Friday, November 22, 2013

***** The Best of by Earl Klugh by Earl Klugh – Really Good If Smooth Jazz Is Your Thing

If smooth jazz is not your thing, then this one is not for you.  End of story.  Don’t argue with me.  I don’t want to hear it.  This is the rating.  This is as good as it gets for the smooth jazz genre.  This belongs right next to Kenny G, a musician who has been tremendously popular, so far as jazz is concerned.  It is very likely that if you have heard of Kenny G, then you may or may not have heard of Earl Klugh.  Earl Klugh never achieved the popularity of Kenny G, and by many people’s standards Kenny G is fairly obscure.  I rate Earl Klugh higher than someone like Kenny G because he is obscure.  I root for the underdog even though this is genre is not my particular taste.

Most jazz musicians will admit that they didn’t get in to music to play on their instruments in that way that they could just totally fall into the background at a party, and nobody would really notice the musicians there, but that the party goes on as the ladies sip Zinfandel, Riesling, or some other dessert wine, while cracking into some lobsters and getting a tan in the evening sun at an expensive restaurant or beach house.  That is the niche of the Earl Klugh band.  Primarily, that is what this disc consists of; music that is semi-sophisticated background music.

I am pretty sure that this is the only smooth jazz cd in my collection.  I purchased it because I wanted to know what Earl Klugh sounded like as I am a guitarist, and I play and listen to jazz.  I’ll take a chance on most any artist.  In my opinion, though I don’t think all jazz is good, I do believe some of it is better than others.  This just happens accomplish its goal.  It mixed in well with my 100 disc changer for the time that I had it in the mix, but now it is time to move on.


While I won’t say this cd lacks chops at all, he is not playing as fast as Yngwie Malmsteen and for some people that is a good thing and for others it is not.  I would venture to say that most folk would think that this is a good thing.  However, I just think that it is a thing, and that it is what it is, nothing more, and nothing less.  

No comments:

Post a Comment