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H: Hokus Fokus

by Jack Bowers
August 25, 2005

Too much Hokus, not enough Fokus. It seems the younger generation has taken a singularly soft and melodious instrument, namely the guitar, and turned it into a coarse and irritating noisemaker. Where are Johnny Smith, Tal Farlow and Billy Bauer when we need them? (Well, we already know the answer to that.)

To be fair, there are moments when Swedish guitarist Håkan Goohde lives up to his name, but there aren't enough of them to earn this reviewer's praise or ...