|
|
||||||||
For audio
samples you'll |
|
|||||||
|
|
 MAGIC ELF |
 JAMES MANKEY |
||||||
|
DAVIE ALLAN & THE ARROWS Restless In L.A. (Sundazed)
|
||||||||
|
STEVE
TRACKS
|
||||||||
|
MAGIC
ELF
|
||||||||
|
JAMES MANKEY
|
||||||||
|
JAMES
COHEN
|
||||||||
|
JOEL
HOEKSTRA
Attention Artists and Record Companies: Have your CD reviewed
in mwe3.com and 20th Century Guitar. Send to P.O. Box 630249, Little
Neck, N.Y. 11363-0249
|
||||||||
|
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
Rev
up your engines! Davie Allan, the king of ‘60s instro biker
guitar rock is back with his finest album yet. Released by Bob Irwin
and the team at Sundazed, Allan’s 2003 CD, Restless
In L.A. rocks with a sense of renewed style and passion. Released
nearly 40 years after his first ‘60s recordings, Restless In
L.A. follows the sound and fury of Allan’s ‘60s guitar
albums. Allan is often referred to as the king of “grunge surf”
and commenting on the album from the incisive liner notes, the guitarist
adds, “Not since the sessions of the ‘60s have I felt so at
home and totally satisfied with an album.” Highlights of the 14
track mostly instrumental set include a remake of Allan’s big ‘60s
hit, “Them From The Wild Angels”, “Kick Back” (described
as ‘Link Wray meets Sandy Nelson’), Allan’s tribute to
‘60 spaghetti western honcho Ennio Morricone (“The Loud, The
Loose And The Savage”) and superb Arrows cover of “I Had Too
Much To Dream Last Night” (a vocal track featuring Arrow bassist
Bruce Wagner). Allan adds, “We have strived to make an album
like this for eight years.” Kudos to Davie Allan & The Arrows
for a job well done. 
The
second individual release distilled from Vai’s massive 10 CD Secret
Jewel Box Set, the 2003 release of Mystery Tracks Archives Vol.
3, is actually a collection of bonus tracks featured on various
Japan-only releases of his albums, contributions to other artists’
works and assorted unreleased demo tracks. According to Vai, “It’s
sort of like a golden scrap pile. Devour with a silver spoon.”
The best songs here really rock and the whole album keeps up quite a
musical pace. Tracks like the driving, melodic Hank Marvin / Jeff Beck
inspired “San-San-Nana Byoushi” (from 1995) and the glorious
symphonic rock sound of “Feathers” and “Misfits”
(both from 2002) are just a few of the standouts here. Vai’s mostly
instrumental electric guitar concepts just seem to improve, album to
album. Mystery Tracks Archives Vol. 3 is fabulous throughout
and while the cover art is cool, the only drawback is the tiny black
text on the inside, which is way too minuscule reading for us aging
boomers. 
Long
Island’s best instrumental rock fusion band, Magic Elf proves
that the finest fusion not only rocks but also swings. The 2003 CD from
guitarist / composer Carl Roa, drummer Dave Miranda and
bassist Roy Altemus, Heavy Meddle is far and away
their most inspiring studio release yet. Roa still sounds clearly influenced
by the ‘70s sounds of Steve Morse and Pat Metheny while there’s
also an interesting Martin Barre / Jan Akkerman guitar influence (check
out the soaring “Godspeed”) with Roa’s superb electric
guitar work extrapolating from a broad, classically-etched palate of
instrumental rock styles. The all instrumental 9 track CD maintains
a very high energy and spirit and provides many fine spins for fusion
fans. Heavy Meddle features guest appearance Saul Zonana (bass)
and Pat Cummings (mandolin) while the amazing cover art is a
good barometer of the fearless, soaring music within. 
The
original guitarist for L.A.-based pop legends Concrete Blond,
James Mankey broke on the international pop scene back in the late ‘80s
and he’s been going strong since. Earlier in 2003 Mankey and his
CB bandmates released a 2 CD set on Ark21 of their 2002 Brazilian tour
entitled Live From Brazil and Mankey follows
that first ever live CD from his band with his 2003 self-produced solo
CD entitled J.A.M. The basic sound follows the Concrete Blond
musical fabric, but since Mankey’s solo CD is all instrumental
there’s plenty of musical scenery for the imagination to wander
around. With some mixing assistance from his brother, famed engineer
Earle Mankey and cover art inspiration from Concrete Blond singer
Johnette Napolitano, J.A.M. is evocative rock-guitar instrumental
music at it’s finest. Mix one part Link Wray and Davie Allan with
Mankey’s far-out musical imagination and you come away with a potent
instrumental brew. Mankey’s studio wizardry is legendary and he
makes the most of his do it yourself expertise combined with his legendary
skills on all forms of guitars including Fender Strat, Mosrite, Martin,
Gibson SG, Steinberger and Gretch Country Gentleman guitars. Written
and performed entirely by Mankey, J.A.M. is instrumental guitar
rock with a bold new vision. 
From
the liner notes of his latest album on the Canadian Northern Blues
Music, guitarist James Cohen states, “With the release of this
album, I am reflecting upon years of hard work towards understanding
flamenco, as well as to my roots in rock and blues.” Also in the
notes, Cohen cites a number of great gypsy jazz guitarists who clearly
influenced his captivating rapid-fire flamenco guitar technique including
Tomatito, Miguel De La Bastide, Vicente Amigo, Paco De La Lucia in addition
to rock and jazz legends Keith Richards and Django Reinhardt. Bursting
with eleven incredible flamenco and tango flavored guitar tracks, High
Side Of Lowdown finds Cohen in the musical company of top players
like Tony D. (steel string guitar), Devin Johnston (percussion),
Stu Watkins (bass) and Richard Bell (keyboard player in
Janis Joplin’s Full-Tilt Boogie Band). In the spirit of guitar
greats like hot-jazz master Django Reinhardt, the all instrumental High
Side Of Lowdown really swings and conjures up a tasty array of acoustic-based
jazzy and bluesy flavored flamenco guitar originals. In addition to
his fine guitar playing, Cohen is also acclaimed for inventing the VKO
MundoBeat—the world's only flamenco and worldbeat metronome—a
product used and endorsed by such flamenco stars as Ottmar Liebert,
Jesse Cook and Miguel de la Bastide. 
On
the rise both as a session player and as a solo artist, guitarist Joel
Hoekstra released his second solo album in 2003. An adventurous jazzy,
rocking guitar instrumental album that will appeal to fans of progressive
guitar heroes such as Frank Zappa and Alan Holdsworth, The Moon Is
Falling blends 14 tracks of skillfully executed jazz-rock tracks.
Recorded in California, New York and Chicago, the album features top
support players including Virgil Donati (drums), Ric Fierabracci
(bass) and Chris Grove (keyboards). A native of the Chicago
area, Hoekstra added to his stellar reputation recently playing in Jim
Peterik’s World Stage band as well as in the off-Broadway production
of Love, Janis. Adding to his session credits, Hoekstra
has also played alongside guitar great Sam Andrews and Big Brother and
the Holding Company as well with The Turtles. The follow-up to Hoekstra’s
debut album, Undefined, 2003’s The Moon Is Falling is
a superbly recorded CD of imaginative, kinetic and often daring guitar-driven
sounds.