Steel Guitar Jazz

Reception

Ken Dryden reviewed the album for Allmusic and wrote that "Buddy Emmons wasn't the first musician to be featured playing a pedal steel guitar in a jazz setting, but it is unlikely that anyone else recorded an entire date playing one prior to this 1963 session. He's surrounded by some top players...he also interacts with the band rather than overdoing the special effects available to him, especially the horn-like sounds obtained from his use of the slide. Emmons also chose an intriguing mix of material...This was pretty much a one-time affair for Emmons, who returned to country music, though he did record some additional jazz with guitarist Lenny Breau during the 1970s". Dryden concluded by writing that "Although the instrument never really caught on in jazz, this highly recommended album...is well worth checking out".

Kevin Whitehead reviewed the album in 2003 for National Public Radio's Fresh Air.

Track listing

1. "Bluemmons" (Buddy Emmons) – 2:59
2. "Anytime" (Herbert "Happy" Lawson) – 2:47
3. "Where or When" (Lorenz Hart, Richard Rodgers) – 3:15
4. "(Back Home Again In) Indiana" (James F. Hanley, Ballard MacDonald) – 3:13
5. "Gravy Waltz" (Steve Allen, Ray Brown) – 3:58
6. "Oleo" (Sonny Rollins) – 3:11
7. "The Preacher" (Horace Silver) – 3:04
8. "Cherokee" (Ray Noble) – 3:56
9. "Witchcraft" (Cy Coleman, Carolyn Leigh) – 3:33
10. "Gonna Build a Mountain" (Leslie Bricusse, Anthony Newley) – 3:16
11. "There Will Never Be Another You" (Irving Gordon, Harry Warren) – 3:43

Personnel