Carl Verheyen pays tribute to the world-class guitarist Jim Hallhim on his new Chase Music Group CD, IMPROVISATIONS. Verheyen, who plays
unaccompanied acoustic guitar on all 16 of the CD's offerings, quotes from Hall on "God Bless the Child," a ballad which Hall and Sonny Rollins made famous back in 1962. Verheyen's interpretation ranks with the original, thanks to his soulful work on a 1981 Mark Angus Original. Verheyen (who also wrote the helpful liner notes) used ten different guitars on the CD, depending on what kind of sound he had in mind. (He employed all ten on "Partington Cove Suite," the only cut on which he over- dubbed to achieve an orchestral effect).
Verheyen's work throughout is not just technically impressive, especially
in the way he fingerpicks his way through some fiendishly difficult tunes,
but constantly inventive and brimming over with beauty.