Terry Hiatt - CD Reviews

Big Science    Listen to sample cuts

This new work by Terry Hiatt was long awaited and in no way disappoints! Big Science mixes blues and jazzy blues with excellent guitar instrumentals that are fresh air to the ears. This one starts off snappy and stays innovative throughout, with fine back up and the gourmet sounds of Mr. Hiatt´s own compositions.

His rendition of Satriani´s "Always With You, Always With Me" has his own special flavor added that is sure to please. Terry plays a "taster´s choice" for the discriminating listener. Check this one out.

Reviewed by: Jerianne Van Dijk, Blues Spectrum

One of the best (and many ways most unsung) musicians working the local club circuit is Terry Hiatt, an immensely gifted and creative guitarist who will be celebrating the release of his second album "Big Science," with a show Friday night at Sly McFly´s on Cannery Row. Hiatt, who can´t quite be described as simply a "blues" guitarist because his style incorporates jazz, jazz-rock fusion, New Orleans R&B and rhumba, wrote or co-wrote nine of the 12 tunes, with covers of Joe Satriani, the Beatles and one Bill Beck, an old buddy of Hiatt´s from Southern California.

"Big Science" features an amazing variety of styles, but somehow is held together by Hiatt´s supple, fluid guitar lines, going from blues shuffles and late-night jazz to Jeff Beck-like fusion, Robben Ford-styled jazz-blues fusion, and even a solo guitar piece that recalls artists like Leo Kottke, Adrian Legg and John Renbourne.

"You know I´m not a traditional blues guy, I´m a mess." he joked by phone from his Redwood City home. "But the tunes are all variations on a blues theme. They sort of hung together. I would have liked to take more time on it, but it came out OK" Hiatt said the recording came together in 10 days, "five to record, five to mix," but the results sound anything like a 10-day quickie project.

His regular band members, drummer Randy Hayes and bassist Endre Tarczy lay down a rock-solid bottom that allows Hiatt to take off. Vocalist Lauri Hofer, another regular, adds her smoky, bluesy pipes on two tunes. Joining Hiatt Friday night will be Tarczy and Hofer, as well as drummer Peter Booras, keyboardist Uz Fisher, guitarist Ronnie Parker and a number of friends who will be sitting in, such as blues harpist Little John Chrisley, who is playing just down the street at Ocean Thunder.

"I´ve invited a bunch of my friends and we´ll make it a party".

Reviewed by: Mac McDonald, Monterey Herald

Brother Piranha    Listen to sample cuts

Terry Hiatt is a singer and guitarist out of Santa Cruz, California. His sound is an interesting mix of blues, fluid hard and progressive rock, arid even a bit of Celtic. His often abstract sense of phrasing, while fluid, reminds of a blues flavored Frank Zappa. Also, his vocals display a wry sense of humor that matches the often offbeat lyrics.

The CD starts off with "Never Make Your Move Too Soon," featuring sinuous lead guitar work over a "Rock Me" type shuffle. This leads to an abstract rendering of George Harrison´s "Taxman" done here as a rocking blues. "Let Me Love You Bab" is an electrifying shuffle made even more so by Terry's hot lead work (reminding one of an exploding Jimmy Dawkins).

"Sandshake" is a blues Reggae, which leads to a fusion jazz rocker called "Sail Pig.". Terry then winds out in the slow blues, "Lowest Common Denominator," before cutting loose in the blues funk rocker, "Sco What." The "sco" may be a high tech reference to that Santa Cruz UNIX company, but it reads like a blues.

"Evil" is a rocking New Orleans style number, followed by the churning "South Park." The beat goes Celtic with "Heltic Celtic," which is sort of a manic Celtic reel with the amp set at ten. "Piggi" is a jam that fades in and then out a la the Dead, then "One More Mile" comes in with it´s jazzy Jeff Beck ("Blow By Blow" era) stylings.

Terry ends the CD with a clever "Mystery Train," which has him doing the train whistle via a tortured tremolo bar, with moving into some cool choogling with his amped up guitar.

While the overall feel could be called blues, it´s a hard set of music to pin down (not that one needs to do that). However, I found it´s the kind of music for those who felt Jeff Beck´s "Blow By Blow" record didn´t have enough blues. Or for one in this blues genre would say, one that Beck should have made.

Reviewed by: Al Handa, Delta Snake Blues News