GEORGE VAN EPS / HOWARD ALDEN - Hand-Crafted Swing (1992) CONCORD / FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

The master of the seven-string guitar, George Van Eps, joins the rising young jazz guitarist Howard Alden, which works perfectly in spite of a 45-year difference in age and different approaches to the guitar. Van Eps' chordal style meshes perfectly with Alden's single note lines in part because of the younger man's study of the senior's recordings and Alden's quick ear and gift for harmony. In any case, it was an obvious thrill for Alden to play with the experienced Van Eps, who literally invented the seven-string guitar (also played by Bucky Pizzarelli) and would soon be added to Alden's musical arsenal. The second of four CDs that they would make together prior to Van Eps' death in 1998, they play a mix of popular standards and show tunes from the 1930s, '40s and '50s. Highlights include a lyrical "What's New." a deliberate "I Could Write a Book," and an intricate "All the Things You Are," along with less frequently played chestnuts like the swinging "It's Wonderful." Van Eps is unaccompanied on both of his original compositions, "Lap Piano" and "Forty-Eight." Bassist Dave Stone and drummer Jake Hanna, who sticks to brushes, are present on most of the tracks. by Ken Dryden   
Tracklist:
1 Stompin' at the Savoy 4:12
Benny Goodman / Andy Razaf / Edgar Sampson / Chick Webb
2 What's New? 4:16
Johnny Burke / Bob Haggart
3 It's Wonderful 4:13
Howard Alden / George Van Eps
4 Lap Piano 2:34
George Van Eps
5 I Could Write A Book 4:39
Walter Gross / Jack Lawrence
6 Tenderly 3:36
Paul James / Kay Swift
7 Can't We Be Friends 5:15
Neal Hefti
8 Just in Time 4:18
Betty Comden / Adolph Green / Jule Styne
9 The Nearness of You 6:27
Hoagy Carmichael / Ned Washington
10 Forty-Eight 6:11
Howard Alden / George Van Eps
11 All the Things You Are 1:18
Oscar Hammerstein II / Jerome Kern
12 I Could Write a Book 4:53
Lorenz Hart / Richard Rodgers
13 I've Got a Crush on You 4:58
George Gershwin / Ira Gershwin
14 Moonglow 4:47
Eddie DeLange / Will Hudson / Irving Mills
 Credits
Bass – Dave Stone
Drums – Jake Hanna
Guitar – George Van Eps, Howard Alden

GEORGE VAN EPS / HOWARD ALDEN - Hand-Crafted Swing

 (1992) CONCORD / FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

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