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Todd Johnson and Jim Stinnett
"One Good-looking Guy?"
www.toddjohnsonmusic.com, www.jimstinnett.com
Those who know, know.... Todd Johnson is the man! Aside from
being one of the nicest and most generous of spirit guys I've come
across, he is also the jazz vocabulary and bass chordal guru (keep your
eyes open for Todd's new DVD, "Fishin' for Grips" to be released very
soon. This may become my new favorite study material for some
time to come). I've also become a fan of his collaborations with
an old teacher of mine, Jim Stinnett (Berklee College of
Music). The two compliment each other wonderfully.
"One Good-looking Guy?" is exactly what I was hoping for in this
release. Along with Joe Hunt & Dino Govoni (wow!...
these guys burn) Todd and Jim have struck a wonderful balance of
musicality, beauty and showmanship. Jim is (essentially) the bass
player in the group and Todd (primarily) plays the role of the
guitarist, displaying his (waaay beyond your average bass player)
chordal work and ever-so-tastey solos.
Altho my jazz solo-guitarist knowledge isn't what it could be and I'm
sure others could come up with better comparisons, Todd reminded me a
bit of Les Paul or Jody Fisher... Just wonderfully musical in
every way and with a full command of both the vocabulary of jazz and
his instrument. Jim also really shines on this release with his
upright playing.. Great tone, time-feel and wonderful
lines...
While stylistically, this is a completely straight-ahead jazz affair
and may not be every one's cup of tea, I STRONGLY suggest this for all
extended range bassists (5, 6 strings or above!) that want to explore
and expand their chordal concepts, as well as jazz lovers in
general. I know that I can't wait to start working through some
of this stuff! You owe it to your musicality to internalize what
these guys are doing here...
