By: Bill Meredith
altimore-based Carl Filipiak consistently stays under the guitar-hero radar, despite an original style influenced by traditional jazz players (Wes Montgomery, Pat Martino) and their rock and fusion counterparts (Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Beck). Perhaps it's purposeful, since Filipiak also has a successful educational career through books, videos and the Mel Bay instructional website. And perhaps his newLooking Forward Looking Back CD, a jazzier departure from Filipiak's five previous fusion outings, will show the nation what the Baltimore/Washington D.C. area already knows (the guitarist has alternately claimed best musician, instrumentalist and guitarist in that region's publications).
The opening Filipiak original, "One For Wes," pays immediate homage to Montgomery. With bassist Jay Dulaney and longtime partners Paul Soroka (saxophone) and John Thomakos (drums) playing loping reggae rhythms, the guitarist modernizes the guitar legend's style through clean tones and clever chording. On Soroka's "Brothers," the drum chair is occupied by Dennis Chambers, the thunderous freelance musician who's energized material from fusion giant John McLaughlin to timeless pop band Steely Dan. But the ballad feel only serves further notice that Chambers can play anything,.including gentle rimshots in support of Soroka's solos and Filipiak's delicate chords.
Filipiak's other originals include "Blues-a-que," with the guitarist playing a relaxed, soulful solo over Chambers' serpentining shuffle pattern, and the closing "Chasin' the Checkbook" (perhaps the guitarist's tongue-in-cheek reference as to why he'snot a star). With unison lines by Filipiak and Soroka to mimic some of the great be-bop frontlines, the tune gets an energy boost from Thomakos - who's clearly not intimidated by being the "other" drummer on the CD even though he's a part of Filipiak's band.
Such is the shadow Chambers casts. On Charles Mingus' "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat," the versatile drummer dons the brushes under Filipiak's subtleties and Soroka's effective impersonation of Lester Young (the saxophonist Mingus wrote the tune in tribute to). But Thomakos gets the more energetic standards, as he and Dulaney drive Charlie Parker's "Au Privave" with a foundation-rattling snare drum, cowbells, and a percussive bass line. The rhythm section also propels Milton Nascimento's "Vera Cruz," giving the CD a Latin element, but it can't elevate John Coltrane's "Giant Steps." One of the most challenging and oft-covered jazz standards, the tune gets no new life in this mid-tempo read-through. But for Filipiak, and his forward-looking career, it's only a baby step backward.
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