Customer Reviews

Sleight of Hand

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

 

 

There are few that have an ability to play guitar at the level that Jimmy Bruno does. He has become a force in the Jazz world playing with such grace and taste. His influences are numerous, but his sound is distinctly his own. A definite master of the guitar, he plays seven strings as easily as six, and plays six here as if it were thirty-six. "Slight of Hand" is his debut album as the front man for his trio.

The album opens with the bluesy "Egg Plant Pizza". It starts with a quiet intro solo before the band jumps in. His playing is quick and furious, but smooth. With the number of notes he plays, you never feel like he's overdoing it. Another fun tune is "Wheat Thins" where Bruno and his bassist, Pete Colangelo, double-up on the melody playing a couple of octaves apart. Again, the guitar work is amazing. The Samba sounding "Manha de Carnaval" has a great Latin-Jazz flavor to it. The rhythm is carried by the Edgardo Cintron Orchestra, and gives Bruno a lot of area to play over. His phrasing is amazing, and he moves from in to out and back in without standing your ear on end. There is a lot of fancy work in this piece that will make your jaw drop. This is probably my favorite cut from the album. The orchestra sticks around for "Tenderly", which pairs Bruno up with a piano.

Everything on this album is great. Bruno's own tunes are fun, and he makes his covers his own with his touch. With a debut album such as this, you wonder how he could have stayed in obscurity for so long. If you like more traditional sounding guitar jazz where everything isn't played through a synth, or just like good guitar work, then this is an artist for you, and what better place to start than his first. Bruno is one of my all time favorites, I hope you enjoy him too.

Bruno(g) Pete Colangelo (b) Dr. Bruce Klauber (d)

The new boss jazzman of Philadelphia, Bruno is a thrilling guitar player. He is particularly exciting on up-tempo tunes (EGG PLANT PIZZA, WHEAT THINS, and LIONEL'S HAT), where his fiery technique is best on display. This CD seems to get better as it plays from track to track; the last 5 tunes are all superb, whether done fast or slow. Worth getting.

Jimmy Bruno has done his homework and has clearly studied and understands the greats. But more importantly, he has progressed beyond mere imitation to develop a sound and feel all his own. He covers a number of bases, and his style is very engaging - you almost feel as if he and the band are in the room with you just hanging out, playing some music. A few of the songs are a little overproduced and that keeps it from being 5 stars for me, but overall, I highly recommend this disc.

This is my initial acquaintance with Jimmy Bruno on disc and it won't be the last. He has an impeccable technique and is able to play rapid passages where each note is cleanly articulated. At the same time I personally was emotionally drawn in to the music and have been playing his disc over and over. It is nice to find some one who has been outside the awareness of most jazz enthusiasts and yet is a player of the first rank. A real find for me.

Jimmy Bruno is, no doubt, a very competent guitarplayer. But somtimes it seems to me, that it is more important to him to play solos in a very, very fast tempo, than to think of the "music" in his solos