Ton Van Bergeyk Black And Tan Fantasy, Fingerpicking Guitar Solos

Ton Van Bergeyk
Black And Tan Fantasy, Fingerpicking Guitar Solos
Guitar Artistry

Stefan Grossman calls Ton Van Bergeyk the finest fingerstyle guitarist in the last 25 years, and the Guitar Artistry album, Black and Tan Fantasy, Fingerpicking Guitar Solos, certainly will make both casual listeners and guitarists take notice. Van Bergeyk extends the fingerpicking guitar style, familiar to fans of the Piedmont blues, to the jazz and popular songs of Duke Ellington (the title track and a medley of Jubilee Stomp and Take It East), George Gershwin (I Got Rhythm), Thelonious Monk (Blue Monk), Hoagy
Carmichael (Georgia on My Mind and Rocking Chair), Jelly Roll Morton (Kansas City Stomp), and some novelty numbers.

Duck Baker's liner notes make the case as to Van Bergeyk's skill as a player and the arranger, noting that while fingerpickers can dazzle an audience with simple tricks, even skilled players may not appreciate the difficulty of a piece without trying to play it. From the listener's standpoint, this reviewer found these performances throughly ingratiating, and well worth seeking out by those who love well-played acoustic guitar.

This review originally appeared in issue 180 of Jazz & Blues Report in 1993. I likely received a review copy from Shanachie or a publicist. Here Ton performs I Got Rhythm.