For Joe
Joe Passcame to prominence in the early 1960s as a leader among musicians expanding the technical boundaries of bebop guitar. As jazz became more harmonically complex and the tempos reached the stratosphere, Pass was one of the early few who could match the chordal richness of the pianists and the twisting lines of the horn players. A young Steve Masakowski was impressed and inspired by youthful exposure to the "Pass-master," and withFor Joe, he pays tribute to the guitarist who in his day broke new ground. New Orleans-based Masakowski's rapid lines intersperse with occasional well-voiced, well-placed chords on Pass-associated tunes like "For Django" and "Poinciana", as well as pun-loving originals like "Pass Presence" and "I'll Pass". His idol would have approved of the tight interplay with drummer Johnny Vidacovich, honed through their 22-year association in Astral Project (check out AP's burningElevadoandVooDoo Bopfor astonishment). Any listener seeking soothing sounds will be pleased by the lush warmth of the CD, and the more up-tempo or double-time lines are marked by Masakowski's picking-every-note technique--which limits his swing much as it did his mentor's. Unlike his famous forerunner, Masakowski breaks no new ground here, but he does turn in a performance that would no doubt have made Pass proud.--Michael Ross