Jack West and Walter Strauss Defy Classification with "Guitars of Life"

Jack West and Walter Strauss-Guitars of Life-Ota records

 

Acoustic guitar virtuosity of another color has been introduced to me with the distinctive acoustic album released in late January on Ota records. The duo album is titled Guitars on Life and features Bay Area based Jack West and his foil on this album, Walter Strauss. West has created his own following by creating a unique groove-centric acoustic guitar style. He utilizes his skillful abilities to create both bass and percussive effects simultaneously, as he plays his acoustic steel string guitar. Strauss, is another talented California based guitarist, who has built a reputation by incorporating Americana and interweaving it with African inspired rhythmic elements. For lovers of pure, unadulterated, acoustic magic, these two guys create a surprisingly satisfying set of music that exudes joy, creativity and is recorded live with no overdubs.

The album includes eight songs, the cover Stevie Wonder’s “I Wish”; all others co-composed by West and Strauss “More Guitars”, “Youth”, “Across the Bardo”, and “New Way Up; Double Bounce”, “Follow the Water Down”, and “OO”.

Jack West and Walter Strauss photo by Mitch Tobias

The music is played with an exuberance that cannot be staged. There is no pyrotechnics or electronic enhancements here, the music just flows out of these two accomplished guitarists. West is a virtual rhythm section onto himself, incorporating bass lines, percussive accompaniment and fluid slide work. Strauss’s facile finger picking is seamless and almost creates its own chant-like drone at times. You will undoubtedly find your own favorites on this fine album, but for me the rhythmically driven opener “More Guitars” provided a real chance to enjoy some intuitive interaction on display by these two. The two offer a unique take on Stevie Wonder’s “I Wish” that reimagines this classic in a way that is retains the song’s soul while still intimate by using this hybrid Americana approach. 

Strauss’s ostinato driven “Double Bounce” has a real down-home funk to it. Feel your body start to absorb the groove. West’s combined bass-line and percussive rhythmic approach drives this one, and some fine finger picked lines by Strauss makes this one irresistible.

West’s “Across the Bardo” is another favorite, and  opens with Strauss’s drone-like finger picking as West’s glass slide work brings you to a new place. The music weaves elements of the blues, folk-inspired percussive rhythms, Americana, and a feel that recalls some of Irish folk music’s pathos.

The music of Guitars on Life certainly is hard to classify and why should we have to label it? There is a lot here to enjoy. These two draw from multiple inspirations, and when they mix them all together we get a very well performed set of music that has all the elements of what makes creative music so vibrant, exciting, and unpredictable.

Tony Bennett mesmerizes at Atlanta’ Symphony Hall July 24, 2018

On a warm Tuesday night, at Atlanta’s beautiful Symphony Hall, a beloved figure of American music entertained an adoring audience. The maestro, Tony Bennett, quickly approaching his ninety-second birthday in August, embodied what is meant by the Mack Gordon lyrics “You Make Me Feel So Young.” Energized by the sold-out crowd, many who came to pay homage to a lifetime of over sixty years of epic performance art, Bennett entered the stage to a standing ovation and to the music of Michel Legrand’s marvelous “Watch What Happens.”  The place was charged. The symbiotic relationship between the warm and humble crooner and his audience was palpable. This exchange of energy is the very elixir that keeps the man vibrant, relevant and endearing. He is loved and adored, and he absorbs this tremendous outpour with rare humility and grace, which makes us love him even more.

His voice started with a raspy, slightly gravelly tone and a somewhat diminished range, but what he now lacks in vocal acuity he more than makes up with in his profound understanding of how to deliver a lyric. He is a consummate storyteller who captivates your imagination with his rich embellishment of its meaning. Take his wonderful rendition of the Gordon Jenkins classic “This is All I Ask.”  The lyrics now so much more relevant for a man in his nineties then when he first sang it back in 1963 at the age of forty-three. “As I approach the prime of my life, I find I have the time of my life, learning to enjoy at my leisure all the simple pleasures. And so, I happily concede, this is all I ask, this is all I need.”  The audience responded with a spontaneous round of applause as he sang these words to life.

In a conversation with Marc Meyers on his blog Jazz Wax in 2017, Bennett explained the importance of his relationship with the audience.

"I listen to the audience and feel their enthusiasm. Then I go along with that. I feel their spirit. I'm reacting to what's happening out there, and that's how the show becomes a reality. Once I know the audience is enjoying me, that they love what I'm doing, I'll do something different in response. It's almost as if we're having a conversation in the dark."

Bennett’s vitality was remarkable. Throughout the one-hour performance he never sat once, only occasionally leaning on the piano.  He walked erectly and with confidence, occasionally circling his bandmates and pointing to them, generously sharing the spotlight, encouraging the audience to shower his fellow musicians with applause. The band was made up of guitarist Gray Sargent, pianist Tom Rainier, bassist Marshall Wood and drummer Harold Jones. Since Bennett admittedly doesn’t prepare specific endings for the songs he elects to sing, the band must be capable of responding instantly to his flights of improvisation, which they did for the most part seamlessly.

Bennett and company ran through the Great American Songbook, swinging with Gershwin’s “I Got Rhythm” done in double time. A master of timing and dynamics, Bennett switched to the Ellington classic “In My Solitude,” where he first sang with restrained aplomb. He skillfully built the tension along the way until the coda, where he surprised many with an explosive ending that he belted out with affirmation, much to the delight of the crowd.

He ran through the repertoire, with most songs timing in at the radio-friendly three-minute mark. The songs included “It Amazes Me,” “Steppin’ Out with My Baby,” “But Beautiful,” “Our Love is Here to Stay,” “My Foolish Heart,” and “Because of You.”  Bennett proceeded with a short medley that included Hank Williams “Cold, Cold Heart,” one of his early hits “Rags to Riches” and his classic “Who Can I Turn To,” which has long been a staple of his repertoire. The music continued with “Just in Time” and “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” and was followed by “The Good Life” which found the singer shouting the words “Wake Up, kiss the good life goodbye” in a powerful display of passion and bravado. It was almost as if he the wise nonagenarian was shaking the audience by the lapels, imploring them to enjoy the life they have every minute of every day. His fans responded several times during the evening to give Bennett a standing ovation. The unspoken question in everyone’s mind was “How can this guy still do what he does at such a high level?” The answer- It’s all about the love. The love Bennett has for his craft, the love his audience showers on him because of his honest integrity and warmth and the love of the music that seems eternal in its message, especially when delivered by one of the all-time masters of the art of singing.

The program continued with “The Music Never Ends” which was decidedly appropriate for this tireless performer. Guitarist Sargent moved centerstage to do a moving duo with Bennett on the Johnny Mandel standard “The Shadow of Your Smile” from the 1964 movie The Sandpiper which had the crowd salivating for more.  Bennett was warmed by the rapturous response and so he mined some more of his treasure trove continuing with Stevie Wonder’s “For Once in My Life” and then giving the audience what they were all waiting for, his signature song “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” which despite his diminishing range he pulled off with an amazing display of sheer will and polish. Sensing his audience was peaking, the master showman continued with “Who Cares” before finishing for the finale “Fly Me to the Moon.”  His voice carrying the seventeen hundred seat hall even without the aid of a microphone.

Bennett embraced himself in a demonstrative gesture, showing his deep appreciation for his audience, throwing them hugs and kisses, raising his hand upward in solidarity, basking in the adulation and was almost hesitant to finally leave the stage. But as he has once opined, timing is an important part of entertaining.  

"Know when to get off. You can't stay out there too long. You have to be aware when you've done enough. That often happens at the high point of an audience's reaction during the evening. When I hear that moment, I often say to myself  'I can't get a stronger reaction than this.' I usually leave soon after, on that high note."

Mr. Bennett, with all due respect, you can never stay too long in my book.

Here is one of my favorite Bennett collaborations with the great pianist Bill Evans from 1976. It's just timeless.