Tony Savarino - Quarintinearino - 02 - Blue Bayou

Guitararino Liner notes by Dino Cattaneo

When Tony told me he was recording a new album I made him promise that I would be on it. He said yes, but I guess we had a small misunderstanding. I was thinking GUITAR notes, he was thinking LINER notes. Oh well. Some you win and some you lose… Tony is still my life coach, zen master and guitar Sherpa, so it is still an honor to be writing about this record. For full disclosure, this will be a fairly biased opinion, but then again, you wouldn’t expect anything less from liner notes. So here is why you should listen to this multiple times. 
Guitararino is the third album in the trilogy that was started with Guitaring and continued with Guitaresque. It is a fitting glorious trilogy finale: the Return of the Jedi of guitar music. If the visual conjured by the expression wasn’t deeply disturbing, I would describe this album as Full Frontal Tony.  For the first time on record, here you get the full range of Tony’s guitar passions. 
Tony’s previous records followed the Telecaster instrumental tradition of Don Rich, Roy Buchanan, Danny Gatton, Jim Campilongo and Duke Levine. You will still find plenty of that on this record, starting with Fort Point Boogie (and check out the tasty lap steel by Kevin Barry on it), and continuing with Nutty (the Ventures arrangement of the Nutcracker), Human Jungle, The Montauk Boys, Under the Double Eagle and the airy Gratitude. These songs alone would make a great record, but this is the part of the infomercial where I scream at the top of my lungs: “Wait! There’s more!!!!!!!!” 
Tony’s musical life, from his early years as a shred metalhead at Berklee to his work as a teacher and as a sideman in multiple projects, covers a musical territory that is much more expansive than what you normally hear at a Tony Savarino and the Savtones show. For the first time on one of Tony’s records, Guitararino covers the full panorama. We start moving away from traditional Tony with the deliciously tasty solo guitar arrangements of As Tears Go By and Polkadots and Moonbeams. Shadows of Chet Atkins here. We move slightly further away with a splendid take on Pat Martino’s Sunny, where we get a glimpse of hiss jazz influences. Aindi, mixed by Josh Hager, showcases Tony’s deft atmospheric work, his ability to create psychedelic landscapes and moods.
The two songs that to me though really fully give you a sense of Tony’s musical range and personality are two songs apparently really different from each other: Done Yet and Yngwie Van Caravan. A unique trait of Tony’s personality is the combination of his extremely serious dedication to his musical craft, a healthy respect and admiration for his peers, and a wicked sense of humor. All of this is showcased in spades in these two cuts. Done Yet is a combination of song ending turnarounds, played in succession. In the background Chris Cote (one of Boston’s best singers) delivers hilarious commentary as the bartender who is tired of the band, gems such as “Hey you are fat, untalented and ugly”.  Chris also plays the opening guitar solo and closes the song with one of the “voice trombone” solos that are his trademark. So here we have it all in one package: great musicianship and sardonic irony. 100% Tony.
Yngwie Van Caravan takes the idea to a whole new level. An arrangement of Duke Ellington’s classic as if it was played by Yngwie Malmsteen and Eddie Van Halen. Tony let’s his inner metal kid loose with dead on takes on the style of the two guitar masters. Impeccable technique delivered with tongue firmly in cheek.
And that’s all folks. You can read in the credits who played what on all the songs. I will just bring to your attention the overall production by Barry Marshall, which is impeccable, and most importantly, the killer rhythm section of Mike Levesque, Joe McMahon and Sean McLaughlin. They keep these songs tight and mean. They make it bearable to listen to close to an hour of Tony’s guitar wanking. And for that, he should be grateful to them.

Dino Cattaneo



All Songs Produced by Barry Marshall

1. Fort Point Boogie

Guitars - Tony Savarino
Lap Steel - Kevin Barry
Drums - Mike Levesque
Bass - Sean McLaughlin
Percussion - Barry Marshall

Recorded by Steph Durwin
Additional Recording by Michael Moss
Mixed By Peter Peloquin
Written by Tony Savarino

2. Gratitude

Guitars - Tony Savarino
Bass - Sean Mclaughlin
Drums - Mike Levesque

Recorded by Alan Shapiro and Steph Durwin
Mixed By Pete Peloquin
Written and Arranged by Tony Savarino


3. Nutty

Guitars - Tony Savarino
Bass - Joe McMahon
Drums - Mike Levesque
Percussion- Barry Marshall
Organ - Tom West

Recorded by Steph Durwin
Mixed By Peter Peloquin
Written by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky 
Arranged by The Ventures

4. Polkadots and Moonbeams

Guitar - Tony Savarino

Recorded by Steph Durwin
Mixed by Pete Peloquin
Written by Jimmy Van Heusen
Arranged by Tony Savarino

5. Yngwie Van Caravan

Guitars - Tony Savarino
Bass - Sean Mclaughlin
Drums - Mike Levesque
Hammond B3 - Rusty Scott
Percussion - Barry Marshall

Recorded by Steph Durwin
Mixed By Peter Peloquin
Written By Duke Ellington
Arranged by Tony Savarino

6. Sunny

Guitars: Tony Savarino
Bass: Joe Mcmahon
Drums: Mike Levesque
Flute: Andrew Hickman
Vibraphone: Phil Neighbors
Percussion: Barry Marshall

Recorded by Allan Shapiro and Steph Durwin
Mixed by Peter Peloquin
Written by  Bobby Hebb
Arranged by Tony Savarino

7. Human Jungle

Guitars - Tony Savarino
Upright Bass - Joe McMahon
Drums - Mike Levesque
Vibraphone - Phil Neighbors
Percussion - Barry Marshall

Recorded by Al Shapiro and Step Durwin
Mixed by Peter Peloquin
Additonal production Josh Hager
Written by Bernard Ebbinghouse

8.The Montauk Boys

Guitars - Tony Savarino
Bass - Sean Mclaughlin
Drums - Mike Levesque

Recorded and mixed by Thayer Harris

Written By Merkin Muffley and Buck Turgidson
9. As Tears Go By

Guitars - Tony Savarino
Recorded by Steph Durwin

Mixed by Peter Peloquin
Written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards
Arranged by Tony Savarino

10. Under The Double Eagle

Guitars - Tony Savarino
Bass - Sean Mclaughlin
Drums - Mike Levesque

Recorded by Allan Shapiro and Steph Durwin
Mixed by Sean Mclaughlin
Written by Josef Franz Wagner


11. Aidni

Guitars and Electric Bass - Tony Savarino
Drums - Mike Levesque 
Percussion - Barry Marshall

Recorded by Steph Durwin
Mixed by Josh Hager
Written and Arranged by Tony Savarino

12. Done Yet

Guitars - Tony Savarino
Bass - Sean Mclaughlin
Drums - Mike Levesque
Intro Guitar solo, Heckling and Trombone Solo: Chris Cote
Hammon B3: Rusty Scott

Recorded by Steph Durwin
Mixed by Sean McLaughlin
Written and Arranged by Tony Savarino

Buy at Bandcamp!

08 The Montauk Boys

07 Human Jungle

06 Sunny

05 Yngwie Van Caravan

03 Nutty

09 As Tears Go By

01 Fort Point Boogie

From the upcoming release of tony savarino's "guitaresque"

produced by barry marshall and tony sav

guitars: Duke Levine (2nd & 4th solos)
guitars: tony
drums: jared seabrook
bass: Seany mac
piano:rusty scott




moonshine

(David Rose)
Arranged BY Roy Lanham
Recorded By Allan Shapiro
Mixed By Brendan Ryan

Guitars: Tony Savarino
Bass: James Haggerty
Drums: Mike Levesque
Organ: Tom West


tysavias

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