Geoff Muldaur And Amos Garrett - Live In Japan (Reissue) (1979/2008)

Guitarist Geoff Muldaur, one of many artists to emerge from the folk, blues, and folk-rock scenes centered in Cambridge and Woodstock, was already a well-known blues performer at the time he met up with old-time folk enthusiast Jim Kweskin. Sharing the bill at a 1963 concert in Boston, the two shared many musical interests, and when Kweskin was approached by Vanguard Records, he brought Muldaur into his group the Jim Kweskin Jug Band. This association led to many successful albums and marriage to the group's fiddle player Maria D'Amato (later Maria Muldaur). Four years and five successful albums later, the couple migrated to Woodstock, NY, where they became part of a new musical community that included Bob Dylan, the Band, Paul Butterfield, and many other notable artists. They divorced in 1972, and Geoff began producing local and national blues artists, as well as making his own recordings. He also composed scores for film and television, earning an Emmy in the process, and his definitive recording of "Brazil" was featured in Terry Gilliam's film of the same title. Muldaur has toured Britain, Germany, and Ireland, and appeared at Carnegie Hall, Royal Festival Hall, the Kennedy Center, "A Prairie Home Companion," the San Francisco Blues Festival, and the Winnipeg and Edmonton Folk Festivals. After breaking away from his solo recordings and performances in the late 80s, Geoff returned to the studio for 1998's The Secret Handshake and 2000's Password while a live performance during this resurgence, Beautiful Isle of Somewhere, was released in 2003. His blues-folk stylings are born of respect for music's history, from the perspective of a contemporary artist very much of his own era.

Detroit native Amos Garrett began working as a professional guitarist north of the border in Toronto. There he played with the Dirty Shames, a folk jug band, before moving on to the country-rock-oriented Great Speckled Bird at the invitation of Ian and Sylvia Tyson. Maria Muldaur's "Midnight at the Oasis" featured his guitar playing, as did Anne Murray's "Snowbird." Other artists who utilized his talent include Stevie Wonder, Emmylou Harris, Jesse Winchester, and Paul Butterfield. His studio work led him to California, and he continued to record with other artists. Later, with the Eh Team backing him, Garrett also put out his own recordings, more than half a dozen, on Stony Plain Records. In 1989, his album The Return of the Formerly Brothers, garnered a Juno Award. The release also featured Gene Taylor (formerly of Downchild, the Blasters, and later the Fabulous Thunderbirds) and Doug Sahm of the Texas Tornados. Garrett and the Eh Team continue to play night spots in Canada; he resided in Alberta. He toured Japan in 1990 with stops in Kyoto, Osaka, and Tokyo. The concerts there found their way onto a live album in 2001.
Acoustic AlbumGarrett released Acoustic Album in 2004, which featured his instrument in a meld of swing, country, blues, and American Songbook standards, while he continued to tour.
Get Way Back: A Tribute to Percy Mayfield In 2004, he employed a full band and released one of his finest offerings in Get Way Back: A Tribute to Percy Mayfield, which featured unique yet respectful interpretations of 11 of the blues songwriter’s tunes. Garrett toured the album at festivals across three continents.
Jazzblues With most of his time spent touring, Garrett didn’t release another album for five years. When he did, it was a concert recording entitled Jazzblues with his trio -- guitarist Keith Smith and string bassist Greg Carroll. The album also featured guest vocal performances from Roberta Donnay and John Hyde. It was followed two years later by Guitar Heroes and another live date that featured him co-billed with axe slingers James Burton, Albert Lee, and David Wilcox.