"Just Us" (CD)
"Listening Music from Buster???"
There has never been any doubt that Buster Jones has a
tremendous amount of talent - I've never questioned that. But, to
my frail ears his energy and enthusiasm in playing his electric nylon
stringed guitar always seemed to exude a little too much speed and
distorted sounds coming from his instrument for my total listening
pleasure. I always love watching him perform because he's very
funny and has wonderful left and right hand techniques - obviously a
great talent.
Then a couple weeks ago I had a lengthy trip to drive
down to the wake of our good pickin' buddy, Willis Crocket. So, I
threw his new "Just Us" CD in the player to give it a quick
listen and much to my surprise (and, enjoyment) I found a whole new
Buster!!! Seventeen tunes all done with a flare of delicacy and
soulful playing that caught me completely off guard. Oh, yea -
there's a couple old Buster "crank 'em up's" in there, but he
jokingly warns you they are coming. But, even those he has
tempered greatly. (He doesn't warn you about Alabama Jubilee -
but, I defy you to figger out where he's pickin' those runs... wow..)
But, on the whole the entire album is extremely tastefully and expertly
done - especially the title song, "Just Us" and Flamenco
sounding composition of his "Pierpaolo." He puts his
"thumb pick" to work on one of my other favorites "Let
The Sun Shine In" - brings you right out of yer chair....
Whether his mellow performances were brought on by the
"thoughts and emotions brought to mind by his two good friends and
soul mates, "Merle" and "Pearl," or his recent
mortality check and brush with bad health - it doesn't really matter.
What matters is that this CD album is a very welcomed change in Buster
for this listener - and, has found it's way into my limited set of
traveling CDs... Yep - believe it or not - "listening
music" from Buster, and I highly recommend it to one and all.
Palmer Moore - Organizer
Ohio Fingerstyle Guitar Club
www.ofgc.net |
