Prepare to change the way you think about how the guitar is
played. Prepare to change the way you think about jazz – and, for
that matter, any kind of music with a Latin beat. Prepare to meet
the Robin Nolan Trio.
Mediterranean Blues might be the group’s first
commercially-available CD, but the London-born, Amsterdam-based
group has won themselves quite a legion of fans – not the least of
whom include Willie Nelson and George Harrison. Invoking the spirit
of legendary guitarist Django Reinhardt, Nolan and crew will win
you over literally from note number one.
I have listened to the title track (which opens the CD) at least
a dozen times – and I still can’t believe what I’m hearing Nolan
play on the guitar. With leads that literally seem to dance from
the strings onto the soundboard of the instrument, Nolan sets
things on fire with a Latin-infused style of jazz that will get you
up and dancing. When you get this CD, put it on, and turn the
volume up loud – that’s the ideal way to appreciate every single
nuance of this track… and this CD, for that matter.
Mediterranean Blues has the feel of one of those albums from
the late ’50s or early ’60s that you’d find in your parents’ record
collection. “Friar Park” has such a rich texture to it that you
literally feel like you’re being transported to another time and
another place… and you are not going to want to leave it.
Likewise, tracks such as “Bar Del Pi, “And Then There Were Three”
and “Luna Tango” further seal the power of the trio as possibly the
music world’s greatest unheralded talent.
This isn’t to say that everything on
Mediterranean Blues is perfect. One or two tracks, such as
“Song For Carolyn,” seem to stretch things out a bit too far – and
while I found myself drooling over Nolan’s technique on the guitar,
when he played notes that seemed to go sour on purpose, they made
me wince a bit. Playing the notes in that style was undoubtedly his
intention, though one has to wonder what purpose it had.
Still,
Mediterranean Blues is a charming CD that you will want to
nail down in your CD player and keep spinning until the laser gives
out. Nolan is an absolute genius on the guitar, and this disc all
but assures his place in the history of the instrument. Pick it up
and discover it for yourself… somewhere, Django Reinhardt isn’t
just smiling, he’s happily dancing to this group’s music.
