Jim Ferguson
Jim’s Contributions
January/February 2003 Guitartistry
Gipsy Project and Friends
Biréli Lagrène
Once known as "the infant Django" to European jazz audiences, Bireli Lagrene made his mark at the age of 13 as a virtual reincarnation of the great Gypsy guitarist Django Reinhardt. As Lagrene matured, he eventually moved on to explore and master bebop and...
October 2002 Albums
Dawgnation
David Grisman Quintet
David "Dawg" Grisman's instrument of choice-the mandolin-may be closely associated with the sounds of the hollers of Kentucky, but the music he makes is a globe-trotting amalgamation of jazz, classical and ethnic elements. It's earned him a deserved reputation...
October 2002 Albums
342
Jim Hershman Trio
As a sideman, guitarist Jim Hershman has a host of credits, including Ernestine Anderson, Miki Coltrane and the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra. Here, however, he steps up front to lead his own trio through a mix of originals and standards. Along the way...
October 2002 Albums
Part Pitbull
Michael Musillami
Guitarist Michael Musillami teams up with pianist Peter Madsen for Part Pitbull, a program of avant-guard duets that explore a wide variety of musical possibilities. From the opening track, "Pitbull," it's apparent that both participants are accomplished...
October 2002 Albums
Rascality
Tony Purrone
Tony Purrone is a guitarist capable of blindingly fast single-note displays. But before you dismiss him out of hand as just another one-dimensional wonder, it's important to know that his musical abilities run deep and encompass musicality, creativity and...
October 2002 Albums
Come In From the Rain
Steve Abshire
A veteran of the U.S. Navy's Commodores jazz band as well as gigs with Louie Bellson, Milt Hinton and Rosemary Clooney, Steve Abshire plays jazz guitar in a style that is familiar, comfortable and classic. While his approach may have been forged in a bygone...
July/August 2002 Guitartistry
Fleur D'Ennui
Fapy Lafertin Quintet and Tim Kliphuis
In the early '50s, near the end of his life, Django Reinhardt had switched to electric guitar and was playing in a more bebop vein. He was evolving. Little did he know that it was his acoustic, swing-based Hot Club work of the '30s that would give rise to...
July/August 2002 Guitartistry
Django Reinhardt NY Festival: Live at Birdland
Various Artists
To appreciate Django Reinhardt's lasting influence and the degree to which his worship can be taken-for better or worse-check out Django Reinhardt NY Festival Live at Birdland (Division One/Atlantic), which features a large cast of characters both American...
July/August 2002 Guitartistry
Tomorrow's Hours
Joshua Breakstone
There's a difference between imitating a given artist and paying tribute, which is what Joshua Breakstone does on Tomorrow's Hours (Capri), a project that with one exception covers tunes by the late great Wes Montgomery. Covers of other players' material...
July/August 2002 Guitartistry
Scenes from a Song
John Hart Trio
An alum of the Brother Jack McDuff University of Jazz Guitar, John Hart can burn his way through blues changes on a level that's right up there with fellow graduates like Pat Martino, George Benson and Mark Whitfield. But instead of giving in to the temptation...
July/August 2002 Guitartistry
Robert Gomez Trio
Robert Gomez Trio
Robert Gomez might live in a Brooklyn basement, but the music on Robert Gomez Trio (Basement Front) is lofty indeed. Wielding a Godin electric-acoustic nylon-string, he suspends his improvisations over vibrant grooves (provided by drummer Bill Campbell and...
July/August 2002 Guitartistry
Chasing Tales
Mark Kleinhaut Trio with Tiger Okoshi
On Chasing Tales (Invisible Music), Maine-based Mark Kleinhaut, a regional player with the potential for a larger audience, has a light fluency that is readily apparent throughout the set of original compositions. Perhaps the disc's most striking aspects...
July/August 2002 Guitartistry
Blue Capers
Doug MacDonald
Another fine regional player is L.A.-based Doug MacDonald, who, for the most part, swings his way through his Blue Capers (Sea Breeze). Throughout, the veteran rhythm section (pianist Art Hillery, bassist John Heard, drummer Johnny Kirkwood) anchors the...
July/August 2002 Guitartistry
Out of Body
Rez Abbasi
Born in Pakistan, raised in California, and now living in New York City, Rez Abbasi approaches music from multidimensional, multicultural perspectives, witnessed by the performances on Out of Body (Feroza Music), a collection of dynamic, extended originals...
July/August 2002 Guitartistry
City of Dreams
Garrison Fewell Quintet
Berklee faculty member Garrison Fewell disproves the notion that teachers can't execute on City of Dreams (Splash), which also features saxophonist Tino Tracanna, pianist George Cables, bassist Steve LaSpina and drummer Jeff Williams. Overall, Fewell's playing...
July/August 2002 Guitartistry
Pickin' Cotten
Lenny Breau/Richard Cotten
Despite his genius, Lenny Breau was woefully underrecorded due to his extensive personal problems, transient lifestyle and untimely demise in 1984. Intent on correcting that deficiency, rocker Randy Bachman (Guess Who, B.T.O.), a former student of Breau...
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