Larry Carlton & Robben Ford — North Sea Jazz, Rotterdam, 2007

Full live concert bringing together two guitar giants, Larry Carlton and Robben Ford, filmed at the North Sea Jazz Festival on Saturday 14 July 2007 on the Nile stage of Rotterdam Ahoy (Netherlands). Larry Carlton — whose pick-and-volume-pedal style, dubbed “fly fishing” by Joni Mitchell, shaped The Crusaders and Steely Dan’s The Royal Scam — trades lines with Robben Ford, a Yellowjackets co-founder and Miles Davis sideman, for a blues-and-jazz project made for six-string devotees. Backed by Travis Carlton on bass and Toss Panos on drums, the two guitarists unfold a dialogue of improvisation, choruses and dynamics where blues meets jazz fusion. Drawn from the official North Sea Jazz Festival archive, this recording offers polished sound and picture worthy of one of the world’s most prestigious jazz festivals, held each summer in Rotterdam. Recorded on the Nile stage, the set is a masterclass in tone, phrasing and taste, where two of the most admired session guitarists of their generation push each other through extended solos. A reference live filmed concert for every guitarist and for lovers of blues-inflected jazz fusion.