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Johnny "Bowtie" Barstow: A Bowtie Christmas and More
BySome musicians spend years on technique, working hard to hone accepted skills like pitch and time. Barstow dispenses with such limitations. His interpretive sense is so unorthodox that once you hear his renditions of classic Christmas tunes including "Joy to the World, "The First Noel, and the tongue-in-cheek "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer, you'll never see them the same way again.
Bending pitch and time in ways rarely heard on record, Bowtie challenges Goldingsa consummate accompanist clearly in awe of his artto keep up. Unshackled by musical convention, Bowtie brings a truly emancipated harmonic approach to the hymnal "O Come All Ye Faithful and a surprisingly untethered sense of swing to "Winter Wonderland.
The second half of the generous 24-song program finds Bowtie tackling standards like "Mack the Knife, "Blue Skies, and "In the Mood. To add dimension, Goldings brought Bowtie into a professional recording studio, recruiting the legendary James Farber to engineer the session, to record four songs accompanied by drummer Bill Stewart and guitarist Bernie Peters (a cleverly-conceived pseudonym). In many ways it's the trio's almost fanatical adherence to musical convention that so vividly highlights Bowtie's unbound approach.
Despite being a distinctively lo-fi recording, a second version of "Blue Skies concludes the disc, with Bowtie in his preferred contextthe concert stage, where risk is de rigeur and there's no safety net to rely upon. He finds new ways to articulate Irving Berlin's timeless words.
Unquestionably the most challenging Christmas album ever recorded, A Bowtie Christmas and More raises the bar, forcing the serious listener to question every musical value he or she holds dear. In the same way Ornette Coleman was initially thought to be simply unmusical, so too does Johnny "Bowtie Barstow run the risk of having his unschooled aesthetic misunderstood. Only time will tell.
Track Listing
A Bowtie Christmas: Joy to the World; Jingle Bells; The First Noel; Deck the Halls; O Come All Ye Faithful; Winter Wonderland; Do You Hear What I Hear? Santa Claus is Coming to Town; Silent Night; Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer. And More: Mack the Knife; Blue Skies; Thou Swell; If I Only Had a Heart; Fascinatin' Rhythm; In the Mood; Oh Danny Boy; On the Sunny Side of the Street; Put Your Arms Around Me Honey; The Girl From Ipanema; Has Anybody Seen My Gal? I'm Looking Over a Four-Leaf Clover; As Time Goes By; Blue Skies (live).
Personnel
Johnny "Bowtie" Barstow
vocalsLarry Goldings
organ, Hammond B3Bernie Peters
guitarBill Stewart
drumsMichael Zisman
bassJohnny Ellis
drumsAlbum information
Title: A Bowtie Christmas and More | Year Released: 2005 | Record Label: Sticky Mack Records
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About Johnny "Bowtie" Barstow
Instrument: Vocals
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