Reggie Young Album Gets Great Review in Soul&Jazz&Funk

Reggie Young Album Gets Great Review in Soul&Jazz&Funk


You might not know his name but I’m betting you’ve probably heard his guitar at some point during your life. That’s because Reggie Young has played on myriad hit records during an extraordinary career that spans over sixty years. You can hear his distinctive fretboard work on, for example, such classic ’60s records as Dobie Gray’s ‘Drift Away,’ Dusty Springfield’s ‘Son Of A Preacher Man,’ Neil Diamond’s ‘Sweet Caroline,’ and Elvis Presley’s ‘Suspicious Minds.’ And the list goes on. And on.  In fact, Reggie, who’ll be 81 in December, has played on hundreds of records in a multiplicity of genres but, remarkably, has never cut a full-length LP under his own name until now. It’s been a long time coming but ‘Forever Young,’ a collection of tastefully played, soul-infused instrumentals with his guitar firmly centre stage, has been well worth the wait.

“I’d been so busy doing sessions that I never really had time to put one together,” explains Reggie from his home in Leiper’s Fork, Tennessee. “I thought about it but it was time-consuming so I never pursued it until the last few years when session work became less busy around here.” Reggie lives 30 miles south of Nashville, the country music Mecca where he’s done most of his session work since the early ’70s. Before that, he was part of an elite session group dubbed the ‘Memphis Boys’ working at  producer, Chips Moman’s American Studios in Memphis between 1965 and 1972, which became renowned for producing  soul, country and pop hits. In the late ’50s and early ’60s, Reggie played in Bill Black’s Combo, a quintet who scored a massive R&B hit with ‘Smokie,’ and also supported The Beatles on their first US tour.

Recalling how ‘Forever Young’ came about, Reggie says “It just fell right into place. In the studio when I was setting up my instrument, I would play snippets of tunes that I had written to help me get in tune. People started asking me, what is that you’re playing? They’d say, you ought to record some of that, that’s really good. I got to thinking about it and thought well, all right, and that’s what I did. Trying to make them five or six minutes long was a bit of a challenge but it worked pretty good.”

 ‘Forever Young’ is a beautiful record which reveals that the modest and softy spoken guitar player originally from Missouri to be a true master craftsman. Its seven songs – which feature brass arrangements by Jim Horn and cello parts by Reggie’s wife, Jennifer – range from elegant ballads (‘Soul Love’) to tight R&B grooves (‘Memphis Grease’) and elegant mid-tempo songs (‘Seagrove Place’). Unlike some guitarists, Reggie never overplays – everything is executed with a tasteful economy where each note or phrase just seems absolutely perfect.

Via an in-depth interview with SJF’s Charles Waring, Reggie Young talks about his new record as well as some of those classic recordings he’s appeared on and his close encounter with the ‘Fab Four’…

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6/12: MBR Reviews John Stein and David Zinno’s “Wood and Strings”

6/12: MBR Reviews John Stein and David Zinno’s “Wood and Strings”

 MBR reviews John Stein and David Zinno’s “Wood and Strings” on June 12, 2017 as part of their Music CD Shelf section. Click here to view their website and reviews.
Wood and Strings
John Stein and Dave Zinno
Whaling City Sound
1310 Tucker Road, No. Dartmouth, MA 02747
www.whalingcitysound.com
c/o Naxos (distribution)
www.naxosaudiobooks.com
$14.99 http://johnstein.com
Wood and Strings is a jazz album featuring an unusual duet for the genre – guitar paired with bass, played by John Stein and Dave Zinno. An adventurous leap forward in harmony, experimentation, and conversational interplay between instruments, Wood and Strings is unique, exciting, and highly recommended. The tracks are “I Remember You” (4:17), “Modinha” (4:44), “Up and at ‘Em” (3:21), “Out of Nowhere” (5:37), “Switch-a-roo” (5:45, “Sarlat” (4:40), “Labor of Love “(4:51), “Estate” (4:46), “Song for Now” (6:01), “But Beautiful” (5:51), “Beatrice” (4:53), “Birk’s Works” (5:42), “Til There Was You” (6:19), and “When Lights are Low” (4:48).
6/12: MBR Reviews Terry Gibbs’s “92 Years Young: Jammin’ at the Gibbs House”

6/12: MBR Reviews Terry Gibbs’s “92 Years Young: Jammin’ at the Gibbs House”

MBR reviews Terry Gibbs “92 Years Young: Jammin’ at the Gibbs House” on June 12, 2017 for its Library CD Shelf section. Click here to view their website and review.

92 Years Young: Jammin’ at the Gibbs House
Terry Gibbs
Whaling City Sound
1310 Tucker Road, No. Dartmouth, MA 02747
www.whalingcitysound.com
c/o Naxos (distribution)
www.naxosaudiobooks.com
$12.99 CD / $8.99 MP3 amazon.com
Long-lived vibraphonist and jazz icon Terry Gibbs presents 92 Years Young: Jammin’ at the Gibbs House, and album proving that age is irrelevant to celebrating the joy of music! Accompanied by his son Gerry on drums, Mike Gurrola on bass, and John Campbell on piano, Terry Gibbs vibraphone playing is as vivacious as ever. 92 Years Young: Jammin’ at the Gibbs House is a “must” for jazz connoisseurs, and highly recommended for public library music collections! The tracks are “Back Home In Indiana” (4:33), “Yesterdays” (5:29), “The Shadow of Your Smile” (5:41), “What’s New?” (4:36), “Take the ‘A’ Train” (5:18), “Blues for Hamp” (6:24), “I’m Getting Sentimental Over You” (6:51), “Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea” (6:30), “Autumn Leaves” (6:38), “Yardbird Suite” (3:23), “All the Things You Are” (7:28), “Just Some G Minor Blues” (5:21), “Imagination” (4:46), “Here It Is” (4:04) and “Closing Remarks” (0:20).

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