OMe hate ae Tee AU uel nik Jos nerstats ET tonert jos by Tanner Photograph My In the middle of a Saturday night engagement ata packed Blue Mote nightclub in New York City in eazly August, Ear] Klugh interrupted his regular sat of potent smooth-jazz anthems like "Dr Macumba” and "Cabo Frio" to introduce a young talent from the audience. A lean, 16-year-old acoustic guitarist named Matt Wong took the stage and joined Klugh fora relaxed rendition of the wistful Tin Pan Alley tune "Blue Moon’ which went over well with the audience. Then Klugh and his band lef the stage. giving up the spotlight to young Wong, who performed a dazzling rendition of 30 october 2013 jansie the1968 Mason Williams instrumental "Classical Gas That kind of gene same thing happened to Klugh, who tumed 60 ly and selfless mentoring is rate But the very in September, when he was an aspiring 16-year-old guitarist working in a Detroit music store ‘That's where iconic jazz saxophonist, world-music pioneer and fellow ‘Motor City native Yusef Lateef fist discovered Klugh and plucked him ‘out of obscurity to appear on his 1970 Atlantic album Suite 16 Itwas Khugh’s first ime in a recording studio, and he appeared on jst one les tune "Michelle The follow: track. asoulfulrendition of The Be S scrieo Trusted by over milion members Try Scribd FREE for 30 days to access over 1: Bey aro co everything a tote and it rrkes Bete CE -croed when you rer ireis roe site- thi Iknow how Tfelt when I Deactas eet ng year, guitarist George Benson took the gifted 27 year old under his ‘wing recruiting him to play on his second CTH album —1972's White Rablit —and, subsequently, totour Klugh, who looks today lite he hasr't gained a pound since the release otis seltitled breaks given to him atthe beginning of his career, which is why he's payingit forward now “Hook back on everything that 've done. and st makes you feel good when you can pass ton." he saysin a reflective tone. “Eecause [know hovr I felt when Iwas that age. Any Lttle bit of Five Good Klughs Earl Klugh set the template for smooth jazz with his pleas- ant recordings throughout the "70s. Four decadeslater, he's still cranking out soothing sounds. Of his 30 releases, these five are especially outstanding —BM ‘A Finger Paintings (Blue Note, 1478) —This is troduced two popular smooth groove tunes, “Dr Mi “Cabo Frio” which the guitariststillincludes in his set list today. album that mba" and Also included is an instrumental cover of Orleans’ soft-rock hit “Dance With Me" and a full-band version of Kiugh’slovely “This Time‘" which he reprisesasa solo piece on Hand Picked 4 Late Night Guitar Blue Note. 1980) —Klugh’snyion-string guitaris surrounded by a full orchestra on several pieces on this casy-listening set. including lush treatments of" Mona Lisa’ and “IllNever Say Goodbye * But the real gems here are his beauti- ful, unaccompanied renditions of “Smoke GetsIn Your Eyes; “Laura” and “Tendenly.” which hint at solo outings to come. ‘A Two of a Kind (Blue Note/Manhattan,1982]—The second encounter between Klugh and pianist Bob James (a follow-up 101979's Oneon One) is grounded by drummer Harvey Macon, and includes such buoyant numbers as Klugh’s “Where I ‘Wander’ and Mason's upbeat “Whiplash.” ‘A Collaboration (Warmer 10s, :987)—Pupil and teacher team uponthis Tommy LiPuma-produced smooth funk jazz offering ‘that pairs Klugh’s finger style acoustic with George Benson's as tonushingly fluid gustar ines and wordless vocals. The rhythm tandem of drummer Harvey Mason and bassist Marcus Miller ‘keeps everything in the pocket here while the two principals ly ‘ANaked Guitar (Koch, 200s) — Klugh’s second solo-guitar outing, a Grammy-winner, includes eloquent readings of “The Summer Knows,” “All the Things You Are” and "Moon River,” as well as a lovely bossa nova rendition of The Beatles’ “I Want to Hold Your Hand" Shearing, who took the 21-year-old guitarist on his fist European tourin1974. There's also a stirring treatment of Vince Guaraldi 1963 instrumental hit “Cast Your Fate to the Wind.” which, interest ingly enough, was included as a solo piece on It’s a Guitar World, the first Atkins album that Klugh bought. back in 1967 ‘Lsewhere on the album, Klugh engages in intimate duets with special guests Bill Frisell ("Blue Moon’), Vince Gillan intimate take on The Bverly Brothers'hut “All Have to Dos Dream") and ukulele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro (a scintillating version of The Eagles ‘Hotel California”) As the album ttle suggests allofthe guests ike. "I've known Bill for some years now,” Klugh says. We dida Night of Guitars'show together with guitarist Russel Malone at The Manchester Craftsmen’: Guild m Pittsburgh in 2007, and we had such a great time. think we prepared about 26 ig, and ‘Blue Moon’ was ene that remember werehand. sounding really good. felt a very close affinity with Billthat evening He's one of a kind — a great player, great person and but album in 1976, will never forget those big 25 million titles without ads or interruptions! areal Anytime. help or inspiration that you can give a kid s well worth t Sol enjoy it Of course the Grammy-winning guitarist had other mentors along the way. notably the late, legendary guitarist Chet Atkins, ‘whom Klugh continues to credit in the liner notes of his albums. ‘As he wrote about Atkins in the thank you section of his lat st CD, the brilliant solo-guitar outing, Hand Picked (Heads Up Intemational): “The luckiest day of my life was seeing you on The Perry Como Show! You changed my life!” ‘was not only Atkins’ six-stringmastery but alsohis wide stylistic range that fascinated the 13 year-old Klugh when he first caught the Country Gentleman in 967 on his parents’ television set. "Iwas already playing finger-style guitar” he recalls. “Thad been taking formal lessons witha guitar teacher in Detroit who wasa big Chet fan. So when [finally sawhim on TV, Linstantly related to him because he played with a thumb pick and fingers” After that Perry Como show, Klugh went out and bought his frst ‘Atkins album, 1966's I's a Guitar World, which included versions of Ray Charles’ ‘What'd I Say" and The Beatles' “For No One "At that point, Chet was definitely my guitar hero," Klugh says “It was just ‘amazing what he was able to do. A lot oft was just the technical aspect of playing the guitar, but alot of it for me was that Chet was able to play so many styles of guitar and play them all extremely well S01 got into different style of guitar playing just from listen: ing to his recordings, which I stocked up on over the next several ‘months after buying that frst one. just sit in my room and drop theneedle onall that vinyl. trying tolearn those licks.” Eleven years later. in 1978, Klugh appeared with. George Benson ona memorable “Soundstage” television special that aired on PBS. Together the three distinctive six string styl: ran down an eclectic program which mcluded Luiz Bon‘a's haunt sng Brazilian number “Manha de Carnaval,” Don Gibson's loping country tune "Oh Lonesome Me, the classic jazz jam vehucle “Cherokee and a rendition of John Philip Sousa's anthemic “Stars and Stripes Forever." “That show was really well received,” Klugh recalls. “it really blew up out of nowhere and gave a big boost to ns and ry career at that point” ‘Atlans'indTuence is traceable through all 30 of Klugh’s record- ngs as a leader, right up to Hand Picked, which debuted at No.1 con Billboard's Contemporary Jazz chart. Unfortunately, much of Klugh’s work on past albums has been marred by vanulla arrange- ‘ments seemingly intended to appease rather than challenge his uudience. Listeners who prefer more dating and provocative fare hhave accused Klugh of being a poster boy for smooth Jazz, a sub- derisively Jblum” But a guitarist with serious chops has missed by its critics as "happy jazz,” “hot always lurked just beneath the glossy surface of Klugh’s albums ‘That musician comes fully to the fore on Hand Picked, the third solo-guitar outing of Klugh's career. Recorded primarily at his home studioin Atlanta, Hand Picked showcases Kiugh's signature contrapuntal style on renditions of standards like Thelonious Monk's "Round Midnight.” Burt Bacharach’s “Alfie” and Jimmy Van Heusen’s gorgeous ballad But Beautifl” You can hear a touch of the Chet Atkins bounce on “Lullaby of Birdland” a jazz standard composed by another of Klughrs early mentors, the great Entish pianist composer George really wide open musician. And when | discovered that he only had a very narrow window of opportunity to record for this project. I flew to Seattle to meet hum. and we ended up recording in Portland, ‘wanted to make tt comfortable for everybody on these duet pieces, so lended up going to where they lived, So with Jake, whem | had ‘met on a boat cruise some years ago, we recorded in Los Angeles. ‘And with Gill, who I met at Eu Clapton's Crossroads Festival in 12010, lew to Nashville to record at his home studio.” Klugh adds that the Gill session was especially resonant. "Vince and | are both huge fans of Chet Atkins." he explains, "We have both played with him and admired him so much. But what I didn’t now until later on s that Chet actually played on the original Everly Brothers version of ‘All Have to Do Is Dream’ That really brought everything full circle, and I was so delighted to hear Vince sing on the last part ofthe tune That was a big surprise Both Gill and Klugh appeared again atCla Crossroads Festival, held this past April at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan. Klugh says that his connection to Clapton dates to 1986, when they met in Tekyo “Backin thosedays hada very big careerin Japan. My bandhada three-week engagement atoneof the big cubsin Tokyo, andas we were checking n at the hotel to get everything settled with the rooms and everything, [happened to notice Eric Clapton standing therein the lobby And he came righ tome and said, Excuse me, but ate you Earl Klugh?" He asked where was playing, and when Itold hum about this gig we had for the next three weeks, he said, That's great! Im going to start bringing t welike to do after the show. We tons mostrecent ry band down there. That's w! go watch music’ Enc’s bandhadaweekorsoata majorarenamn Tokya and when they were done w:ththeur show they would come down wellback then, and we've remainedin touch over nd catch our last set. So we got toknow each other pretty he years. Now his Crossroads Festivalis achance for us toget together.” When we spoke on the phone the week after his Blue Note engagement in New York, Klugh was preparing for his own upcoming festival, the fourth annual Weekend of Jazz, set to take place in early November at the Kiawah Island Golf Resort in South Carolina. Guests this year include Al Jarreau, Burt Bacharach, ze Groove and Spyro Gyra Klugh will perform solo pieces from Hand Picked at the festival and also appear with his working band. saxophonist Tom Braxton, keyboardist David Lee, bassist A Carter and drummer Brian Otis In April, Klugh will appear at another festival he runs, the annual Weekend of Jazz at the Broadmoor Resort in Colorado Springs. Klugh says he's excited about playing in Colorado Springs because ‘there hel perform in a duet setting with jazz singer Nneena Freelen ‘Over the last couple of years, ve probably done four or five shows ‘with Nneena,just gustar and voice” he says. “always like todo that Decause t's challenging A lotof times when you havea really good singer like that, kind of takes you into some other places. When youte playing with a shythm section, i's ind of standard fare. But \dshe sheb such agreat singe never slips up. lenjoy that kind of spontaneity” that youcan go almost anywhere: Removed from the stereotypical conventions of smooth jaz — whether solo, uo or with a full band — Klugh’s nylon-string virtuosity continues to shine through with warmth and soul &