Customer Reviews

Alone & Together

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Imagine that you're going to an intimate cafe with a friend. As you sit down to chat, you notice that gentle, melodious sounds are coming from a man finger-picking a guitar in the corner. Hunched over the guitar, he seems to almost be playing for himself. Your conversation with your friend pauses for a moment and you both notice that he's playing a melody you recognize (perhaps "Isn't She Lovely" by Stevie Wonder or a jazz standard like "Summertime" by George Gershwin). As you start to really pay attention to his playing, you realize that the player is skillfully slipping between different genres and musical references not just between songs but within a song. Not only that, but his intricate playing sometimes seems to drift from the song altogether into a sort of musical meditation or journey. Soon you and your friend have stopped talking altogether and are just listening to the guitar player who occasionally breaks out of his reverie and looks up to acknowledge someone's applause. On the way out of the cafe later in the evening, you overhear someone say that other musicians in the area just call him "the incredible Dave Black".

I stumbled across Mr. Black at the St. Louis Art Show in September and was duly inpressed - yes sir, duly impressed! I probmptly went out and got the CD. His jazz is smooth, his fingerings are subtle and slick, and the rhythms are funky. Most of the tracks are solo but the few joint ventures are good too. This Masquerade has some nice vocals and the harmonica in Summertime howls like a hound dog. And if you like blues, check out St. Louis Blues, it's a classic. Most guys who like guitar are hackers themselves and I'm no exception but I can appreciate when someone rises above the crowd. Give this disc a whirl - you won't be dissapointed.