Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2006 | 7:20 a.m.
Who: Smooth jazz acoustic guitarist Earl Klugh
When: 7:30 p.m. Friday through Sunday
Where: Suncoast Showroom
Tickets: $39.95; 636-7075
By Jerry Fink, Las Vegas Sun
Earl Klugh, one of the nation's great jazz acoustic guitarists, returns to Las Vegas this weekend after a five-year hiatus.
Klugh last performed in Las Vegas at the defunct Blue Note Jazz Club, a bold-but-failed attempt to bring the top jazz musicians in the country to the Strip.
The 52-year-old guitarist, who is based in Atlanta, will be performing Friday through Sunday at the Suncoast.
During his career, Klugh has created 30 albums. The last one, "Naked Guitar," was a 2006 Grammy Award nominee for instrumental pop album. It was his first album in six years.
He and pianist Bob James received a Grammy for instrumental pop performance for their 1981 album "One on One." It was the first of two gold albums for the duo. Klugh has been nominated for 13 Grammys. Klugh recently talked to the Sun:
On the state of jazz
I don't think it's fading. It's the same as it always has been. I think New York is probably where you'd find most of the players living today, especially the younger players. But I think jazz has always been fairly dispersed.
On the state of his career
I tour throughout the year. I don't really take a planned time off. At this point in time of my career, I do about 60 dates a year. That's dispersed enough over the year that I never really have to say I'm going to take a season off, a certain time off. In the earlier days, I would do 150 or more shows a year every year but that gets kind of hard to sustain.
On jazz around the world
I just got back from a concert in Nigeria. Before that, we were in Japan for a couple of weeks. One of the good things about being an instrumentalist is it's easier to go to other countries. They can understand the instruments when they can't necessarily understand the words to the songs. A couple of years ago we did a concert in South Africa. I went to India once, kind of a State Department-sponsored trip, along with BET-TV. I also did a couple of shows in Moscow a couple of years ago. We do get around a lot overseas. People all over the world are fascinated with American music. That's true wherever you go. It's pretty amazing, actually.
On his mentors
Everybody that I worked with when I was coming up were really great and special people. George Benson - I was in his band for a year and a half. George Shearing - I worked with him a couple of times in the earlier part of my career before I started making albums. I worked with his quintet in the early '70s. I worked with Chick Corea briefly, for about three months in '74. They were all great. Those were my earliest mentors, before I started my own group.
On smooth vs. straight-ahead jazz
I kind of think that to most players the two things kind of exist simultaneously. Myself, I straddle both worlds. I work with people on both sides of the fence. We do a lot of clubs where I do a jazz trio: guitar, bass and drums. I kind of enjoy all areas of the music, but I think there are some people who have strong feelings about it. I can certainly understand that because, in a lot of ways, they are two different things.
On his six-year break from recording
For me you have to have a reason to make a record, and in today's world it has to be musical and business-wise and everything else. I just felt things were in flux . I didn't really worry about it. I made a record last year ("Naked Guitar"), and I'm making another record that may be released in the fall of next year. With where I was when I quit recording for awhile, I couldn't find a recording situation that was going to be comfortable and meaningful. There's so much music out now I think it's important that you try to do something that you yourself enjoy and also something you can stand behind.
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