I've got a new local album to tell you about this week. But let's start with Bobby Keys.

Bobby Keys, saxophonist extraordinaire died earlier this week. You might have heard, you might have missed it.

He was about famous enough to be mentioned in worldwide news but, like in life I guess, not quite famous enough to be the headliner.

Sideman extraordinaire

Actually, that's not fair. Booby Keys was here in March, playing a gig in Auckland with his band.

But he was mainly known as a sideman; and sidemen rarely get the recognition they deserve. Let's pause a second and do just that.

Because Bobby Keys was something else. A wild sax player – and wild enough to be Keith Richards' party buddy for decades – he left an indelible mark on pretty much everything he touched.

I guess he'll be most remembered for ‘Brown Sugar', the Stones' anthem. It was never quite the same without that sax solo.

But then he's all over the best Stones stuff. Check out pretty much anything on ‘Exiles From Main Street' (start with ‘Live With Me'), or ‘Can't You Hear Me Knocking' from Sticky Fingers. Magic.

But you don't get to be a legend by just playing with the Rolling Stones. (Actually, you do, but I'm not typing that again.)

Three more ‘Key' moments: Dion and the Belmonts – ‘The Wanderer'; Joe Cocker – ‘The Letter'; and John Lennon – ‘Whatever Gets You Through The Night'. There was a lot more but...damn!

Of course, the best Bobby Keys story, retold in Keith's autobiography, is how he got kicked out of the Rolling Stones on their 1973 world tour.

After a no-show when the band assembled for the tour's penultimate gig in Belgium, Keith went to Keys' hotel room to check on him.

And found him smoking a cigar with 'a French chick” in a bathtub filled with Dom Perignon.

Keys declined to leave the tub and was consequently kicked out of the band for over a decade. (The contents of the bath also cost more than his entire tour wages!)
Farewell Bobby – thanks for the music.

Monster guitarist

And onto some local music...

Monster guitarist Sean Bodley has released his second CD of 2014, in a very attractive limited edition that comes signed and with two free guitar picks.

His previous album was Balance, comprising an impressive bunch of electric guitar instrumentals with a nod to Steve Vai and Joe Satriani.

This time it's an all-acoustic set called ‘Acoustic Soundscapes' and the title is a pretty good two-word description of the album.

It's a collection of instrumentals recorded over the last 14 years, immaculately played and of obvious appeal to guitarists out there.

But it's not just someone showing off on a guitar, despite the frequently impressive use of advanced techniques.

These are pieces with melody and musical shape and the album mixes longer 'new-age” type explorations with more straight-ahead melodic tunes such as ‘Popcorn Girl'.

Each overlays several acoustic guitar parts and builds in complexity as it progresses. Everything is played by Sean.

Popping corks?

Things wrap up after over an hour with ten minutes of ‘Beyond the First Step', which is a rather lovely closer.

If you're looking for acoustic semi-ambient guitar music this will be perfect. But I realise that for many it won't pop any corks. There is a limited audience for such music, which in no way invalidates it: that's just the way it is.

What I look forward to – having spent a while this year with both his all-electric album (yes it did have one amazing acoustic guitar solo on it, courtesy of Mark Wright) and this new all-acoustic set – is an album of Sean's that mixes his acoustic and electric playing.

Each on their own explore specific tonal colours and a combination could broaden this spectrum and possibly widen his music's audience. He certainly deserves it to be heard.
‘Acoustic Soundscapes' is on iTunes, Amazon and others online platforms, or check Sean's Facebook page to get a CD.

Next week: Waihi band The Line Up (since I ran out of space for them this week) and a bunch of other albums that have been exciting my aural passages in recent times. Till then...

watusi@thesun.co.nz