A Welcome Addition to the Kottke Catalog

Based on the previous reviews, Leo Kottke is both blessed and cursed with the reputation of being one of the best fingerpicking guitarists of the last thirty-five years. He is revered by a legion of fans, but it would appear that many of them (the amazon.com reviewers, anyway) aren't happy unless he keeps repeating 1971's 6- AND 12-STRING GUITAR.



At 59, Kottke is still performing and releasing a new album every few years. TRY AND STOP ME is similar in vein to his last solo effort, 1999's ONE GUITAR, NO VOCALS. In fact, except for the final track (recorded with Los Lobos), this is unadorned Kottke--just Kottke and his guitar creating his unique mixture of folk, jazz and blues.



The eleven tracks feature eight Kottke compositions and three covers. The first cover is "Mockingbird Hill," an instrumental version of a 1951 gold record for Patti Page. Next is his third recording of Carla Bley's "Jesus Maria." [Kottke first recorded this for 1990's THAT'S WHAT and then as a part of 1998's guitar album SOUNDS OF WOOD AND STEEL.] The third cover is an old Weavers' song, "The Banks of the Marble," which features Kottke's warm baritone vocal.



While I would have enjoyed a few more vocals, this album has everything I look for in a Kottke album--a master musician playing his guitar with passion, skill and beauty. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

I loved this album!

This is a very distinctive album that either attracts or disappoints. It's certainly not Leo's best work ever. Personally I would reserve that distinction for a record like Guitar Music, Greenhouse, One Guitar No Vocal, or 6 and 12 string guitar. But it's a delight for many of us who prefer his instrumental compositions and loathe the introduction of a drum track to an otherwise captivating foray into guitar virtuosity.

In general, Try and Stop Me is a creative departure from Leo's earlier stuff. But it retains the medium he most excells at: solo acoustic guitar. The tunes are beautifully played and often very well arranged. And to some extent I think it is the abstraction of the music that makes me want to listen to it again and again. Plus it is clear that he is improvising on some of the tracks. While this may lead to songs that are sometimes hard to follow such as Mora Roa, Unbar, or Axolotl, I like hearing what Leo plays like when he is just practicing and experimenting (though I must admit that I sometimes feel that way when I go to a show of his also). And then you get songs like Bristol Sloth, Then, Monopoly, and the peerless Gewerbegebeit. The vocal track The Banks of Marble is even a success. One thing I really like about this album is the movement and flexibility which most of the songs have. In songs such as Mora Roa, Leo first expresses a melody, then slowly elaborates and transforms it into something quite different but still recognizable.

I chalk up the mixed reception of this album to the fact that Leo's music is so eclectic. Different listeners like him for different reasons. I'm shocked that people enjoy That's What, Great Big Boy, Balance, or a lot of the stuff on Ice Water and Time Step, but some people really get off on that stuff. But haven't those folks had their day in the sun for long enough with albums such as Standing in my Shoes (featuring Leo's old material, other people's old material, and miscellaneous soullessly overly studio-ized material)? Personally, I was overjoyed to find that Leo had put out an album which, notwithstanding some familiar licks and riffs, broke such new, creative ground.

this album has fantastic value...

... even if you're a big leo kottke fan from 20+ years ago. as a guitarist, I like to listen to guitar music. I really don't like kottke's singer/songwriter material. there's nothing wrong with it, but it's just not my "thing." I've listened to leo kottke albums off and on over the years and this is the first one that I HAD to buy the second after I heard the last note of "the bristol sloth." I see a lot of complaints from other reviewers that kottke keeps "tuning down" his guitar more and more with each successive album. I rather like it. there are VERY few solo guitarists that can keep notes and passages audible and controlled while playing a guitar in the register that much of this material is written and recorded in. it was this that really grabbed my brain as I listened to the album - and I'm a big Michael Hedges fan... hedges used a lot of low register tunings (although admittedly not as low as some on this album) and often there would be so much information being conveyed in his solo pieces that a lot of it would get lost because it tended to run together into one single sound. what's so amazing about "try and stop me" is the clarity with which kottke pounds all these low register notes out of his guitar. (...and could the title also be a message he's conveying to his long term fans who don't want to hear him depart from his 30 year old material...?) The main reason I like this album so much is probably because I'm a relative newcomer to leo kottke in the fact that I'm not already a big fan... and also the fact that his guitar tone is quite comparable to being hit in the face with a prison pillowcase full of unopened soft drink cans.... if you love solo guitar music and can appreciate leo kottke's more experimental side, this is a fantastic album.