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Blindfold TestBy Ted PankenBefore his Saturday double bill with the Rosenberg Trio at Orvieto 2010,guitar legend Jim Hall—in residence for the week with Bill Frisell, ScottColley and Joey Baron behind their CD Hemispheres (ArtistShare)—satbefore a full house in the Sala del Quattrocentro for a DownBeatBlindfold Test. Hall, 80, responded with acuity, wit and concision—as hedid performing throughout the week.Julian Lage“Li’l Darlin” (from Sounding Point, Decca, 2009) Lage, guitar; Jamie Roeder,bass; Tupac Mantilla, percussion.That’s Julian Lage. I’ve known him since he was 11. I admire him—he’svery different. That was a completely unique treatment of a standardBasie tune, “Li’l Darlin’.” Basie’s guitarist, Freddie Greene, really keptthe Count Basie band together. When Freddie left, it just was not thesame. I wrote a piece we’ll play this evening called “Owed To FreddieGreene.”Egberto Gismonti“Aguas & Dança” (from Saudações, ECM, 2009) Egberto Gismonti, acousticguitar; Alexandre Gismonti, acoustic guitar.Amazing guitar playing; I have no idea who it is. Egberto Gismonti wroteand played it? I know Egberto. He’s a fantastic musician. It’s kind of agringo version [of Brazilian music]! I was in Brazil several times, startingin 1959 or 1960. It felt like everybody in Rio played the guitar.Bobby Broom“In Walked Bud” (from Bobby Broom Plays For Monk, Origin, 2009) Broom,guitar; Dennis Carroll, bass; Kobie Watkins, drums.“In Walked Bud.” Fantastic guitar playing. I could have used a little moreharmonic sense, maybe a chord to just fill in now and then, but it soundedgreat. Bobby Broom? I just know the name. (He’s played with SonnyRollins since the early ’80s.) I know Sonny Rollins. (laughter) That’swhy Sonny doesn’t call me any more! Working with him was maybe mymost important job—it was very challenging, because it got me practicing.I’m serious. I almost hesitate to get into this, but in those days a lot ofracial crap was still going on, and Sonny made me aware of it. All myearly heroes were African-American—Charlie Christian, Duke Ellington,Coleman Hawkins, and later Sonny.John McLaughlin“Stella By Starlight” (from Thieves And Poets, Verve, 2003) McLaughlin,acoustic guitar.Amazing guitar player. “Stella By Starlight” in what sounded like B-flat.I didn’t particularly like the way the song was treated. I don’t think Iwould have put in all that filigree. I would have concentrated on themelody and the words. Each piece, especially a song, should be presentedin a different way; this is a love song, and it has nothing to do with flashypicking like “I Got Rhythm” or something. (after) I knew I’d insult afriend. I’m sure I have a lot of things which would embarrass me.Wolfgang Muthspiel–Brian Blade“Heavy Song” (from Friendly Travelers, Material, 2008) Muthspiel, guitar;Blade, drums.An excellent guitar player. That made me think about amplification. I stilllike the sound of the acoustic guitar amplified just a little bit, but that wasa whole different genre, I guess. When we play, I like to be able to hearScott Colley on bass fiddle, not necessarily amplified, and react to whathe plays in the bottom of the texture, and react to Joey Baron, who isclose to me and I can hear everything he plays. I understand amplificationand the need for it, but I think it needs to be, in general, tuned down a bit.That’s just my personal preference. I don’t want to sound like some oldfogey—I enjoy all this music.JimHallKurt Rosenwinkel Standards Trio“Fall” (from Reflections, Word Of Mouth, 2009) Rosenwinkel, guitar; Eric Revis,bass; Eric Harland, drums.I don’t know what they were performing, but it was in an odd meter, 7/4or 5/4. A great ensemble, and I admire the guitar player, but I have no ideawho it is. A lot of this is brand new to me. If I listen to music, generallyit’s classical music. It would be depressing if I listened to great guitar players,Bela Bartok—he plays good guitar! It’s amazing how guitar playinghas opened up and gotten better. One of the requisites of being involved inmusic, or any art form, is that it keeps growing, and if you’re open, thenyou will grow as well.Adam Rogers“Sight” (from Sight, Criss Cross, 2009) Rogers, guitar, piano; John Patitucci,bass; Clarence Penn, drums.I loved that—marvelous guitar playing. In relation to my earlier remarks, Icould hear the whole texture very clearly. The guitarist would listen towhat was happening and react. It seemed like people were listening. Itsounded very original, too. The shape of the piece, the chord changes, thebass line—it really kept my attention.Pat Metheny–Brad Mehldau“Ahmid-6” (from Metheny Mehldau, Nonesuch, 2006) Metheny, guitar;Mehldau, piano.Another amazing guitar player. I wish there was some clarity at the beginningof the piece, so I’d know what they were improvising on. Both playgreat, but it sounded like playing over chord changes. I’d like it to be like apainting—you have a background and then some stuff added. I never hadgreat facility, so I play slowly, and then, when I play a little bit faster, theysay, “Ooh, it’s fantastic.”Jonathan Kreisberg“The Best Thing For You” (from The South Of Everywhere, Mel Bay, 2007)Kreisberg, guitar; Matt Penman, bass; Mark Ferber, drums.I enjoyed that a lot. Whoever it was presented “The Best Thing For You IsMe” very clearly. Again, the guitar player was amazing.DBThe “Blindfold Test” is a listening test that challenges the featured artist to discuss and identifythe music and musicians who performed on selected recordings. The artist is then askedto rate each tune using a 5-star system. No information is given to the artist prior to the test.JACK VARTOOGIAN/FRONTROWPHOTOS122 DOWNBEAT May 2010