Leo Kottke "Try And Stop Me"

Some 35 years into his recording career, acoustic guitar virtuoso Leo Kottke seems none the worse for the wear on "Try And Stop Me". As on his previous solo album, 1999's efficiently titled "One Guitar, No Vocals", Kottke is back to his roots in solo guitar instrumental compositions. Simultaneously angular and inviting, knotty and amiable, the tunes completely sidestep the preciousness inherent in the work of so many of Kottke's peers. Instead, his combination of country and folk picking techniques, jazz, rock, and world music song structures, and bluesy feel seems as individual as it is unpretentious. Kottke's playing is alternately rhythmic ("Bristol Sloth") and rubato ("Jesus Maria"), challenging ("Monopoly") and lyrical ("Mockingbird Hill"). For a change of pace, the album closes with a bluesy vocal tune, "The Banks of Marble," where Kottke's trademark baritone warble is accompanied by surprise guests Los Lobos