Search - Jim Hurst :: A Box Of Chocolates

It Couldn't Happen To A Nicer Guy

Mark J. Fowler | Okinawa, Japan | 02/16/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"How can I use words to evoke the magic contained on this CD?



For starters, you should know that Jim Hurst has twice won the prestigious IBMA Guitarist of the Year award. He has been with Song-goddess Claire Lynch's band for over a dozen years and along the way has lent his six-string gun-slinging abilities to folks like Sara Evans, Travis Tritt and Trisha Yearwood.



He's also a dern good guy, a rock-solid pillar-of-the-community kind of man who you wouldn't mind your children using as a role model.



He's had a duo with Claire's IBMA award-winning bassist Missy Raines for several years, and I highly recommend you check out the Jim and Missy duo recordings also.



But when Big Jim unleashes that hoss of a six-string technique on his solo projects I think you get the most intimate view of an awesome musician.



You should know that Jim Hurst plays guitar better than you. He also plays better than anyone you know, or anyone you've heard of. Oh, sure, you may say, "oh, NO ONE plays a telecaster like Albert Lee or Jerry Reed or Steve Morse" - but those guys can't flatpick like Jim does. You may say "oh, Jim can't flatpick like Tony Rice or Bryan Sutton". #1 - I'm not sure you'd be right and #2 - Sutton and Rice and everyone else you ever heard flatpick well can't fingerpick like Jim. You may say "well... Jim surely can't fingerpick as well as Tommy Emmanuel or Guy Van Duser". You MAY be right (and you may not be) but those fine players wouldn't think of using a flatpick.



So - what am I saying? Jim Hurst is a chameleon, except that he's the 500 pound gorilla of guitar chameleons. He could walk on stage right now with ANY band playing ANY music using a guitar, and people would walk out of the concert shaking their heads saying "who WAS that bald man with the happy look on his face playing the FIRE out of that guitar?"



Which brings us to "A Box of Chocolates", Jim's extremely fine latest album. (If you want a triple treat, go back and check out Second Son and Open Window, but make sure you're sitting down when you put on "Wheel Hoss" or "Three Days Deep, Forever Wide".)



Box of Chocolates, probably more than any of his previous works, showcases not only Jim's incredible musicianship, but his unprecedented diversity. His flatpicking stands solidly side by side with electric guitar work and fingerstyle. His vocals are expressive, at the same time moving and soothing, like a younger Doc Watson. He is surrounded by some of the most blazing musicians in the business, from Claire Lynch and the Whites to Sam Bush and a dozen others. The sweet-meat in all of these chocolates is Jim and his chameleon-like guitar.



Perhaps the highlight of the package involves only Jim and guitar. In concert Mr. Hurst stuns not only his audiences, but the other musicians in the band, with the old warhorse "Nine Pound Hammer". Since Merle Travis every guitarist from Doc Watson and Tony Rice to Tommy Emmanuel has put a signature on this deceptively simple and alluring 3-chord tune. Jim Hurst turns "Nine Pound Hammer" into "Nine Pound Solo Suite for steel-string guitar with vocals". In concert Jim opens the piece with an introduction that is never the same twice. How many different variations of Nine Pound Hammer do you think could be played with each one different and jaw-droppingly difficult? Three? A half-dozen? Jim can play over a dozen in a row, with each variation a mini-masterpiece. The mind is overwhelmed with delight. On "Box" Jim includes the multi-variation introduction as a separate track, "Wildcatter", before leading to the main course, which alternates that same delicious guitar work with Jim's friendly and expressive vocals. Don't tell him, but my cell-phone rings with Jim playing Nine Pound Hammer.



Now that I've gone on too long it's worth mentioning briefly a few other highlights. Jim is a fantastic mandolin and banjo player as well, and his original Mando Bounce gets a jazzy workout by the thoroughbreds. Chocolate Chaise Lounge opens the disc in style with a bluesy chunk. Look Down Hannah, I Ain't Gonna Cry for You and Mary of the Wild Moor are worthy entries in the genre of Americana Ballad. 'Til There Was You and C5 A la Mode showcase more of Jim's six-string dexterity. Darling Tell Me Why honors Jim's Kentucky Bluegrass roots. The disc ends with Claire Lynch's lovely rendition of Young at Heart, first recorded 55 years earlier by Sinatra and beautifully supported by the stylings of guess who on guitar.



This is the kind of CD you could put on and just play over and over. I could try to specify who I think is the ideal audience for "Box of Chocolates", but I think it would be correct to say if you are reading this, you should be making arrangements to listen to this CD. If you don't own it - you should.

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