Month: July 2011

If you read Eric Clapton’s recent autobiography, you know he is very content with his life and were he stands musically. This album conveys that same feeling – laid-back and intimate – though there are some musical surprises.

Among the players on the record are the rhythm section of Jim Keltner on drums, Willie Weeks on bass, and co-producer Doyle Bramhall II on guitar. Guests included Derek Trucks, Steve Winwood, J.J. Cale, Allen Toussaint, and Wynton Marsalis – the last two bring a jazz mentality to the proceedings.

The Fats Waller classic “My Very Good Friend the Milkman” is a rollicking New Orleans ramble. That city is also responsible for “When Somebody Thinks You’re Wonderful.” Marsalis is featured on trumpet solos on both cuts. The mellow country-influenced rock that’s been a staple of Clapton’s music since the ’70s makes several appearances, including on a cover of Little Son Jackson’s, “Traveling Alone” and J.J. Cale’s menacing “River Runs Deep.” The blues are here, too; “Can’t Hold Out Much Longer” is Chicago-blues heaven with a nasty solo and fine harp.

The closer, “Autumn Leaves,” is the real surprise. The standard gets a quiet, breathy vocal from Clapton and has two guitar solos – the first a quiet nylon-string affair, the second a jazzy electric bit. The song’s intimate take ref lects the feel of the album as a whole.

Clapton’s first studio work in almost six years, this is not a guitarist’s record; rather, it’s carried by the songs and Clapton’s versatile vocals. Listeners who can put away their “guitar god” notions and give it an honest listen will be rewarded.

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This article originally appeared in VG‘s Dec. ’10 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

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Despite the title, the focus of this “unauthorized” Stones documentary is not directly on Mick Taylor nor his guitar playing, but a general analysis of the band’s heyday. That said, there’s a lot to learn from The Mick Taylor Years, especially about the political and cultural environment of the day and the role of Taylor’s virtuoso blues guitar.

Most importantly, you’ll hear about the Stones’ critical move from psychedelia and ’60s Brit-pop, and toward American country and R&B. This aggregate of events and inf luences – coupled with liberal amounts of hard drugs – created a string of albums and tours that not only redefined the band’s career, but also rock and roll as a whole.

Adding perspective are interviews with Taylor’s former boss, John Mayall, Village Voice music editor Robert Christgau, and Stones session musicians like steel-guitarist Al Perkins and bassist Bill Plummer. There are also archival interviews with Taylor and passable live footage featuring Taylor and Keith Richards jamming on their beloved Gibson axes (look for SGs, ES-335s, and Les Pauls aplenty).

The Mick Taylor Years succeeds in showing how Taylor raised the guitar standard of the Stones, as well as how Richards rose to the occasion, matching the younger musician’s brilliant playing with his own stellar performances, such as on “Brown Sugar” and “Happy.” Taylor made his own mark on guitar epics like “Sway,” “Moonlight Mile,” and especially “Time Waits for No One,” one of the most elegant guitar solos of the ’70s. You’ll also witness the tension between Jagger’s controlling persona and Richards’ drug-addled muse, how they clashed, and yet ultimately served the music.

The DVD also attempts to answer the question “Why did Taylor leave?” Certainly, a lack of deserved writing credits seemed to have bred a resentment from the guitarist, along with the fact drugs were simply tearing the band apart.

Ultimately, this film will make you reevaluate your opinion of the Rolling Stones and their early-’70s peak. You’ll wonder if Exile on Main Street is the classic everyone makes it out to be, or did the Stones actually hit the mark earlier on Let It Bleed and Sticky Fingers? Was Taylor as good, or even better, a guitarist than Brit blues icons like Clapton and Greenie? And how much were the mediocrity of the post-Exile albums related to Richards’ destructive lifestyle? This intriguing documentary will make you ask those questions, and more.

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This article originally appeared in VG‘s Nov. ’11 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

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It’s hard to understate how important Stevie Ray Vaughan was to the guitar. He emerged when the guitar had all but ceased to exist on pop/rock radio. Even hitmakers who played guitar, i.e. Bruce Springsteen, didn’t feature it. So “SRV” was a blast of fresh air.

 The Legacy Edition of Vaughan’s second album, Couldn’t Stand the Weather, features the original record with all the great cuts, like the impossibly funky title cut, the slow blues of “The Things I Used To Do” and “Tin Pan Alley,” “Cold Shot,” and “Scuttle Buttin’.” It also features “Stang’s Swang,” a jazzy tune of the sort that separated Vaughan from other “blues” guitarists. We also get 11 bonus tracks, eight of which were released on the expanded/ remaster from 1999. Three, including an incendiary “The Sky is Crying” have never been released.

 Disc two is a concert from Montreal in August of 1984. It shows a guitarist and a band at the top of their game, playing confidently off each other. Vaughan’s control of his instrument is simply amazing; he’s versatile, has all the chops, and his band – Tommy Shannon on bass and Chris Layton on drums – are right there with him. The liner notes essay is written by Andy Aledort, and it’s informative and interesting.

 There’s nothing surprising here, but this edition is a great reminder how a guitar can energize a lethargic pop world.

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This article originally appeared in VG‘s Nov. ’10 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

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Before joining Journey in 1978, Steve Smith drummed on jazz violinist Jean-Luc Ponty’s Enigmatic Ocean, and before he left the band in ’83, he had already formed the fusion group Vital Information.

The playing of saxophonist George Brooks ranges from blues to avant garde; his resume includes Harvey Mandel, Frankie Lee, Henry Kaiser, Zakir Hussain, and John McLaughlin. Guitarist Prasanna, who hails from India and graduated from Berklee, has released several CDs.

The angular, hyper opener, “Tug Of War,” begins as a guitar/drum duo before Brooks’ alto doubles Prasanna’s melody. The sax lays out for an impressive guitar solo using sitar-like slides, jazz chords, and plenty of speed. Brooks’ “Miss Oma,” in the vein of a lilting Sonny Rollins calypso, is highlighted by Prasanna’s solo bursts that combine blues, Indian, and a touch of Hendrix. On “Love And Hunger,” Prasanna alternates between a droning arpeggio vamp and very capable jazz comping, making the absence of a bassist virtually unnoticeable. On “Ironically,” Smith even gets into some “konnakol” (vocal percussion), punctuated by staccato chords from Prasanna. “Dubai Dance” contains the guitarist’s bluesiest playing, squeezing some Clapton-esque bends from his Paul Reed Smith before a flurry of chords and descending pull-offs.

The album was recorded live in the studio in four days, only three months after the group’s first rehearsal – testament to the formidable talents of all three players. Their sound is fresh and new and likely to please, whether you’re coming from a jazz, rock, or classical bent – East or West.

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This article originally appeared in VG‘s Nov. ’10 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

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Indigenous is a highenergy blues-rock band fronted by Mato Nanji, disciple of Vaughan and Hendrix; its sound is defined by the chugging rhythms and fat tones squeezed from his Stratocaster.

For this album, Nanji lays down the Strat in favor of acoustic guitars. Brother Pte, sister Wanbdi, and cousin Horse (on bass, drums, and percussion respectively) have stepped aside for the time being. In their places are Mato’s wife and songwriting partner, Leah, on background vocals, producer Jamie Candiloro on a variety of instruments, and Lisa Germano of John Mellencamp’s band on violin.

Except for Roy Orbison’s “You Got It” the songs have appeared on other Indigenous albums; each is imaginatively reinterpreted by a guitarist who loses nothing switching to acoustic. He never overplays to compensate and doesn’t make changes just for the sake of doing so.

In “Leaving,” he nudges the tempo a little, adding a slight country-soul feel, but retaining the song’s “Voodoo Child” flavor. The solo is almost a duel between Nanji and Germano. This version loses none of the tune’s bluesy guts or its energy. On “Now That You’re Gone,” a Stevie-Ray-inspired tune, Nanji is clean and precise, but still fiercely incisive as he rakes the chords and displays a wicked vibrato. The dreamy “Rest Of My Days” hints of early Traffic and bits of War and Santana.

The Acoustic Sessions is one of Indigenous’ best. But no one who can do what Nanji does with a Strat could stay away from it for long. This isn’t a change in direction, but an exploration of his (and Indigenous’) great capabilities.

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This article originally appeared in VG’s Oct. ’10 issue.  All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine.  Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

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