Sean McGowan

My Fair Lady presents eight pieces from Lerner and Lowe’s 1956 iconic musical, which producer Jack Warner produced for film in 1964. McGowan performs solo in a style reminiscent of Lenny Breau and Martin Taylor, using an amplified archtop guitar built by Brad Nickerson. An uptempo rendition of “Get Me to the Church On Time” begins the set with McGowan playing bell-like harmonics. After playing the theme in a chord melody style, he breaks into walking bass, followed by bop-influenced single lines, later returning to the chord melody statement and closing with syncopated chords played over a pedal bass. “On The Street Where You Live” follows, propelled nicely by another walking bass. Other favorites of mine are “I’ve Grown Accustomed To Her Face” and “Show Me”, the latter played in a spare but moving rubato arrangement. Sean McGowan displays broad inventiveness in the solo jazz idiom. Also, his tone and execution are masterful. All of this adds up to a very enjoyable recording.