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© Copyright 2008 Pleasant Mount Press, Inc. All Rights Reserved I'm The Guy!
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"I asked if
she'd make love to me,
So . . . we popped in the demo CD that Joe sent us, and the very first song had us rolling on the floor in laughter when we heard the verse quoted above. That, coupled with the amazingly intricate keyboard arrangements, compelling percussion, and complex but focused bass lines . . . oh, and did we mention absolutely ferocious guitar work? We were hooked! This CD contains sixteen tracks -- over an hour of music --and every one of them is absolutely amazing. Although only two of the tracks are 'originals', we recognized just two of the remaining thirteen at first glance: A Woman Is A Sometime Thing (from Porgy and Bess), and Ol' Man River (from Showboat). But Befumo's intense, instrumental-driven arrangements are unlike anything you're likely to have heard before. The rest consist of covers of obscure material ranging from 1918's Oh Death Where Is Thy Sting?, and the titular I'm The Guy! (1912), through a rousing rendition of Laura Nyro's Save The Country (1968). Along the way we are treated to a rocking interpretation of the traditional: Didn't My Lord Deliver Daniel, a mind-blowing cover of The Jimtown Road (originally recorded by the Mills Brothers in 1963), three pieces by Billie Holiday, and even one from the Jefferson Airplane (1968's haunting ballad Lather). The mood swings from somber (Strange Fruit) to frivolous (Ain't Nobody's Love Toy) to downright silly (An Edjicated Babe), but the music is invariably dead serious, right on target, and impeccably arranged and executed. Joe's arrangements, particularly his keyboards, are nothing less than stunning. One issue we've always had with one-person efforts, such as this, is that most of the time you get a guitarist's take on bass, or on keyboards, or percussion . . . in other words, you get a single style, manifest in a variety of instrumental voices. Not so I'm The Guy!. Joe, who's primary instrument is guitar, demonstrates a deep understanding of each instrument unique approach and contribution to a musical composition, and as a result, every piece reflects all of the nuances associated with that instrument. Hence, Although this CD is a one-man effort (Joe plays lead and rhythm guitar, does the vocals, and wrote all of the instrumental parts), his intent from the beginning has been to assemble a group to perform this material live. As a result, the entire CD is arranged for a very specific and consistent number of pieces: guitar, bass, organ, piano, and percussion. This, together with arrangements that are at once consistent in style, while being individually unique and thus avoiding any sense of repetitiveness, gives this diverse range of material an intrinsic unity. Here's the track list: 1. Ain't Nobody's Love Toy (3:11) - 2008 by Joe Befumo What totally took us by surprise, however, was Joe's insistence that all of the tunes be available for free download from his site, Mandrake's Rootwerx. Why would anyone buy a CD when they can download the MP3s for free, we asked? Well, it seems that Joe is an avid "Open Source" guy from the Linux world (that's a popular free operating system for computers), and staunchly believes that the same philosophy should apply to music as well. Joe is convinced that people who can afford it, will be happy to spend a few bucks for the higher audio quality that a CD offers, as well as out of a basic sense of honesty and fair-play. Those who can't afford it, or who might not really care for the material, shouldn't have to pay for it. We're a bit skeptical of this Utopian mindset, but as our investment is minimal, we're willing to give it a try. By way of compromise, Joe agreed to limit his downloadable MP3s to 128Kb bitrate, so the recorded version really does add value. So, please do visit the link above, give this stuff a listen, and if you like it as much as we suspect you will, consider buying the CD (which will come to you individually signed by the author.)
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