ALBARE

By Alan Howe

The stories told by the hands of Albare do not always end the way the authors intended, not that he tells the tales of others too often.

Most of the music played by Albare has been composed by him. There are exceptions such as the opening track of his new album “After the Rain” illustrated by the Burt Bacharach and Hal David’s 1966 gem Alfie, and a cheeky recreation of the Beatles’ Can’t Buy Me Love, whose famous chorus from time to time just pops its nose from the gentle ripples of Albare’s imaginative swirl.

As Albare weaves unpredictable and seductively liquid guitar lines in and out of these melodies, his gifted sidemen helping steer a course well north of lounge, and towards fallow lands that might have been ploughed had Wes Montgomery lived.

Albare’s earlier musical excursions have included establishing Acid Jazz in Australia, being first to record the striking artistry of piano maestro Joe Chindamo, who also appears with Albare, as does the endlessly inventive percussionist Alex Pertout, who has joined Albare on stage while opening for the likes of Randy Crawford, with Evripedis Evripedou on bass, Rob Burke on sax and Andrew Gander on drums.

But it on “After The Rain” that Albare finds his soul speaking, its gentle sweeps of sound relying on the nuance and skill of fine musicians to feather the contours of a landscape you would otherwise never glimpse.

Current band members playing with Albare:
Joe Chindamo, Accordion and Fender Rhodes
Rob Burke: Tenor Sax
Evripides Evripedou: Bass
Tony Floyd: drums and percussions