Dan Petty Two Guitars

Dan Petty
Two Guitars
Self-Produced

A guitar player and producer living in Los Angeles, Dan Petty has been a session player and touring musician. "Two Guitars," a gypsy jazz-inspired record focusing on his acoustic playing, is his first recording with him playing both the lead and rhythm parts. One selection features bassist Tim Lefevre, whereas another features the vocal group, The Goods (Lucy Woodward, Holly Palmer, and Michelle Lewis).

Petty certainly is a capable jazz guitarist in the manner of the legendary Django Reinhardt as is audible on the Django compositions that open this recording, "Blues En Mineur" and "Django's Tiger," the rendition of "Tiger Rag" that Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli put together. Set against his vigorous rhythm guitar, Petty displays his adept, clean, and often dazzling, single-note runs and his thoughtfully structured improvisations. Then there is his gorgeous, graceful interpretation of Reinhardt's "Melodie Au Crepuscule." Stephane Jean Wrembel is one of today's leading guitarists in this vein, and Petty lends his talents to a lively rendition of Wrembel's "Bistro Fado." Also outstanding are the Gypsy jazz treatments of Charles Parker's "Donna Lee" and Cole Porter's classic "You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To."

Not every track is in the 'Gypsy Jazz' mode. "South American Way," with a vocal from The Goods, has a south of the border flavor indicated from its title. The vocal is adapted from The Andrew Sisters rendition, with Petty playing scintillating guitar behind the vocal and his break. Then there is a stunning interpretation of "Tico Tico." In a completely different vein is a precious rendition of Pat Metheny and Lyle May's "James." Bassist Lefevre is added to the feverish rendition of Mike Stern's "Chromazome."

A charming, graceful take on Reinhardt's waltz "Choti" is the concluding selection on Dan Petty's marvelous, highly appealing debut album.

I received a download to review from a publicist.

Damià Timoner Jerry's Smilin' - A Guitar Tribute to The Grateful Dead

Damià Timoner
Jerry's Smilin' - A Guitar Tribute to The Grateful Dead
Zoho Music

On his Facebook page, Damià Timoner writes, "I was born in Manacor, Mallorca, which is an island in the middle of the Mediterranean sea, and instead of showing preference for fishing-rods, lines and nets, I chose the strings of the Spanish guitar." He studied classical guitar but decided there were enough classical guitarists, so he decided to play his own compositions. While he has played in group contexts, he prefers playing solo and being the focus of attention. His personal listening is oriented to rock artists such as the Grateful Dead, Allman Brothers, Deep Purple, Byrds, Genesis, The Police, Led Zeppelin, Eric Clapton, and AC/DC. Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead's music is particularly a favorite of his. This recording has him devoting his nylon string guitar to songs associated with the legendary Garcia and the Dead.

Timoner's performances pretty much stick to the melodic themes and melodic embellishments of these themes beginning with Gracia-Hunter's "Brown-Eyed Woman" and concluding with "Touch of Grey." One can imagine Gracia singing "I will get by, I will survive" during a charming "Touch of Grey." "Ramble On Rose" is a lovely track. Then there is a sterling rendition of the Weir-Barlow penned "Cassidy," played with an eloquent precision. Then there is the bluesy flavor of Garcia-Hunter's "Loser" and the ragged-jug band flavor of Ron' Pigpen' McKernan's "Operator." The songs here span the Dead's entire timeline with a performance of "Dark Star" to "Built to Last" from the Dead's last studio album.

Kabir Sehgal provides information on specific performances that inspired specific tracks and whether he altered the pitch of specific strings or played a song in its original key. This technical information will, perhaps, be of most interest to guitarists. Regardless, "Jerry's Smilin'" is a first-rate, easy-to-listen recording that displays how Dead's songs continue to inspire and entertain us long after Garcia's passing.

I received a review copy from a publicist. Here Damià performs "Ramble On Rose."

Steve Dawson's Rattlesnake Cage

Steve Dawson had a formidable career as a performer and producer in his native Canada (including 7 Juno Awards as an artist and producer), before relocating to Nashville, Tennessee. He has a new recording Rattlesnake Cage (Black Hen Music) that consists of solo recordings that are informed by the deep traditions of blues, ragtime, jazz and even Hawaiian music, but taking those influences in unexpected directions. In a sense his lovely melodies and marvelous finer picking as well as use of a slide hearken back to the “American Primitive” sound that John Fahey and other artists such as Peter Lang and Leo Kottke recorded playing acoustic guitars on Fahey’s iconic Takoma record label in the sixties.

The eleven tunes presented here display his, fluidity, facility and invention as he salutes Fahey on the opening Blind Thomas at the Crime Scene; provides an indirect tribute to Mississippi John Hurt on the genial The Medicine Show Comes to Avalon; and does a delightful evocation of Rev. Gary Davis on The Altar at Center Raven, the strutting instrumental that closes this recording. The title track is a bluesy lovely mix of slide and deft finger picking on which he almost has time stand still followed by the dreamy Lighthouse Avenue, and the lively Butterfly Stunt which I hear him distilling some Furry Lewis amongst other sounds.

Dawson’s Rattlesnake Cage is a release sure to delight fans of Fahey, Land, Kottke, and similar artists, but certainly the music here will readily appeal to fans of blues, old-time country and other folk-related performances. 

I received my review copy from a publicist.  Here is a video of Steve Dawson performing a selection from Rattlesnake Cage.
 

Reverend Gary Davis Celebrated O Glory

In the nineties, Gene Rosenthal was especially active in making available his recordings (some previously unissued) on compact discs. One of these was a very interesting and valuable album by the Reverend Gary Davis. The following reviewed appeared in the DC Blues Calendar at the time and the October 1997 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 225). I likely received a review copy at the time.

Reverend Gary Davis’ O, Glory: The Apostolic Studio Session (Genes) is a valuable addition to the Genes’ Blues Vault Series, featuring one of the most extraordinary musicians of the Piedmont school of ragtime blues. After his conversion in the thirties, he would rarely perform or record secular lyrics, though few illustrate the commonality of blues and gospel as did Davis. This album is particularly valuable in that it contains some rare examples of Davis with accompaniment, vocal chorus, tracks on which he plays piano and banjo, and a harmonica solo (Birmingham Special, a train imitation with spoken asides). Most of these recordings date from March 1969 for what would prove to be his last studio album. They are augmented by four recordings that Stefan Grossman recorded in 1964 and 1965. His instrumental work is exemplary and, while I would not call these the greatest examples of his art, there are some typically spectacular moments, and the rare examples of his piano, banjo and harmonica which add to the album’s historical value. Not from this CD, but here is the late musical legend in performance.

Andy Cohen Has Deep Blues Roots

Andy Cohen has been playing older music styles on guitar, piano, dolceola and assorted instruments for several decades now and has a number of recordings over the year. His latest disc is “Built Right On The Ground,” on Earwig which ranges from stomping boogie woogie, Reverend Gary Davis influenced guitar rags, Memphis Minnie songs and a Woody Guthrie talking blues. On several tracks his is joined by his wife, Larkin Bryant on vocals and mandolin, or Kurt Anderson on vocal and guitar. As William Lee Ellis observes, “He had certainly been every bit the standard-bearer if not an outright genius when it comes to the interpretation of prewar blues and gospel music."


And what a choice of songs starting from the opening title track which was recorded eighty odd years ago from Blind Teddy Darby that captures the flavor of the original recording but with his deft picking and wonderfully delivered vocal comes out as his own. His updating of Sam McGee’s old-timey blues, “Railroad Blues,” features impressive picking along with an amusing lyric about voting for Obama because his mama told him to. I wonder how many who do their flashy Robert Johnson covers could do such a nice rendition of Henry Spaulding’s “Cairo Blues,” which is wonderfully paced and as well as sung. There is a credible, if hardly spectacular, rendition of Meade Lux Lewis’ “Honky Tonk Train Blues,” which illustrates his versatility as a musician. Cohen especially is adept at numbers that features fingerpicking in the vein of the Piedmont tradition, but also he is able to channel the facile, rhythmic playing of a Furry Lewis and Memphis Minnie as displayed on his interpretation of “Soo Cow Soo.” On “Jim Dickinson Stomp,” dedicated to the late musician and producer, he plays some lovely guitar in the Memphis style as well as the dolceola, followed by the sentimental Jimmie Rodgers tune “My Old Pal,” where Kurt Anderson takes the vocal (and the two collaborate on another Rodgers sentimental tune, “Miss the Mississippi and You”). “Temptation Rag,” was a piano piece (also recorded by reed players, Sidney Bechet and Benny Goodman), that gets a lovely and adept, guitar treatment in the manner of Gary Davis, which Cohen also gives Jelly Roll Morton’s “Grandpa’s Spells.” There is also a jaunty take on Big Bill Broonzy’s “Mopper Blues.” He returns to piano for a lively “Shake-a-You-Boogie,” which he learned from Blind Jim Brewer, “Shake a Boogie” (which likely was derived from John Lee ‘Sonny Boy’ Williamson, and “Too Fat Boogie”). Cohen treats us with the amusing Woody Guthrie “Mean Talkin’ Blues,” before he and his wife (who is on mandolin) close out this CD with a marvelous rendering of the late Bobby Charles’ “Tennessee Blues.”


I agree with William Lee Ellis that in a perfect world, Andy Cohen would be as famous as Taj Mahal and Ry Cooder. “Built Right On The Ground,” showcases not simply how good a player he is and the extensiveness of his repertoire, but also the warmth and genuineness of his vocals. This recording is a must for lovers of acoustic and traditional blues.


This review has appeared in Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 327, July 2010) and the review copy was provided by the firm doing publicity for Earwig Records releases.