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Larry Carlton at Blues Alley
by Mark Edelman
Larry Carlton Blues Alley Washington, DCOctober 27, 2024 When you've recorded with everyone from Sammy Davis, Jr, Dolly Parton and the Partridge Family to Joni Mitchell, Linda Ronstadt and Steely Dan, the term “eclectic' may not be expansive enough. In a tight set at Blues Alley, Washington, DC's premier jazz club, Larry Carlton proved convincingly just how wide that definition goes. In a career spanning over one hundred Gold and Platinum albums and a motherlode ...
Continue ReadingThe Best of Larry Carlton At Middle C Jazz
by Mark Sullivan
Larry Carlton Middle C Jazz The Best of Larry Carlton Charlotte, NC August 15, 2024 Legendary session guitarist Larry Carlton has a deep catalog of memorable tracks that featured his playing. He announced that he was going to follow Frank Sinatra's dictum to always start a show with two songs the audience knows, then launched into “Minute By Minute," the Doobie Brothers tune that he covered on his album Discovery (MCA Records, 1987). A ...
Continue ReadingBoston Roundup: Larry Carlton, Brit Floyd, and Doyle Bramhall
by Dave Dorkin
Larry Carlton Bull Run Shirley, MA December 2, 2017 Larry Carlton came to play in a rare quintet setting at the Bull Run in the Boston Western suburbs. The band featured Carlton's son Travis on bass and drummer Gene Coye, both frequent collaborators, along with the noteworthy additions of Gregg Karukas on keyboards and Brandon Fields on tenor saxophone, both of whom are rarely on the road as sidemen these days. Carlton opened ...
Continue ReadingLarry Carlton: Plays The Sound of Philadelphia
by John Kelman
Regardless of context, guitarist Larry Carlton has built a reputation as one of the tastiest guitarists around, whether he's supporting singer/songwriter Joni Mitchell, jazz/pop hybrid Steely Dan or soulful jazz/funksters The Crusaders. His own records, while always accessible--at times, crossing the line into smooth jazz territory--demonstrate a distinctive blend of sweet and gritty tone, bluesy soulfulness, and plenty of jazz chops, often surfacing in the most unexpected places. Live in Tokyo With Special Guest Robben Ford (335 Records, 2009), was ...
Continue ReadingLarry Carlton Revisits Sounds of Philadelphia
by John Patten
Soulful sounds may have started in Motown or Memphis, but for many, it's the sounds of Philadelphia that captured their hearts. That's certainly the case for Larry Carlton, who released a collection of the biggest hits penned by Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff on his 335 Records label, in February, 2011. Many of the songs were Top 10 hits by groups including The Spinners and The Stylistics, along with hits by other classic vocal groups.
Continue ReadingLarry Carlton: Greatest Hits Recorded Volume One
by John Kelman
Since emerging as a ubiquitous session ace--his sweet tone and lyrical bent creating some of the 1970s' most definitive guitar solos for artists including The Crusaders, Steely Dan and Joni Mitchell--Larry Carlton has combined unerring melodic instincts and stunning harmonic knowledge into a discography as accessible as it is deep. For some, he's veered too close to the border of smooth jazz--crossing over, even--but get past the easygoing rhythms and changes, and there's far more than meets the eye. Not ...
Continue ReadingLarry Carlton With Special Guest Robben Ford: Live in Tokyo
by John Kelman
With blues/jazz guitarist Robben Ford's Soul on Ten (Concord, 2009) receiving widespread attention, it's a good time to look at Live in Tokyo, a somewhat overlooked but unmistakably smokin' 2007 release from another West Coast guitar god, Larry Carlton. Carlton invited Ford to join his band for some dates in Tokyo in the fall of 2006, and it would be hard to find two more compatible yet distinctive guitarists for a set that ranges from down-and-dirty blues to burning samba ...
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