HOWARD ROBERTS
pickwick33
8,946 Posts
I'm a huge fan of his Capitol LP's, Color Him Funky and H.R. Is A Dirty Guitar Player, as well as an earlier LP he had on Verve. Never heard his later, experimental albums on Impulse, but I'm definitely on the lookout for 'em. Like Billy Larkin, he recorded jazz in a 2-3 minute, almost Top 40 format (which is short for jazz), but it works for me. DEFINITELY not proto-smooth jazz material. Great stuff. 
Comments
So what was the deal with those, exactly? I know he's stretching out a bit more, and Antelope Freeway even has weird sound effects running in and out of the mix...
DivShare File - Crystal_Illusions.m4a
Hey, thanks, Bomb!
Way underrated.
Raves about Roberts but says he could have worked harder. That is played out more with serious jazz musicians and produced more original music.
I do remember seeing a review of Antelope Freeway in Down Beat magazine that implied that his Capitol LP's were okay, but a little too commercial and shallow. The two albums I mentioned above on that label sound cool to me, sorta like if Grant Green confined his songs to two minutes and 55 seconds.
BTW, Roberts was also a prominent studio musician - that's him you hear playing the main riff on the themes from The Munsters and The Twilight Zone.
I really love his work with Axelrod. I even got a chance to play using one of his signature guitar amps.. (sort of like a Fender princeton meets a Fender blackface.) Has anyone heard anything about the new Howard Roberts tribute album that Nels cline is working on?
- spidey
I forgot to say who raves about Howard Roberts. It should read David Axelrod raves... It was DA who was saying he needed to work harder. DA felt that Roberts could have been THE jazz guitarist of his generation instead of just a studio musician who did a few good jazz/pop lps.
I am very happy with his jazz/pop lps and his 2 out lps on Impulse.
Some kid called me on the phone yesterday and begged me for 15 minutes to get him some World Of Beats tapes. He finally figured out that he could get them from you without the art work.
You should do a Howard Roberts Mix.