Dave Stryker - Keystone

Styles: Guitar Jazz
Year: 2009
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 69:58
Size: 161,0 MB
Art: Front

( 8:26) 1. Keystone
( 8:49) 2. Can't Buy Me Love
( 8:31) 3. Sentinelese
( 5:25) 4. Lady Sings The Blues
( 6:43) 5. The Rose
( 9:20) 6. First Strike
(10:01) 7. Tenderly
(12:38) 8. Watch What Happens

Since earning his spurs playing with Jack McDuff during the 1980s, guitarist Dave Stryker has recorded frequently and effectively as a leader in the decades that followed. Keystone is a solid session with tenor saxophonist Stephen Riley, drummer Quincy Davis, plus up-and-coming organist Jared Gold. Stryker touches many familiar bases, including a driving, funky setting of the Beatles' "Can't Buy Me Love" and a lush ballad setting of "Lady Sings the Blues" (penned by the neglected pianist Herbie Nichols with lyric by Billie Holiday), the latter showcasing Riley's whispering vibrato-laden sax. The standard "Tenderly" has long been a favorite of jazz musicians. This easygoing midtempo rendition features Riley with a breezy background, though it changes to a strutting flavor once Stryker steps into the spotlight. The guitarist has his band stretch out in their performance of "Watch What Happens," giving everyone a taste in a snappy arrangement that never loses steam. The leader's originals also command attention. "Keystone" evolves from a simple riff into a breezy, infectious blues. "The Rose," written for a friend who died far too young, gently sways with tenor and guitar in unison, followed by Stryker's introspective solo. This is yet another outstanding CD in Dave Stryker's vast discography.~Ken Dryden https://www.allmusic.com/album/keystone-mw0002062826

Personnel: Guitar – Dave Stryker; Drums – Quincy Davis; Organ [Hammond B3 Organ] – Jared Gold; Tenor Saxophone – Stephen Riley

Keystone

---