Recently Heard: Jealous of the Moon

Jealous of the Moon by Scott Ainslie

I first heard Scott play when I went to see tewok perform at a festival in Maryland. He had said Scott was good and worth sticking around to see, and he was right.

That day, he did a back-to-basics blues set, playing acoustic guitar and singing along, accompanied by a friend on harmonica. This disc has some tunes with a similar arrangement, others with a piano or other instruments added in.

Like the set I saw, the disc has a handful of tunes written by guys like Robert Johnson. To say that Scott has mastered this stuff is a bit of an understatement; he actually has a series of instructional material based around Robert Johnson's playing.

I'm not that easily impressed by guitarists - although it may sound that way in these reviews, where I spend time talking about those who influence and inspire me - but Scott's playing is a notch or two above the kind of thing that impresses me.

Excellent stuff.