Howard Roberts – Sounds

Apparently trying to take advantage of the easy listening guitar albums Tony Mottola was doing for the Command label and that Al Caiola was doing for a couple of companies, Capitol brought Howard Roberts into the studio to record a melange of contemporary pop and standards. While Roberts spent a significant portion of his career in the studios, often recording pop songs, he nonetheless escaped the maudlin to become a jazz guitarist of the first rank. In addition to several albums as a leader, Roberts recorded with such jazz luminaries as Art Pepper, Bud Shank, and the Candoli Brothers. While there are some excellent standards on this disk, it is cluttered with such fluff as “If,” “Where Is the Love,” and “Tie a Yellow Ribbon Around the Ole Oak Tree” which even a talent like Roberts can’t resuscitate. Even on the good tunes Roberts has to plough through electronically created accompaniments as on “When Sunny Gets Blue,” or a overcome a monotonous, monotone back beat. Appropriately (or ironically), the last track on this LP is Roberts own “Indulge Me.” And that’s just what the listener has done for nine tracks out of respect for the man’s artistry. Hopefully for Robert’s reputation, this LP will never see the light of day as a CD.