"Just Listen"
Mainstring Records PKCD2000-1
The new CD features eight previously unrecorded Kirtley originals, exciting duos with
guitarists Tommy Emmanuel, Saleh Hasan, and Craig Wagner, and a cool guitar arrangement of
Cyndi Lauper's pop hit "Time After Time". Pat's concept for this album was to
put together highly melodic tunes that anyone, not just guitarists, would want to hear. He
says "I wanted every one of these tunes--not just a couple--to be the kind you would
go around humming the next day. These are memorable melodies that I love to hear and
play."
The disc leads off with Pat's driving yet highly melodic "At This Moment". Next,
Pat is joined by Australian guitar legend Tommy Emmanuel for a poignant duo on
"Sails", a tune written by John and Johanna Hall of the mega-hit group Orleans,
and first recorded by Chet Atkins in the 80's. It's followed by Pat on a solo of
"Solstice Dance", a tune written around 1990 which was never previously
recorded.
The next tune is an original called "Santo Tirso" which Pat first performed in
(and dedicated to the people of) a small town in Portugal of the same name. Pat has loved
Latin music styles--Samba, Bossa Nova, Tango--since childhood, and brings those influences
front and center on "Just Listen". With the help of latin percussionists K.C.
Morris and Earnesto Dillon, and bass player Jeff Doiron, Pat has put together a rhythmic
combo that spotlights the sound of a new Taylor "prototype" nylon string guitar.
On "Santo Tirso", the group is joined by a young flamenco-influenced Egyptian
guitarist, Saleh Hasan. Pat also uses the group and the new guitar on "Del
Coronado", his most recent composition, and "Paqueta", a lovely bossa nova
tune.
Pat teams up with fingerstyle guitar wunderkind Craig Wagner for a jazzy duo on Pat's jazz
waltz "Miss You Like Crazy", letting Craig show off his improvisational skills
on a 7-string Buscarino arch-top guitar. Next, Emmanuel and Kirtley intertwine melodically
on Pat's tune "Wasn't It You", originally recorded as a solo piece for 1994's
"Kentucky Guitar". Emmanuel says "I've loved this tune for years, and I
play it often in my shows. It was only natural that Pat and I would eventually record it
together".
Pat completes the set here with new solo compositions "Kathy's Song",
"Closer to You", "Pierre" (dedicated to French guitar wiz Pierre
Bensusan), and a tune called "Fiddler's Last Waltz", dedicated to the memory of
Nashville fiddle virtuoso Randy Howard, who died in 1999.
"Just Listen" brings together Pat's virtuosic technique, love of melody, varied
rhythms, and continuing exploration of alternate tunings in a new collection that will sit
nicely beside his earlier releases "Kentucky Guitar", "Irish Guitar",
and "Rural Life".