I idolize good guitar players. For instance, Phil Keaggy has been my musical god ever since I saw him live last summer with Glass Harp. When I picked up "6 Degrees of Inner Turbulance" by Dream Theater, John Petrucci became a quick favorite. And now I add Leo Kottke to my list.
The story about how I discovered Leo Kottke is strange at best. Music is one of my main passions in life. However, I try to take 15 minutes each day to read the daily comics in the newspaper. "Get Fuzzy" by Darby Conley quickly became my favorite comic strip. Inbetween the chaotic adventures of man and beast Conley periodically scatters hints of what he enjoys.
Such as when Douglas Adams, author of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy", died, Conley did a strip honoring Adams in a way that only people familiar with the books would understand. While that was fairly major, on a less intense note he will, when cds or videos are needed in the stip, use real ones. The most frequently used name is Leo Kottke.
I would always read it and wonder if there was actually a Leo Kottke, or if it was just a cool, made-up name. It took a quick trip to a music store to find a pile of Leo Kottke's cds.
One of the cds I bought by him was this joint effort with Mike Gordon. Mike Gordon is the famed bass player for Phish. They make an interesting pair for the photo shots. Leo Kottke is tall and square looking. A dry, expressionless face. It seems like he would be more likely to be conducting an orchestra. Mike Gordon, on the other hand, has hair that hangs over his ears and looks like a combination of the Beatles and an emo kid.
Article comments
1 - Rob
Little bragging here: I once owned Glass HArp's first vinyl album, taped it and sold it when I moved overseas.
Phil Keaggy is one of the greatest underrated/underpublicized guitarists in music today, a lot of that probably has to do with his being a Christian musician, a niche market. Not to say he has been ignored, but overlooked. Also, he does a lot of instrumental only work, and we all know that that is hardly a huge market, outside of larger cities. Sure, real afficionados will seek out Kottke or Keaggy, or Satriani or Metheny, but you are not likely to see them on MTV or hear them on a Clear Channel station anytime soon. (So glad that XM came along!)
BTW- see if you can find a copy of Keaggy's "Master and Musician" album, fine instrumental work indeed. You might want to dig up some Preston Reed, if you can find any, he is another ace guitarist. David Bromberg, often pigeonholed as some weird folkie long-hair is also worth listening to. Get "How LAte'll ya Play to?" or "You should see the Rest of the Band" Bromberg defies description and genre, and can play electric or acoustic to rival anyone.
2 - gina
I love the new leo kottke ,mike gordon "clone" effort.And it's true the songs all do sound the same(almost all"Te Veo" stands out for some reason).In fact,I'd even venture to say that just about ever tune Leo has ever written sounds pretty much like the last one . And the plain and simple fact is that that's why he's survived all these (30) years ans 25 albums.Because he actually has his own sound and while i personally love that particular leo sound,every aberation,every take off,every foray into any slightly different genre that Leo delves into leaves me thinking of it(jazz,blues,folk) in an entirely different way.So thats Leo. And to think someone listened to him because of his funny last name.The man is a master.
3 - Rick
Sure, a couple of songs are a little longer than others. Sure they even have a particular "feel" to them, but the interaction of Kottke's fingerpickin' with Gordon's pention for a little silliness is fantastic. What comes through most clear is two amazzzzzing musicians who simply don't take themselves too seriously, because after all, they are just musicians. This is a pretty cool foray by Kottke that reminisces some of his older collaboration with John Fahey.
If you want to find out more about a guy with a silly name that plays guitar may I suggest Kottke's 6 and 12 string guitar. Remember when you hear it there is NO bass and NO other guitar, just Kottke bending some strings and minds.
4 - Justin
Leo is crazy...I saw him at 10k couple years ago and he blew everyones mind. AMAZING