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| Brian Setzer Gives Bluegrass a Rockabilly Spin on New Album With its forays into bluegrass and traditional jazz, Brian Setzer's new album 'Setzer Goes Instru-MENTAL!' (out April 19 on Surfdog Records) has the guitar legend testing new waters and putting his signature Stray Cat stamp on a few instrumental favorites. Setzer didn't set out to create an all-instrumental affair but couldn't resist temptation when the music started heading in that direction. "I didn't start writing an instrumental record, per se, " says Setzer. "I wrote 7 songs with lyrics, and then all of a sudden I just took a turn and started fooling around with 'Blue Moon of Kentucky, ' except without any vocals. I started playing melody chords and thought, 'Wow, this is pretty cool!' So the direction turned about halfway through my writing. I had never done an instrumental record, but I thought, well, now's the time." Setzer wrote six originals and revitalizes five jazz-bluegrass classics – "Blue Moon of Kentucky, " "Earl's Breakdown, " "Cherokee, " "Be-Bop-A-Lula, " and "Lonesome Road." Recording each gave Setzer the chance to revisit old techniques and try new tricks, such as playing banjo on the Earl Scruggs' classic "Earl's Breakdown, " or substituting jazz chords into traditional bluegrass on the Bluegrass Boys' "Blue Moon of Kentucky." write your comments about the article :: © 2011 Jazz News :: home page |