Larry
Carlton & Steve Lukather
(New Morning, The
Paris Concert)
Performance
Production
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Larry
Carlton & Steve Lukather
Performance
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1987 was year that I was first really introduced to the music of Larry Carlton, thanks to an Armed Forces Network (AFN) segment that always featured the song "Smiles And Smile To Go" from his brilliant, 1986, all-acoustic album Alone/But Never Alone. I'll never get that song out of my head. Of course I immediately ran out got the thing, even though I had always been primarily a classic rock and heavy metal customer up to that point. Carlton can take most of the credit for bringing me over to the dark side of smooth jazz. In 1988, as I was just starting to explore the back catalog of my new guitar hero, Carlton is almost killed at the hands of some gun-wielding, teenage, asshole who shot him in the throat outside of his Hollywood Hills home for no apparent reason. Fortunately, Carlton made a miraculous recovery, overcoming paralysis to part of his body, which kept him from being able to play the guitar for several months. I ended up seeing Carlton in concert a few times during his prime; once during his tour with bass legend Stanley Clarke, documented on the fantastic 1993 album Live At The Greek; once during his collaboration with fellow jazz guitar legend Lee Ritenour, which produced the 1994 album Larry & Lee, and once on his own. He was always amazing. Steve Lukather has also been one of my favorite guitarists for the past couple of decades now. Even if you don't much care for his work with Toto, and I do, you can't help but appreciate all of the incredible session work he has done. His resume is staggering, but I'd recommend some of his more recent work such as the last few Derek Sherinian albums, or his Los Lobotomies concert DVD, as a good place to start. You will hear, during the disk's special features, how Larry met Steve when he was only 18 years old when Jeff Porcaro brought him along to one of the sessions they were doing together. Steve was always a huge fan of Larry, and they have been great friends ever since. This DVD was recorded at the New Morning club in Paris, France on July 9th, 2001. The set features a few of Carlton's best songs along with a few classic rock covers. Although the setlist is only seven songs deep, the performance runs a good 91 minutes, which means that a couple of these songs turn into some seriously long jam fests. They waste no time making my point as they kick things off with a 20-minute version of Jeff Beck's "The Pump", which gets extended by some of the finest guitar soloing you will ever see. They even throw in a snippet of Steely Dan's "Josie" at the end, a song that Carlton originally played on. Next up is "Blues Force" a great tune from Carlton's band Fourplay. This one gets the deluxe 25-minute treatment, as each guitarist is able to showcase all of their various styles and techniques. The three Carlton originals performed here are all from his 1978 self-titled album. "Don't Give It Up" is much heavier than the original version as both guitarists improvise freely throughout. "Room 335" starts off with Carlton handling the rhythm while Lukather takes the lead. They eventually meet in the middle for some stunning harmony leads, which help this version to easily transcend the original. Carlton and Lukather are certainly the unlikely duo to hit the road together. Larry and Lee? Of course. But Larry and Steve? Who'da thought. Lukather almost always plays with this monstrously distorted blues-rock tone, while Carlton is the ever reserved jazzman who only occasionally cranks his volume knob past five. Sometimes it sounds a little odd up there, but I found the contrasts to be compelling. When Carlton wants to, he can easily stand toe to toe with Lukather and let it rip, and he does so no better than on Jimi Hendix's "Red House". This proves to be the only non-instrumental of the night, with Lukather lending some wonderfully gritty and soulful vocals. They close the show with "Put It Where You Want It", a classic from Carlton's 1971 debut with The Crusaders, which he also recently covered on his own 2001 album Deep Into It. The production quality was very good for such a small budget club show. The audio levels dropped in and out occasionally but the overall mix was excellent. It would have been great to have Carlton and Lukather each mixed to their own side instead of spread evenly across the front speakers though. The video was generally clear and sharp and the superb camera work put you right in the front row. Extras included some soundcheck footage and interviews with each guitarist. This is another excellent addition to the New Morning, Paris concert series. Smooth jazz enthusiasts and hardcore Carlton fans might be a little put off by Lukather's dominating tone, but I think there is plenty for both fans to enjoy. It's certainly a no-brainer for fans of both guitarists. Reviewed by Paul M. Roy - November 2005 |
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Running Time: 91 Minutes |
DVD Release Date - October 2005 |