Mild Leo Kottke

Leo Kottke (born September 11, 1945) is an acoustic guitarist. He is known for a fingerpicking style that draws on blues, jazz, and folk music, and for syncopated, polyphonic melodies. He overcame a series of personal obstacles, including partial loss of hearing and a nearly career-ending bout with tendon damage in his right hand, to emerge as a widely recognized master of his instrument…

Leo Kotke's 1995 release, Leo Live, is a welcome addition to his repertoire. Kotke has gotten past his earlier reluctance to perform vocals, and his voice here sounds comfortable and assured on tracks like "Room at the Top of the Stairs" and the talking blues "Jack Gets Up." Yet, as is characteristic of his style, it's his instrumental work on cuts like "Peg Leg," "Little Martha," and a mellow version of the old classic "Twilight Time" that show the artist in peak form. Kotke's mildly "Oddball" proclivities may come through in song titles like "I Yell at Traffic" and "Flattened Brain," yet whatever he names it, his playing is consistently top of the mark. Definitely recommended.

Leo Kottke - 6- and 12-String Guitar (1969) {Takoma TSA-6503-6 rel 2004}
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© 1969, 2004 Takoma / Fantasy | TSA-6503-6
Finger-Picked Guitar / Progressive Folk / Jazz Blues / Contemporary Folk / New Acoustic

Leo Kottke's wide-release debut came about after he sent a cassette to John Fahey's Takoma label. Not surprisingly, it recalls Fahey's work in a number of respects: the synthesis of numerous influences from blues, pop, classical, and folk styles, the weirdly titled instrumentals, even the tongue-in-cheek liner notes. Kottke's brand of virtuosity, however, is more soothing and easy on the ear than Fahey's. It's far from sappy, though, the rich and resonant picking intimating some underlying restlessness, like peaceful open fields after a storm. Establishing much of the territory Kottke was to explore throughout his career, this release was also one of his most popular, eventually selling over 500,000 copies.

Leo Kottke - Ice Water (1974) {One Way Records S21-18458 rel 1996}
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© 1974, 1996 Capitol Records / One Way Records / GEMA SP | S21-18458
Contemporary Folk / Finger-Picked Guitar / Progressive Folk / Jazz Blues / New Acoustic

This is a good record, though not the Leo Kottke album to start with, as it is not representative of his usual work – it's mostly a vocal record, and a very country-flavored record at that, with Kottke's baritone, reminiscent in some ways of Leonard Cohen (and even moving into what one might consider Jim Morrison territory), serving as the dominant instrument on six of the ten tracks. His flashy 12-string playing and Cal Hand's Dobro do come to the fore on "Tilt Billings and the Student Prince." Tom T. Hall and Ron Elliott of the Beau Brummels are among the songwriters represented. Among the intrumentals, "A Good Egg" is just the kind of light-fingered, light-textured virtuoso piece that one buys a Leo Kottke album expecting to find, and much of the rest shows off his talents in some unexpected directions. The sound on the One Way label CD reissue is first rate as well.

Leo Kottke - Burnt Lips (1978) {Chrysalis–BGO Records BGOCD259 rel 1994}
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© 1978, 1994 Chrysalis Records / BGO Records | BGOCD259
Finger-Picked Guitar / Progressive Folk / Contemporary Folk / New Acoustic

The subjects of death and betrayal permeate this understandably dark album. Opening with the Nick Lowe chestnut "Endless Sleep" as a slow acoustic blues, this unpredictable guitar un-star also sings about "Sonora's Death Row" and offers the opinion that "Everybody Lies." His always problematic singing assumes a prominent role, which might not be the best strategy. He showcases his string wizardry on "A Dull Thud" and several other instrumentals.

Leo Kottke - Guitar Music (1981) {Chrysalis F2 21328 rel 1985}
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© 1981, 1985 Chrysalis Records | F2 21328 / DIDX 1444
Finger-Picked Guitar / Progressive Folk / Jazz Blues / Contemporary Folk / New Acoustic

Guitar Music is an album by American guitarist Leo Kottke, released in 1981. The album is all solo guitar played on a Gibson J-45 and a Lundberg-Martin 12-string. A classic 1981 release, "Guitar Music" is a self-explanatorily-titled instrumental album by one of the most wide-ranging guitarists of his era.

Leo Kottke - Regards From Chuck Pink (1988) {Private Music 259 641}
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© 1988 Private Music | 259 641
Contemporary Folk / Finger-Picked Guitar / Progressive Folk / New Acoustic

This 13-song set of instrumentals purports to explore, in Kottke's words, "lifetimes or moments…that have not only endured but prevailed against the test of Pink." Chuck Pink, that is – a personified force of self-censorship and blame. Kottke's always been good at tagging his songs with quirky titles, and Chuck Pink is no exception, with tunes like "I Yell at Traffic," "Dog Quiver," and "Theme From Doodles."

Leo Kottke & Mike Gordon - Sixty Six Steps (2005) {RCA Victor 82876 68909-2}
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© 2005 RCA Victor | 82876 68909-2
Finger-Picked Guitar / Progressive Folk / Americana / Contemporary Folk / New Acoustic

The second collaboration of Leo Kottke with ex-Phish bassist Mike Gordon finds the duo exploring breezy Caribbean sounds, with a few surprise covers. The musicians work wonderfully together, with Gordon's meaty yet malleable bass grounding and darting around Kottke's distinctive and agile fingerpicked lines. Percussion reinforces the island sound (the album was recorded at the famous Compass Point Studios in Nassau) and provides a terrific backbone for the album's tropical approach. Neither Gordon nor Kottke have great (or even good) voices – the bassist's is particularly thin – but they admirably dig into the songs, singing on about half of the tracks with a charming, easygoing quality that suits the material and shows they are enjoying this ride.