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~ From 1963 through 1973, Howard Roberts recorded a series of eleven albums for Capitol Records. The marketing ploy of Capitol Records was obvious: make jazz-oriented versions of the day's popular music and keep the tracks under three minutes, which made them perfect for AM radio exposure. With a recipe like that one would think these albums would be superficial and quickly forgotten, but Howard Roberts made sure that would not happen. He managed to slip into the mix some jazz standards and a plethora of his original compositions. Add to that the fact that the man had an encyclopedic knowledge of music based on his years of studio work and throw in his considerable talent as a guitarist, and you have a series of enjoyable, funky albums.
~ The first eight of the Capitol albums have been reissued by Sundazed Music on their Euphoria label. In doing so, Euphoria has combined the albums in pairs in chronological order: "Color Him Funky: H R Is a Dirty Guitar Player", "Somethings Cookin: Goodies", "Whatevers Fair: All Time Great", and "Jaunty Jolly: Guilty".
~ The music on the Capitol series is mostly presented in a funky guitar-organ-bass-drums format with occasional added percussion or brass; however, "Color Him Funky: H R Is a Dirty Guitar Player" is strictly quartet playing, with H.R. joined by Earl Palmer on drums, Chuck Berghofer on bass, and fine organ playing by Paul Bryant and Burkley Kendrix (on "Color Him Funky" and "Dirty Guitar Player", respectively). The musicianship is of the highest caliber on both albums.
~ The short duration of the tracks (all under three minutes) imposed an interesting challenge on the soloists: make your solo clear, concise, and interesting. There was no time for meandering. The soloist, especially Howard Roberts, were up to the challenge. Indeed, these albums can almost be considered a tutorial in jazz guitar playing and distilling a solo down to its essence.
~ For those looking for examples of Howard Roberts playing more traditional jazz with extended solo space, you will have to look elsewhere (his Verve and Concord recordings), but if you are looking for an enjoyable, joyful, funky ride through the 1960's you are going to enjoy all of the Euphoria 2-fer reissues of the first eight of Mr. Robert's Capitol recordings.
~ Of his Capitol releases "H.R. Is A Dirty Guitar Player" is generally acknowledged as the best, but "Color Him Funky" is equally impressive. Thus, "Color Him Funky: H R Is a Dirty Guitar Player", like all of the series, is highly recommended.
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Selections: Florence Of Arabia, What Kind Of Fool Am I?, Sack O' Woe, When Lights Are Low, Hoe Down, Shiny Stockings, Good Bye, Good Luck, I'm Gone, One Long Day, The Peeper, Days Of Wine And Roses, Down Under, Colour Him Funky, Watermelon Man, Smolderin', L'il Darlin', Turista, If Ever I Should Leave You, One O'Clock Jump, Deep Fry, Rough Ridin', Satin Doll, Smokin', One Note Samba, Dirty Old Bossa Nova. "Color Him Funky: H R Is a Dirty Guitar Player" contains eight excellent H.R. compositions.
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