Published on Sep 28, 1998
There are an awful lot of things you can do to a rock and roll
beat… maybe even some that Kenneth Starr hasn’t thought of yet.
But — oddly enough, when you think about it — if there’s one
thing I can’t do with rock and roll blasting away in the
background, it’s write.
I discovered the solution to this serious dilemma at some point
in my second or third year of college, way back when heavy metal
dinosaurs roamed the earth. I think it may have been the night I
tried to turn out a last-minute political science paper to the tune
of “You Shook Me All Night Long” — no, wait, it’s that damned
Starr report scrambling my memory banks again.
In any case, the musical punchline to the story is that one of
my roomies (not an AC/DC fan, clearly) turned me on to Larry
Carlton.
Carlton, one of the most well-traveled and well-regarded session
guitarists of the 70s, gradually moved from providing expert
support for the likes of Steely Dan, Joni Mitchell and Quincy Jones
to producing his own solo instrumental material, quickly
progressing into that perilous no man’s-land known as jazz-pop
fusion. You could characterize jazz-pop fusion as music that makes
jazz players ask where the jazz is, pop listeners ask where the
singer is, and your average booking agent ask where the future is.
A ticket to wide airplay and big sales, it generally ain’t.
Carlton had one distinct advantage, though: he turned out to be
one of the finest jazz-pop fusion guitarist/composers ever.
Kid Gloves in many ways sums up Carlton’s long career,
incorporating many of the thematic elements he has returned to
again and again. There’s jamming light jazz, featuring
swinging/stinging by-play between electric guitar, keyboards and
sax (“Oui Oui Si”); sweet acoustic verse-chorus pop (the title
tune); grooving, soulful, George Bensonesque fusion (“The
Preacher”); and extended, bluesy soloing (“Where Be Mosada?”).
He also makes sure to throw in a cleverly arranged instrumental
take on a classic pop song, “Just My Imagination,” a worthy
successor to his Grammy-winning instrumental take on the Doobie
Brothers’ “Minute by Minute.” (Trivia Quiz time: Carlton also did a
nice cover of “Layla” on his 1989 album
On Solid Ground, and his other Grammy win was for co-writing
the theme to
Hill Street Blues with Mike Post.)
As always, the performers Carlton brings together to play with
him on
Kid Gloves are among the absolute class of the session
world, from widely heard and highly melodic Nashville keyboardist
Matt Rollings, to rock-solid rhythm section Abe Laboriel (bass) and
John Ferraro (drums), to sax man supreme Kirk Whalum.
This album, like all the best of Carlton’s 20-plus
solo/collaborative fusion albums, is pure brain food, music you can
work — and yes, even write — to and finish feeling refreshed. Of
course, it makes nice background music for a romantic evening, too
— but that’s YOUR business, not mine.