May 2001

Ken Hatfield
DYAD
Arthur Circle Music

By Jim Ferguson

Think of this album's title as referring to Hatfield's compositions, which tend to be grounded in either Django-tinged swing or lilting Brazilian feels. And while that combination that may be a bit incongruous in more than one respect, his guitar work, which employs fingerstyle technique on a nylon-string instrument, is highly fluid and fluent. Backed by a group that includes violin, drums, and vocals, Hatfield is in especially good form on the title track, a fusion of Brazilian and more progressive elements, and "Do You Know Joe Jones," a cute minor blues that swings lightly and profits from some nice violin work and a guitar solo with bluesy touches and deft arpeggios.