Customer Reviews

Redneck jazz Explosion Vol. II

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While it's hard to go wrong with anything by Gatton, or Emmons for that matter, and there is a lot of great playing here, much of it appears to assembled from whatever was left over after gleaning out the best tracks for the first edition. Also, unlike volume I, many of the mixes on the second volume sound amateurish. Still there are a couple of notable exceptions: "Ode To Billy Joe" & "Canadian Sunset" are really fun. These two "five star" tracks were originally released as bonus tracks on the first CD release of the much earlier recording, "Redneck Jazz," and were mixed and mastered with Gatton himself in the room.

Among most Gatton aficionados the following Recordings are generally considered to be his best. The first two are Danny burning in front of a live audience, and the last two are his best studio recordings:
1. Redneck Jazz Explosion Vol. I- (or Redneck Jazz Explosion - the originl orange cover release, same thing)
2. Humbler: Live - This is Danny playing some of the best Rockabilly guitar ever with singer Robert Gordon.
3. Relentless - With Joey De Francesco
4.88 Elmira St.. - His best commercial studio album, check out "In My Room" - awesome!

Also notable are "Unfinished Business" and "American Music." Both of these showcase Gatton in a variety of musical settings and styles. His version of "Harlem Nocturne" on "American Music" is one of the best guitar tracks of all time; way better than his later remake on "Crusin' Duces."

I'd probably give this a 3.5 if that were an option, but I'll round up. I like a lot about both volumes (this review can be applied to Vol. I). This is not the burning guitar of a recording like 88 Elmira St. - there are very few guitar tricks, and that's one of the things I like about it. Danny and Buddy Emmons are both master musicians, fluent in many styles of music, and for most of these two CDs, they dedicate themselves to playing jazz. It's not jazz-lite, or smooth jazz - listen to them play Clifford Brown's "Joy Spring" and Horace Silver's "Song For My Father". Who else but Danny would throw a quote from the "Rock Around the Clock" guitar solo into a stone bop classic like "Joy Spring?" You don't hear a whole lot in the way of traditional jazz vocabulary, and that's what makes this so interesting and refreshing - it's jazz viewed through a prism of country, blues, and rock. I'm sure some jazz purists would hate it, but that's what I love about it. Jazz has always been an inclusive genre, and with these two volumes, a new wrinkle has been added to the fabric of jazz. There's a feeling of honest music being made, and risks being taken, and in the end, that's what jazz is all about. We need more Redneck Jazz!!