Jay Geils, Gerry Beaudoin & The King Of Strings (2006)

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Jay Geils, Gerry Beaudoin & The King Of Strings (2006)

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On Jay Geils, Gerry Beaudoin and the Kings of Strings, their free flowing pace and styles open the doors to the 30's and 40's ‘gypsy' style of music in an all acoustic set. Jay and Gerry's playing has a way of drawing in Aaron Weinstein's violin and mandolin like a moth to light, and Aaron, who at the ripe age of 19, shows his understanding of this style of music. Jay Geils, Gerry Beaudoin and the Kings of Strings is an acoustic journey across 13 tracks that mixes jazz classics with a few originals from Gerry Beaudoin. The first track, Desert Sands (Stuff Smith) is a perfect table-setter for the Kings of Strings, there is the fast-paced guitar licks playing cat and mouse with the violin, which creates a finger snapping, foot tapping melody that draws you into the music. The tracks are laid out in a manner where the end of one song has you wanting the next, and with each ‘turn', they deliver. Classics like In a Mellow Tone (Milton Gabler, Duke Ellington), Rose Room (Harry Williams, Art Hickman), Out of Nowhere (Edward Heyman, Jonny Green), Minor Swing (Django Reinhart, Stephane Grappelli), I Thought About You (Johnny Mercer, James Van Heusen), Take the A Train (Billy Strayhorn), and All Blues (Miles Davis), to list a few, are true treasures when heard in an acoustic setting, and in the hands of Jay and Gerry. The track Out of Nowhere was six minutes of true genius and displays how great musicians not only play off each other when they create music, but how they convey respect not only for one another, but also for the original artists of an era and a style. When they dropped in the original track Blue Benedetto, it was the perfect segue between the tracks Out of Nowhere and Here's That Rainy Day.