Mel Bay Dave Stryker Big City (CD)
One of the hippest, hardest swinging guitarists on the jazz scene, Dave Stryker has placed his signature warm-toned, blues-drenched lines (played on his Gibson 347 semi-hollow body guitar) in a wide variety of contexts as a leader on 18 recordings. A prolific composer and potent player with a penchant for bop, ballads and blues, Stryker has incorporated such important (and wildly diverse) six-string influences as Wes Montgomery, Pat Martino, Grant Green, Sonny Sharrock and Albert King into a highly personalized guitar vocabulary while also reflecting the inspiration of such immortal composers as Duke Ellington, Ornette Coleman, Miles Davis, Wayne Shorter and Thelonious Monk. On Big City, Styker is reunited with the stellar drummer (and fellow Omaha native) Victor Lewis, who appeared on the guitarist’s 1992 release, Guitar On Top. He is also joined by bassist Ed Howard and pianist Dave Kikoski in a program of swinging originals and savvy covers.
