Track Listings (12) - Disc #1| All Artists: Richard Leo Johnson Title: Language Members Wishing: 2 Total Copies: 0 Label: Blue Note Records Original Release Date: 9/26/2000 Release Date: 9/26/2000 Genres: Folk, Jazz, Special Interest, New Age, Pop Styles: Contemporary Folk, Experimental Music, Meditation, Relaxation Number of Discs: 1 SwapaCD Credits: 1 UPCs: 724352432929, 0724352432950, 724352432950 |
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Search - Richard Leo Johnson :: Language
 | Richard Leo Johnson Language Genres: Folk, Jazz, Special Interest, New Age, Pop
Arkansas native Richard Leo Johnson has drawn comparisons with the late Michael Hedges and John McLaughlin, but the essence of Johnson's far-reaching guitar sound is grounded in mountain bluegrass and folk music, as well a... more » |
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Amazon.com Arkansas native Richard Leo Johnson has drawn comparisons with the late Michael Hedges and John McLaughlin, but the essence of Johnson's far-reaching guitar sound is grounded in mountain bluegrass and folk music, as well as jazz and left-of-center classical, with a nagging nod to New Age. Johnson's second Blue Note offering finds the 12-string virtuoso in a collaboration, of sorts--he cut the initial tracks solo, then sent tapes to various musicians, including Oregon's Paul McCandless, drummer Matt Wilson, and the ex-Allman Brothers guitarist, Warren Haynes. The musicians returned their taped contributions, and the assembled sounds create a band, again, of sorts. There is an occasional sense of clutter, amplified by Johnson's spectacular technique, a blitzkrieg of bluegrass string hammers, soaring, bell-like harmonics, funky chordal slides, pretty fingerpicking, and scalding, fret-devouring melodic runs. The opening "Hip Hop Zep" is a blast of everything that makes Johnson so unique, from riveting full-guitar body slaps to lush picking. "Event Horizon" recalls Pat Metheny's high-plains soaring (with lots of surreal hammering effects), while "New West Helena Blues" is a dead ringer for a supercharged Leo Kottke. Two of the best tracks, "Sketches of Miles" and "Freestone Peach," are with Warren Haynes. Unlike the New Agey tracks with Paul McCandless, Haynes's authentic blues slides and ringing sustained single notes make Johnson sound more grounded and give his songs greater substance. But with humorous jigs ("Chuck Soup"), Indian-tinged standards ("Cheek to Cheek"), and father-daughter duets ("Daddydaughterduo"), Johnson is obviously not at a loss for material. Language is a full-course meal. --Ken Micallef Similarly Requested CDs
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CD ReviewsScary and beautiful Gayla D. Paul | Cedar Rapids, IA United States | 06/22/2002 (5 out of 5 stars) "The first couple of listens I didn't like this as much as I liked Fingertip Ship - I LOVED Fingertip Ship! The thing about this CD is, Richard's playing gets overwhelmed by production sometimes, and for me, the grace and intensity of him just sitting there playing the damn guitar is breathtaking. After a few more listens I started to get more comfortable with it, and now I don't like it less or more, just differently.Richard is one of the most incredibly, purely creative people on the planet today, and anything he does is going to be earthshakingly good. My opinion? You ain't seen nothin' yet." Compelling and diverse Nobody important | 02/18/2001 (4 out of 5 stars) "Every time someone starts talking about the newest discovery of a guitar wizard, I get nervous. Generally, it means that yet another person has acquired a record deal because he can play as fast as Kottke, or plays a Michael Hedges percussive style, but has nothing creative to add to the genre. What caught my eye about this album, though, and got me into Richard Leo Johnson was the record label-- Blue Note (it helped when I noticed that Warren Haynes of Gov't Mule and formerly of the Allman Brothers makes a few guest appearances, though). Why on earth would a jazz label put out an album from some new age hack? I was curious enough to give the album a try, and it's good. If you like Preston Reed, you'll probably like this. RLJ has a unique compositional sense that comes only from being self-taught, and every piece, even those he didn't write, sound uniquely his own. He combines odd rhythms, odd tunings, odd and occasionally dissonant phrasing, and all-around odd techniques to make everything on this, and Fingertip Ship (well worth owning) sound, that's right, odd. The recording technique is equally odd- none of the many musicians who contribute to this album were ever together. They recorded their parts entirely separately, which at times gives the pieces an awkwardness, but also means that each part is recorded with more individuality than can be achieved in a traditional recording format. At times, this album does sound like that annoying, new age fusion garbage that has flooded the music scene (Paul McCandless' horns helped in many places, but hurt in others, although if you are a fan of his band, Oregon, you probably won't mind as much as I do), but it also has flashes of brilliance that blew me away. If you're looking for pyrotechnics from other modern solo acoustic guitarists with some compositional sense, here are a few to check out-- Preston Reed is the master of two-handed tapping and percussive playing; Adrian Legg is about the best finger-picker I've ever heard; and to broaden your horizons to some experimental brazilian/classical guitar, Badi Assad has filled the gap left by the death of Bola Sete. If you really feel like broadening your horizons, check out Steve Tibbetts (who is not a solo guitarist, but is required listening anyway), particularly his self-titled debut album, if you can find it, which is mostly acoustic guitar and recording tricks. RLJ is carrying on the Tibbetts tradition of true experimentalism."
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