Real Guitar Heroes

Two of my absolute favorite guitar players are putting out new CDS this month. Jeff Beck, who seems to be riding yet another career peak, (3rd one by my count) releases Emotion & Commotion and the more understated and lower profile John Mclaughlin gives us To The One. Amazingly neither man is coasting on his sizable reputation, nor has either one stopped searching. Mclaughlin's album is an interesting hybrid of his many styles, although it leans more rock and fusion than he has in some time. His excellent band, The 4th Dimension, gives him the freedom to go whichever way he desires, secure in the knowledge that they can meet his musical needs. To The One most reminded me of his playing of the late 70's around the time of his album Johnny Mclaughlin Electric Guitarist. He is sticking with electric guitar and the fluidity of his runs will knock you out. He has lost no speed whatsoever, he just plays with a slightly more delicate touch then in his Mahavishnu days. In the liner notes Mclaughlin claims the inspiration for this album is Coltrane's "A Love Supreme" and his own spiritual journey since the 1960's. I didn't hear the exact correlation to "A Love Supreme" but, as usual, Mclaughlin's compositional skills and abilities as a soloist are completely transcendent.

With his amazing appearance at Clapton's Crossroads concert and the triumph of his live release Performing This Week: Live At Ronnie Scott's Jeff Beck has come out of his shell as he does every decade or so, to remind the world that he is probably the most innovative and unique rock guitarist living. Without as much as a nod toward fashion or "relevance" he delivers a wildly diverse set of songs that showcase his unpredictable talents. Opening with Jeff Buckley's arrangement of Benjamin Britten's "Corpus Christi Carol" Beck wrings an overwhelming amount of emotion from his guitar for this beautiful melody. He follows up with a tribute to Jan Hammer called "Hammerhead" that showcases his harder, crunchier tendencies. Possibly the highlight of the album is Beck's sumptuous cover of "Over The Rainbow" where he proves once and for all that it's not the number of notes you play, but where they go that matters. The second half of the album features a series of Female guest singers who, for the most part, do pretty well. The question always arises - "why would we want to hear anybody sing when we have Jeff Beck playing?" But, I suppose not everybody likes entirely instrumental albums. Joss Stone's version of "I Put A Spell On You" seemed like the least necessary cut on the album to me, but Imelda May's cover of another Jeff Buckley number "Lilac Wine" is just beautiful, and opera singer Olivia Safe joins Beck for a couple of numbers that are shiver-inducing, especially the album closing "Elegy For Dunkirk" which finds, guitar, orchestra and voice blending to perfect effect. It is doubtful that fans of Beck's most bombastic work will be fully satisfied with this album. After all he includes an orchestra on almost every song, but those who have carefully followed Beck and seen his career rise to the surface again recently will find much to love in this thoughtful and classy album.
Paul Epstein

Summer Soul-stice

Nothing I’m going to review is particularly soulful but this weekend is the solstice so I wanted to make use of the gag. Speaking of summer though - Dennis Wilson’s lovely, lost album Pacific Ocean Blue has finally been reissued in an incredible deluxe package that includes bonus tracks and an entire second (unreleased) album called Bambu. Kind of a Holy Grail item for Beach Boys fans, the original issue has been selling on ebay for hundreds of dollars until this much-welcomed reissue. It also has a Colorado connection being recorded at the legendary Caribou Ranch in the bad old days.

And now for something completely different: guitar genius and composer James Blackshaw has released another album on the great Tompkins Square label called Litany of Echoes. If you are a fan of the kind of contemplative, technically stunning work that John Fahey or Sandy Bull produced, this instrumental album is right up your alley. Blackshaw favors long, spacious compositions that are perfect for meditation, study or active guitar-fetish listening. It is another piece in the puzzle of this complex and important artist.

Speaking of guitar players, I finally got around to listening to John McLaughlin’s latest album Floating Point and couldn’t help but marvel at the energy and chops this veteran still shows in all his playing. Stylistically, it is all over the place; Shakti style here, psych rock style there, scientific note supplier, smooth jazzer(!?) , but through it all Mclaughlin’s playing is never less than awe-inspiring.

Grateful Dead watch. Volume 3 of the new Road Trips series is in and it’s a doozy. Recorded in the Summer of ’71 it is a wonderful recording that boasts some really strong performances of classics like “Bird Song,” “That’s It For The Other One,” “Sugaree,” “Dark Star” and “Uncle John’s Band.” Throughout Phil Lesh is booming, and proves again and again why he is a one-of-a-kind bass player. The bonus disc that comes with it for a limited time includes a newly unearthed soundboard of the greatest ever version of Pigpen’s “Hard To Handle” (Hollywood Palladium 8-6-71).Movie-wise, the bio-pic of Lon Chaney Sr. The Man Of A Thousand Faces starring the great James Cagney has finally been released on DVD. Probably not very accurate, and gussied up for Hollywood, the movie still made a huge impact on me as a youngster and set me off on a lifelong obsession with monster movies. I can’t wait to see it again. I also can’t wait to see Robert Plant and Alison Krauss at Red Rocks Saturday night. This should prove to be the show of the summer.

And don’t forget to come to see Rose Hill Drive next week as they celebrate the release of their new album (out the day before). They will play on Wednesday the 25th at 6pm. They are one of the most impressive, high- octane rock and roll bands to ever come out of Colorado.See you in the aisles,Paul Epstein

p.s. oops I almost forgot one of my favorite new albums. John Zorn is one of those artists who, due to the fact that he owns his own label, puts out too damn much stuff. To be honest, I have stopped listening because he has flooded the market with so much inconsequential music, and hidden amongst it is the genuinely brilliant stuff he is capable of. His new album, called The Dreamers is a gigantic return to form offering up his most listenable album, possibly ever. With a dream band encompassing many of his usual sidemen (Marc Ribot, Joey Baron, Cyro Baptista etc) Zorn offers up a hypnotizing amalgam of stylistic approaches that win again and again. The music is never willfully obscure or abrasive and each song creates a melodic environment that you might never want to leave. Of the 50 albums Zorn will put out this year, this is THE one.