by rick grant rickgrant01@comcast.net
Witnessing Chris Duarte’s electric guitar showcase at Mojos Kitchen last Friday night, I could hear many influences guiding his improvisations, but not the usual ones, like Hendrix or Stevie Ray Vaughan. Indeed, Duarte is a master blaster, weaving John McLaughlin, Pat Matheny, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and other jazz icons into his eclectic style. Duarte avoids Hendrix riffs by going for a more original sound built on his long career as a solo artist. He digs Hendrix, but didn’t want to be another Hendrix clone.
Duarte’s presentation is all over the spectrum – jazz, blues, rock, and funk. Yes, Duarte loves funky grooves to launch his incredible solo energy. In addition to his lightning-fast single note runs, Duarte has learned the art of musical space and nuance, slowing down the pace and injecting octaves and other subtle techniques to break up the sameness of a whole evening of showcase guitar.
Duarte plays with a killer bassist, Joseph Patrick Moore, and Jeff Reilly on drums. The challenge for him is to overcome the monotony of the overpowering electric guitar. Sure, he uses a variety of tones and modulations, but there is just so much one can do with those six strings and a stack of amps, pedals and speakers. For the most part, Duarte balances his sound with enough variety to hold the listener’s interest. I would have liked to hear a B3 come into the mix or even a saxophone.
However, at Mojos, Duarte decided to play straight through the evening without a break which was a mistake. The audience needed a short break from the onslaught of his omnipresent guitar sound. For me, I was just about to walk outside to puff on my cigar, when I met drummer Mike Maple, who has been out touring with Wynonna. I chatted with him outside to take a break from Duarte’s rolling thunder revue.
This Duarte cat has been around since 1979, at the age of 16 he moved to Austin, Texas. At that time, Duarte liked jazz and blues, which have been his major influences for his entire career. He spent the 80s playing musical chairs with various bands. In the early 90s, Duarte fell into the drug addiction trap while touring continuously. Oddly, he stayed clean on the road but when he was home he used heavily. Despite his drug problems, the 90s was a period of great success for this rising star. In 94, Duarte recorded his first album, Texas Sugar/Strat Magik, which was critically acclaimed and in 95 he was named Best New Talent in Guitar Player Magazine.
In 97, Duarte released Tailspin Headwhack, which was an experimental album that was a hit with critics but didn’t impress his label Silvertone Records, which promptly dropped him off its roster. Then it was time for a reality check. His wife gave him the dreaded ultimatum – her or the drugs. Yes, it was time to get clean. His rebirth as a sober person got him a deal with Rounder Records and he released an album in 2000 titled Romp. Duarte has been on the comeback trail ever since. Now on Intrepid Artists International label, Duarte is making big waves in the jazz-blues guitar markets as a bonafide virtuoso.
If there are two things that separate Duarte from the legions of other guitar idols, it’s his love of jazz and funk, infused with his original improvisations which present new ideas that come from playing at a high level of artistry. Overall, Duarte is up there on the guitar summit with Jeff Beck, Pat Matheny, Eric Clapton, and John McLaughlin, who recorded the most influential jazz-rock album of our time, Bitches Brew with Miles Davis.
Article Published in the 2-21-08 Issue of EU Jacksonville
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