March/April 2000
Ulisses Rocha, "Moleque," 1998
I'm not too familiar with the Malandro Records catalogue, but if Ulisses Rocha is
representative of the artistry of the other guitarists on the label, I will make myself familiar
in the future. Malandro specializes in the Brasilian and Bossa Nova genres, and when I
popped the shrinkwrap on "Moleque", I was expecting Bossa Nova guitar in the spirit of
Jobim, Castro-Neves and Almeida. What I heard was even better. Although there is one
track I might tag as Bossa Nova ("Bye Bye Brasil"), most of the music seems nylon-string
acoustic trio jazz akin to the music of Fareed Haque, difficult to classify. A Latin
influence does pervade tracks like "Água de Beber", "Ponteio" and "Certas Coisas", but a
Brasilian Jazz designation seems too restrictive for most of this panoramic music. There
are hints of Al Dimeola, Ralph Towner and Earl Klugh. "Manhã", in particular, has the
compositional refinement of Towner. The liner notes provide a clue why Rocha's music is
a melange of moods which doesn't pigeonhole easly: he cites influences as diverse as Paco
de Lucia to Baden Powell to Steve Howe to Ritchie Blackmore (I don't hear Blackmore's
influence on this recording!). Ulisses Rocha has an incredible gift for composition and the
adeptness on his instrument to translate those creations into a sonic delight.
Doug Smith, "Alone At Last," 1998
"Symphonic" is the word that occurred to me upon first listen to Doug Smith's "Alone at
Last". Although this is a solo guitar endeavor, open steel strings and moving bass lines
against arpeggiated chords create a lush chorus of sounds which often modulate
unexpectedly into pleasantly dramatic resolutions. Without too much imagination, I can
hear in my mind's ear tracks such as "The Tempest", "5 Ft. 8", "Before the Fire Dies" and
"August 23rd" scored for orchestral film soundtracks. Smith's classical training no doubt
contributes to this overall effect, but paradoxically, there's really no composition here
which could be labeled "classical". "Saints Be Praised" and "Brian O'Lynn" are nearly
Celtic or Irish. "High Roller" is a slapstyle worthy of Michael Hedges or Preston Reed. If
someone had slid track 9, "Reverie", into my CD tray for a blindfold test, I'd have
confidently proclaimed "That's Phil Keaggy!". Guitarists will appreciate the fact that
Smith lists in the liner notes the alternate tunings he uses for each song, and they may also find it intriguing
that he's relegated only three of the 12 tracks to standard tuning. "Alone at Last" was
co-produced by Laurence Juber, guitarist for Paul McCartney's Wings, and also an
excellent fingerstyle guitarist. There are many moments in "Alone at Last" which are
inspiring and moving. It's simply one of the best fingerstyle recordings I've ever heard.
Jonatha Brooke, "Live," 1998
Jonatha Brooke manifests the same kind of close-your-eyes, throw-back-your-head and pour-out-your-soul I've also heard in the voices of Sarah McLachlan, Joni Mitchell, The Indigo Girls and Tori Amos.
Thankfully, her lyrics are not quite as oblique as Amos, and they toll like poetry empathic enough to engage. The moods on "Live" run the gamut from a haunting and angelic a capella duet with Ingrid
Graudins on "In the Gloaming" to the blues-soaked rock of "Where Were You?", to everywhere in-between. The bulk of the "in-between" is good solid self-revealing folk/rock/pop served up on an acoustic
guitar ringing with alternate tunings (see her website for those tunings). Although Brooke is no virtuoso on guitar, she definitely is when it comes to songwriting and vocals, and she has an innate sense
of which guitar phrasings enable her voice to soar from a breathy whisper to lilting wail and back again. Sideman Gerry Leonard is ambient and minimalist in his electric guitar embellishments, a genius in
his restraint and ability to gauge what is just enough to serve the music well. There is excellent polish and clarity to this live production. There are moments of lyrical beauty that will make the hair
stand up on the back of your neck.
Jory Nash, "Tangle With the Ghost," 2000
Jory Nash's lyrics are a bit cryptic. When he sings "I like the sound of the straight and
narrow, and the acoustic in between" he may be referring to relationships or
communication style. But my ears are metaphorically deaf and I hear it as a concrete
description of his music, which dives ahead straight and narrow without turbulence or
ripples, with great acoustic guitar interludes. The music on "Tangle with the Ghost" is not
so straight and narrow as to be easily genrefied however. It may be expeditious to label
his music folk-rock, but there are hints of jazz, blues, pop and bluegrass. Nash's voice is
characteristic and memorable, a quality somewhere between Al Stewart and Gerry
Rafferty. Particularly on "Tangle with the Ghost", "Little Panic" and "Seven Lions" I hear a hint
of catchy pop characteristic of those two artists which may bode a commercial success
in the future. It would also be fair, though, to draw comparisons with less commercial
musical counterparts and influences Lyle Lovett and Rickie Lee Jones. On "I Am a
Rambling Boy" Nash sounds like Randy Newman (Newman has done a few serious
ballads...) "Seven and Out" and "Love No More" feature a beautiful interplay between fingerstyle guitars
similar to the sound of Union Station. Allison Krauss could well have commissioned these
numbers and "Autumn Song" for her particular sound. Nash has surrounded himself with
supporting players on guitar, keyboards, harmonica, mandolin and
harmony vocals who though are unknown, exhibit a professionalism rare on
independent releases and who obviously share a mutual passion in Nash's musical vision.
Jason Fowler, in particular, shines in his jazzy flatpicking style. "Tangle with the Ghost" easily succeeds because the entire package,
from vocals to songwriting, musicianship and production, is constructed with a
meticulous eye towards excellence.
David Pritchard, "Unassigned Territory," 1999
They say that meditation slows the brainwave activity seen on an electroencephalogram,
and increases theta waves characteristic of mindful relaxation and creativity. I would be
curious to discover, as I suspect, whether the music of David Pritchard has a similar effect
on a listener's EEG waves. A slight off-center collation of meters in conjunction with
multiple acoustic guitars which drone in upbeat expectation create a mesmerizing sound
collage on "Unassigned Territory". The effect is one of alert relaxation. Guitar Player
magazine has painted Pritchard's music as "shimmering tonal textures", a description
which is apt. Pritchard began his professional musical career in the late 1960s as a
guitarist with the Gary Burton Quartet. In the interim he has participated on recording
projects with Epic Records and Inner City Records, playing with Freddie Hubbard, Patrice
Rushen, Chester Thompson and Don Preston. Pritchard is joined on "Unassigned
Territory" by fellow acoustic guitarists Joseph Jewell, Dale Turner and Jack Majdecki who
seamlessly blend their styles with that of Pritchard to give an effect of multiple
overdubbings by the same guitarist. Teri De Sario adds her ethereal vocals to three tracks.
The effect of her vocals on "Penrimento" is similar to the eerie but beautiful effect
achieved by Steve Tibbets on "Nyemma" from his 1994 release "The Fall of Us All", a
recording which brought artistic credibility to the dawning ambient genre at the time. A
complaint about much New Age music is that the skill (or lack thereof) of the musician
often hides behind electronics or multiple synthesized effects. None of that
smoke-and-mirrors occurs on "Unassigned Territory". The only sounds here are those
created by steel strings over a soundhole, and the human voice. David Pritchard has
created an epic sound poem which not only will appeal to those in search of ambient
moods, but also withstands the test of a serious and critical listen. These are unique and
spiritual dreamscapes.
©
A.F.
Buy it at Amazon.com
©
A.F.
Buy it at Amazon.com
©
A.F.
Buy it at Amazon.com
©
A.F.
Buy it at Amazon.com
©
A.F.
Buy it at Amazon.com
