uitar heroes normally have a way of showcasing more than enough of themselves while on their own, so TWO of them together could result in too much of a good thing. But Larry Carlton and Steve Lukather provide enough of a contrast in styles to make things interesting on their new CD, No Substitutions - Live in Osaka. Released on fellow guitar hero Steve Vai's Favored Nations label and recorded during a three-week Japanese tour, the disc features the first collaboration between the two L.A. guitar icons - despite the fact that they've known each other for 25 years.
Carlton is the king of the West Coast jazz/fusion session men, with hundreds of credits (most notably '70s work with the Crusaders, Joni Mitchell and Steely Dan) and solo releases from the mid-'70s to present. Lukather is best-known as a founding member of the pop group Toto, but his additional credits include work with Boz Scaggs, Paul McCartney and Carlos Santana.
On the 14-minute opener "The Pump" (one of the lesser-known gems of Jeff Beck's catalog; from his last landmark album, '80's There and Back), Carlton's tasteful hollow-bodied jazz guitar and Lukather's whammy-bar histrionics set both the tone and the pace. Carlton being in the left channel and Lukather in the right also makes it easier to distinguish between the two during the loping, mid-tempo introductary number. Drummer Gregg Bissonette (with Maynard Ferguson and David Lee Roth credits himself) steps up on the high-energy shuffle "Don't Give Up," with fiery hand-and-foot combination fills over the vamp of the guitarists, bassist Chris Kent and keyboardist Rick Jackson. The ballad "(It Was) Only Yesterday" features a lengthy intro by Jackson before the expected guitar thematics - Lukather providing muscular soloing during the energetic portions; Carlton ever-tastefully taking the baton for the quieter, tranquil moments. Miles Davis' jazz standard "All Blues" gets a playful reading, with the guitarists alternating between teasing improvised trades and scripted harmonized lines that echo the Allman Brothers' signature pieces.
Carlton's "Room 335" provides the grooving closing feel, as the two soloists also work together, playing off of one another and inspiring their bandmates in the process. Bissonette is impressive throughout No Substitutions (and not just because he's the "name" among the backing players); Jackson provides textural accompaniment, and Kent is particularly present in both tone and taste.
uitar heroes normally have a way of showcasing more than enough of themselves while on their own, so TWO of them together could result in too much of a good thing. But Larry Carlton and Steve Lukather provide enough of a contrast in styles to make things interesting on their new CD, No Substitutions - Live in Osaka. Released on fellow guitar hero Steve Vai's Favored Nations label and recorded during a three-week Japanese tour, the disc features the first collaboration between the two L.A. guitar icons - despite the fact that they've known each other for 25 years.