Month: August 2013

When it comes to inspired songwriting and guitar playing, Mark Knopfler’s not in dire straights. On his new solo album, he had so much material, he chose not to leave good songs on the shelf and released Privateering as a two-CD collection, his first double-disc studio recording in 35 years.

The result is the most far-ranging album of Knopfler’s career. With electric guitar, slide, National resonator, and acoustic guitar, he lays down sea shanties, Celtic folk songs, country and electric blues, rootsy Americana tunes, and yes, some good old rock and roll. It’s as if he standing at a crossroads alongside where the Mississippi meets London’s Thames River.

For guitar fans, this album is pure bounty. It opens with the rolling country blues of “After The Beanstalk,” pairing Knopfler’s fingerpicked guitar with driving, lowdown harp from the Fabulous Thunderbirds’ Kim Wilson and mandolin from Tim O’Brien.

By contrast, on “Corned Beef City,” Knopfler cranks up his electric guitar and band for a rollicking track that sounds as fresh and full of youthful vigor as anything off his debut Dire Straits album from ’78. His trademark volume swells and slide licks color the song.

Knopfler cut the album at his own studio, British Grove, where he assembled his team of backing musicians that have been working together since the mid 1990s: guitarist Richard Bennett, Guy Fletcher and Jim Cox on keyboards, bassist Glenn Worf, and a new drummer, Ian Thomas. He’s also joined by special guests, including Paul Franklin on pedal steel and the Wailin’ Jennys’ Ruth Moody providing background vocals.

Throughout, Knopfler feels at ease to stretch out and explore each song; there are no “radiofriendly” time limits or lack of space on a single CD to hold him back. Most songs run four to six minutes, Knopfler playing lengthy solos and obviously having fun at his craft.
“Gator Blood” sounds like a wandering Junior Kimbrough Mississippi Hill Country boogie, highlighted by a searing Knopfler electric-slide solo. “Redbud Tree” is pure acoustic Americana crowned by stinging Stratocaster tones. “Haul Away” is a sea shanty while “Kingdom Of Gold” is Celtic folk.

Like Knopfler’s Dire Straits and past solo albums, his songs are vignettes sketching portraits of desperate characters, lovers and losers. Each is a compact story, the telling accented by widely different guitar styles.

Knopfler’s never really mellowed with age. He’s certainly become more introspective, which has added depth to his lyrics and his fretwork. But he still rocks out or gets low-down and dirty at the drop of a hat.

As a double album, is this Knopfler’s Exile on Main Street or “White Album”? No – nor is it his Sandinista!Instead, it’s the sound of a master craftsman enjoying himself, striving to create something special and unique in each song. And knowing that he has succeeded.

This article originally appeared in VG‘s Jan. ’13 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

Picture yourself in a smoky cowboy-jazz joint around 1952, and you’ll get the picture on where Cow Bop is coming from. The combo’s music is tantalizing postwar bop, but with ample heaps of Western swing and country hokum ladled on for fun.

The mastermind behind this venture is Bruce Forman, the virtuoso swing and bop guitarist who resides in California and is a dominant West Coast jazzer. With wife Pinto Pammy’s superb vocals and crack musicians around them, Cow Bop comprises one of the most refreshing swing outfits in recent memory, as heard on their fourth album, Cowlifornia Swing.

For a sense of Forman’s fretboard mastery, listen to him rip on the opener, “It’s All Your Fault.” Instead of a gratuitous display of single-string chops, Forman separates the men from the boys with a dazzling chordmelody improvisation, one of the hardest jazzbox techniques to master. On “A Girl In Calico,” Forman plays a classic ’50s-style solo that brings Johnny Smith or Jimmy Raney to mind: it’s elegant, commanding, and has the kind of finesse that defined the best archtop work of that era.

“Indian Love Call” features tight, fast unison phrases with saxman David Wise, speaking to Forman’s ace sight-reading chops. Later in the track, he lays out as compelling a jazz solo as you could ask for. In the country corn department, look for the campy “Mambo Italiano” and “These Boots Are Made For Walking,” the latter sporting a truly barnburning guitar solo.

On one level, you can listen to this CD and revel in the lightspirited cowboy jazz and crowd-pleasing antics of the band. But if you have any appreciation for jazz guitar, it’s hard not to be blown away by Forman’s playing. While he’s been on the jazz scene for more than 30 years – performing live, playing Hollywood movie dates (notably on Million Dollar Baby and Flags of Our Fathers), and teaching at USC – Forman seems to have found a sweet spot with Cow Bop.

It’s a catchy, likeable jazz vibe and a fine platform for this guitar master to stretch out and blow. All told, whether you’re in it for Forman’s killer bop chops or the breezy Western swing, Cow Bop will make the perfect soundtrack for your next dude-ranch vacation.

This article originally appeared in VG‘s Jan. ’13 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

For the most part, Fareed Haque’s new recording harkens back to the days when Blue Note Records ruled the jazz world. The songs are soulful, moody, and feature great playing by Haque and others, including jazz vets Billy Hart and George Mraz.

The opener, the Haque original “Waiting For Red,” lets you in on what’s to follow. It’s a bopper that echoes those classic days, but still sounds fresh and new. Haque plays outside the box, but still makes the playing soulful and accessible. His mix of chords, octaves, and single notes, driven with a slightly distorted sound, is a guitarist’s delight. He often blends the best of Wes Montgomery and Grant Green.

Most of the songs follow the same sort of formula, with things getting a bit different only on a cover of Coltrane’s “Giant Steps.” It’s a different take, with a driving ’70s fusion vibe. It’s the only song that steps outside the record’s vintage sound.

“Inner Urge” sounds like it’s going to be an experiment in free jazz, but then starts swinging hard with a wonderful guitar solo that builds beautifully.

Haque’s always been a fine guitarist who covers lots of styles. But here, playing just jazz, he proves to be one of the genre’s current giants.

This article originally appeared in VG‘s March ’14 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

Call this music “Americana,” if you have to put a label on it. The opener, “Red Dirt,” establishes straight away the muscular Midwestern quality that reflects Guy Forsythe’s musical coming of age in Kansas City, a locus for many musical styles.

Blues, jazz, R&B, and rock and roll – Forsythe puts them all to good use. “Can’t Stop Dancing” sounds like a three-way collaboration between Leonard Cohen, Tom Waits, and George Clinton, but with a horn intro straight out of 1950s Miles Davis.

Then there is “Econoline,” an ode to the singer’s faithful old van and the glory days and good times that were had in, around, and because of it. The song jumps right out at you, starting with two biting electric guitar notes and a sharply-shouted “Ha!” It’s carried by Forsythe’s expert electric slide playing and some compelling big-footed drumming from Nina Sing.

Seemingly out of nowhere comes “Sink ’Em Low (The Holler),” an a cappella field holler. But since Forsythe doesn’t often shape his songs in traditional form, the tune is a perfect fit for this eclectic mix.

Despite his being such a strong guitar player who could certainly indulge himself in an extended solo or three, most of his best guitar moments come in accents and intros. “Thank You For My Hands” is proof of that, and the song’s title is a phrase that a guy who plays like Forsythe must utter several times a day.

This article originally appeared in VG‘s Jan. ’13 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.