After decades of recording for RCA Victor, Atkins switched labels; this 1985 effort is a summit meeting of sorts with young guitar hotshots like Larry Carlton, George Benson, Mark Knopfler, Steve Lukather, and Earl Klugh, plus session A-teamers like Boots Randolph, Larrie Londin, David Hungate, Mark O'Connor and others. Atkins' tone is, as usual, faultless, and his playing superb. If the "meetings" don't always come off, it's usually due to the overzealousness of the other guitar players (Lukather's over-the-top style screams '80s big hair, for instance), not Chet, whose playing always exercises the utmost in restraint in every situation. All in all, a good modern-day Chet Atkins album, but not the place to start a collection.
One of the more underrated guitarists in rock is Steve Lukather. Best known for his work with Toto, Lukather is a highly sought-after session player, having played on countless albums by other artists, and has no problem adapting his playing to a wide variety of different styles. Lukather also finds the time to sporadically issue his own solo albums, and in 2001, he issued a live collaboration with fellow session guitarist Larry Carlton, No Substitutions: Live in Osaka. As expected, plenty of guitar showcases for each player are provided, especially on a pair of over-14-minute tracks – "The Pump" and "All Blues" – as well as an album-closing rendition of the Carlton classic "Room 335." Not exactly a groundbreaking jazz-rock guitar release, but fans of each guitarist should enjoy hearing each show their stuff on-stage.
Derek Smalls, formerly of the band, formerly known as Spinal Tap, is back! The bass force of the fabled heavy metal band announces his return to centre stage with the release of his first full length solo venture, his new album Smalls Change, Meditations on Ageing. The album will be released globally on April 13, 2018 on Twanky Records / BMG on Digital, CD and Vinyl.
Unless you frequent Los Angeles clubs like The Baked Potato and La Ve Lee, chances are you haven't heard of keyboardist David Garfield. But you've heard him. Appearing on over a hundred albums, Garfield has worked with artists like trumpeter Freddie Hubbard and guitarist Larry Carlton. He's a co-founder of Los Lobotomys and Karizma, two fusion-based jam bands that have included drummers like Vinnie Colaiuta and Simon Phillips, as well as guitarists Steve Lukather and the perennially-underrated Michael Landau. No recording dates are listed on The State of Things, but Garfield's clearly been working on it for years, given that a third of the tracks feature Carlos Vega—a versatile drummer who appeared on literally hundreds of albums before passing away tragically in 1998. This fusion-centric effort features many of LA's best session players, but in many ways it's as much Landau's disc as it is Garfield's. He pays tribute to Jimi Hendrix on a version of "If Six Was Nine that—as blasphemous as this may sound—might actually be an improvement on the original. While his tone says rock, his lines say jazz as he demonstrates complete facility navigating changes on the swinging version of Miles Davis' "Milestones and a more delicate mainstream take on John Coltrane's "Naima. He exhibits his more textural side on "Me and kicks things into extreme high gear on the greasy funk of "Five Storks and the more overtly rocking "Black Cadillac.
Four CD solo anthology from the American singer/songwriter and former Fat Chance member. This set contains 70 remastered tracks tracing the respected solo career of LaBounty, covering virtually the entirety of his solo albums. Includes 18 unreleased demos and five songs from the debut album Promised Love, which has never been released on CD. Features musical assistance from James Taylor, Larry Carlton, Jeff Porcaro, Willie Weeks, Steve Lukather, Lenny Castro, Robbie Dupree, Patti Austin, Jennifer Warnes, Steve Gadd and many others.