Sandy Bull - Still Valentine's Day 1969 (2024) [Hi-Res]

Visionary modal folk-blues melder Sandy Bull enchants on this first vinyl pressing of recordings culled from two live shows in 1969, which previously only reached CD in 2006 - RIYL Loren Connors, Sir Richard Bishop, John Fahey . Alexander “Sandy” Bull (1941-2001) pioneered East/West modal folk, classical and blues fusions in the early 1960s but is one of those artist whose work would come to be best appreciated after his passing. ‘Still Valentine's Day 1969 - Live At The Matrix, San Francisco’ documents him in the midst of years recording for the Vanguard label between 1963-1972, when he had roughly polished a singular blend of styles that were also emerging in jazz music, but in his hands were pronounced with a more folksy allure. Song to song he effortlessly switches between oud and electric guitar against tape loop backdrops, variously taking on Bach in a shimmering slant on ‘Bouree’, and adapting Brazilian jazz guitarist Luiz Bonfá’s love song ‘Manha De Carnival’ for oud and tape loops for a spellbinding 10 minutes, whilst also offering his take on Chuck Berry in a balmy sort of exotic style edging on Martin Denny or Mike Cooper, perhaps thanks to the cruddy fidelity that comes a ghostly part of the recording. The original solo works are ace , too, from the porto-loren Connors type of amp play on ‘No Deposit, No return Blues’ to a pair of ‘Improvisation for Oud’ parts that surely begat Sir Richard Bishop and the haunting, arabesque geometries of his ‘Electric Blend’ bits.

Tracklist:
01. Sandy Bull - Introduction (00:33)
02. Sandy Bull - Bouree (03:20)
03. Sandy Bull - No Deposit, No Return Blues (08:47)
04. Sandy Bull - Manha de Carnival (09:53)
05. Sandy Bull - Improvisation for Oud (03:46)
06. Sandy Bull - Electric Blend (12:17)
07. Sandy Bull - Improvisation for Oud 2 (05:49)
08. Sandy Bull - Memphis, TN (05:32)
09. Sandy Bull - Electric Blend 2 (09:24)