Italian flatpicking guitarist
Beppe Gambetta
's second album for
Gadfly Records
is a collection of tracks, many of them
Gambetta
originals, dedicated to other flatpickers he admires. Thus,
Don Reno
's
"Dixie Breakdown"
is earmarked "to
Mark O'Connor
," and
's own
"1000 Flatpickers at the Court of King Norman"
is "to
Norman Blake
." As that song title implies,
never feels restricted to a single guitar line; the album is heavily overdubbed with multiple passes, all by
until the end. Most of the disc is instrumental, though
does step in to sing occasionally, notably on
Woody Guthrie
"Hard Travelin',"
demonstrating that his mastery of rural English has improved despite a slight Italian accent. He concludes the disc with a couple of live performances, joined by friends:
"Painting the Clouds with Sunshine"
("to
Eddie Lang
") is a collaboration with mandolinist
David Grisman
, and
"Why You Been Gone So Long"
features
Gene Parsons
on banjo and
Martino Coppo
on mandolin. The tribute theme of the album is something of a gimmick, but it does provide a structure for
to hang some of his own characteristically fast and fluid playing on. ~ William Ruhlmann