Scott Tarulli / Berklee School of Music Performance Center / Boston, MA
Reviewed by Susan Ferrari
The
current state of guitar playing was on display Thursday night at the Berklee
School of Music Performance Center in a concert subtitled “No Picks Allowed.”
Two members of the faculty, Don Lappin and Scott Tarulli, performed with their
respective groups for an enthusiastic and vocal audience consisting mainly of
students attending Berklee’s five-week summer program. Though not technically a
master class, it was a chance for the younger musicians to see their teachers
put on a demonstration of impressive improvisational technique.
First to take the stage was the Don Lappin Group, with
Don Lappin and Nili Brosh on electric guitars, Mike Ball on bass, and Shawn
Crowder on drum set. Their high energy and high volume music featured
blisteringly fast guitar solos by both players and a relentlessly driving rhythm
section. Mr. Lappin is a master of the guitar technique called “tapping,” where
both hands are used on the neck to weave intricate arpeggiated passages at a
dizzying speed. Many of the songs, written by Lappin, had an Irish feel
comparable to bands like the Dropkick Murphys, but the structures were extended
for improvisation. Ms. Brosch matched Lappin’s extreme musicianship with her own
aggressive style that had the audience cheering after every solo. Similarly,
Mike Ball was a physical presence on the bass. The band slowed things down for
their one cover tune, “Definitely Maybe” by Jeff Beck, featuring a guitar duet
on the sliding blues melodic line. Then it was back to the virtuosity of modern
progressive rock with two songs that ended the set leaving the audience almost
breathless.
The Scott Tarulli Group, with Scott on guitar, Dennis
Hughes on keys, Alison Keslow on bass, and Mike Casano on drum set provided a
more relaxed style of playing in contrast to the extroverted style of the Don
Lappin Group. Performing compositions written mostly by Mr. Tarulli, he
explained that these were newly reworked versions that were being played in this
way for the first time. There was definitely more of a jazz leaning in this
music as Mr. Tarulli is influenced by the current jazz scene in both New York
and Boston. His lengthy solos were
reflective and exploratory, punctuated by the more concise and efficient synth
work of Mr. Hughes.
The band warmed up with the aptly-named song “