Melodic Storytelling

Melodic Storytelling

Bruce Von Stiers

The jazz world has some really cool guitarists. There is Earl Klugh and Larry Carlton. I've reviewed a couple of guitarist Lee Ritenour's albums. Then there is Russ Freeman who leads The Rippingtons, who I've also reviewed in the past. And there's also Pat Matheny and a host of jazz guitar giants no longer with us, such as Wes Montgomery.

Another cool jazz guitarist is David Boswell. Starting out in rock bands, Boswell became very interested in the essence of jazz guitar. This interest was enhanced by having attended a Pat Matheny concert and later being able to study under Matheny, Jack DeJohnette and Dave Holland for a short time.

While working with rock bands, Boswell became a known studio and session musician. Building on his studies of film scoring at UCLA, Holland began recording with a number of Broadway stars. During this time, Holland also led his own jazz trio. This interest in jazz cumulated in several albums, including the well-received Bridge of Art and I Like That.

This year finds Boswell with brand new album. The album is titled The Story Behind The Story.

Boswell co-produced the album with Jimmy Haslip of Yellowjackets fame. Haslip also played bass on three of the songs.

The album has nine songs and a play time of forty six minutes. It was released on the My Quiet Moon Records label. Boswell composed all but one song on the album.

Mitchel Forman plays piano on a couple of songs. He's played and recorded with a who's who of top named artists including Wayne Shorter and Pat Matheny. MB Gordy is on drums for most of the album. Besides contributing to the music of umpteen films, Gordy was the drummer and percussionist for the Doobie Brothers in the early 2000's. His list of recording and touring credits are too large to include here. Scott Kinsey played keys and piano on two of the songs. The list of top artists Kinsey has played and recorded with takes up a whole paragraph. Gary Novak is on drums for one song. His credits include playing David Sanborn and Lee Ritenour. Otmaro Ruiz has recorded with Herb Alpert and Arturo Sandoval. He plays the keys and piano for one song on this album. Like Gordy, Bart Samolis has contributed to many film's music, along with recording with many other artists. He plays bass on several of the songs on the album. Andy Snitzer plays saxophone on two songs on the album. His recent credits include recording albums with The Rolling Stones, Paul Simon and Little Steven.

Miraculous is the song that starts out the album. It is a mellow piece that showcases Boswell's guitar playing.

A Los Angeles Minute is a really cool piece that made me think of The Rippingtons.

Innocence is a soft and gentle piece with nice bass and keys backing subtle guitar. But just at the end of the song things pick up with some fast paced keys.

The title track, The Story Behind The Story, is an interesting piece. There is some great guitar, but there is also some great bass, piano and drums. The mixture of sounds meld well together.

Prayer For The Planet is a gentle and endearing piece, with an almost Spanish tone to it.

Then there is the fairly fast paced song, Alta. It has a kind of groove vibe. There is some really cool drum and keys in the song.

The Wind In Her Hair is a gentle love ballad.

Los Olivos is a very fast paced Latin influenced piece with cool guitar and backing drums.

The album ends with The Sun And The Moon. The song starts out with a slower pace, highlighting guitar and drums. Then it picks up with some terrific sax.

As he was influenced by and studied under him, David Boswell's music is sometimes compared to Pat Matheny. Listening to the album, I could tell a little bit of the influence, but Boswell really has his own style. Even though the songs centered on Boswell's guitar playing, there were a lot of solos by the other artists that greatly complemented that playing.

If you like cool, melodic jazz guitar, you are sure to like The Story Behind The Story.

Boswell's official web site has samples from the album. You'll find his site at https://www.davidboswell.com/

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