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Laurence Juber, "Guitarist", Solid Air SACD 2045, CD
"Guitarist" is Laurence Juber's third CD of unaccompanied solo guitar
since 1999's "LJ Plays the Beatles". This typically well-paced album
includes some of Juber's identifiable compositional and performing
trademarks, while providing enough twists to distinguish it from his
earlier works. "Breaking Point," the opening track, is a bluesy minor
piece reminiscent of Doc Watson's earliest recording of "Windy &
Warm." On "Green Kitchen" Juber employs some of his characteristic
chord progressions, using an ascending bass line to create a sense of
movement. The piece's tuneful head also shows the influence of Juber's
old boss, Paul McCartney. "Cannery Row" is the disc's most successful
realization of Juber's jazzy side, again using ascending chords, this
time with treble phrases played over shifting harmonies in the lower
register. The ballad "Love at First Sight" boasts a strong melody &
evocative minor 4ths. "Catch" is upbeat and jazzy, featuring 3-part
playing reminiscent of Martin Taylor, but a bit bluesier and with
deeper tonal resonance, due to Juber's choice of a steel-string flattop
guitar, as opposed to the dry, punchier tone produced by Taylor's
archtops. The CD's longest piece, "Eye of the Storm," has a quiet
interlude played on the guitar's bass strings. The album ends with 5
choruses of improvised 12-bar blues, titled "Blues for Now," which
features plenty of fat single-string bends - not Juber at his most
adventurous, but well-played and very listenable. "Guitarist" is
another strong offering from LJ.
© Patrick Ragains
From LJ
I think that Guitarist is a pretty
accurate description of what I do professionally and artistically,
although the title is a little bit ironic. The album is essentially a
collection of compositions for solo fi ngerstyle guitar. It’s my first
since 1999’s Altered Reality to emphasize that aspect of my
self-expression. LJ Plays The Beatles was a study in “fab four”
arranging, while Different Times used the compositions as a springboard
for ensemble improvisations. The recording style on Guitarist
harks back to the in-your-face approach of Naked Guitar with no reverb
and minimal EQ. We sought to present the material exactly as it was
recorded and, thanks to the Martin and Collings instruments used, allow
the listener to hear the natural ambience of the instrument. There are
a couple of tunes in CGDGAD tuning: Green Kitchen, with its slightly
“Chet” fl avor and Eye Of The Storm, a tone poem with a bit of a Celtic
feel. A number of the tunes are in DADGAD: the swing Catch! ; the rock
shuffl e Breaking Point; the ragtime Buffalo Nickel; the ballad Love At
First Sight. There are three standard tuning pieces: the ragtime/swing
The 5:55; the alternate bass picking Along The Way; a solo rendition of
Liquid Amber, which fi rst appeared as an ensemble piece on the “Wood
& Steel” CD. Cannery Row (in the tradition of Bob’s Your Uncle) and
a blues improv Blues For Now rounds out the collection.
I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as I did making it. ~~ LJ
| Artist: |
Laurence Juber |
| Product Type: |
AMR CDs |
| Item #: |
SACD2045 |
| Price: |
$15.00 |
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