Once upon a time, in a galaxy far far away, people actually played the guitar to create soft and seductive moods, and not just to show off how loudly or quickly they could thrash the strings. Here are two albums with the tasty guitarists of studio giants Al Caiola and Don Arnone depicting a style and era unfortunately long forgotten.
The two artists are joined by a teram of Dick Hyman-Eddie Costa-p, Phil Kraus-vib, Phil Bodner-wwinds, George Duvivier/b , Bobby Rosengarden/dr and a vocal quartet for some hip and kitschy reads of “Caravan,” “On The Alamo” and “Blue Lou.” The vocals ooh and ah, which was the style of the day, and it works well. The instrumentals are subtle and sophisticated as they strings glide with Bodner’s flute on “A Tree In The Park” and get a bit Borscht Belty with accordion on”Cosmopolitan.”
The Soft Guitars album is more simple in support, with Frank Carroll’s bass and Gloria Agostini’s harp the only accompaniment. The strings glisten on “Imagination” and are cozy during “They Can’t Take That Away From Me” while casual simplicity oozes on ”I Can’t Get Started” and “Skylark.” Taste and style are in abundance here, and these guys must bathe in lanolin, as their hands sound extra soft. Lovely.
Studio star Al Caiola released a lot of his own albums as well. Two interesting ones include a 1957 session that included guitar guests George Barnes, Billy Bauer and John Pizzarelli among others. With Sandy Block/b, Phil Kraus-Eddie Costa/vib and Don Lamond/dr, you gets some short and suite pieces like “Sweet Georgia Brown,” “Cherry” and a swinging “Rosetta.” For a 1963 release, Caiola arranges a session with Clark Terry/tp, Tony Studd/btb, Phil BOdner/as-bs, Dick Hyman/p, Barry Galbraith/g, George Duvivier/b and OSie Johnson/dr which has Terry in wonderful form on “Body and Soul” and the rhythm team giving a Latin groove to “Lover Man.” Hyman is in tasty form as well during “Love For Sale” and Caiola serves well on an overhand “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love Baby.” Fun on the frets.
Fresh Sound Records