Tommy Guerrero is a bit of a big deal. You see back in the late 80's and early 90's this guy kind of made name for himself as a skater. In fact, he was like Tony Hawk before Tony Hawk. And while undoubtedly, Tommy was the master of half pipe's and quarter pipes, he was also developing his talent as a guitarist. It seems as though whenever he wasn’t on his board doing Olly 720's, he was jamming w/his guitar. Whether or not he was doing 720's while playing guitar is debatable, but the guy could certainly play when not doing rail slides.
So, it only seemed appropriate that he start to record. And record he did; about eight albums worth of material. Now on his twelfth year as a recording artist, Guerrero is more of a musician now than a skater and it shows on his latest record Lifeboats & Follies. Essentially a jazz record, Tommy and his band of guest musicians create amazingly well played atmospheric jazz with a bit of a rock and roll twist. With horns, vibes, deep grooves, and bass lines to die for, Tommy creates music that sounds like it was found on the Streets of San Francisco or a swinging bachelor pad.
Lifeboats & Follies is anything but a folly. Just the opposite, it is fantastic stuff that's groovy man and despite its jazz inspiration is well structured and melodic. The record just grooves and establishes itself as something that's easy to follow no matter how much you know about jazz. Music for skating this is not, but music for an adventure it is and that's why this is fantastic imaginative stuff.
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