Prepare to change the way you think about how the guitar is
\nplayed. Prepare to change the way you think about jazz – and, for
\nthat matter, any kind of music with a Latin beat. Prepare to meet
\nthe Robin Nolan Trio.<\/p>\n
\nMediterranean Blues<\/i> might be the group’s first
\ncommercially-available CD, but the London-born, Amsterdam-based
\ngroup has won themselves quite a legion of fans – not the least of
\nwhom include Willie Nelson and George Harrison. Invoking the spirit
\nof legendary guitarist Django Reinhardt, Nolan and crew will win
\nyou over literally from note number one.<\/p>\n
I have listened to the title track (which opens the CD) at least
\na dozen times – and I still can’t believe what I’m hearing Nolan
\nplay on the guitar. With leads that literally seem to dance from
\nthe strings onto the soundboard of the instrument, Nolan sets
\nthings on fire with a Latin-infused style of jazz that will get you
\nup and dancing. When you get this CD, put it on, and turn the
\nvolume up loud – that’s the ideal way to appreciate every single
\nnuance of this track… and this CD, for that matter.<\/p>\n
\nMediterranean Blues<\/i> has the feel of one of those albums from
\nthe late ’50s or early ’60s that you’d find in your parents’ record
\ncollection. “Friar Park” has such a rich texture to it that you
\nliterally feel like you’re being transported to another time and
\nanother place… and you are not going to want to leave it.
\nLikewise, tracks such as “Bar Del Pi, “And Then There Were Three”
\nand “Luna Tango” further seal the power of the trio as possibly the
\nmusic world’s greatest unheralded talent.<\/p>\n
This isn’t to say that everything on
\nMediterranean Blues<\/i> is perfect. One or two tracks, such as
\n“Song For Carolyn,” seem to stretch things out a bit too far – and
\nwhile I found myself drooling over Nolan’s technique on the guitar,
\nwhen he played notes that seemed to go sour on purpose, they made
\nme wince a bit. Playing the notes in that style was undoubtedly his
\nintention, though one has to wonder what purpose it had.<\/p>\n
Still,
\nMediterranean Blues<\/i> is a charming CD that you will want to
\nnail down in your CD player and keep spinning until the laser gives
\nout. Nolan is an absolute genius on the guitar, and this disc all
\nbut assures his place in the history of the instrument. Pick it up
\nand discover it for yourself… somewhere, Django Reinhardt isn’t
\njust smiling, he’s happily dancing to this group’s music.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":28162,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[7657],"rating":[5613],"class_list":["post-39559","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-robin-nolan-trio","rating-rating-a-minus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/39559","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39559"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/39559\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28162"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39559"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=39559"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=39559"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}