Search - Greg Nagy :: Walk That Fine Thin Line

Greg Nagy : a revelation

R. Malines | Asnières sur Seine France | 08/20/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Greg Nagy

Walk That Fine Thin Line

Big O Records - 2412

2009



Please pay attention, for this is a true jewel we're talking about !

Greg Nagy might not be totally unknown to some of you. Sure, he's Root Doctor guitar player. Yes, but watch out. Nagy doesn't play the solo album card as an excuse to issue a new CD by that same band. No. Greg Nagy does his own thing. And what a thing it is ! Oh yes, these are members of Root Doctor playing behind him, Bobby Gardner on drums, James Williams on bass, Jim Alfredson on keys. Not only you don't change a winning team, but the word friendship seems to bare quite a meaning to our hero. Other players came to enrich such and such track, such as Al Hill on keyboards on three songs, Larry Frantangelo on percussions on four, Drew Howard on pedal steel guitar on She's My Baby, plus Rachael Davis and Jen Sygit on background vocals, supported by Root Doctor bandmates manly voices.

The shock, the very first shock from the get go, is the voice. Except on very rare occasions, with Root Doctor, Greg Nagy leaves this part to Freddie Cunningham, who by the way does a helluva job with it. But here, our man leaves his spot to nobody else. And what he does with it must be heard ! Soul, Blues, Jazz, Reggae, Funk, he fears nothing, the guy marvellously sings it all ! We had an exceptional singer at hand and we weren't even aware of it ! As if being a talented lead vocalist wasn't enough, there's more : yes, our Michigander also is a guitar player who's qualities are multiple. Able to play in a number of different styles, this dude is everything but servile : he has that talent that is the mark of the greats : his playing is all his own. Musicality, imagination, added to perfectly mastered, superb fingering, everything the guy has to share is simply stunning. "Alight, alright, we got it !" Aaaaaah yes, but no, everything hasn't been told yet : thing is Nagy and Alfredson know how to come up with great tunes, the kind that's above the ordinary. Their compositions - melodies, harmonic progressions - as well as their arrangements and solos, all come from rich and varied influences, but these guys also take all of it, and, with old recipes, manage to come up with something new. For instance Jenny Jenny Jenny may sound like a cover, but the way Greg and Jim "manufactured" these songs is so fresh, it's like a new breath of oxygen with every new track. If Root Doctor was the discovery of an excellent band, this first solo project is the revelation of a great artist not to be missed.

René Malines"

Great CD

William C. Matthews | Georgia | 12/28/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Greg Nagy's "Walk That Fine Thin Line" is a great CD. Greg's lead playing is outstanding. This CD is a must for blues fans.

Celeste Matthews"