Guitjazzathon
Scott Whitney | Spinario Records

By Javier Antonio Quiñones Ortiz

Quick and to the Point: Musical frankness wins the day.

Guitarist Scott Whitney has realistic expectations: although he is strumming a Guitjazzathon, all he wants is to be “casual, fun and natural.” He is.

Whitney’s tech-assisted solo guitar recording is a pleasurable stress-free interpretation of originals –with the exception of “Corcovado” and a non- Lecuona “Malagueña.” Leaning heavily towards Hispanic music, nicely interpreted in the seductive passages of “Mexican Dish” and the Iberian familiarity of “Malagueña,” the guitarist also funkifies things a bit in the opener, doubles himself on the not so restrained “Classically Tamed” and takes you out to a southern Summer afternoon to sip tea and bourbon after laying “White Linen” to dry on the sun. A few other thematic considerations are also included in this release, although it stays close to Latin America.

Scott Whitney has fine technique and he can carry and evolve jazz vocabularies with accented facility, achieving his aforementioned goals with ease. His performances gel aurally to the point of inclusion in one’s misnamed consciousness without much effort. The music and its salutary effects are there while listening to it, yet it is almost as if the music is in the air of it all. Whitney added studio percussion tracks to Guitjazzathon for color and rhythmic support, and his wisdom in this regard must be judged upon experiencing the music.