Solid, guitar-dominated jazz fusion LP by an unsung hero of the New Orleans music scene circa 1980-1990. Goudeau’s guitar sound is refreshingly aggressive; similar in approach to Mike Stern or Steve Morse. Cheesy digital keyboard sounds are kept to a minimum, and the rhythm section is first-rate. Tony Dagradi’s tenor saxophone adds an extra dimension of jazz authority to the proceedings. Though the compositions are pretty straightforward, the music never lapses into smooth-jazz somnolence. “Charity,” a lovely solo acoustic guitar piece, is a particular highlight. A pleasant surprise from the late 80s.
Remember I posted his other album (The Promise) here earlier, more than 5 years ago in fact, long, long before pandemic days. I wasn't aware of this one, as a result it was requested, and as a result it's now here for everyone to hear today for the first time, including myself. This one came before the other one (1987 versus 1988).
Credits
Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Engineer – Scott Goudeau
Bass – Jim Markway
Drums – Jay Hebert
Guitar Synthesizer – Jay Griggs
Keyboards, Piano – Michael Pellera
Saxophone – Tony Dagradi
“Recorded and mixed at Ultra-Sonic Studios, Inc., New Orleans, LA.”
“Special thanks to Kelly, Family, Friends, and the Band for assistance in production.”
“Extra special thanks to: Jay Gallagher, President of Ultra-Sonic Studios.”
Broken Records Inc., P.O. Box 19463, New Orleans, LA 70179
For myself, referring backwards as usual this is much like any number of instrumental electric guitar-sustained late-year fusion opuses out of the great US of A such as Rick Bishop, Mike Santiago, Mike Warren and Survival Kit, Don Mock, Tony Dupuis, Tony Palkovic (the two Mikes and the two Tonys) plus more recent entries like Andrew Stern from last year. So many of them, so many to remember, none more memorable than the others, but all hugely phenomenal.
A track called Ash gives me almost everything I need from this kind of thoughtful and warm instrumental magic, weaving wonderful textures from apparently unwelcome chord changes into an insistent saxophone melody full of drama, telling some kind of lost story we can't remember from a dream--except we know it was beautiful and we didn't want to wake up:
A wonderful album, a delight to discover, and again thanks for recommending it.
