Heavy
Jim Campilongo has patiently amassed a loyal following in San Francisco by performing regularly in clubs and now and then putting a tasty assortment of instrumentals together on an album.Heavy, his third collection with his "cowboy jazz" ensemble the 10 Gallon Cats, is a welcome addition to the guitar virtuoso's uniformly appealing oeuvre. The follow-up to the ballad-ladenTable for One(credited to the Jim Campilongo Band, which is the same core group with steel guitarist Joe Goldmark stepping aside in favor of accordionist/Hammond B3 player Rob Burger) is aptly named: with the exception of the pensive "Tiramisu,"Heavyconsists of gutsy, aggressive workouts built around the heated tradeoff solos between Telecaster master Campilongo and Goldmark. Not afraid to mix yucks in with their licks (is that "Aqualung"'s signature riff at the beginning of "Pat and Patsy"?), Campilongo and company have come up with another winning instrumental set that should expand his following.--Steven Stolder