Tony Savarino is a renaissance man among guitarists, moving from musical style to style without
question or pause. Something of a regional legend, Savarino has played with almost anyone
who’s anyone in the Boston music scene. His credits include names such as Dale Bozzio, TM
Stevens, The Dents, The Rudds, The Montgomerys and Alto Reform School, to name a few.
Savarino has been featured in Guitar World, Guitar Player For The Practicing Musician, the
Boston Globe, The Noise and Soundcheck. After years of playing with and/or in support of
others, Savarino steps out on his own with Guitaring, a collection of ten instrumentals and one
vocal track that show off Savarino’s range and distinctive talent with an axe in his hand.

Guitaring opens with the eccentrically fabulous honky-tonk guitar work of “Barrelhaus
Gutbucket Chicken Pickin’”, with Savarino exploring the distinctive country sound using jazz
forms. There’s some pretty mean Hammond organ work going on in and behind the scenes here.
Savarino doesn’t waste any time in flooring listeners. You’ll understand early on that you’re in
the presence of a virtuosic talent. “Take One” pairs the guitar and xylophone in a brief duet with
a great jazz feel and a strong rhythm section. “Jericho” is an inspired early rock instrumental
that shows the nascent roots of surf guitar struggling to be born in the wash. Savarino manages
to recreate that moment where one style morphs into something new and wonderful and presents
it here as if it’s first happening before your very ears. “Rialto Ripples” is a frenetic, if brief, side
trip that’s more like an unfinished idea than a completed piece.

In spite of its name,”Blues For Bb (B Flat)” is more of a jazz/blues hybrid than anything else,
and finds Savarino once again counting off paces with a Hammond Organ. Savarino, who seems
to excel in any style he touches, comes particularly alive in this musical marriage, seeming to
feed off the organ sound to create magical moments on the guitar. Savarino picks up an acoustic
guitar for “Freight Train” and digs into a blues/roots style that is initially without form. Savarino
explores the musical territory before settling into a rhythm, showing off some wicked guitar
work in the process. “Deep Blue Day” is a dreamy legato rumination that’s dressed in heavy
reverb, and is probably the most mundane work on the album.

Savarino channels a bit of Les Paul on “Holiday For Strings”, playing in a pizzicato style that’s
entertaining and humorous. There’s almost a mechanical quality to the main theme of the song,
but Savarino fills the spaces in between with some wonderfully jazz-inspired play. “Russian
Roulette” sounds like it comes directly from a 1960’s spy thriller, blending 1960’s surf rock with
a bachelor pad style that’s moody, furtive and full of energy. “Early American” features the sort
of pick work that would make Chet Atkins proud. The Joe Maphis-penned instrumental is made
to look like light work by Savarino, but any of the guitar players out there will tell you this is not
an easy piece to tackle. “Christine’s Tune (AKA Devil In Disguise)” is the only vocal track on
the album, featuring Adja Snyder in a solid vocal turn. The Gram Parsons cover has a classic
country feel to it.

Guitaring is undoubtedly a solo guitar album, but what makes it work so well is that Savarino
has surrounded himself with first class musicians, and Savarino has the sense to make this
an ensemble album rather than a vanity piece. Guitaring is the sort of album you can’t quite
put down, particularly if you’re a guitar player yourself. You’ll find yourself mesmerized by
Savarino’s technical brilliance, but it’s the heart that Savarino brings to each and every song that
seals the deal. Guitaring might just be the best rock instrumental album of 2010.
                            Read more...
                        

                            
The worry with any rock guitar virtuoso’s recording is that it will quickly devolve into onanistic noodling. Tony Savarino’s Guitaring, however, adroitly sidesteps the problem with a keen eyef or variety and a welcome selflessness in the studio. The Boston-bred musician is a dabbler,with a finger in everything from rock to funk, from soul to country, from pop to reggae. He’s literally all over the map, which has led to a head-scratchingly diverse series of sideman gigs across his home city. He was a longtime bandmate with Dale Bozzio, who fronted 1980’s new wavers Missing Persons, sat in with Simon Ritt (co-frontman of the award-winning localcountry-rock outfit the Darlings), and appeared as part of a 1970’s-style R&B band called Alto Reform School, named for the juvenile lockup where James Brown first formed His Famous Flames band. Savarino mixes and matches styles in the same way on Guitaring.

 

You’ll hear him tearing through “Early American” by 1950’s guitar innovator Joe Maphis, whocame to fame by incorporating these fiddle-breakdown freakouts into his act on a double-neckedMos-Rite Special that he helped design. But Savarino also does a delicate dance through “FreightTrain” by folk blues legend Elizabeth “Libba” Cotten, a lefty whose unique style of upside-downplaying was so revered that it eventually came to be widely known as “Cotten picking.”Credit Savarino, too, for assembling a crack band. Each member arrives with his ownconsiderable chops, and that keeps the record from becoming overly obsessed with Savarino’soutsized skills. Guitaring features first-call session drummer Mike Levesque (David Bowie,Natalie Imbruglia), as well as pianist Tom West (Susan Tedeschi, Peter Wolf). This record isalso helped by bassist Rich Cortese, whose debut album with the Zulus was produced by BobMould of Husker Du fame. Guitaring was mixed and co-produced by Brandyn Ryan, who alongwith Savarino and bassist George Cooke are part of the seven-musician, eighteen-singer stadium-rock extravaganza Ultrasonic Rock Orchestra.

 

Every time Savarino threatens to steal the show, one of these guys nudges his way into theconversation. That’s perhaps best heard on the opener, the driving country rocker called “BarrelHaus Gutbucket Chicken Pickin” that bears more than a passing resemblance to the roadside jangle of guitar-man Jerry Reed. Yet pedal steel player Mike Castellana somehow matches Savarino, stride for myth-making stride. That’s why Savarino’s such an in-demand performer.He is just as good at inhabiting the white-hot spotlight as he is at supporting his fellow musicians on the side.

 

All the while, Savarino never tires of experimenting. “Jericho,” this time with Eric Welsh atthe organ, boasts a greasy groove associated with the legendary Stax rhythm section of BookerT. and the MG’s. Savarino then turns the spacey Brian Eno tune “Deep Blue Day” (first heardon the Trainspotting soundtrack) on its ear, pairing up for a duet with pedal-steel guitarist Tim Obetz. In fact, there’s a cool-rocking backwoods vibe running throughout the proceedings,notably on “Take One,” a hot-country romp originally written by the late Phil Baugh. Savarinoalso offers a terrific version of “Devil in Disguise (a.k.a. Christine’s Tune)” from Gram Parsons’ Flying Burrito Brothers days, with vocals from fellow Berklee alum Adja Snyder.

 

Savarino also tries out sizzling surf music with the Blue Stingrays’ “Russian Roulette,” and handily snakes his way through the straight-forward “Blues for Bb.” Can anyone be surprisedwhen he also tackles “Rialto Ripples,” by George Gershwin? But instead of settling into aperhaps-expected old-school Dixieland vibe, Savarino channels the gut-busting riffs associatedwith the 1960s-era Blue Note jazz label, all inside the composition’s signature cascading runs . You can, across the breadth of Guitaring hear other whispers of inspiration, from Les Paul to Roy Clark, from Steve Howe to Chet Atkins. And when it’s all said and done, there is the sneaking suspicion that Tony Savarino is just getting started.
                            Read more...
                        

                            
Tony Savarino's Guitaring is a guitar lover's dream CD, on which Savarino gives listeners a tour of many (mostly) American guitar styles throughout the ages. While this disc is all over the map stylistically, Savarino never sounds like he's showing off. He doesn't seem to be saying, `Hey everybody! Look at me!' Instead, he tastefully displays a mastery of too many different guitar techniques to count.



You want country picking? You've got it with "Barrelhaus Gutbucket Chicken Picken". You prefer jazz, instead? Well, look no further than "Take One". Okay, how about something obscure, like a spy movie theme? If that's you're taste, "Russian Roulette" conjures up vivid mental pictures of old 007 chasing after Eastern European bad guys. Savarino doesn't just hint at generalized styles, either. For instance, the country of "Barrelhaus Gutbucket Chicken Picken" has a chugging train, country vibe one would mainly associate with Johnny Cash. And "Take One" is not merely jazzy; it's jazzy in a Modern Jazz Quartet way because of its swingingvibe part. Just as Savarino plays off the vibraphonist on "Take One," he spars with an organist during "Blues for Bb (B flat)". "Holiday for Strings" has one of those corny song titles you might expect to see in a guitar instruction book, but this is no rudimentary practice exercise. Rather, it finds Savarino playing clipped notes that resemble a popcorn popper, and in a Les/Ford style.



This musician appears to be most comfortable with an electric instrument in his hands. Yet he unplugs briefly during "Freight Train" where he shows off his equally developed folk/bluegrasspicking skills. Then on "Deep Blue Day," he stretches out with a quiet, atmospheric track. Savarino really reveals his interpretative skills on "Jericho", which uses on old spiritual as itsjumping off point. There is a female vocal during "Christine's Tune," which is also knownas "Devil in Disguise". This is an old Gram Parsons/The Flying Burrito Brothers song, and while Savarino's version is credible, it won't soon make you forget the original.



Savarino also earns bonus points for giving his CD such a great title. Any time an artist has the guts to make up a brand new word, that artist deserves extra kudos. Savarino is not just picking at a guitar; he's guitaring it, the way a driver drives his car. In other words, he sounds to be incomplete control throughout.



Chances are that genuine guitar geeks love to hear all Savarino can do. But Guitaring is not just a series of technique exercises masquerading as songs. This album is extremely entertaining,too. When Savarino gets down on the farm for "Early American," he never strays far from the central melody. So while he's an amazing picker, he's not just showing off how many notes hecan squeeze into each measure. In that sense, he's a lot like Chet Atkins. Savarino's style is distinctly different from the flashy heavy metal axmen that have tragically turned guitar playing into the musical equivalent to skateboard tricks. Most of the time, listeners want a song they can hum along with and tap their toes to, which is uniquely difficulty when a soloist is shredding like a speed freak. Shredders can make you a little nervous; great musicians, like Savarino, amaze you while they make you feel good.However you choose to look at it, Tony Savarino's Guitaring is an instrumental musical treat. You can play this for your mom, and your teen boy, and both will likely end up entertained. Yes, Tony Savarino's Guitaring has a very rare wide appeal going for it.
                            Read more...
                        

                            
When you hear the name “Tony Savarino,” you probably have one of two Wayne’s World-esque thoughts about the man. You probably end up somewhere between “I hear he wails,” and “That dude can shred.” You would be right on both counts, but “Barrelhaus Gutbucket Chicken Pickin” shows another side to the local string-slinger. This track bumps and dances all over itself, its plucked strings running up up and down the scale in a manner that would seem almost arbitrary if every single little interval wasn’t so damned catchy

“Barrelhaus Gutbucket Chicken PIckin” isn’t just hard to say (or type, for that matter), but it doesn’t sound like a walk in the park to play on the ole guitar either. We are guessing this would top out somewhere around the 5-red-devil-heads difficulty in Rock Band, where things get really impossible. Savarino, as usual, makes the seemingly impossible possible, working what sounds like a six-fingered right hand attack, alternately plucking and hitting the strings with nary a muffled or misfired note.

Of the multiple words in the title, “Chicken Pickin” seems to be the operative phrase here: the melody is rangy and wild as a pile of straw, with little colorful offshoots here and there. The multi-note sections are impressive, as Savarino picks out odd little combinations of strings that, fretted just right (and of course he’s fretting them just right - he’s Tony Eff-ing Savarino, kids) make up deliciously crazy little intervals. “Barrelhaus Gutbucket Chicken Pickin” is exactly what the title makes it sound like, and you are going to like this.
                            Read more...