Grateful Heart: Blues & Ballads
Ronnie Earl is an astonishing technical guitarist. Even when he plays lightning-fast or oddly syncopated passages, his fingering is immaculate and his phrasing is sinuously fluid. Earl has never quite harnessed his rare ability, however. His tendency to overplay when he was a member of Roomful of Blues only got worse when he left to become his own bandleader.Grateful Heart: Blues & Balladsindulges the worst habit of such crossover-jazz projects: noodling.  Earl and his bandmates meander through the chord changes with no emotional impetus behind them, no destination before them, and no hurry to get anywhere in particular.--Geoffrey Himes