Steve Smith
Desert Night

Review by Steven Stone
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  I first met Steve Smith at the Midwinter Bluegrass festival where he graciously let me play his 1924 Gibson Lloyd Loar mandolin. He's got a good'un, and on Desert Night he puts it to fine use, along with a 1915 Gibson H-2 mandola, 1912 K-2 mandocello, 1938 Martin 000-21 flattop, and 1946 Gibson ES-300 archtop. The music on Desert Night cuts a wide swath. Selections range from old time fiddle tunes, to classical chamber music, small group jazz, neo-Celtic, and even down-home finger-style. The element that unites all the music is Steve Smith's exceptional talent and prodigious musicality. He wrote all the compositions, and plays most of the instruments on Desert Night. Unlike many "showcase" albums Desert Night is not about hot licks and flashy playing, but lyrical organic music. My favorite song on Desert Night is "Bacon and Bread". Upon first listening I had to sit down and learn it. About an hour later I had this infectious melody under my fingers. If you're a picker, you'll most likely do the same. 

From the very fist notes of the opening selection "Desert Night" it readily apparent that everyone involved in this project loves the sound of acoustic stringed instruments. Produced and engineered by Tom Epinola, who also plays percussion, cello, synth cello, Guild bass, and electric guitar on the CD, Desert Night, this all-instrumental album also features Ira Gitlin on five string double bass, and Lorraine Duisit on troubadour harp. I love the sonics on this CD. It sounds clear and spectacularly well defined, but also warm and intimate. Tom Espinola and mastering engineer David Glasser of Airshow Mastering obviously have an ear for what acoustic instruments in the real world sound like, and they've captured the essence of that sound on Desert Night. 

I seriously doubt you'll find Desert Night is your local mall mega-music store, even Amazon didn't have it listed, but it is worth searching out. You can certainly get a copy through Steve Smith's Web site at www.zianet.com/desertnite.

Enjoyment: 90

Sound Quality: 90