The joys of the guitar are presented in living color on these two releases.
Ron Jackson has a rich and warm tone as he plays his 7 string guitar in a trio setting with bassist Nathan Brown and drummer Darrell Green. He does a nice selection of material in which to feature his bluesy touch, swinging easy on “Moondance” and chiming with his fingers on “Somewhere In The Night.” Green’s cymbals dance to the layered strings on a soulful “Lovely Day” while flexing his muscles on an upbeat “From This Moment On.” Jackson is Wes Montgomery hip for “Passion Fruit” and gives an intimate and lyrical solo rendition of “More Than You Know.” Casual coolness deluxe.
The two guitar team of Colin Linden and Luther Dickinson team up with a core supporting act of Dominic Davis/b, Bryan Owings/dr, Fats Kapling/vi-acc and Kevin McKendree/p-org along with varied guests on an earthy and dirt under the fingernails collection of blues. There are two takes of the classic “Careless Love,” one with a delta slide and the other trudging through the swamp with Rachel Davis singing with style. Davis teams with Ruby Amanfu for harmonies as Linden leads the way on a boogie-ing “Don’t Let Go” and Davis gets gritty on a raspy “Honest I Do.” The gents take you to the back country roads on “Dearest Darling” and then go into worlds unknown on an eerie and other worldly read of “I Forgot to Remember to Forget” that echoes into outer space. Travelling through the country and beyond.