JazzTimes is honored to premiere Soul Searchin’, the new album by Grammy-winning guitarists Larry Carlton and Paul Brown, which will be officially released by Shanachie Entertainment on Friday, Sept. 24. Although Carlton and Brown have worked together before, this is their first full-length studio collaboration.
Carlton, a member of the Crusaders and Fourplay and a successful TV and film composer whose scores include Hill Street Blues, Who’s the Boss?, and Against All Odds, first collaborated with Brown in the late 1990s when Brown—not only a distinguished guitarist but also a producer and engineer who’s worked with Aretha Franklin and Diana Ross, among others—produced tracks for Carlton’s Fingerprints album. “Paul’s engineering and production speak for themselves,” Carlton notes, “but his guitar playing and creativity in writing is also very appealing to me.”
“Larry and I had been toying with the idea of doing a CD together for a few years,” Brown adds. “I always thought our styles and sounds would be beautiful together. From a production, writing, arranging and playing point of view, this is as good as it gets for me.”
Besides Carlton and Brown on guitars, Soul Searchin’ also features Shane Theriot on bass, keyboards, guitars, and drum programming; León Bisquera on keyboards; Ron King on trumpet; Greg Vail on saxophones; Roberto Vally on bass and drum programming; Travis Carlton and Kenny Gradney on bass; Gorden Campbell and Doug Belote on drums; and Lenny Castro on percussion.
The complete track list is as follows:
- “Miles and Miles to Go” (Mark Carter/Paul Brown/Larry Carlton)
- “Stomp” (Shane Theriot/Brown/Carlton)
- “Gone Fishin'” (Theriot/Brown/Carlton)
- “Hip Pocket” (Theriot/Brown/Carlton)
- “Aftershock” (Theriot/Brown/Carlton)
- “Blues Skies” (Roberto Vally/León Bisquera/Brown/Carlton)
- “Keep Truckin’ On” (Kenny Gradney/Brown/Carlton/Theriot)
- “Say What’s on Your Mind” (Theriot/Brown/Carlton)
- “Shelter” (David Santos/Thomas Klemperer/Brown/Carlton)
- “Soul Searchin’” (Theriot/Brown/Carlton)
