Calling his second release Miracles set German born guitarist Dirk K up for a large fall, because the only track that comes close to true transcendence is "Stanley," a tribute to legendary bassist Clarke written by Dirk's brother Joerg. With Joerg taking the low road and Dirk taking the higher tones of the acoustic guitar, the two wrap around each other's lines beautifully for most of the tune; Dirk's guitar then dances wildly with colorful, water trickle-type improvisations over an hypnotic motif that reflects Clarke's ...
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Calling his second release Miracles set German born guitarist Dirk K up for a large fall, because the only track that comes close to true transcendence is "Stanley," a tribute to legendary bassist Clarke written by Dirk's brother Joerg. With Joerg taking the low road and Dirk taking the higher tones of the acoustic guitar, the two wrap around each other's lines beautifully for most of the tune; Dirk's guitar then dances wildly with colorful, water trickle-type improvisations over an hypnotic motif that reflects Clarke's typical electric bass sound. Otherwise, despite clearly earnest intentions to create some spotless, easygoing smooth jazz, Dirk rarely brings his solid electric guitar approach into any truly exciting settings. His style is best defined as "Wes-lite, " and he often improvises sharply as he plays lead melodies; sometimes, as on "For Your Love" -- where he plays electric over a folksy acoustic harmony -- or the lightly funky "Day by Day," he latches onto a memorable hook. Other times, what he no doubt feels is deep (a title like "My Revelation" would indicate such) comes off more as noodling and artsy than irresistible. He's as solid a player as any other electrician on the scene, but as far as smooth jazz miracles go, he's turning water into wine way more often than he's parting the Red Sea. ~ Jonathan Widran, Rovi
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