Praise for HandPicked: Debuted at #1 on Billboard’s Contemporary Jazz Albums Chart
“Klugh sounds great on his own, with his uncanny ability to play lilting melodies over deep changes in fine form. But the collaborations are simply awesome.” Guitar Player
“HandPicked is a great first-thing-in-the-morning album: The mixture of hummable tunes and virtuoso musicianship makes it just the right thing to get the day started on a high note.” DownBeat Editors’ Picks
“Klugh’s nylon-string virtuosity continues to shine through with warmth and soul.” Jazziz
“Overall, the album has more of an intimate feel than Klugh’s previous solo efforts—you can really hear his fingers on the strings. It’s often hard to tell if he’s improvising or playing a planned-out arrangement, but then again, that’s a sign that
he’s doing something right.” (****) Premier Guitar
The highest praise Duke Ellington would offer people he admired was to say that their music was “beyond category” – and, in many ways, that phrase exactly captures the spirit of GRAMMY® Award-winning guitar virtuoso Earl Klugh and his new, largely solo CD, HandPicked on Heads Up (part of the Concord Music Group). HandPicked debuted at #1 on Billboard’s Contemporary Jazz Albums Chart and was nominated for Best Pop Instrumental Album at the 56th Annual GRAMMY® Awards. This is a disc that clearly reflects the guitarist’s view that, “Everything has its place. The fun of it is that you are not in a box. Music has no boundaries.”
Since Klugh released his inaugural album in 1976, the Detroit-born master of the acoustic-classical guitar has become one of the most imitated icons of the instrument, issued dozens of discs, 24 of which have been on Billboard’s top-10 list of jazz albums and 6 that made it to the No. 1 slot. During that time, Klugh’s recordings also received 13 GRAMMY® nominations (the latest for HandPicked) – and his collaboration with pianist Bob James, One on One, walked away with the 1980 GRAMMY® Award for Best Pop Instrumental Album.
