Johnny A...anyone heard this guy?

[B2D]

Re: Johnny A...anyone heard this guy?

I like this guy! He's a instrumental virtuoso but his songs ae more along the lines of jazz, R&B, a little Latin, and pop. Very enjoyable to listen to.

I wanna see him live when he comes to town.

[Wattage]

Re: Johnny A...anyone heard this guy?

Setzer huh? The tune I heard the other day was great but I honestly thought of George Benson the moment I heard it. I am picking something up from him Sunday, either way.

[BluesJunkie]

Re: Johnny A...anyone heard this guy?

Setzer huh?

I've heard a lot of people on the net compare him to Setzer, and on a few songs, he sounds very, very slightly like him. Most of the time, he sounds completely different from Setzer and IMO much better. I think people make the comparision based on the new album, because there are horns on a few songs. Also, Johnny's chord selection sometimes sounds vaguely like something Setzer might play.

[tone4days]

Re: Johnny A...anyone heard this guy?

i heard him yesterday for the first time on an indie college radio station here in town (WTMD 89.7 FM) .. a sweet instrumental number ... had alot of nice phrases ... made me wanna hear more

for the guys with the CDs, let us know how they sound
cheers,
t4d

[Wattage]

Re: Johnny A...anyone heard this guy?

OK I picked up the new one "Get Inside", what a player! I can see why Setzer is mentioned, not for his tone but Mr. A gots some chops! and he throws in some rockabilly influenced licks and subs here and there. For the most part it is very upbeat but there are some more melacholy moments as well like Krea Gata where he gets a little Wes-like. I can't quite put my thumb on who he reminds me of - I hear some Robben Ford, some Larry Carlton, George Benson, Mark Knopfler, Chester and Lester, some SRV and even some Jimi - all good. I don't know too many of the jazzier cats so I am sure to some he will be more reminiscent of some others. Some of the tunes are just so-so and he tends to overplay it a little from time to time to make up for that but overall any guitar player I know is going to dig the hell out of it and I am sure a lot of folks will like it because it is a pretty eclectic mix of tunes. A different take on Jimi's "The Wind Cries Mary" somewhere around a cool jazz/hot guitar version, the horns didn't thrill me but I liked it.

Steve Vai's label. Nice packaging, very clean production, great tone and playing and I am just guessing but since the drummer is Ron (Ronnie?) Stewart, I bet it's the same guy who used to play with the Joe Perry Project since he's from Mass.

[BluesJunkie]

Re: Johnny A...anyone heard this guy?

Some of the tunes are just so-so and he tends to overplay it a little from time to time to make up for that...

....the horns didn't thrill me but I liked it.

Get his first album. It has ZERO overplaying, no horns, and the songwriting is superb. I like his tone better on the first album too. "Get Inside" is good, but it sometimes sounds like he's trying too hard. "Sometime Tuesday Morning", on the other hand, is non-stop excellence from start to finish. I'd list it as one of the top guitar albums of all time.

[Wattage]

Re: Johnny A...anyone heard this guy?

Get his first album. It has ZERO overplaying, no horns, and the songwriting is superb. I like his tone better on the first album too. "Get Inside" is good, but it sometimes sounds like he's trying too hard. "Sometime Tuesday Morning", on the other hand, is non-stop excellence from start to finish. I'd list it as one of the top guitar albums of all time.

That's cool, I will definitely pick it up. I like the disc don't get me wrong but it really almost does sound like he's trying too hard in places. He can play rings around an awful lot of guys that's for sure he just doesn't have to do it all the times.

[presa_tito]

Re: Johnny A...anyone heard this guy?

I remember seeing him and this guitar in a magazine and not knowing who he was too. I'll have to listen to some of his stuff. He's got one of the finest looking guitars out there. Very purdy.