No Substitutions: Live in Osaka (Favored Nations)
Larry Carlton / Steve Lukather
Released March 2001
Grammy Nominee for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album 2002
YouTube:
https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=2s6XJdyvzWc&list=OLAK5uy_mDKKwyISJRd-Z_rdAgr00F4jH9NdhWb4k
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/album/4ZvyrpT77Sh4Wf7fQHDKeV?si=VryfpjvJTMq2wk7_n4wCsg
About:
The live album No substitutions is a selection of
songs that Lukather and Carlton played on their Japanese tour in 1998. The
songs on this album were recorded in the Blue Note, Osaka, in November 1998.
Though the album contains only five songs, there’s more than enough guitar
music to enjoy, because especially All blues and Only yesterday are extremely
spinned out (resp. over 14 and 12 minutes).
The “Jeff Beck” song The pump was written by Simon Phillips and Tony
Hymas and appeared on the 1980 Jeff Beck album There and back, with Simon
Phillips on drums, Tony Hymas on keys and Mo Foster on bass. Since a few years
The pump is one of Lukather’s favourite live Jeff Beck covers.
Apparantly there was a preference for the Carlton songs of the concert tour, because three out of five songs are written by the old master. The pretty extended version of the Hendrix classic Red house and the funny Candyman (Sammy Davis jr.) intermezzo didn’t fetch the album. The songs were recorded during one of the tour concerts in Osaka in Japan.
“I went on a tour of Japan with Larry Carlton and got into chord melodies and how he thinks musically. We’ve been friends for many years but never played a gig together until now (1998) so that was really awarding.” (Steve Lukather in Total Guitar, February 2000)
“The solo in Kid Charlemagne (Steely Dan) stands in my mind. I was into Larry when he was in the Crusaders, but I never heard him blow like on Steely Dan’s Royal Scam album. Guitar wise, the album changed my whole life. The only other person that moved me that much was Hendrix. Carlton had the rock and roll sound, but he was playing in and out of changes like a bebop player would. My mind was messed! I went, ‘yeah, that’s what I want to do’. I played around town and got to meet him, and he was always very nice to me.” Steve Lukather
“This also was my first opportunity to perform with Luke. His honesty toward the music is contagious. He deeply feels every note he plays and every note he hears. Consequently, he is unconsciously inspiring every musician on the stage. Luke’s respect for music and the musician sets a wonderful example for us, and is a great reminder to Check your ego at the door.”
Larry Carlton
Track Listing:
1. The Pump (Tony Hymas / Simon Phillips) 14:28
2. Don’t Give It Up (Larry Carlton) 06:38
3. (It Was) Only Yesterday (Larry Carlton) 12:09
4. All Blues (Miles Davis) 14:06
5. Room 335 (Larry Carlton) 05:06
Personnel:
Larry Carlton: guitar (left side)
Steve Lukather: guitar (right side)
Gregg Bissonette: drums
Chris Kent: bass
Rick Jackson: keyboards
Recorded November, 1998, at Blue Note Osaka
Produced by Steve Vai and Steve Lukather
Recording Engineer: Yoshiyasu Kumada
Assited by Takeshi Sasaki
Mixing & Editing Engineers: Steve Vai and Neil Citron
Second Engineer: Mark Dawson
Review:
Recently launched by rock-guitar maven Steve Vai, the Favored Nations label specializes (for the moment, anyway) in progressive electric instrumental music and has already issued recordings by the likes of Frank Gambale, Eric Johnson, Stuart Hamm and Dweezil Zappa. On No Substitutions: Live In Osaka two guitar heavyweights-Larry Carlton and Steve Lukather-go mano a mano before a live audience in Osaka, Japan. Support is provided by drummer Gregg Bissonette, bassist Chris Kent, and keyboardist Rick Jackson.
A dream for fans of this type of music, the album sports five extended tracks (mostly originals) and excellent production values that include state-of-the-art sound that pans Carlton to the left and Lukather to the right of the stereo image. As far as the playing goes, it’s frequently intense and over the top, but not without its relatively subtle moments. Throughout, each player gets plenty of solo space: check out the driving work on “Don’t Give It Up,” which commences with audience-inciting feedback, gets its initial juice from Carlton’s playing on the head, and then moves on to intense solos by both leaders and rollicking contributions by Jackson and Bissonette. Other highlights include the trades and tandem playing on “The Pump,” the subdued yet still virtuosic melodic work on “(It Was) Only Yesterday,” and the hip arrangement of “All Blues” with its harmonized head, Lukather’s expansive virtuosic solo and Carlton’s tasty chord and single-note work that comes right around the tune’s half-way point.
If you take your guitar playing scorching and screaming, look no further: this album is for you. And since this type of music has been mishandled before, here’s wishing good luck to Vai and hoping he’s as good a business man as he is a guitarist.
Jim Ferguson (JazzTimes)
