Bosco & Jorge - EP

Album Review

Although a product of the fertile Chicago underground community, the debut record from the duo of Bill Lowman and Brad Gallagher evokes neither post-rock nor AACM-inspired avant-jazz — instead, the guitarists' delicately intense acoustic compositions recall Leo Kottke (Lowman and Gallagher supposedly met as teens at a Kottke live date) and, even more closely, John Fahey, without whose utter disregard for stylistic boundaries Bosco & Jorge would likely not be possible. While Lowman and Gallagher's intricate six-string leads remain the focal point throughout, the album's most memorable moments come when the twosome shares the stage with Windy City free jazz luminaries like flutist Nicole Mitchell (the gently insistent "Two Steps Behind in the 1st Place") and vocalist Glenda Baker (the operatic bluegrass breakdown "Lil Smokie," which somehow conjures classic Tim Buckley) — that the lovely "Maria Carballo" takes its name from its featured singer is a pretty good barometer of just how crucial the collaborative process is to the end result. Because Lowman and Gallagher infuse their mostly instrumental songs with a subtle if undeniable melodicism, it's not much of a stretch to imagine snippets from Bosco & Jorge turning up between NPR news segments, but the record's incandescent beauty deserves a far wider audience than the public radio faithful. [A Japanese version added a bonus track.]