If you know ANYTHING about the guitar, you must have at least half a dozen Larry Carlton recordings in your collection. Oh, they may not feature him as a leader, but he’s there on your Steely Dan, Joni Mitchell or Crusaders discs back in the stash. His style and sound is one of the true proofs of the existence of a benevolent and loving God-it glows as if it’s seen a burning bush.
Here, he pulls up a chair with a kindred spirit of the Royal Order of the Axe, Robben Ford, and along with Claude Salmieri/dr and Fifi Chayeb/b, they have the time of their lives in front of an appreciative Parisian audience playing for the pure artistic pleasure of it. This one-disc workshop of how to play the guitar features the two gents picking and grinning through laid back porch music like “NM Blues 08” before the rhythm section joins in to settle into a sliding and slinky and downhearted “Cold Gold.” A hip and snappily percussive “Monty” and funky grooving “That Road” have the guys going back and forth like tap dancers out to show each other what they can do. They mix some rock into their blues on “Hand in Hand…” with Ford throwing in some patented easy gliding vocals.They make their strings beg for mercy after Ford moans through the lyrics on a riveting reading of “I Put a Spell on You” before a closing “Rio Samba” delivers rapid fire shots like a box of firecrackers served over a sizzling rhythm section. Guitar album of the year? Not a bad choice!!!
335 Records
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