Texas! So that’s where the Dallas connection
comes in. Mike’s drumming is fantastic and well recorded and
serves as a fine counterweight to Nebo’s guitar work. Also on
hand here is American guitar hero Greg Koch who also guests
on a track. Even with a CD closing cover of Eric Clapton’s “Behind
The Sun,” there’s a fine Euro-centric kind of vibe in play
here—more Janne Schaffer (and Jan Akkerman for that matter) than
Hank Marvin, although Hank’s timeless influence and guitar DNA
is never far behind. With Six String Theory Nebo Buhin’s
refined jazz-rock sensibilities spring to life on an album that imparts
some impressive sonic innovations to the world of 21st century guitar
instrumental music. www.NeboBuhin.com
DECCA
LABEL GROUP / EMARCY - A finely tuned instrumental jazz
album filled with a wealth of inventive guitar stylings, Gladwell,
by guitarist Julian Lage is a top choice for jazz buffs
and guitar fans who just love the guitar too. Lage, who fronts his
own Julian Lage Group, has abundant guitar chops but instead
chooses to set an atmospheric jazzy club type setting, backing up
his dynamic fretboard approach on both acoustic and arch top jazz
guitars with tasteful but not overbearing drums / percussion and occasional
sax. That sense of understated dynamic in Lage’s music can perhaps
be attributable to his time recording and touring with jazz master
Gary Burton. Recording in Boston, the album not only portrays Lage
as both a composer and rising guitar stylist, but it also shows an
artist who is devoted to the evolution of the guitar as an instrumental
art form all it’s own. In other words, on Gladwell, guitar-wise,
the medium is the message. www.DeccaRecords-US.com
DOMO
MUSIC GROUP - New Age pioneer David Arkenstone has been
at the vanguard of instrumental electronic music for decades now and
in 2011 the widely praised electronic music genius released what some
are calling his best album yet. Released on the label of Japanese
New Age kingpin, Kitaro, the double CD Domo Records release of Ambient
World covers a wide range of instrumental music that quite
skillfully combines New Age, electronica and a new and intriguing
blend of ambient mood music. Commenting on the sprawling double CD
Ambient World set, Arkenstone adds, ‘The more I worked
on the pieces, the more I was aware that the music was heavily influenced
by my recent trip to Japan. It all seems sort of surreal now, and
I think my ‘paintings’ allow me to travel back to the special
place in my memory and it makes me look forward to when I can visit
again.’ Interestingly, the Ambient World titles are listed
on the back cover of the CD in both English and Japanese. While the
Japanese musical influence isn’t totally obvious in the sound,
there’s plenty of meditative soundscapes, many with a strong
pulse or electronic beat, that should make Ambient World a
hit with both Arkenstone fans and fans of Domo owner Kitaro—himself
a widely praised e-music genius who pioneered a kindred brand of New
Age synthesized instrumental sounds back in the late ‘80s and
early ‘90s. www.domo.com
FALCON BEACH MUSIC - Over the years mwe3.com has featured the
music of Canadian guitar rockers The Falcons on both mwe3.com
and in 20th century guitar magazine before that mag closed down in
January 2009. The mag may be dead but mwe3.com is still cookin’
and I’m happy to say The Falcons are back in 2011 with a great
new album of instrumental rock called Atomic Guitar.
Nothing atom splitting here, just 41 minutes of solid, toe-tapping
instro guitar fun in the spirit of early Shadows and late period Ventures.
There’s a hint of Steve Morse on some of the more rocking tracks
but otherwise Atomic Guitar is a fine tribute to a kinder,
gentler period in guitar history. Lead guitarist Mike Beddoes gets
solid backup from his band mates and he’s also composed a fine
range of instrumental guitar tracks to hang his hat on. Liner notes
from Jolly John Tanner and a fine CD closing cover of the 1959
Santo & Johnny chestnut “Sleep Walk” seals the deal
on what will surely be regarded as being one of the best instro rock
guitar albums of 2011. www.FalconBeachMusic.com
GALE
RECORDINGS - Described by listeners and critics as being one of
America’s most innovative and eclectic classical guitar virtuosos,
Seattle based Michael Nicolella hits his stride with the 2011
CD release of Ten Years Passed. Sort of a sonic
reflection of changes we’ve all experienced over the past ten
years, the 2010 recording features Nicolella adaptations of guitar
music from the pen of a number of modern composers—including
Nicolella himself—while the CD closes with an unusual yet elegant
instrumental neoclassical cover of the Lennon & McCartney chestnut
“Yesterday”—arranged by Toru Takemitsu and played
solo by Nicolella on solo electric guitar. Other highlights include
the nearly 13 minute title track—a lush, sinuous sonic amalgamation
featuring Nicolella’s electric guitar teamed with the Northwest
Symphony Orchestra. Whether showcasing his impeccable classical
guitar skills or displaying his electric guitar sounds as backed up
by a full symphonic orchestra, Michael Nicolella deserves a listen
by both classical guitar devotees as well as adventurous progressive
rock music fans. www.nicolella.com
GOTMUSIC RECORDS - Upstate New York guitarist Doug Munro is
a veritable legend among jazz guitarists. Recording for the Chase
Music Group label back in the late ‘90s and early 2000s, Doug
is back in 2011 with Alone But Not Alone Vol.1 released
on his own Got Music Records. A true instrumental solo guitar album
filled with ten tracks, the CD is basically a recording of spiritual
songs including seven original tracks and three classic Munro covers
of the famous spirituals “People Get Ready,” “Amazing
Grace” and “Down By The Riverside.” Munro’s track
by track liner notes below each song quotes either a biblical verse
or lyric fragment for the listener to reflect upon while listening
to the instrumental music. Munro further adds, ‘All the music
here was performed live in the studio with no overdubs. I used a ‘loop
station’ to create the multiple parts. The listener experiences
the entire process.’ In lesser hands, this could have been difficult,
but Munro’s playing is flawless throughout and despite being
a one man performance, there’s plenty of great music and superb
guitar playing to make the album a praiseworthy musical experience.
www.DougMunro.com
GRUBBWORM
RECORDS - The worm turns so to speak on Return Of The Worm,
the 2011 album from Florida based guitarist Todd Grubbs. Grubbs
hinted at great things for the guitar on his 2008 album, Time,
Space And The Electric and he puts it together again on Return
Of The Worm. On that ‘08 album Todd featured keyboardist
Derek Sherinian, and likewise on 2011 CD release he gets support
from key players like Jeff Henry (drums) and Alan Tatum
(bass). Citing his own performance here on guitar, mandolin, loops,
keys and bass, Grubbs details each track here with his own liner notes.
Maybe it is pretty low key by his own standards—some of this
makes you think of instrumental Neil Young type rock—but there’s
enough depth and energy to make it time worth listening. www.ToddGrubbs.com
MUSEA
RECORDS - Back in the ‘70s, the Musea label had some wild
French instrumental art rock bands like Wappasou on their roster and,
believe it or not, they keep the CD alive with the 2010 album from
Swedish instro rockers Nevärlläjf called Klusterfloristen.
Okay, now that’s a mouthful of Euro-talk but let’s cut
right to the chase. Nevärlläjf are a gifted bunch of jazz
rockers from Sweden. This is guitar fusion but as played by younger
artists in the 21st century. Underscoring the fact that this sound
emanated from that part of the world back in the 1970s and to a lesser
degree the ‘60s, the Nevärlläjf sound here is really
a tribute to far-out, instrumental art-rock fusion groups like Soft
Machine (with guitarist Alan Holdsworth) and even Sweden’s Samla
Mammas Manna (with guitarist Coste Apetrea.) A solid band that also
boasts a hard driving rhythm section and keyboard sound, the Nevärlläjf
sound is very structured around the (sometimes) dueling twin electric
guitars of Daniel Björklund and Martin Olsson.
So even if you can’t pronounce their names, relax, you don’t
have to. Instrumental rock is still the international language. www.Nevärlläjf.com
NONESUCH RECORDS - Founded by Jac Holzman, the Nonesuch
label is an venerable institution among American music labels. Nonesuch
Records continues on in the 21st century breaking ground for both
pop, rock and jazz. Jazz is the order of the day on the 2011 CD release
of the self-titled James Farm CD. Featuring a collaborative
jazz band, the all instrumental James Farm CD features the
collective talents of Joshua Redman (sax), Matt Penman (bass),
Eric Harland (drums) and Aaron Parks (piano). Produced
by James Farm, the ten track CD sounds ostensibly like a traditional
jazz album in the spirit of classic ‘60s Coltrane but if you
listen further, you’ll discover there’s also something quite
modern in play in the grooves. Commenting on the album Matt Penman
accurately states that the CD combines, ‘A love of jazz, a fascination
with song and structure, an obsession with groove, and a receptivity
to contemporary influences.’ On their self-titled debut CD, James
Farm combines classic jazz influences with modern musical vibrations
and in the process comes up with something quite unique and musically
satisfying. www.nonesuch.com
ONTOS MUSIC - No matter how badly man keeps polluting the earth
and it’s oceans, artists, scientists, dreamers and, well just
regular people keep romanticizing about the beautiful, mysterious
oceans of planet Earth. One such artist, Michael Brant DeMaria
has been widely acclaimed for his Grammy nominated album, appropriately
entitled Ocean. Definitely falling into instrumental
New Age electronica—also known as the music as meditation genre—Ocean
features Michael performing on Native American flute, piano, synthesizers
and a wide range of World Beat percussion instruments such as African
djembe and Middle Eastern doumbek. With his sound, known as integrative
psychotherapeutic music and also healing music, Dr. Michael Brant
DeMaria’s music is quite exotic sounding. Even so, because Ocean
is grounded in the New Age style, the music is extremely meditative
and near hypnotic. Ocean is perfect for late night / early
morning sojourns into the land of healing New Age musical magic. www.ontos.org
POZITIF
- Turkish guitarist Erdem Helvacioglu continues
to break new ground for the guitar as an artisan’s tool with
Black Falcon—his 2010 collaboration album with
sound artist Ros Bandt, famous for her work on a long neck
instrument called the Tarhu. Thanks to his earlier acclaimed releases—including
his recent CD with Swedish composer Per Boysen entitled Sub City
2064—Erdem has built up quite a stellar reputation among
music listeners who appreciate challenging avant gard guitar music.
On the 2011 CD release of Black Falcon, Erdem redefines the
role of the electric guitar—performing the guitar within the
context of a challenging mix of new music, ambient electronics, electro-acoustic
soundtrack music and more. Ms. Bandt is the perfect collaborator for
Erdem’s wide screen musical palate and for fans of this kind
of music, Black Falcon is an album to listen to over and over
again. www.RosBandt.com
RAVCON - Based down in North Carolina, The Man From Ravcon
is headed up by guitarist Mike Brown, who is essentially
The Man From Ravcon. Although ostensibly an instrumental surf-rock
band, TMFR evolved out of The Ravelers, who were known for their subtle
mix of instrumental psychedelic, folk-tinged pop. Starting with the
January, 2010 CD debut from The Man From Ravcon, entitled Zombie
Pimp Cowboys From Outer Space!, Brown and company have excelled
at conjuring up a number of instrumental surf-rock influences—from
Italian film composer Ennio Morricone, to funk / soundtrack wizard
Isaac Hayes to a better known sound evoking more well established
instrumental rock legends like Duane Eddy, The Shadows, John Barry
and more recently Finnish surf rockers Laika & The Cosmonauts.
Morricone’s instro legacy is praised on a cover of “Once
Upon A Time In The West”—track ten on the eleven cut 2011
release of Everything Is Golden by The Man From Ravcon.
Even wearing his instrumental rock influences on his sleeve, Brown
remains committed to further delivering his instrumental rock music
with even a more progressive rock slant and in fact such an album
is in the works as we speak. www.myspace.com/manfromravcon
RONI MUSIC - A much respected guitarist, composer and producer
based in NYC, Ron Jackson has cut a wide range of albums over
the past couple decades. Jackson is renowned for tastefully blending
his love of rock, R&B, World Beat, jazz, funk and even 
classical.
Subsequently, there aren't many styles of music that Jackson hasn’t
covered on record. Moving forward on his esteemed musical legacy,
Jackson also released a 2011 CD from his side project, entitled Burning
Gums. I guess the title fits in well with the young
lady on the cover of the Burning Gums CD art, who looks like she’s
about to bite into a red hot chili pepper. In contrast, the music
on the Burning Gums CD is quite cool actually with Jackson’s
smooth jazz instrumental sound and vision getting suitable backing
from Norbert Marius (bass) and Matus Hiroyuki (drums).
All types of jazz guitar lovers will completely dig this record which
covers a wide range of styles and sounds—from smooth jazz to
soul-jazz to Brazilian style jazz samba. Even with so many instrumental
guitar-based moves on hand, the key here is the groove that Jackson
and company brings to the forefront on this thoroughly enjoyable instrumental
jazz-rock fusion CD. www.BurningGums.com
Coinciding with the release of his 2011 CD with Burning Gums, NYC
guitar hero Ron Jackson also has a companion 2011 CD rerelease
of his 2009 album, Flubby Dubby. Featuring a
Hammond organ inspired group, produced by Jackson mentor Melvin
Sparks, the CD was recorded at a live Jackson date from West Orange,
N.J. with the guitarist featuring the core trio of Jackson, Kyle
Koeler (organ) and Otis Brown III (drums), along with a
smoking horn section. Flubby Dubby is real electrifying, uptown
instrumental guitar fusion. After six albums to his credit, both of
these CDs accurately portrays Jackson as a vital fretboard force in
the world of 21st century jazz-rock. www.RonJacksonMusic.com
/ www.CDBaby.com
SELECTONE - Nashville guitarist Steve Wariner continues
turning heads and ears around with his 2011 album Guitar Laboratory.
Released on his SelecTone Records label, the CD is filled with
great country flavored guitar instrumentals that evokes the guitar
greatness of legends like Chet Atkins and Mark Knopfler, while the
lead off cut is a track that Les Paul would have loved. With the title
coming from his friend’s remark that he seemed like a ‘mad
scientist’ holed up in his studio, Wariner combines his various
guitar styles and genre dabblings to great effect on Guitar Laboratory.
Commenting on the album, Steve adds, ‘What I wound up trying
to do was not only demonstrate the different styles that I can play,
but also the different kinds of music that I love.’ Steve plays
just about everything on the album and there’s even some fine
drumming and percussion to make it sound like a full band. Despite
covering so much ground all over the guitar instrumental sound, Guitar
Laboratory comes across as a quite cohesive album that never fails
to amaze, spin after spin. Hats off to Chet, Les, Mark Knopfler and
George Harrison, but also hats off to Steve Wariner too. Welcome to
“Twangri-La” indeed. www.SteveWariner.com
SUBLIME FREQUENCIES - Back in the 1990s I started collecting movie
soundtracks and off the wall guitar instrumental music from India
where’s there’s a huge market for instrumental sitar / guitar
sounds. In the past few years, Turkey has emerged as a new hot spot
for guitar music and case in point is a 2009 album from Hayvanlar
Alemi, a band from Turkey led by guitarist Özüm Itez.
Although Turkey is known for its exotic musics and also a fondness
of American jazz, the sound here is quite exotic guitar music in the
spirit of The Ventures and Link Wray, perhaps produced by Joe Meek.
Who would have known? Guitarist Itez gets a solid beat from drummer
Isik Sarihan, and there’s that definite influence from
Indian music in some of the guitar scales implemented but the sound
is so modern it sounds more like it could be applied to a spy/surf
type of James Bond action movie from Turkey. This is the kind of guitar
music Jimi Hendrix would liked. Great studio sound and excellent CD
booklet provides atmospheric color art work and pics along with detailed
track data. You wouldn’t get this much from those wacky Bollywood
style CDs. www.HayvanlarAlemi.org
VENETO WEST - Leave it to Guitar Player mag’s head
guitar guru Barry Cleveland to discover and turn the readers on to
a 2009 CD from guitarist Bill Forth called Adamantine.
Of course this is right where Cleveland himself started back in
the ‘80s, with his early albums on Larry Fast’s Jem Records
distributed label called Audion. Calling Bill Forth a “guitarist”
would be like calling Robert Fripp a guitarist. Both are well schooled
in transforming the guitar from a typically plucked or picked rock
or classical instrument into some kind of alien art form depicted
in an old Star Trek episode. Forth really takes it out there on his
seven cut all instrumental Adamantine album. As Barry noted,
Forth has musical pedigree thanks to his association with Robert Fripp
and his Guitar Craft community. That said, Forth’s album sounds
more like Brian Eno while, one of the highlights—the 32 minute
long “Mourning Doves”—features the violin work of Jeff
Gauthier. King Crimson followers will also note that, in addition
to Forth’s stealth guitar work, Adamantine also features
contributions from KC drummer Pat Mastelotto on a pair of tracks
as well as some tasty keyboard playing from Ronan Chris Murphy.
Forth puts the album history into perspective with his insightful
liner notes. www.BillForth.com
REISSUES & RETROSPECTIVES
CAPITOL
RECORDS - American rock icon Leon Russell had a bunch of
reissues on Capitol’s sub label The Right Stuff back in the mid
‘90s and Capitol makes good on a new best of compilation from
the fabled rock legend called The Best Of Leon Russell.
In addition to featuring a number of classic rock favorites, the
16 track, 2011 CD also brings Leon’s latest adventures into focus,
including a track from his 2010 album with Elton John, The
Union. From that album “If It Wasn’t For Bad” proves
Leon still has that classic rock sound down to a tee. Going back to
George Harrison’s famous concerts for Bangladesh, the
CD closes out with Leon's all time signature cover track of “Jumpin’
Jack Flash / Youngblood” live from George's historic Madison
Square Garden concert. In between is a fine sampling of classics from
Leon's early to mid ‘70s Shelter Records catalog. No liner notes,
just some cool pics, stately artwork and those new inclusions here
with Elton and George, but you better believe, this CD proves Leon
Russell still kicks ass. www.LeonRussell.com
EAGLE RECORDS - An album classic reissued by Eagle in 2011
on CD, DVD, Blu-ray and vinyl, Rory Gallagher - Irish
Tour is simply one of the great live albums of the 1970s.
When listening to this 1974 live album from the late great blues master,
you get the feeling that from a live 
perspective—what
Irish Tour is to the blues-rock world, the Who classic Live
At Leeds is to hard rock. Simply stated, Irish Tour is
just that well recorded and dynamic an album. The Irish Tour
CD is encased by an attractive slip case that also unfolds as an impressive
ad for Rory’s extensive CD repertoire on Eagle Records. Coinciding
with the CD and vinyl L.P. reissue of Irish Tour is the DVD
of the Irish Tour—an original movie produced by England’s
great filmmaker Tony Palmer, who followed Gallagher around
Ireland, as the audiences went wild night after night. Essential bonus
features on the DVD and Blu-ray includes the Irish television network
(RTE) half-hour documentary “Rory Gallagher: Music Makers”
as well as bonus home movie footage of Rory’s ‘74 Japanese
tour. Sixteen years after his passing, Rory Gallagher remains as vital
as ever to the blues-rock world. www.RoryGallagher.com
Speaking of key reissues on Eagle, in 2011 Eagle Records reintroduces
Time Traders by Peter Green Splinter Group.
Founder of Fleetwood Mac and the real genius behind the Fleetwood
Mac concept, Green released Time Traders back in 2001 and the
album features a bluesy mix featuring Green’s vocals and guitars
backed up by band mates Nigel Watson (guitars, vocals), Roger
Cotton (keyboards), Pete Stroud (bass) and Larry Tolfree
(drums). A bunch of side players appear including U.K. guitar
hero Snowy White. Eagle also has a reintroduction / reissue
of a 2000 album from late great Canadian guitarist / songwriter Jeff
Healey called Get Me Some, released by The
Jeff Healey Band. A mix of hard hitting blues and rock, the thirteen
track album features Healey’s signature lap steel guitar sound
backed up by Tom Stephen (drums), Joe Rockman (bass)
and a variety of players. www.JeffHealeyBand.com
/ www.EagleRockEnt.com
PAST
& PRESENT / FORCED EXPOSURE - Based up in the Boston
area, Forced Exposure continues to serve the music world well bringing
in some great CD imports from the U.K. Case in point is a 2010 CD
release from the Past & Present label, who continue knocking out
pop music fans with their Piccadilly Sunshine series
including the 2011 release of Piccadilly Sunshine Part Five: British
Pop Psych And Other Flavours 1966-1969. Back in the late ‘60s,
1966-1969, The Beatles and The Moody Blues were the pioneering musical
forces in both the pop / rock world as well as the burgeoning progressive
rock world, which would burst open fully formed by September 1969.
You can readily here that concept in play here on this various artists
CD of the Piccadilly Sunshine series. This 5th installment
of Piccadilly Sunshine is one of the best yet. These artists
are for the most part unknown (the lone exception for me was tracks
by the better known Ian Whitcomb and Wayne Fontana)
yet the quality is pretty impressive throughout the CD, especially
starting with track six here—a 1968 cut called “In Too Deep”
by someone called Jago Simms. As usual, Past & Present
packs their 20 track, 2010 CD release with impeccable liner notes
and detailed photos chronicling each of these singles as they first
appeared on 45 rpm in England way back when. www.ForcedExposure.com
REPRISE RECORDS - Ever since the passing of the late, great
Maurice Gibb in 2003, the band he started with his brothers
Robin Gibb and Barry Gibb—The Bee Gees have
been almost dormant regarding recording new music. Sad to say, but
it’s true nevertheless. In honor of the historic music of the
BeeGees, Reprise Records, through the auspices of Rhino Records, released
a comprehensive 2010 box set of classic Bee Gees entitled Mythology:
The 50th Anniversary Collection. The kicker here is
that the four CD set devotes a CD each to each brother—Maurice,
Barry and Robin as well as younger brother Andy Gibb, who tragically
died in 1988. Commenting on the Mythology box set Barry Gibb
adds, ‘These are pretty much our personal favorites,’ with
Robin Gibb adding, ‘I always see our songs as just us brothers
having a good time. When I look back now, it is more about the journey,
not the arrival.’ Featuring all the big hits and select, though
lesser known album cuts—including a pair of unreleased Maurice
Gibb tracks—the 81 track, four CD box set features an impressive,
built-in CD book spotlighting photos galore and written tribute remembrances
from the BeeGees family and surviving members, as well as notable
Bee Gees fans like Beatles producer George Martin, Brian Wilson, Elton
John, Graham Nash and many more including long time Bee Gee’s
manager Robert Stigwood. From their early Beatles inspired psychedelic
years, through the late ‘70s disco years, through their impressive
comebacks in the ‘80s, ‘90s and beyond, Mythology collects
the best of the Bee Gees and much more. www.BeeGees.com
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