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Katsu's Jazz Stick REVIEW BY EMMETT CHAPMAN (29,june,2000) I was a jazz guitarist from 1959 to 1969, the year I discovered the Stick method of tapping with all fingers at right angles to the strings. I have a deeply ingrained love and respect for the rich tradition of jazz guitar to which Katsu of Tokyo has devoted his Stick discipline and artistry. He quotes my words in the liner notes of his latest CD, "Katsu-Stick", where I say, "Hearing him play clean, unadorned jazz melody lines accompanied by guitar styled chords and vamps, I am struck with the interwoven intimacy of both elements - a jazz guitarist's dream." He tunes both string groups in fourths in guitar registers, tapping harmonically extended jazz lines with his right hand, and complex guitar type chords and inner moving lines with his left. His string action is so low and his touch so light that the overall sustain of his Stick is noticeably enhanced. And the sound recording is excellent, recalling the subdued darker tones of a hollow-body electric guitar, but with just enough of the very high "acoustic" frequencies to bring out the tapping transients. He plays standards and thoughtful ballads that are more known among inner circles of jazz musicians, including a great arrangement of "Bluesette" in 4/4 and 6/8. The styling of the opening song "Woody" with its arpeggiated inner chords, reminds me of one of my own musical mentors, George Van Eps. We have this CD in stock and recommend "Katsu-Stick" to those of you who'd like to hear The Stick used in yet another fertile musical genre. EMMETT CHAPMAN. http://www.stick.com/ <<<@contact to katsu |