Earl Klugh

An acoustic guitarist with a very pretty tone, Earl Klugh does not consider himself a jazz player and thinks of <a href="spotify:artist:4dZrt8Ong5t7YYpvbfp0RU">Chet Atkins</a> as being his most important influence. Klugh played on a <a href="spotify:artist:33XkS6h90eeK7e6OJHw0mq">Yusef Lateef</a> album when he was 15 and gained recognition in 1971 for his contributions to <a href="spotify:artist:4N8BwYTEC6XqykGvXXlmfv">George Benson</a>'s White Rabbit record. He played regularly with <a href="spotify:artist:4N8BwYTEC6XqykGvXXlmfv">Benson</a> in 1973, was briefly a member of <a href="spotify:artist:1txWOvvuItlRlkB4rM0cUK">Return to Forever</a> in 1974, and then in the mid-'70s began recording as a leader. After a couple well-received solo albums on different <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Capitol%22">Capitol</a> imprints including <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Blue+Note%22">Blue Note</a>, Klugh hit pay dirt with 1979's One on One, a Grammy-winning collaboration with pianist <a href="spotify:artist:6ryjbFyWBZho9KGXqKZdqQ">Bob James</a>. More solo albums followed before the sequel to One on One, Two of a Kind, appeared in 1982. In 1984 he changed labels and released one of his most popular albums, Soda Fountain Shuffle, on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Warner+Bros%22">Warner Bros</a>. Klugh made his biggest artistic impression yet in 1989 with the self-explanatory Solo Guitar. Two years later he would return to the "serious jazz" repertoire of Solo Guitar, but this time with bassist <a href="spotify:artist:4crZ3zW7Q2aWe7xzfo8n6r">Ralphe Armstrong</a> and drummer <a href="spotify:artist:3o6lRRQApqmSc4SUgwEjtZ">Gene Dunlap</a> on the acoustic bebop outing The Earl Klugh Trio, Vol. 1. Cool from 1992 found him working with <a href="spotify:artist:6ryjbFyWBZho9KGXqKZdqQ">Bob James</a> again and was followed by three more smooth releases for the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Warner+Bros%22">Warner Bros</a> family before the jump was made to <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Windham+Hill%22">Windham Hill</a> with 1999's Peculiar Situation. Compilations, live albums, appearances with others, and reissues filled the years leading up to 2005's Naked Guitar, a stripped-down, standards-heavy album for the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Koch%22">Koch</a> label. The Spice of Life followed in 2008. For the next four years, Klugh focused on touring and booking his Weekend of Jazz concerts at both the Broadmoor Hotel & Resort in Colorado Springs and the Kiawah Island Golf Resort in South Carolina. In 2013, he returned to recording. The album Hand Picked was released by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Heads+Up%22">Heads Up</a> in the summer of 2013, and featured guest spots by <a href="spotify:artist:3SONlwqLIP2GtaMh9pLYe5">Bill Frisell</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3IhWQSrLj8EJjdvjFTpCyo">Vince Gill</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:69NjH5MsRLr0CX0zSlGmN3">Jake Shimabukuro</a>. ~ Scott Yanow, Rovi