Italian flatpicking guitarist Beppe Gambetta's second album for Gadfly Records is a collection of tracks, many of them Gambetta originals, dedicated to other flatpickers he admires. Thus, Don Reno's "Dixie Breakdown" is earmarked "to Mark O'Connor," and Gambetta's own "1000 Flatpickers at the Court of King Norman" is "to Norman Blake." As that song title implies, Gambetta never feels restricted to a single guitar line; the album is heavily overdubbed with multiple passes, all by Gambetta until the end. Most of the disc is instrumental, though Gambetta does step in to sing occasionally, notably on Woody Guthrie's "Hard Travelin'," demonstrating that his mastery of rural English has improved despite a slight Italian accent. He concludes the disc with a couple of live performances, joined by friends: "Painting the Clouds with Sunshine" ("to Eddie Lang") is a collaboration with mandolinist David Grisman, and "Why You Been Gone So Long" features Gene Parsons on banjo and Martino Coppo on mandolin. The tribute theme of the album is something of a gimmick, but it does provide a structure for Gambetta to hang some of his own characteristically fast and fluid playing on.
© William Ruhlmann /TiVo