Joe Pass - Simplicity / A Sign of the Times

 

This 2-LP set (on one CD) was picked up by my lovely wife while working at EMI Records back in LA and I did not give it much attention at the time due to its easy listening production. I have since become a fan of Joe Pass' fantastic guitar playing, but it is still difficult to get past the schmaltzy production to dig into his lyrical playing. These records would have been much better with just Joe and his guitar (and he did later on) and without the Star Trek-esque female backing singers and other snooze-inducing tricks and additional musicians.

When Joe is front'n'center, his playing is the star, but it is too often buried, unfortunately, and some of the song choices are uninteresting'n'dull and cause the entire thing to fade into elevator music background sounds. You can't fault Pass' technical abilities - he is one of the best - and even gets to show off some 12 string work here'n'there, it sounds like - but despite his best efforts, this is unlikely to grab you until you single out his work.

Can't really recommend this one....