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| Dave Stryker Strykin' Ahead |
Sometimes when you just do what you do so well you can be
taken for granted. Guitarist Dave Stryker has been around now plying his trade
like a journeyman for nearly forty-years. During his maturation, the Omaha born guitarist did a two-year apprenticeship with the organist Brother Jack McDuff,
and then worked a ten-year stint with the saxophone giant Stanley Turrentine. With
twenty-eight recordings as a leader under his belt, you’d think he would be
better known. His last three recordings Eight
Track, Messin’ with Mr. T and Eight Track II, and his work with the under-the-radar saxophonist Steve Slagle, have all received critical
acclaim. People are starting to notice just how good Stryker is. The guitar icon Pat Metheny said
about Stryker “…he just gets better and
better with one of the most joyous feels around.”
This summer, I had the opportunity to see Stryker as he played with the bassist Nilson Matta in Bar Harbor, ME on a
program titled Samba Meets Jazz. He struck me as a subtle, accomplished player,
not prone to showing off technical prowess, who was well versed in all styles
and whose fluid playing did indeed exude a sense of joyous exuberance
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| Dave Stryker photo Ralph A. Miriello 2017 |
On his latest Strykin’Ahead the guitarist redeploys the musicians that he used so successfully on
his Eight Track II album. The group includes
Jared Gold on organ, McClenty Hunter on drums and Steve Nelson on vibraphone. Boy
can these guys make magic together.
From the cascading opener Stryker’s “Shadowboxing” to the
beautifully realized version of Wayne Shorter’s classic “Footprints,” the
arrangements and execution are nuanced and superb. Stryker knows the strengths
of his fellow bandmates and he employs them with a deft precision. Nelson’s use
of space and Gold’s light touch on the B3 are both exemplary. Stryker’s playing, almost non-chalant, is never flashy, always so confident
and subdued that it can seem deceptively simple. But rest assured it is full of imagination. Hunter is that rare trapmaster who has dynamic propulsion, big ears and exquisite
taste.
Billy Strayhorn’s “Passion Flower” is given a brushed Bossa
beat by Hunter, with Gold’s bass lines pulsing the music forward. Nelson
and Stryker are musical soul-mates; both artisans in their ability to say so much
with less.
Stryker shines on another of his originals “Strykin’ Ahead,”
the fleet intro- Nelson, Gold and Stryker all playing the rapid opening line with
cool precision. With the gurgling pace
provided by the driving Hunter, Stryker’s notes just fall from the guitarist’s fretboard
like raindrops from a cloud. There is a stream of consciousness feel to the way
he attacks his notes, a consistency that produces a smooth organic flow. When this group gets into a groove their cohesiveness is a pure delight.
With guitarists, there is always room for a blues and on “Blues Down Deep” we
get a little window into where it all began for Stryker. No flash
here, just an economy of notes played with a sustained sense of emotional depth,
following in the footsteps of some of his idols. Gold has a marvelous control of his B3, producing sounds that are juicy
with pathos and Nelson’s vibes resonate with bluesy authenticity.
The remainder of the set includes Clifford Brown’s “Joy
Spring,” the Broadway hit “Who Can I Turn To” -where Stryker uses some
Montgomery-like octave work-, and Parker’s tangled “Donna Lee,” which Stryker conforms
to his slipstream style of playing.
Strykin’ Ahead is an immensely satisfying
album that should firmly establish Dave Stryker into the elite ranks of jazz
guitarists working today.
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