A departure from the type of boring, innocuous elevator Muzak
Earl Klugh
is best known for,
Earl Klugh Trio, Vol. 1
gives listeners a rare chance to hear the guitarist playing straight-ahead
jazz
. Some
bebop
musicians contend that playing dull background music year after year means you can kiss your
chops goodbye, but there's no evidence of that on this rewarding CD. With
Klugh
sticking to acoustic guitar and employing
Ralph Armstrong
on upright bass and
Gene Dunlap
on drums, someone who is best known for recording schlock offers tasteful and lyrical interpretations of such well known
standards
as
"I'll Remember April,"
"Night and Day"
and
"One Note Samba."
also excels on
"Lonely Girl"
(a beautiful but underexposed
Neal Hefti
piece) and pleasantly surprises by demonstrating that the theme from the '60s sitcom
Bewitched
and the
Aretha Franklin
hit
"I Say a Little Prayer"
(written by
Burt Bacharach
Hal David
) can work in an acoustic
setting. Undeniably, this is the best album
ever recorded -- it's too bad it was a departure from his norm instead of a primary direction. ~ Alex Henderson