With just his blazing electric guitar and drummer Stefano Ashbridge, Chicago blues/jazz/rock guitarist Marcus Singletary provides an alternate soundtrack for America's pastime. Containing five songs and clocking in with 20 minutes of music, Take Me Out to the Ball Game was recorded live in front of an audience and opens with the title track, a fat-sounding take on the traditional version. But then it veers off into improvised uncharted territory, a la Hendrix on "The Star-Spangled Banner." "Boys of Summer," a sun-drenched scorcher of a solo without Ashbridge's accompaniment, reveals Singletary's wild side — proving he's not always the jazzman he purports to be in his promo materials. That's not to say the guitarist doesn't take influences from jazz greats, with his guitar on "Suzuki" squawking like John Coltrane and Miles Davis, and "Man of Steal" damn near hits a fusion home run.
Singletary is one of those players who doesn't fall easily into any particular style. Take Me Out to the Ball Game, despite its unifying conceptual theme, is proof of that.
Track Listing:
1) Take Me Out to the Ball Game
2) The Babe
3) Boys of Summer
4) Suzuki
5) Man of Steal
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