Good Hands
Danny Caron Good Hands   Like such guitar masters as Johnny Moore, Billy Butler, and Eric Gale, Danny Caron walks the fine line between blues and jazz with uncanny command. The Oakland picker found a like-minded cohort in Charles Brown and, in the early 1990s, masterminded the fallen blues superstar's resurgence. Brown, who died in 1999, turns up on the guitarist's debut CD, Good Hands, singing and playing piano with support from just Caron and bassist Ruth Davies on a couple of ballads that exceed the intimacy of many of Brown's celebrated comeback recordings. The remaining nine tunes were cut more recently and feature Caron in instrumental combo settings with either organist Jim Pugh or pianist John R. Burr providing the harmonic underpinning. Caron originals mingle with material associated with Billy Butler, Gatemouth Brown, Brook Benton, and Duke Ellington, and Caron's fingers slice the melodies like a warm knife through sweet butter, his thoughtfully sculpted lines matching the assertive grit of the blues tradition with the grace and fluidity of a true jazz improviser. Soul jazz doesn't get much better   or bluer.   Lee Hildebrand --Lee Hildebrand: SF Bay GuardianTHE CARON MAN CAN:  One of the most respected musicians on the West Coast lives in the Bay Area and has just released a superb CD, his first as a leader, that shows his musical ingenuity, integrity and taste.  Danny Caron, a guitarist of impeccable aplomb has just released "Good Hands" on his own label and it's one of the best releases of the year.  Danny's spent time backing up a who's who of players, including Marcia Ball, Clifton Chenier, Bonnie Raitt, John Lee Hooker, Van Morrison, Ruth Brown, Etta Jones, Donald Fagan, Dr. John, Little Milton, John Hammond Jr. and many others.  Equally at home playing jazz, blues or modern Zydeco and then some, Caron is also known for having been guitarist & musical director of the late, beloved pianist/vocalist Charles Brown over the last decade plus of the Mr. Brown's remarkable career.  Danny has included a previously unreleased track of his and Brown's that is worth the price of the recording. --Joseph Jordan: Southland Blues