Larry Carlton at Blues Alley

Larry Carlton
Blues Alley
Washington, DC
October 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 of memorable hooks, Carlton left no doubt that, well into his seventies, he can still cook.

Backed by a tight rhythm section plus tenor and trombone, Carlton took the assembled thru his many contributions to the American songbook, along with tunes by the Crusaders, Steely Dan and his own group Fourplay. Jumping right in with a hot cover of the Doobie Bros' hit "Minute by Minute," Carlton picked up the funkiest of grooves laid down by keyboardist Ruslan Sirota, bass guitarist Andy Hess and drummer Joel Taylor to go "Deep Into It," providing the guitarist with the room to climb all over the neck of his 335 (actually a Sire H7 named for Larry). Harkening back to the guitarists who inspired him at an early age, "Smiles" gave Carlton a chance to play some clean Joe Pass / Barney Kessel-style figures over a samba beat, followed up by the plaintive ballad "Only Yesterday" with Carlton coaxing a mournful sound out of guitar and effects pedal.

It was only a matter of time until the guitarist called up some of the tunes that made him famous, starting with the Crusaders hit "Soul Caravan." Mark Douthit's tenor saxophone and Barry Green's trombone expanded the ensemble impressively, trading solos with Carlton and Sirota deep into the composition (Douthit's smoky sax solos especially impressed). The guitarist's winding chords on "Put It Where You Want It,' a Fourplay favorite, called to mind Wes Montgomery octaves and the dexterity it takes to pull those off.

Of course, you make the trek to hear Larry Carlton play to savor those tasty licks that contributed so much to Steely Dan albums including "Katy Lied," "Aja" and "Gaucho." Here, the guitarist did not disappoint. From that opening two note blast in "Black Cow" to the power solos in "Kid Charlemagne"—that one voted one of the top one hundred guitar solos by "Rolling Stone"—Carlton brought flesh and blood to those iconic licks, along with a winning backstage story to tell. The audience ate it up, along with the tasty Southern cuisine at Blues Alley. I assume Sammy, Dolly and the Partridges would have dug it, too.