Stiernberg & Carlini do it again!
Bomando | Princeton, NJ | 09/26/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Following their successful first recording collaboration for Blue Night Records -- "Angel Eyes," jazz mandolinist Don Stiernberg and jazz guitarist John Carlini have done it again with "By George" -- a wonderful collection of Gershwin tunes. As they did on Angel Eyes, Stiernberg and Carlini once again employ bassist Jim Cox and drummer Phil Gratteau to make for a tight, swingin' acoustic quartet that does some very tasty stuff with some old Gershwin chestnuts. The cool thing about their latest effort is that while they've covered some very familiar material, they've also interpreted some of Gershwin's standards in some pretty hip ways. I won't give away any of the surprises except to say that, for example, I was blown away by their samba-ized version of Embraceable You. Nicely done, gents! If you're into the work of acoustic jazz duos like Django Reinhardt & Stephane Grappelli, Joe Venuti & Eddie Lang, and the jazz instrumentals of Homer & Jethro, etc., then "By George" is a treat you shouldn't miss."