SHARFE Archive

Brad MYERS & Michael SHARFE – Sanguinaria (Hopefulsongs) – Colloquy

by Audiophile Audition | Jan 16, 2017 | Jazz CD Reviews

Brad MYERS & Michael SHARFE – Sanguinaria (Hopefulsongs) – Colloquy 13214, 59:49 (1/30/17) ****½: (Brad Myers – guitar/ Michael Sharfe – doublebass/ Dan Dorff Jr. – drums/ Tom Buckley – drums/ Marc Wolfley – percussion/ Dan Karlsberg – melodica) Outstanding arrangements for guitar & bass duo rooted in classic jazz and midwestern Americana aesthetic.  The new release Sanguinaria (Hopefulsongs) by well-established Cincinnati musicians Brad Myers and Michael Sharfe makes an immediate visual impression. A perfectly-rendered botanical illustration of the bloodroot plant is framed on the lower half of all six panels of the fold-out sleeve.  On the cover, the subterranean root emerges into leaf and flower. Dabs of watercolor and a couple of industrious ants add detail. It is among the most striking images I have ever seen on a CD and is suggestive of a special artistic care and purpose. Mr. Myers explains in the liner notes the choice of the image as a metaphor for the duo format. “The plant sometimes produces a rare double flower… and when pierced or broken, it bleeds a reddish sap, which accounts for its Latin name.” There are multiple meanings here – that which is hidden, nourished over time, vulnerable to destruction, […]