What It Is [Rob Ickes]

1. Mr. Goodbar
2. Scheerhorn Shuffle
3. Self Portrait
4. Stanford and Son
5. I'll Take Les
6. Killene
7. Juke Joint
8. Blues For Sammy
9. When We Were Leaving
10. Union Pacific
11. 50 Years Ago
Additional Info

Manufacturer Part Number (MPN): 610 492
Credits

Producer Rob Ickes
Engineer Cookie Marenco
Personnel includes: Rob Ickes (dobro); Paul Hanson (bassoon, saxophone);
John R. Burr (piano, organ); Derek Jones (bass); Kendrick Freeman (drums).
Recorded at OTR Studios, Belmony, California. Includes liner notes by Matt Glaser.
As in 1999's Slide City, Rob Ickes again combines jazz and swing stylings with the more countrified leanings of the dobro. The results are mixed and, at times, meld into a too-smooth combo resembling light jazz. What It Is works best when Ickes loosens up a bit around the instrument's natural inclinations: the way he works the melody on "Killeen," which was inspired by the Texan town, seems to point toward a more string-based effort; a cover of Marc Johnson's "Union Pacific" further iterates Ickes' simpler but no less enjoyable leanings; and "Blues for Sammy," which was written in response to Charlie Parker's Savoy sessions, allows him to stretch out his abilities as a great technician of the instrument. ~ Travis Drageset
Critic Reviews

JazzTimes (7-8/02, p.107) - "...Ickes places the dobro in some very unbluegrasslike settings....there's a great deal of stylistic variety on this album..."