2008-12-01
Rivington Riffs by Eric Shifrin - Review
the listener senses the respect that Gene Bertoncini and Roni Ben-Hur have for each other, especially during the transitions, when the roles of lead and accompaniment are reversed.
Smile - Two Guitar Virtuosos
Album: Smile / Artists: Gene Bertoncini and Roni Ben-Hur / Jazz Guitar
Reviewed by Eric Shifrin
Smile is a relaxed, casual session, produced as a fundraiser for a very worthy cause, The Dizzy Gillespie Memorial Fund, which in collaboration with the Englewood Hospital and Medical Center, comprised of a group of fifty physicians, treats jazz musicians who are in need of treatment, but who are unable to pay.
The musical setting could be referred to as parlor jazz and it is easy to imagine the listening experience as a live show or a noon concert. Guitar duets have not been over used on recordings, although my guitar buddy recalled some which appeared a few years back on Pablo Records, at a time when they had a glut of guitar virtuosity. One such project featured Joe Pass and Herb Ellis.
Bertoncini and Ben-Hur share the same sonic range, and this demands, that at the very least, you need to stay out of the way and make room. It is then and only then, that there can be communication. On Smile, the space is shared, and the listener senses the respect that Gene Bertoncini and Roni Ben-Hur have for each other, especially during the transitions, when the roles of lead and accompaniment are reversed. Not only do the two musicians avoid tripping over one another, but they engage the new section with relish; in other words, they are both listening and having fun!
Gene Bertoncini and Roni Ben-Hur have included a few first rate standards on this album, such as, Cole Porter’s, “I Concentrate On You,” and Harold Arlen’s, “Out Of This World,” both of which feature strong melodies. “Besame Mucho,” is also a high point. Betroncini and Ben-Hur also include a pop tune; Roberta Flack’s hit song, “Killing Me Softly.,” which opens the set.
Gene Bertoncini takes the pretty melody of, “Killing Me Softly,” and roughs it up a bit, with a nice, biting sound, created by plucking his nylon stringed acoustic guitar. When Bertoncini plays in the background, he paints the music with a wide brush and a deep groove.
Roni Ben-Hur uses a thin hollow bodied electric guitar. When he takes, a melody there is more of a Wes Montgomery sound. The two different timbres help you track the voices as the recording unfolds.
My favorite cut is, “That’s Earl, Brother,” a tune on which Ben-Hur lays down a very clean statement of a seldom-heard bebop gem credited to Dizzy Gillespie, Ray Brown and Gil Fuller. This is not an easy tune to play, but there is a definite facility with which it unfolds and stretches out.
Fireworks are in order as the players first “trade fours” and then move into some tight, overlapping interplay. The tune also is one of two which are included and intended to invoke the memory and spirit of the man to whom the album is dedicated, bassist Earl May. The bass player was originally slated to perform on this recording; however, sadly he passed away in 2008. The title track, Charlie Chaplin’s, “Smile,” is the second musical tribute to the upbeat and generous spirit of Earl May. The area in which the hospital provides public jazz concerts will also be renamed in May’s honor.
This set may not push the limits of guitar technology, in terms of special effects or fancy tricks, but one does have, are the honest abilities and personalities of Roni Ben-Hur and Gene Bertoncinci, two guitar players w who are able to solo with imagination and technical proficiency in diverse settings.
Eric Shifrin is a professional musician in San Francisco. Visit Eric Shifrin's website by clicking here.
http://www.rivetingriffs.com/Jazz_Therapy_Vol_1_Reviewed_by_Eric_Shifrin.htm
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