Phil DeGruy - Just Duet (2004)

Tracklist

01. Looney Tunes
02. Lenny's from Heaven
03. Opening Arguments
04. Swedish Pastry
05. Out-Sourcing
06. Softly, As in a Morning Sunrise
07. King of the Road
08. When I Fall in Sequence
09. In a Semi-Mental (Monk's) Mood
10. Barbara
11. Nitrite Train
12. The Nun with the Dirty Habit
13. Harmonic Circumcision with Chrome-Atic Nippers
14. How Incensed!
15. Pardon Our Progress - Expect Delays
16. The Lithiumless Train Conductor (Can't Get Off)
17. Ugly Beauty
18. Black Hole Blues

First, the dry background: Phil DeGruy is a guitarist from the Lenny Breau/Chet Atkins school of fingerpicking (he actually studied with Breau) whose Guitarp (a seven-string guitar with ten additional harp strings to extend the upper register) takes Breau's artificial harmonics concept/vocabulary to an entirely new level (for more info, check www.guitarp.com). His technique is unbelievable and he's got chops to spare, equally at home playing standards or crazed improv. He is also an evil punster. Just Duet places him in the esteemed company of several amazing and very different guitar players, playing, you guessed it, a series of duets. The first track is DeGruy solo (the only solo track), playing a quick version of the "Looney Tunes" theme. Virtuosic, almost absurd and highly entertaining, it sets the stage for the rest of the program perfectly. To be expected, the cuts with players like Larry Coryell, Steve Masakowski, and Hank Mackie (DeGruy's teacher) are relaxed duets firmly in the jazz guitar tradition. Mike Stern and Charlie Hunter add a bit more grit to the proceedings, while Reeves Gabrels and Tronzo basically throw the rulebook out the window. The album is stitched together brilliantly, with the songs segueing into each other almost imperceptibly in most cases. Most of the tracks with Tronzo are fairly brief, acting as interludes (or outer-ludes, more precisely) between longer cuts. It's this type of rampant eclecticism that's equal parts blessing and curse. Proper "jazz guitar" buffs are likely to be thrilled by the beauty of "Lenny's from Heaven" with Larry Coryell or the Horace Silver cover ("Barbara"), but might well be frightened by "Opening Arguments" with Tronzo. People who are led to the album due to Tronzo or Gabrels' presence might be put off by the opening album cuts, which aren't particularly adventurous in the avant-garde sense. However, open-eared listeners are in for a great ride (and a few laughs) and albums like this should be mandatory for aspiring guitar players as it displays a truly broad range of what can be done with the instrument. But it shouldn't appeal to only guitar players; Just Duet is an album of uncommon breadth and wit, and a simply dazzling display of technique and musicality.