Tony Furtado - American Gypsy

American Gypsy introduces itself with about 15 seconds of rumbling instrumental noise, the equivalent of an outsider orchestra tuning, before the opening blues figure of "Oh Berta, Berta" falls down from Tony Furtado's guitar. In those early moments, a new direction is named for Furtado, a bluegrass virtuoso and genre-bending master whose 1997 release, Roll My Blues Away, introduced his perfection of the slide guitar and move away from traditional roots-style composition. Loved by jam band enthusiasts, Furtado's improvisational picking takes the fore in "The Angry Monk," "Hartford," and the funk-tinged "Rising Fog." The epic tradition of "Staggerlee" is continued, with Furtado's steel guitar and multi-guitared pop rendition recalling electric Bob Dylan. Read More