Angelo Branford

Wonderful Sound - Angelo Branford Quartet at Downtown Music Gallery: Featuring Angelo Branford on guitar & most compositions, JD Parran on woodwinds, Todd Nicholson on bass and Kevin Shea on drums. I know Angelo as an old friend and customer of DMG, but I didn't know that he even played an instrument. He moved to Sweden & got married a couple of years ago and just returned for a bit. His quartet played at DMG last Sunday (9/9/07) while I was up at the Guelph Fest and Manny reports that they were great. Commencing with "A Slice", the quartet is burning with some fine tenor sax from JD and a spirited bass solo from Todd, a somewhat twisted solo from Angelo, putting his guitar through some sort of device

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Wonderful Sound - Angelo Branford Quartet at Downtown Music Gallery: Featuring Angelo Branford on guitar & most compositions, JD Parran on woodwinds, Todd Nicholson on bass and Kevin Shea on drums. I know Angelo as an old friend and customer of DMG, but I didn't know that he even played an instrument. He moved to Sweden & got married a couple of years ago and just returned for a bit. His quartet played at DMG last Sunday (9/9/07) while I was up at the Guelph Fest and Manny reports that they were great. Commencing with "A Slice", the quartet is burning with some fine tenor sax from JD and a spirited bass solo from Todd, a somewhat twisted solo from Angelo, putting his guitar through some sort of device. "Six to Get Ready" features JD on flute with Angelo on more laid back and melodic jazz guitar. JD takes a lovely flute solo that is followed by a short, great drum solo that follows the melody of the tune just right. "Ke'K" is a righteous, laid back bluesy thing with tasty solos from JD on tenor and a haunting solo from Angelo. "Lament for Kabillah" starts with soft thumb piano and sublime bowed bass from Todd and it drifts softly like ghosts hovering in a field of dreams. Angelo's songs are quite memorable, I am most surprised that he hasn't a name for himself yet. He names two songs after two master bassists that have passed away in recent years, Wilber Morris and Peter Kowald. Both are poignant tributes and feature some fine playing from bassist Todd Nicholson, who does a fine job of capturing some of the distinctive sounds that Kowald was known for. I dig the way most of these tunes are both restrained and adventurous simultaneously and develop in unexpected ways. The final piece begins with an odd solo from Todd on bass and then features a strange line for the sax and guitar to play together with an odd harmony in twisted unison. Eventually the guitar and sax erupt their lines against one another while the rhythm team remains tight and focused. An unexpected delight as the downtown underground emerges from the shadows. - BLG

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