When it comes to jazz covers of the Beatles, there have been
some truly inventive treatments of the material and there have been some that
relied on the melodic popularity of the music for safe interpretations. And
while there is nothing particularly ground breaking about the 11 covers on
guitarist John Basile’s August release Penny
Lane, for those who like their jazz smooth there is much to admire. After
all it would be strange if a talented guitarist, and Basile is a talent to be
reckoned with, working with the Beatles’ music didn’t come up with a winning
album.
Backing up his guitar with midi programming, Basile runs
through the range of the Beatles song book, from earlier work like “I Want to
Hold Your Hand,” to later pieces like “The Fool on the Hill,” both here building
on a Latin beat. Somehow, in spite of the fact that you might not expect it
with this teeny bopper classic, he manages to take a lengthy look at “I Want to
Hold Your Hand,” and works it for all it’s worth. He
makes some dynamic harmonic choices for his cover of the title song, “Penny
Lane” and his “Norwegian Wood” is one of the album’s more creative efforts.
His covers of “Eleanor Rigby” and “A Day in the Life” are
fine, but these are two tunes that have been coopted by Wes Montgomery, at
least as far as I’m concerned. His avoids any of the obvious gentle weeping
that might that might tempt a lesser guitarist covering George Harrison’s
“While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” although mistakenly the album cover attributes
the composition to Lennon and McCartney. “And I Love Her” features some of his
most effective solo work. “Can’t Buy Me Love” plays with funky blues, while
“Here There and Everywhere” gets a mite syrupy. A clean and simple version of
“In My Life” concludes the album.
Basile is a fine guitarist. His work on the Beatles canon is
both intelligent and emotionally satisfying, if not as adventurous as some.
