For quite a while now those who had been lucky enough to hear Just Your Fool, Carlos del Junco's first solo album had been hoping for a new release. For my part, even though I liked the above mentioned live recording, I felt a little frustrated by the choice of repertoire, too conventional in perspective with Carlos' capabilities . I was waiting for something more open musically, and with Big Boy, I wasn't disappointed.
Carlos doesn't really have much to prove technically: he has assimilated the most advanced playing techniques (overblows, bent octaves, counterpoint, etc.) under Howard Levy's tutelage and beyond. Where Levy tends to tread the roads of a somewhat 'cerebral' jazz, del Junco focuses on more popular and accessible styles of music, amongst which blues, of course, but not limited to that. The great achievement of this album in my opinion is that Carlos manages to blend the harmonica into musical styles where it is seldom if at all represented : ska, soul, and some hybrid mixes that are more difficult to categorise.
Blues is still featured on the album, and those who have heard Carlos' style know that it is anything but conventional. The New Orleans flavoured "Junco Partner" and the jump blues classic "I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate" are nice examples of that. There is also a nod to Sugar Blue with a cover of his solo "Another Man Done Gone" that blends into a breakneck pace train imitation. Anyone wanting to develop breathing techniques need simply work on duplicating that track. Good luck!
Carlos' only foray into full jazz territory is a beautiful cover of Fats Waller's "Jitterbug Waltz", in which his acoustic sound shines. The arrangement is sober and the piece very beautiful. Beyond the theme itself, Carlos takes time to build his solo so that there's a gradual shift in mood and intensity. Towards the end of "Jitterbug Waltz", he displays a dizzying technique by quoting a piece by JS Bach with intertwined melodic lines played on each side of the mouth. I understand this used to be one of Howard Levy's showstoppers when he played with Kenny Loggins. It's really hard to believe that there's only one harmonica being played there...
Another strong point of this recording is the fun that seeps through most of it. It's obvious that Carlos and his musicians had the time of their lives and that's very pleasant to hear. The best illustration of this is "Heddon Tadpolly Spook", described in the liner notes as a quirky ska hybrid instrumental soundtrack for a Fellini film. It's a real fun piece, upbeat and unusual.
There are three things I can think of that would perhaps stop me from giving this record top marks, were I actually grading my reviews. One is the occasional display of a technical showmanship that doesn't serve the music. This is something I hear on many recordings of the most advanced players and although Carlos is by far not the most guilty perpetrator, there are a couple of spots on the record where I can't help but feel that it's just too much. On "Heaven’s where you'll dwell", for example, there's a drum and harp break during which Carlos plays a few bars in each of the twelve keys (on one diatonic of course). Well I sure can't do it, but I still don't think it sounds that good.
Another thing is that Carlos does have a number of mannerisms that are particularly evident in his improvisations. Recurring phrases, the same was to attack the vibrato, etc. This is really a minor gripe, but I guess I just hope that Carlos doesn't rely too much on these, because although they define him as a player, they can end up making him sound a bit stale too.
Finally, but that's really a comment that's hard not to make on most records, there are a number of filler tracks here. Noy uninteresting by any means, but not that interesting either.
Despite these minor criticisms, I really enjoy this album, and it has stood the test of time and repeated listenings. I can only recommend it if you want to hear what one of the most innovative harp players of today is doing with a diatonic.
This review was originally posted on www.planetharmonica.com in early 2000. I have made slight amendments to this revised version, but on the whole, my opinion then matches my opinion now.
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