Blindfold Test BY DAN OUELLETTE Joel Harrison Joel Harrison is a restless guitarist with a prolific recording history, including work with his 18-piece jazz orchestra. He has also served as the founder/producer of the Alternative Guitar Summit in New York, where artists present their new projects and collaborations. In his Brooklyn practice room, Harrison took his first Blindfold Test. Charlie Hunter “We Don’t Want Nobody Nobody Sent” (Everybody Has A Plan Until They Get Punched In The Mouth, GroundUP Music/Universal, 2016) Hunter, guitar; Kirk Knuffke, cornet; Curtis Fowlkes, trombone; Bobby Previte, drums. I don’t know who this is. I love that live Chicago blues feeling. This person is playing a raw, emotional blues-based tune that, in my mind, is what the electric guitar was built for. This sounds like somebody whose roots are pre-Robben Ford. It’s not wild like Buddy Guy or regal and nuanced like B.B. King. Instead it’s someone who’s listened to jazz and has off-kilter voicings and who knows how to pull a string. Nice tone. I love it. 4½ stars. [after] It’s Charlie Hunter? I’m shocked. I’ve never heard him play like this, and he’s playing like an old soul. He really has listened to and incorporated so much of the blues tradition. Frank Zappa “Gee, I Like Your Pants” (Shut Up ‘N Play Yer Guitar Some More, Ryko/FZ, 1995, rec’d 1979) Zappa, lead guitar; Warren Cucurullo, Denny Walley, Ike Willis, rhythm guitars; Tommy Mars, Peter Wolf, keyboards; Arthur Barrow, bass; Vinnie Colaiuta, drums; Ed Mann, percussion. Wow. The technique is off the charts … . I love that jazz-rock ’70s sound, like John McLaughlin, but of course that’s not John. This person sounds like a European, but I don’t know. I don’t think I’ve heard this album, but 5 stars. Awesome. Well, is this Dweezil Zappa? [after] It’s Frank? It’s been so long since I’ve listened to him play guitar, but I’m embarrassed to say that I have this album but haven’t listened to it in 20 years. Sonny Sharrock “Promises Kept” (Ask The Ages, Axiom/Island, 1991) Sharrock, guitar; Pharoah Sanders, tenor saxophone; Charnett Moffett, bass; Elvin Jones, drums. I know where this is coming from. That sounds like Pharoah on tenor sax, so that must mean that the guitarist is Sonny Sharrock. Sonny’s in my history, but I didn’t listen to him closely. But he informed the playing of people I really love. This is just unbelievable. Nobody plays like this. This was a time where the level of intense emotion and desperate urgency was in the air. The tone of the instruments and the way they were playing them, it was like getting punched in the face. While I gave other [tracks] a 5 , this must be a 6. These guys are just pouring their guts out. I don’t hear that enough these days. On drums, I believe that’s Elvin Jones. Pat Metheny “Zero Tolerance For Silence, Part 3” (Zero Tolerance For Silence, Geffen Records, 1994) Metheny, guitar. It’s not Marc Ribot, but it’s in close proximity. It’s striking and original, and the effects were like an older-sounding Electroplex. 5 stars, but I don’t know who this is. [after] That’s another record I own that I haven’t listened to in 20 years. I bought it when it first came out because I was so intrigued Pat would do an album like this. Milt Jackson/Wes Montgomery “S.K.J.” (Bags Meets Wes!, Riverside/Concord 2008, rec’d 1961) Montgomery, guitar; Jackson, vibes; Wynton Kelly, piano; Sam Jones, bass; Philly Joe Jones, drums. Oh, this is so real. This was from a great time in America when swing was still going full force. These people were born with it. It sounds like the Wynton Kelly Trio with Wes as a guest, and then there’s Milt Jackson’s Joel Harrison vibes. It sounds very unproduced, which I love. I don’t like the later Wes, when he was overproduced. You can’t just give Wes Montgomery a 5 because every record he recorded sounds perfect. So 6 stars and beyond. The highest number possible. Hoosegow “Mighty” (Mighty, Homestead, 1996) Elliott Sharp, guitar; Queen Esther, vocals. Whoever this is listened to all the old masters. This is someone trying to sound like Son House and doing a damn good job at it. [after] Elliott’s not a guy who wants to play in a cultured, mild manner. He’s resourcing the real blues, but he’s not an imitator. 5 stars. James Blood Ulmer “Church” (from Odyssey, Columbia, 1983) Ulmer, guitar; Charles Burnham, violin; Warren Benbow, drums. It sounds overdubbed. And who’s playing a violin with a wah-wah? It sounds like Charlie Burnham. Now, who would be playing with Charlie? I’m stumped. I’ll give this a 4—it’s too monodimensional in its trajectory. But I love the soundscape. [after] I think he sounds better live than on record. But here’s another guy who can make a guitar speak. He resources all the guitar’s history. He’s speaking a language—not playing licks. McCoy Tyner “Boubacar Traore”/”Baba Drame” (from McCoy Tyner Guitars, Half Note/McCoy Tyner Music, 2008) Tyner, piano; Bill Frisell, guitar; Ron Carter, bass; Jack DeJohnette, drums. It sounds like Bill [Frisell] playing Malian music. I’m wondering who he’s playing with because he rarely plays with pianists. It’s McCoy? How did I miss this record? So, Frisell, definitely 5 stars—beautiful and entrancing and yet so simple. He resides in a favorite place among the gods. DB The “Blindfold Test” is a listening test that challenges the featured artist to discuss and identify the music and musicians who performed on selected recordings. The artist is then asked to rate each tune using a 5-star system. No information is given to the artist prior to the test. COURTESY OF ARTIST 106 DOWNBEAT FEBRUARY 2017
FEBRUARY 2017 DOWNBEAT 107