Customer Reviews

I'm Beginning to See the Light

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

We lost Stephane Grappelli a few years ago. Luckily, Martin Taylor and David Grisman, men who delighted Grappelli greatly are still with us and still swinging.

This CD is an absolute joy from its first note to its last. The songs are old standards, ones that were in the Grappelli repertoire. They are performed with a skill and lightness that is delightful. The mikes even caught some of the joshing during the session.

If anyone out there is familiar with the Chester and Lester sessions, Chet Atkins and Les Paul, this CD has a similar flavor.

Both Martin Taylor and David Grisman are superb musicians so it is not surprising they play together so well that one would think they had been for years. This is an excellent C.D., but what really makes it a cut above the rest is the subtle (but never understated) percussion work of George Marsh and the outstanding bass work of Jim Kerwin. Kerwin's solo in "Exactly Like You" is delightful and unique to this type of music. This music is appropriate any time of day or night, but for a real joy, play it on a rainy Sunday afternoon while you are curled up with a good book or someone you love. By the way, there is a track #13 not listed and I think Martin Taylor is playing the mandolin - and playing it well.

Some musicians, like fine chefs, make it look so easy. David Grisman is one of them. On the CD, "I'm Beginning to See the Light," the prolific mandolinist extraordinaire is joined by Scottish guitar virtuoso Martin Taylor and veteran Grisman Quintet members Jim Kerwin and George Marsh (on bass and drums/percussion, respectively) for one hot little album. While the song list is comprised of many well-loved standards, such as "Autumn Leaves," "Makin' Whoopee," "Lover Man," and "Cheek to Cheek," the Taylor/Grisman Quartet seems to have so much fun preparing its stew and adds enough incredible seasonings to the pot to make Emeril shout, "Bam!" As Don Stierberg, who penned the liner notes, says: "Music need not be trendy to be great." I wholeheartedly agree. (C.A. Carlino)

After the purchase of several of Marty's cds i'm here to tell you he is simply great. The man is as much a natural guitarist as one could be. He really knows how to highlight a song and not stand in the way with his ego.

For this cd Mary played a bunch of beautiful ballads. Did I say ballads, well this is my passion, ballads. I can never get enough of this wonderful music.

The arrangements that Marty used were out of site. He really played these songs with much emotion and feeling. After hearing these wonderful performances I was in the mood for love and other light things.

For those of you, guitar lovers, this cd is for you. It is a must have cd.

This album featuring Martin Taylor and David Grisman is a real gem. The standards are treated with the respect that comes from a true understanding and appreciation of the rhythm with which they were originally written. Really enjoyable jazz.

Martin Taylor completely dominates this album. As a jazz guitar player myself I was in awe of his playing on this project which can be summed up by one word, tasteful! Every note he plays is perfectly "in the pocket" but yet still incredibly tasteful at the same time. The rhythm section is also amazing. They complement Martin Taylor's playing with true musical maturity. My only dislike concerning this album is David Grisman. There is nothing tasteful or mature about his playing. On several songs Taylor will play a solo that brings tears to your eyes only to have Grisman ruin the moment by coming out of the gates in his solo with some blazingly fast distasteful licks that seem to be striving to showcase his technical ability. All in all i could have done without David Grisman on this album.

Skip this one, it's not Marty's best work(but what is???), thsi cd isn't at all romantic, and it just doesn';t do it for me, I'm sorry I love jazz, but this cd just doesn't have the charisma, or communication to the audience, what kind of funky instrumentation are they using, and the songs are just plain overdone, I think the problem here is the band, it doesn't take a rocket scientest to figure out that this cd should never have been released, sorry, but i can't recomend this cd.

This is just plain boring swing, there is no zing in the arrangements to make it special, or worth listening to more than once, this went straight from the cd player, into the waste basket. Not even one good uptempo song on the whole set. Boo!