John Sheehan "Modern Man", 1999
John Sheehan, on his 1995 CD "Instrumental Solo Guitar", doesn't so much blend
classical and fingerstyle blues forms as jump the chasm separating these styles
back and forth and tune-by-tune. And he does it astoundingly well. On
"Modern Man" Sheehan chooses to toss his hat into the ring with a cadre of
fellow players who definitely tend towards rootsier things. He also suppresses
his virtuosic guitar impulses to concentrate on vocals and lyrics on six
of the 16 original tunes herein, as well as pick up the banjo on six. He
does the latter too often in my mind, only because it makes less room on
the CD for the solo fingerstyle gems such as "Old Mill Rag" and "Cliffs of
Moher". His forays into the vocal arena are very successful, carrying
both the biting social satire and feel-good aura of Jimmy Buffett.
Hugh Blumenfeld "Big Red", Brambus Records 200030-2, 2000
No beating around the bush: Hugh Blumenfeld is an exceptional singer/songwriter.
Some of his tunes like "Rafael" and "Shoot the Moon" have the ring of ensconced
folk classics, too bad for him that they aren't... but there's still time!
"Big Red" presents a more sparse, less band-driven sound for Blumenfeld than
his previous releases on Prime CD, understandable given that musical support
to his guitar and vocals is from only two other artists, Doris Ackerman on harmony
vocals and Shane Shanahan on percussion. Blumenfeld holds a PhD in English,
Creative Writing and Poetics, so you know he's got the intellectual part of
this craft down-pat. But as even Blumenfeld will admit, love and politics and
all the stuff of poetry is more complex than astrophysics or other intellectual
endeavor. No problem for Hugh Blumenfeld, he's also got the voice and
heartfelt insights to pull it all together.
Jeff Lang "Cedar Grove", Wind River Records WR4009D, 1998
Rock is an inherently more brash genre, and it takes some oomph to nurse rock
licks out of an acoustic guitar. Jeff Lang has found the formula to do so,
delivering a one-two punch with his awesome vocals and liquid slide guitar.
His guitar work straddles a world between rock, blues and folk and is dynamite.
But it's his vocals that leave a lasting impression. Often sounding
like Paul Rodgers, he can also one-up Donovan ("Cedar Grove") or Billy Joel
("Broken One More Time", "We Don't Ask").
Straw Dogs "Any Place At All", Crafty Records CR 10036, 2000
Although Seattle is known as the land of grunge rock, Straw Dogs is one Seattle-area
duo sporting a scrubbed-clean wholesome sound to make the most jaded
listener feel fuzzy and warm inside. Doubled jangling acoustic guitars
and ubiquitously harmonized vocals on "Any Place At All" imparts to Straw Dog's sound a very distinctive
and engaging style of their own. Boomers might compare the sound to Firefall or
England Dan & John Ford Coley, GenXers to Counting Crows or David Mead. "Nothing I Say" especially
struts out the kind of hooks typical of Mead which pop radio DJs are likely
to perk up their ears over.
Barry Wedgle "In Your Dreams", Mad Mountain Productions, 1999
As I turned Barry Wedgle's CD "In Your Dreams" over in my hands, shrink-wrap
intact, I was dubious. As it turns out, though the cover art is amateurish,
the music most definitely is not. Wedgle has honed his jazz guitar skills
through the years collaborating with a roster of artists who aren't exactly
obscure: Joe Lovano, Paul McCandless, Jay Clayton and Steve Lacy. The music
might be best described as smooth jazz with a Brasilian edge, and is
produced by Kim Stone, bassist for the Rippingtons. Though Wedgle's
music is made on nylon-string guitar, in places the grooves are similar
to those of Grant Geissman, or especially on the too few vocal tunes featuring
Anne Kennedy, reminiscent of Dianne Reeves accompanied by Kevin Eubanks.