Abbiamo già parlato di Jim McAuley in occasione della recensione del cd “Vignes” dell’Acoustic Guitar Trio. Allora avevo scritto di McAuley: “ha un suono più folk, ma anche a lui questa categoria sta stretta”. Nulla di più vero e questo eccellente, davvero eccellente cd, non ho paura di parlarne in termini sinceramente entusiastici, conferma le sensazioni precedenti. Jim McAuley appartiene a quella curiosa categoria di musicisti a cui non basta muoversi all’interno delle coordinate note del loro strumento. No, McAuley si pone a cavallo tra altri improvvisatori radicali come Derek Bailey, Fred Frith, Joe Morris e Renè Lussier e chitarristi acustici scuola Takoma come John Fahey e Robbie Basho, le sue musiche, le sue improvvisazioni si caratterizzano per uno stile unico e estremamente personale che però non è mai didascalico: sempre intenso, sempre lirico McAuley non copia mai da nessuno, neanche da se stesso.
Questo nuovo cd, seguito ideale del suo primo album da solista (“Gongfarmer 18″) è una ricca collezione di registrazioni da solista tratta da spettacoli live, registrazioni in studio e casalinghe e ben testimonia l’ampio spettro creativo e poetico di questo chitarrista. Siamo lontani anni luce da qualunque forma di protagonismo musicale mascherato da virtuosismi esasperati, ma se cercate tecniche non ortodosse, accordature aperte, una commistione continua di elementi jazz, blues, folk, elementi classici e contemporanei, questo disco fa per voi.
Molto bella la sua versione del “Saltarello” di Vincenzo Galilei. Uno dei dischi migliori del 2012.

Description: This is the second disc by this dynamic duo featuring Craig Green on electric guitars & electronics and the great Dave King (from Bad Plus, Happy Apple & Gang Font) on drums & organ. This is a spontaneously created duo recorded live in a studio with no overdubs involved. It begins quietly with Dave on ethereal organ and Craig on soft guitar, calmly drifting together. “The Best Western” sounds like a suspense-filled spaghetti western soundtrack with a slow marching groove. The somber, eerie vibe continues on “Blackwell Star Galactica” with more hypnotic organ, laid back mallet-work and ghost-like guitar swirls. The title track is long yet it deals more with mood than with solos, building slowly throughout until the guitar finally erupts in the last section. Both Craig and Dave get a solo piece each as well. The solo piece by Mr. Green consists of layers of drifting drones with some occasional spikes, transporting us to calm yet energized environment. The last piece is titled “1980’s ECM Records” and it does have the rich reverb sound that many ECM records of that era employed. In a blindfold test, one could easily guess Bill Frisell and Jack DeJohnette perhaps and be too far off. This piece works well and feels like a strong conclusion to a fine offering by these two gifted musicians. – Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music GalleryDescription: This is the second disc by this dynamic duo featuring Craig Green on electric guitars & electronics and the great Dave King (from Bad Plus, Happy Apple & Gang Font) on drums & organ. This is a spontaneously created duo recorded live in a studio with no overdubs involved. It begins quietly with Dave on ethereal organ and Craig on soft guitar, calmly drifting together. “The Best Western” sounds like a suspense-filled spaghetti western soundtrack with a slow marching groove. The somber, eerie vibe continues on “Blackwell Star Galactica” with more hypnotic organ, laid back mallet-work and ghost-like guitar swirls. The title track is long yet it deals more with mood than with solos, building slowly throughout until the guitar finally erupts in the last section. Both Craig and Dave get a solo piece each as well. The solo piece by Mr. Green consists of layers of drifting drones with some occasional spikes, transporting us to calm yet energized environment. The last piece is titled “1980’s ECM Records” and it does have the rich reverb sound that many ECM records of that era employed. In a blindfold test, one could easily guess Bill Frisell and Jack DeJohnette perhaps and be too far off. This piece works well and feels like a strong conclusion to a fine offering by these two gifted musicians. – Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery

Description: Featuring Jim McAuley on classical, steel-string, 12-string & slide acoustic guitars and dobro. LA-based guitarist Jim McAuley is a rare musician who bridges the gap between the extreme improvisations of Derek Bailey & Fred Frith and the more roots-oriented work of John Fahey & Leo Kottke. Considering Mr. McAuley has been playing for several decades, he has less than a half dozen discs out. He is member of the Acoustic Guitar Trio with Rod Poole & Nels Cline and has a superb duos 2 CD set (on Drip Audio) with Nels & Alex Cline, Leroy Jenkins and Ken Filiano. As far as I can tell this is McAuley’s second solo offering, his first being Gongfarmer 18 on Nine Winds.
‘Gongfarmer 36’ is a collection of solo pieces for a half dozen different acoustic guitars, some with preparations and a dobro. Some live, some studio, some select out-takes from previous sessions, all improvised. Each piece involves a different approach or strategy. This music is unique and sounds in-between categories. “Second Blooming” is blends intense free, near-flamenco flourishes with furiously paced waves of lines. “Blues for John Carter” (the late legendary clarinet giant) is an intense, harrowing dervish with a number of naked blues licks that evoke the slow dance of ghosts in a lonely graveyard. “Another November Night” is a stark, dark, hypnotic piece for fragile, bent strings altered with a tuning fork. Beyond haunting, scary actually. After listening closely to this disc a few times, I realize that the way one touches or caresses the strings makes the sound different, from ultra subtle to explosive and everything in between. Fragments of certain phrases have different effects on the listener and change depending on our mood or closeness of concentration. “Una Lunga Canzone” involves a series of related melodies or short scenes which are connected subliminally. “Joy Buzzer” features buzzing strings played or muted percussively. It is more about the texture of the sound that effects us. “The Eyes of Buddha” is for 12-string with a slide and it is an extraordinary work. McAuley gets the 12-string to sound like a harpsichord adding an elegant quality to an already mesmerizing epic. There have been dozens of solo acoustic discs released over the past decade (Jack Rose, James Blackshaw & Peter Walker). This disc should be placed near the top of that list! – Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music GalleryDescription: Featuring Jim McAuley on classical, steel-string, 12-string & slide acoustic guitars and dobro. LA-based guitarist Jim McAuley is a rare musician who bridges the gap between the extreme improvisations of Derek Bailey & Fred Frith and the more roots-oriented work of John Fahey & Leo Kottke. Considering Mr. McAuley has been playing for several decades, he has less than a half dozen discs out. He is member of the Acoustic Guitar Trio with Rod Poole & Nels Cline and has a superb duos 2 CD set (on Drip Audio) with Nels & Alex Cline, Leroy Jenkins and Ken Filiano. As far as I can tell this is McAuley’s second solo offering, his first being Gongfarmer 18 on Nine Winds.
‘Gongfarmer 36’ is a collection of solo pieces for a half dozen different acoustic guitars, some with preparations and a dobro. Some live, some studio, some select out-takes from previous sessions, all improvised. Each piece involves a different approach or strategy. This music is unique and sounds in-between categories. “Second Blooming” is blends intense free, near-flamenco flourishes with furiously paced waves of lines. “Blues for John Carter” (the late legendary clarinet giant) is an intense, harrowing dervish with a number of naked blues licks that evoke the slow dance of ghosts in a lonely graveyard. “Another November Night” is a stark, dark, hypnotic piece for fragile, bent strings altered with a tuning fork. Beyond haunting, scary actually. After listening closely to this disc a few times, I realize that the way one touches or caresses the strings makes the sound different, from ultra subtle to explosive and everything in between. Fragments of certain phrases have different effects on the listener and change depending on our mood or closeness of concentration. “Una Lunga Canzone” involves a series of related melodies or short scenes which are connected subliminally. “Joy Buzzer” features buzzing strings played or muted percussively. It is more about the texture of the sound that effects us. “The Eyes of Buddha” is for 12-string with a slide and it is an extraordinary work. McAuley gets the 12-string to sound like a harpsichord adding an elegant quality to an already mesmerizing epic. There have been dozens of solo acoustic discs released over the past decade (Jack Rose, James Blackshaw & Peter Walker). This disc should be placed near the top of that list! – Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery