THE CARL VERHEYEN BAND: Take one step

Cover	Release	Style
	2006	guitar oriented rock
	Label
	Provogue
	Website
	www.carlverheyen.com
	Contact
	-
	Playing Time	Cat. N°
	56:24	PRD7205 2
	Review by	Rating
	Claude	9/10
nederlands	Review
True, Carl Verheyen is not exactly well known in our country, our neighbours of The Netherlands will probably think of their own top skate rider. Nevertheless this American top guitar player has already been through an amazing musical career, he became famous when replacing Roger Hodgson of Supertramp in 1985. His solo albums until now were very much influenced by jazz and blues, but on his latest ‘Take one step’ there is a lot more of variation and the style is more oriented towards straight rock. The beginning track Georgia’s Reel is a mid tempo ballad, which reminds me at moments of the jazzy rock of Gino Vannelli in his earlier days of the seventies. Carl is not only a very talented guitar player but also an excellent singer, supported here by some nice backing vocals. The guitar solos are very diversified and technically refined. On this album one can hear many influences from Steely Dan, not at the least in a song like ‘The Code’ with some beautiful solos on Hammond organ and electric guitar. It is strange that this guitar virtuoso has so less recognition in Europe, he always succeeds to enchant the listener in up tempo songs as well as in the easy listening tracks. Like for example in the acoustic Dusk, which in the second part slowly passes through into a combination of romantic jazz and blues. Very surprising is the introduction of the title track Take One Step, the beginning could have been picked from an album of Karmakanic, musically and vocally. The refrain on the other hand has everything in it from Toto, a heavy but at the same time a very catchy song, where the virtuosic drum play of Chad Wackerman is very present. With again a magnificent guitar solo of Carl himself this is one of the highlights of the album. ‘You bring me down‘ has a clear 70’s hard rock sound, comparable with bands like Bad Company, Trapeze, Tempest and other Dixie Dregs (the guitar play of Carl can sometimes be compared with Holdsworth and Morse). ‘In the stream‘ is excellent instrumental jazz-rock/fusion, where all musicians are playing superbly, the track has been recorded live in studio without overdubs. ‘Lighthouse’ sounds a bit more jazzy (thanks to the beautiful sound of a Wurlitzer piano), but also contains some surprising tempo changes. After the instrumental fusion of Toepango Hoedown comes ‘Bells of April’, a track written by Carl Verheyen some 20 years ago. This track has very interesting themes, like a southern rock fragment sounding as the Allman Brothers in their best days. There is a constant variation between softer pieces and up tempo guitar play. And that is exactly what makes this album worthwhile, a lot of musical horizons can be discovered. Everybody with an open mind for music will certainly not be disappointed with this ‘Take one step’.
Musicians
Carl Verheyen : Lead Vocals, Guitars Cliff Hugo : Bass Jim Cox : Hammond, Wurlitzer Chad Wackerman, Bernie Dresel : Drums Mark Hart, Craig Copeland, Naomi Star : Backing Vocals
Tracklist
Georgia's Reel (6:14) The Code (5:42) Dusk Part (1:50) Dusk Part 2 (4:45) Take One Step (4:43) You Bring Me Down (5:01) In The Stream (5:03) Lighthouse (6:34) Topanga Hoedown (5:08) Bells Of April (11:17)


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