Phil Upchurch’s Darkness, Darkness has quickly become my current favorite electric guitar-based instrumental album I own. I decided to check out the album on a whim while admiring the cover art, which for me gives off a Houses Of The Holy vibe. Perhaps I was in more of a rock guitar mood than jazz that day. Whatever it was, I’m glad my curiosity got the best of me. Its not an album I can always just dive into, but when the mood strikes, it scratches an itch that straight ahead rock and traditional jazz just don’ t reach. It also wasn’t a love-at-first-listen for me either. Whether mood or my comprehension of everything going on in the album played into that, I’m not sure. All I know is I had a much less neutral reaction the second and third time through. I will say that some of these compositions are fairly organic in their dynamics and pace. Its definitely not an instant gratification type of song structure, more often than not counting on a steady building of elements or instruments to finally get to the full-on pace of the music.
The album takes its name from the Youngbloods’ cover, which forgoes the haunting quality of the original in favor of some great minor-key funk comping. Its a very strong track that has an awful lot going for it, likely the best on the album. There is a sort of tactile like quality to Upchurch’s playing, almost as if the tone has physical texture. Its likely encouraged by a bit of grit in his playing that never crosses over into the cliched distorted mess so many albums put on full display, though there is certainly no shortage of wah-wah pedals used. Credit must be given to Arthur Adams for his rhythm guitar work. The guitars are so consistent in tone that I mistakenly thought his work was actually multi-tracking work of Upchurch himself.
The album is very organic and natural sounding despite wah-wah use, both in the aforementioned gradual dynamic builds and through various devices utilized by Upchurch for leading the songs along, such as double stops, chord sweeps and staccato stops and starts, almost treating his guitar like a percussion instrument. One fun surprise was the chord melody intro to Sweet Chariot that seems to channel Joe Pass directly, which also drives home the dynamic, organic pace further still. At first blush several of the songs give off a brief impression of cheesy lounge music but it is a short-lived first impression that is quite far from accurate when all is said and done. Its perhaps only on repeated listens where you begin to really appreciate the variety of tone and shades of gray present in the guitar sounds. Often times with instrumental jazz guitar albums, I find myself ’studying’ the music, enjoying technical capability and/or song structure over most other song aspects. Not so with this release. Groove is laid on thick with this album, and I find myself nodding along over time as the songs progress, often unaware of little else.
With my relatively small experience with r&b and soul, and only minor interest in the blues, I really appreciated the album’s lack of bias towards any one musical genre. There’s quite a lot of variety here, and ultimately makes the album that much more unique and fresh. Marvin Gaye’s Inner City Blues was not even on my radar prior to hearing this reworking of the song. Being an instrumental album, there is probably a bit of a melting pot effect, and I can tell you that Upchurch makes each song his own. His cover of Fire and Rain (James Taylor), for example, is a completely different journey than the original, while still being true to the original in spirit. As far as sonics go, I found it to be perfectly acceptable, if a little heavy in the bass. I’ll note that I’ve only experienced the “SHMCD” version as opposed to the domestic release. I’ve been told that SHMCDs tend to be overly bright at times, and perhaps compressed further than original releases. If thats the case here, the brightness is probably for the better to offset the lower register’s prominence. Though I won’t deny I would prefer less bass, which would give it a more balanced sound. When listening to an album of cover songs, part of the fun is experiencing the surprises yourself, so I’ll forgo a detailed song by song account of the album so as not to spoil it for you. Rest assured its a satisfying listen and its highly recommended. ‘Its a grower’ and ‘YMMV’ both apply here.
Musicians:
Phil Upchurch - Lead Guitar/Main Guitar, Electric Bass
Donny Hathaway - Horn, Keyboard
Harvey Mason - Drums
Arthur Adams - Rhythm Guitar
Ben Sidran - Organ/Keyboards
Don Simmons - Organ/Drums
Bobbye Hall - Percussion
Bobby PorterHall - Conga, Tambourine
Chuck Rainey - Bass
Joe Sample - Piano
Songs:
1. Darkness Darkness
2. Fire And Rain
3. What We Call The Blues
4. Cold Sweat
5. Please Send Me Someone To Love
6. Inner City Blues
7. You’ve Got A Friend
8. Love And Peace
9. Sweet Chariot
10. Sausalito Blues
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