Simplicity is the name of the first song and it certainly describes the lovely opening. The graceful melody ventures to the higher reaches of the guitar before attaining a short burst of strummed intensity, and then returns to the grace and poise of the beginning. I was pleasantly surprised to find that a jazz guitarist could pare down his palette this way in the service of a song.
After such a subdued start, the pace really picks up with the frenetic, muted intro to Machine Gun. Sure enough, the song features machine gun style blasts of notes punctuated by chordal shots. Rafferty slips between muting, chords, and percolating runs with the ease of an old pro, ending with some finely played muted runs. Yeah, he's got chops!
Overjoyed is the third original, harking back to the warm, affecting style of Simplicity. The joy here is more an inner glow of happiness than a shout-it-from-the-rooftops sort. If you listen closely, you can hear "Raf" softly scatting alone with his melody line. He'll treat us to more of this later.
Play It Back, written by Dr. Lonnie Smith, begins with a funky drum intro, courtesy of Mr. Rafferty's vocal apparatus. This is the perfect introduction to the incredible groove that he gets going on his guitar. This is the track I keep coming back to listen to, and to play for friends. We're getting into guitar territory here that Rafferty owns! Various techniques are combined to make one magical piece of music. The only comparison that I can think of is the beginning of the Beatles' "Come Together" - and there were FOUR of them! This is one track that you have to hear.
America is another lovely ballad, reminiscent of Tommy Emmanuel to my ears. The accompaniment is kept simple and in the background, highlighting the beauty of the melody and its seemingly inevitable motion.
Next Rafferty tackles an arrangement of Sir Duke, the first of three great Stevie Wonder tunes in this collection. Sir Duke starts off at a nice crisp tempo, and continues with the verve and swing of the original. The melody is kept right up front, but the accompaniment is beautifully distinct as well - just a wonderful arrangement.
Vitamin E Blues is indeed an energetic blues that starts with a swinging bass, adding in chordal shots and finally a melody of short motives that blends with the rhythm in a cascade of notes that manages to keep swinging with little snippets of bass and drums to keep it moving along. Bluesy but very upbeat. Great ending too.
Jill's Song is a very touching ballad with lots of harmonic depth. Again, the melody is up front with just enough chordal motion to outline the gorgeous harmonies. A sad, reflective sounding beginning leads to a more hopeful (or perhaps remembered) section that only ends up leading back to the start. There is not a lot of variation or development to the ballads; they concentrate on setting moods, and Rafferty does this extremely well. It is a testament to his song-writing that his originals hold their own with covers of such great tunes.
Grass begins with a bluesy opening line played and scatted. This turns out to be a red herring though, as the tune changes abruptly to big strummed chords and bluegrass-style lightning runs. This keeps up at a healthy pace, and with the addition of some very tasty chords and scatting bluegrass and jazz finally meet on one guitar!
OK, I have to admit that Superstition was the first track I listened to when I was deciding whether to buy this CD. It's one of my all-time favourite songs and although I've heard a few attempts at solo guitar versions they just can't seem to get the feel of the whole song. Rafferty's version is by far my favourite. He wisely chose to get the groove and feel of the song right first, and worry less about capturing each and every note. Ironically, this version sounds more like the original than the other "note-for-note" versions I have heard. One note of caution though: The MP3s that I downloaded from CDbaby had an odd skip 3:31 into this track. CDbaby was extremely gracious in handling the complaint and I ended up buying the CD instead.
Norwegian Wood, what a wonderful surprise. Rafferty turns this well-known song into a gorgeous ballad with a Celtic sort of feel. I am still a huge Beatles fan, and I have heard enough lousy versions of their songs to make me skeptical of 'interpretations', but this is certainly a brilliant one. Keeping the best of the original and adding a truly inventive imagination Rafferty has produced a tour de force of an arrangement.
Stevie Wonder fans will be thrilled to find a third arrangement, I Wish. This version combines the original peripatetic bass with Stevie's easily swinging, carefully nuanced delivery. This should answer the question of whether fingerstyle guitar can swing!
The melody of Ain't No Sunshine slowly emerges from a mist of notes and chords. Rafferty begins with slow presentation of the mournful melody, paralleling the devastation of the singer. Vocal percussion ushers in some blues inflections that intensify the mood of loss and the tormented confusion that follows. This is portrayed with some virtuosic playing that leads to a strummed climax, yielding back to the simple grief with which the song began. The song ends with an echoing of the phrase "anytime she goes away", reminding us that this is a recurring problem. I was wondering how such a repetitive song could ever be adapted for the guitar. Now I know.
She's Leaving Home is where my 'discovery' of Adam Rafferty began. A friend suggested I take a listen to this arrangement. Although I am a huge Beatles fan, this is not one of my favourite recordings of theirs. This arrangement was a revelation to me! Rafferty keeps the beauty of the melody anchored in the forefront, underscored by relatively simple and understated harmony. More adventurous harmony adds life to the contrapuntal section of the chorus while highlighting the interplay of the voices. A wonderful arrangement by a guitarist with a fine ear.
This is a great CD that I think every guitarist will want to own. The playing on it is consistently excellent. The recording is very good, although I would have preferred a little less reverb on some of the ballads, if only to enjoy the timbre of the guitar more. The ballads are excellent, and the rest of the tracks really swing. The breadth of guitar techniques is truly incredible but they are never used a sheer pyrotechnics, but always to enhance the music. And terrific music this is!
You can buy Gratitude at Adam Rafferty's web site: www.adamrafferty.com
or at CD Baby (where you can also hear excertps and download it): http://cdbaby.com/cd/adamrafferty