A Part of Me [CD]

From the first chord to the last, the guitar master Tom Principato’s latest studio release, “A Part of Me,” is a winner in every sense. Made up of all-original material written by Principato himself, the album offers considerable cross-over appeal with the elements of blues, rock, R&B, and funk present in good measure. The songwriting is strong throughout and shows a gifted composer at work, from creative and delightfully varied melodies that are free of clichés to thoughtful and story-telling lyrics. Tom Principato’s music is all heart and soul, and “A Part of Me” is a particularly potent example of that, translating into music some of the most deeply felt life experiences. And after 40+ years of playing roots music and touring all over the world, Principato brings to this album an impressive prowess and versatility on both his guitar and vocals and is obviously still very much in love with his craft, playing and singing every note as if his life depended on it. In addition to Washington, DC, area’s finest talent that makes up the Tom Principato Band, helping make this album shine even brighter is a star-studded cast of collaborating artists, which include Chuck Leavell (organ/piano, Rolling Stones), Willie Weeks (bass, Eric Clapton), Sonny Landreth (slide guitar), Brian Auger (keyboards), Jim Brock (drums), and Wayne Jackson of the Memphis Horns. To make sure that this album is put together to his own and his collaborators' satisfaction, Tom Principato co-produced it with his long-time recording engineer Bob Dawson of Bias Studios, and they succeeded in capturing this powerful music in true high-fidelity sound that is full-bodied, rich, and warm. Album packaging, bearing beautiful and numerous family photographs taken over the years by Tom’s dad, who was a professional photographer, punctuates just how personal this work is to Tom Principato. In the end, after around 40 minutes of music, “A Part of Me” makes a strong and staying impression with many memorable moments and reasserts Tom Principato's acclaim as one of the finest guitar players in the world. His intensive touring schedule has taken him all over the map in the last 40 years, including countless tours of Europe and playing with people like Sunnyland Slim, Big Mama Thornton, and Stevie Ray Vaughan, and yet he's constantly striving to improve. This recording is a true milestone of his long and exciting career, of which he has every right to be proud. In the world that's becoming filled up with sampled, over-produced music that lacks the soul and the talent, this album is as organic and honest as it gets, in the grand tradition of the 60s and 70s era that bore some of the very best American music.