Better known to folk music audiences as The Bills' mandolin maniac, Atkinson
is an equally versatile jazz/blues/ragtime guitarist and composer whose third
"solo" CD - trio bandmates are Chris Frye (The Bills' Bill Guitar)
and former Bill bassist and Bills co-founder Joey Smith - exhibits a penchant
for the kind of Django-era hot jazz rhythms, chord changes, melodies and syncopation
patterns that are currently sweeping the roots music market. Recorded live in
just two days, these 10 Atkinson-original instrumentals and two covers -
Ellington's "Black & Tan Fantasy" and the Rogers and Hart standard
"Where or When" - are more than studious modifications of the vintage
repertoire. A cycle of compositions apparently setting to tune impressions of
Atkinson's first year of married life, they're outstanding for their vitality,
exuberance, elegance and melodic strength, and for the joy these three fine musicians
share in executing them. Atkinson is a daring and inventive acoustic guitarist
and a powerful force in the new roots/jazz movement.
- Greg Quill
Toronto Star, Jan. 2006