John Cali

Yes, it would be a mistake to assume that the biography of philosopher John Cali, who claims to be able to channel the spirit of an ancient Indian chief, would be more entertaining than that of the musician John Cali, even if the latter fellow did play various stringed instruments on more than 300 recording sessions between 1920 and 1962. Music buffs who are familiar with the careers of mundane session men might actually take this last bit of information as proof that Cali was boring. Nothing could be further from the truth. No need of transmitting someone else's thoughts when one's own are so interesting. Judging from his career, Cali must have had quite some mind. He was a virtuoso on both banjo and guitar, and also recorded on mandolin and lute. On each instrument he made his way across musical boundaries as if he was a Viking out to explore the ocean. On banjo, he was one of the few string players from the '20s era to have a hand in the creation of both jazz and country music. On guitar, he is considered a pioneer of jazz guitar styles, which explains why he and duo partner Tony Guttoso have a pair of tracks on the brilliant Pioneers of the Jazz Guitar compilation released by Yazoo. "Hittin' On All Six" is what midwesterners would call a "jaw dropper", while "Satan Takes a Holiday" is right up there with Judas Priest and Mozart for exploiting satanic references musically. On lute? Cali has used this instrument to create a type of fusion music that makes even the wildest blend seem tame. For the album Mazel Tov, Mis Amigos!, he strummed his lute in front of a Latin rhythm section with some of the greatest players in this genre: pianist Charlie Palmieri, timbales player Willie Rodriguezand Ray Barretto on congas and bongos. The artist credited in this case...