Search - John Basile :: Penny Lane

On PENNY LANE The pop standard has been the jumping off point for jazz artists since jazz s birth. The formula is simple, but not easy. You stay true to the melody and you go where it takes you. But the Beatles? Yes, especially the Beatles. In John Basile s Penny Lane, the guitarist is honest to both of his project s masters. The iconic melodies of Lennon and McCartney and Harrison are given homage, not just simply run through as a starting point for some string gymnastics. They are there and they are honest. Yet, at the same time it is Basile s jazz guitar that let the classics breathe new air and come to life in this form. You hear it; actually you experience it, in the subtle and smooth Eleanor Rigby with its rich tones and lines that recall the original but with a fresh feel. In Norwegian Wood, Basile casts aside any doubt that he is first and foremost a jazz man, as he strays from the melody s path to where he lives. Where he goes, we can follow and the trip is rich and filled with the surprises that his art form promises. This is Basile s show from beginning to end. His guitar does what a jazz guitar has always done, but it also does all the things that today s technology allows for the instrument to do. Sure, the guitar playing is artful but so is the use of the instrument as a MIDI interface to create every sound on this project. Listen and try to remember that every note on this project has come through the guitar. You ll be lost in the music before you can ponder the wonders of digital potential and that s exactly how it should be. More interpretation than tribute, Penny Lane gives us a jazz project that does what the original American art form is supposed to do: it takes where we ve been and brings us someplace new all at the same time.