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Title: Music, not mannerisms
Review: If you regard mannerisms -- what happens when a player's fingers or other performative body parts lose touch with his or her mind -- as the main barrier separating improvisation from *music*, then you won't find a more musical guitarist than John Stowell. These improvisations are wonderfully musical. They provide a very satisfying encounter with a first-rate musical mind. The technique is there, but its primary function is to facilitate Stowell's thinking as he plays life into these traditional forms. There is no flash; nothing aims to impress. Stowell is simply trying -- with consistent success -- to do something interestingly new and musical with each of these standards. Each of these improvisations is a pleasure to contemplate.
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