Larry Carlton, Steve Lukather No Substitutions Live In Osaka

Larry Carlton, Steve Lukather – No Substitutions Live In Osaka

Label:Favored Nations Entertainment – FN 2060-2

Format:CD, Album

Country:UK

Released:Mar 20, 2001

Genre:Jazz

Style:Fusion, Contemporary Jazz

Tracklist

1. The Pump - Composed By – Simon Phillips, Tony Hymas 14:28

2. Don't Give It Up - Composed By – Larry Carlton 6:38

3. (It Was) Only Yesterday - Composed By – Larry Carlton 12:09

4. All Blues - Composed By – Miles Davis 14:06

5. Room 335 - Composed By – Larry Carlton 5:06

Credits

• Bass – Chris Kent
• Drums, Percussion – Gregg Bissonette
• Electric Guitar [Left Side] – Larry Carlton
• Electric Guitar [Right Side] – Steve Lukather
• Engineer – Mark Dawson, Yoshiyasu Kumada
• Keyboards – Rick Jackson
• Producer – Steve Lukather, Steve Vai

Notes

Recorded live November 1998 at The Blue Note Osaka.

Larry Carlton and Steve Lukather: No Substitutions - Live in Osaka

By Scott Andrews / AllAboutJazz
December 1, 2001
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Longtime L.A. studio guitarists and friends Larry Carlton and Steve Lukather lead a quintet rounded out with keyboards, bass, and drums on five instrumental tracks recorded live in Osaka, Japan.

No Substitutions opens with the Jeff Beck tune "The Pump," featuring repeated guitar solos over a long, static bass groove of steady eighth notes. After a blissfully contrasting quiet middle section, the song plods on to its total length of over 14 minutes. The next track, a 12:8 shuffle called "Don't Give Up," is just as dull, only in a different rhythm and with a blues chord progression. The slight funk they insert into a slowed down cover of the Miles classic "All Blues" just drags out a strident and tedious rendition of this tune, that other rock guitarists like Gibb Droll have covered with passion and delicacy.

The band feels rigid, particularly Chris Kent on bass, and the music lacks any sense of interaction between the musicians that should be present in a live situation. The two guitarists dominate the sound, over keyboards mixed too low to add much tonal contrast, save a refreshing piano solo in "Don't Give Up." When Carlton switches to a clean tone, his subtle touch outclasses Lukather's distorted honk and flashy chops, but most of his distorted lead playing feels just as dreary as Lukather's.

No Substitutions sounds like a rock band trying to play in a jazz or fusion format, with long vamps and solos going around the band. The stiff interpretations of these extended jams and the focus on the dull playing by both guitarists fail to convey any spark these musicians might have had in this live setting. On the back of the record, Favored Nations label president Steve Vai says "This is the kind of music that real guitar lovers live for." Maybe, if you like repetitive guitar solos over unimaginative grooves, but it isn't the kind of music that real _music_ lovers live for.

More Info: http://www.favorednations.com/artists/larryluke/carlton_lukather.html

No Substitutions: Live in Osaka Review by Greg Prato / AMG

One of the more underrated guitarists in rock is Steve Lukather. Best known for his work with Toto, Lukather is a highly sought-after session player, having played on countless albums by other artists, and has no problem adapting his playing to a wide variety of different styles. Lukather also finds the time to sporadically issue his own solo albums, and in 2003, he issued a live collaboration with fellow session guitarist Larry Carlton, No Substitutions: Live in Osaka. As expected, plenty of guitar showcases for each player are provided, especially on a pair of over-14-minute tracks -- "The Pump" and "All Blues" -- as well as an album-closing rendition of the Carlton classic "Room 335." Not exactly a groundbreaking jazz-rock guitar release, but fans of each guitarist should enjoy hearing each show their stuff on-stage. - AMG