JAZZ REVIEW : Earl Klugh an Unlikely Pop or Jazz Star

After his two-hour concert display at the Greek Theater on Sunday night, the biggest mystery about guitarist Earl Klugh is his success.

An unlikely candidate for pop stardom, Klugh, who wore a cardigan sweater and referred to one of his compositions as having an “amusing little title,” demonstrated that he is also an unlikely candidate for jazz stardom.

But the crowd, albeit a small one on a brisk June evening, loved his every tune and didn’t seem to mind in the least that each tune sounded pretty much the same as the one before it.

Klugh’s concert was about as exciting as watching grass grow. With a six-piece backup band that performed fairly intricate introductions to each song before lapsing into staidly repetitive riffs, Klugh performed long-winded solos.

Rhythm is the key to Klugh’s music and, unfortunately, the one rhythm pattern he’s designed for all of his music, set to one of three tempos (slow, fast and faster), acts more as a soporific than a setting for inspired music. Rhythmic relief was withheld even on the promising “Soda Fountain Shuffle,” which wasn’t a shuffle.

Like its leader, the band had little to offer in the way of creative expression. The band was on automatic pilot from note one, with the exception of alto saxophonist Ray Manzaro’s solo venture on “I Don’t Want to Leave You Alone Anymore.”

However, it was bassist Calvin Bryant who brought the house down with his solo. Actually, it wasn’t his solo that brought the house down. Rather, it was the playing of his solo in a prone position that offered the “thrills.”

Maybe Klugh’s success isn’t much of mystery.