Newsgroup: it.arti.musica.rock
Titolo: Phil Upchurch, qualcuno l'ha mai sentito?

Ho trovato questa recensione del suo "Darkness, darkness" (2 LP/CD, 1971) e
mi ha intrigato parecchio.  Prima di ordinare il isco mi farebbe però
piacere il parere di chi già lo conosce.
DavMar

 ha scritto nel messaggio
news:btqcp4$a9gmg$1...@ID-153157.news.uni-berlin.de...

 Recorded in 1971, shortly after he departed Cadet Records in Chicago where
he served as a prime sideman to both Curtis Mayfield and Jerry Butler,
guitar king Phil Upchurch headed for the West Coast and Blue Thumb Records.
Produced by Tommy LiPuma, Upchurch's Darkness, Darkness is his
quintessential (double) album, full of laid-back funky grooves, elegant,
mind-blowing guitar work, and in-the-pocket string and horn arrangements (as
well as some fine Fender Rhodes work) from Donny Hathaway with legendary
session bassist Chuck Rainey and smooth jazz piano great Joe Sample in the
house. Upchurch is one of the rare guitarists who can walk the line of jazz,
blues, rock, soul, and funk and fold them all into one another without
sacrificing anything in the process, and that is displayed on countless
occasions here. On the cover of the Youngbloods on the title track, Upchurch
leaves all the fuzz tone and distortion of his early work behind him for the
shimmering cleanliness of the West Coast sound. He gets the dirty grooves
through the notes, not the effects, bringing out a funkier side of the Jesse
Colin Young tune than its author ever knew existed. Hathaway's spare, tasty
muted horn arrangements follow in counterpoint to the melody, creating an
extended harmony that acts almost as another voice. On "Fire and Rain," the
James Taylor nugget that was a current hit, Upchurch begins tenderly,
wringing the melody slowly and purposefully from the guitar before the
keyboards and strings reach in and grab hold of it. Forced to respond, he
chunks up with large Wes Montgomery-styled chords and knotty fills for the
piano and horn lines, cascading like water in the background. He increases
the tempo and turns it out as a funky soul tune, resonating with the
haunting melodic invention that brings it back to its rooted, poignant
lyric. And while these tunes signify Upchurch as capable of turning even the
most melancholy of folk tunes into funk-driven boogaloos, it's on the soul
tunes where he shines brightest. His covers of James Brown's "Colt Sweat,"
Percy Mayfield's "Please Send Me Someone to Love," and Marvin Gaye's "Inner
City Blues" carry the record into the pop stratosphere. While the rock music
was danceable and inspiring to begin with and was reinvented both
structurally and emotionally by Upchurch's playing, it's when he digs into
classic R&B material that things really start to happen. He plays with so
much soul and sticky groove that he wrings every sweat-drenched ounce of
emotion from these songs and turns them into anthems of funky transcendence.
There isn't anything extra in his silky approach, but there is a profound
knowledge of when to move and when to slip, slide, and groove through these
charts that is a trademark for Upchurch. No one could take a raw tune like
"Cold Sweat," smooth it out, an still give it the tough, minimal, feeling
read that Upchurch does here. His fingers are flying all over the place but
are never outside the reach of the rhythm section. Never. Darkness, Darkness
is the soul-jazz album of 1971 to beat, and one of the finest albums of its
genre ever released. Upchurch is a genius and this album proves it beyond
doubt.
Magari così va meglio :))
DavMar

 ha scritto nel messaggio
news:btqcp4$a9gmg$1...@ID-153157.news.uni-berlin.de...

Bah, io ho il disco LOVE IS STRANGE  e devo dire che lui e' un chitarrista
non molto tecnico ma molto coinvolgente, dal suono caldo e mi e' piaciuto
abbastanza. Inoltre con lui cantava Mavis Staples che e' una delle cantanti
che preferisco e quindi bel sound sul genere soul, rhythm 'n' blues vecchio
stile.
Non conosco quel disco, ma lo comprerei se il prezzo non e' astronomico.
Ciao
Gigi

 Non conosco quel disco, ma lo comprerei se il prezzo non e' astronomico.
Mille grazie.
DavMar