Musicians: Ron Murray (acoustic, electric guitars); Marty Ballou (bass); Arti Dixon (drums). Guests on tracks 4 and 8: Ronald K.Murray (harmonica); Michael Ciulla (vocal)
Review: New England guitarist extraordinaire Ron Murray dazzles your ears with his new album Romanza.
Picking up his first classical guitar at 14, Murray enjoys many genres. He has studied with several jazz figures including Joe Pass, Barney Kessel and Herbie Ellis. The young guitarist ventured to Stratford, Ontario to attend classes conducted by the Egyptian born classical master Alexander Lagoya. The new release includes two of New England’s finest accompanists. Bassist Marty Ballou pops back and forth between jazz and blues and worked with Ann Rabson, John Hammond, Al Basile and Duke Robillard. His most recent album with Boston’s Cassandre McKinley received rave reviews. Drummer Arti Dixson is a student of Jack DeJohnette and has worked with Larry Coryell, Ahmad Jamal and vocalist Janis Ian. His latest disc is titled Quicker Than The Eye with Rex Cadwallader and Mike Asetta.
Romanza is one of those pieces that everyone can hum but doesn’t know the title. The age of the song is undetermined and it’s now in the public domain and remains a melodic gem. It is a fine opener for the album and gives the listener a taste of Ron Murray’s guitar prowess. Recorded a thousand times since its introduction in the early 1940’s, Besame Mucho appears here with just a touch of Django. Murray and the trio offer as nice a rendition as you’ll ever hear.
The guitarist brings a couple of original compositions to this project. His Tangos Del Amigos exhibits Murray’s dazzling technique while Brazilian Flower shows his way with melodic structure. It’s a very pretty tune.
Romanza will have wide appeal to guitar fans.
Tracks: Romanza; Besame Mucho; Charade; Corcovado; Tangos Del Amigos; Don’t Know Why; While My Guitar Gently Weeps; Vivo Sonhando; Nuages; Brazilian Flower.
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