Tony Furtado Band
Cojema Music

Review by Steven Stone
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CD Stock Number: CM-CD 2001

 

  Never heard of Tony Furtado? This is his fifth release, so where have you been? Luckily there is still time to jump on the Tony Furtado train before it gets to rolling so fast that the hobos can only shake their heads and watch it thunder past. This guy is a monster banjo and slide guitar player. Tony sings with a sweet and bluesy lilt that belies his bluegrass roots. His first band, Sugarbeat, included Ben Demrath, Matt Flinner, and Sally Truitt. After Sugarbeat Tony began his solo career with some fine releases on Rounder records. This is his first release on Cojema music, a company formed by his producer Cookie Morenco.

So what's his music like? There's blues like "Raleigh and Spencer", and "False Hearted Lover", Celtic-tinged cuts like "Oaktown Ceili" and "O Amante", finally new-grass fusion confections like "Mollie and Tenbrooks". This last cut has some killer slide guitar work and a groove that swings this Bill Monroe classic in a powerful way. Cameo appearances by Kelly Joe Phelps, Darol Anger, Ty Burhoe, and Buckethead, augment the core band of Christian Teele on drums, Bill Rich on bass, and Ross Martin on guitar. The musical result is a eclectic yet organically grounded ensemble.

Good golly, this CD sounds good, dare I say, even supremely fine. Producer Cookie Morenco is known for her expertise recording acoustic-based groups. Tony Furtado Band proves her stellar reputation is well-deserved. Recorded and mixed at Morenco's own OTR studios and mastered by David Glasser at Airshow mastering, this disc shows that a even a small label release can be sonically great.

Check out the sound clips on www.tonyfurtado.com. This CD has been living in my heavy rotation stack for over a month now. One listen, and you'll understand why.

Enjoyment: 90

Sound Quality: 95