Steve Cardenas and Jim Campilongo have been playing guitar together for a long time, though the constellations only recently aligned so they could record.
Captured on three nights in September of 2022, New Year showcases harmonic personalities merging through atmosphere, reverb, and ancient acoustic guitars. It’s also a meditation on the beauty and strength of restraint. Minus a rhythm section, the two virtuosos used shared musical idiosyncrasies to embellish time-honored classics and originals.
What were the mechanics behind how New Year came about?
Steve Cardenas: I called and told Jim, “I think we gotta do it now, or it’s not going to happen ever!” (laughs)
Jim Campilongo: I was stressed from moving 3,000 miles when Steve called to ask. At the time, I had boxes up to the ceiling and felt like I didn’t even play guitar anymore. But, once we got in the groove, it felt good. Steve and I have always had a thing, and it returned instantly.
SC: There’s never been any resistance from either of us. It’s more that I do way more sideman stuff than Jim does; he does mostly leader gigs. I’m in several bands I love. Our engineer, Matt Martinelli, lives downstairs, so it was easy to get going.
You guys have been playing together for a while.
SC: Since 2005…
JC: But very sporadically. We’d do a couple of gigs then not play. We went on a roll for a while and actually recorded an album, but it didn’t see the light of day due to disagreements with the producer who financed it. It haunted us because we loved it, and because it never got released, Steve came up with this plan that we should try to better it, which was a load off my mind even though I was thinking, “I’m rusty.”
SC: We went in with no intention. We thought, “We’ll do this, and if we don’t feel good about it, that’s fine. We can say we tried.” Next thing you know, we were in the middle of it, thinking, “This is cool” (laughs).
JC: The other good thing was the original was just acoustic; I played steel-string, Steve played nylon-string. The first time we played electric, we didn’t like it, but then we did it again, and it was fun. It sounded like us, and in a lot of ways that contributed to the last tune we recorded – the Duke Ellington song “Fleurette Africaine.” I think the album has a nice mix of acoustic and electric.
How did you choose songs?
SC: “Cherokee,” “What’ll I Do,” “Caravan,” “Because You Like Trombone,” and “Home On The Range” all go back to when we started. In the past, we modeled “Caravan” after the Chester & Lester version, but in the studio we decided to do something different.
JC: “Fleurette Africaine” was the first tune Steve sent me to do specifically for this record. “Because You Like Trombone” was a song I did on Orange and wanted to do again; I’ve always felt it was underrated. I learned it again and saw new crevices. We always liked doing “Home On The Range” and “What’ll I Do.”
“New Year,” which I wrote, was new, “Blue Language” was a tune we did once before, and Steve wrote “Campin’ In” for the album. “Miss Venezuela” was a tune I thought we could do very well. Nothing was vetoed.
How did you decide who played what?
JC: It happened naturally. Generally, if it was my song, I’d play the head, but I was conscious enough to ask Steve, “Do you want to take the B section or the second melody?” Steve is a great artist, but I didn’t want to give him more homework. On “Cherokee,” we play the melody in unison. I told Steve to play the bridge and he said, “I like the way you play the bridge.” So I said, “Okay, I’ll take it.” There was a part where I suggested, “Why don’t I play the melody and you do a chord solo.” It was almost like we’d produce each other.
SC: On the Duke Ellington tune, I told Jim, “I’ll play the ostinato through the C section, then hand it off to you, and we’ll play the form backward – C, B, A.” It worked great. That was a first take.
“Cherokee” was Jim’s idea. Everybody always plays it with the macho jazz thing at breakneck tempos, but his idea was to play it with a chunk, chunk, but double-up the chords so it still moves. It sounded cool but still references that Chester & Lester vibe. Jim came up with us doing the melody together. When we hit the bridge, he’d play the melody and I would start chunking chords. The arrangement that happened quickly and worked well. We’ve always done it like that.
On “What’ll I Do,” we trade sections. Jim plays the first melody, I play the second, he plays the bridge melody, and I play the last thing. Then, we each take an A section and take it out to the bridge. We keep it short.
You guys instinctively play to your strengths.
JC: Steve wrote the transcriptions for the Thelonious Monk Fake Book, yet he wants to play “Home On The Range” with me (laughs). He’s an amazing guy and the opposite of a jazz snob. I wouldn’t call what he does jazz. It’s like saying Bill Frisell is jazz. He’s kinda not because he’s just so musical (laughs).
SC: Jim and I both approach the music like that. Yeah, I’m going to play some solos, but I want you to dig the song. I want you to dig the whole package. “Venezuela” is one we decided to do on acoustic, and we get a lot of comments on it. It’s got a thing.
“Caravan” became this avant-garde funky thing with a heavy, blues-laced element (laughs), and “Because You Like Trombone” is Jim’s tune that we played a long time ago. I came up with a part behind it that he liked – we’d never improvised on it before. We had played it acoustically and just played the head.
There are three tunes where we’re just playing the song and not improvising. Even “Home On The Range” is very short. We improvise on the verse and come together on the chorus to take it out. “Campin’ In” is one of the tunes I wrote that I thought was very Jim-like in some respects. I also had “Blue Language,” which I thought Jim would eat up – and he did. We decided to solo together instead of separate, which worked out great. We don’t talk that much about what we do; we start playing and then do a little nip and tuck.
JC: Normally, I will over-prepare, but a lot of this album was conceived in the studio, and once I heard it, I thought we had a really good vibe, very real.
Most guitar-duo records are about blowing hard. New Year is more about atmosphere and restraint.
JC: That’s what I was hoping for. Sometimes, Steve would say, “Campy, take another one!” That tickled me because we both don’t want to do that. We don’t want to forget the song. I’m glad it’s a musical record. Some guitar duo records are pretty dense, like Chet Atkins and Lenny Breau. Steve and I have an intensity that I’m proud of.
SC: It’s not about how virtuosic we are, because we know we would fail (laughs). More to the point is we wanted to make music that would bring people in and wrap around them, not make it a display of guitar playing.
What was your gear?
JC: I played my ’59 Telecaster through a ’70s Princeton with a Celestion G10. My acoustic is a ’58 00-15 I’ve used on numerous records. It really cuts through and has a personality. I have a D-35 and it’s a lot more neutral. The 00-15 is sassy, and I like that it has a small body. I like to dominate my guitars, so if I have to put my arm up super high on a big body, I feel like it’s a mismatch.
SC: My guitar was made by Pablo Valle, who used to work for Roger Sadowsky, doing repairs and helping build instruments. He can play well, and most of the jazz guitarists in New York took guitars to him because he instinctively knew how we wanted them set up. He did a re-fret on my 335 that was just amazing. Then he asked, “Do you want me to build you a Tele?” I told him, “I’m not a Tele player. I love them, but I’m such a Gibson guy.” He said, “I’ll make it with a mahogany neck, rosewood fingerboard, and an alder body because it’ll be a little lighter. I’ll put a chamber underneath the top. You’ll get a little semi-hollow body vibe.” I had these old Tim Shaw pickups from an old 335. He did an amazing job, and it plays great. As I get older, I like a lighter load. It sounds really good, and I’m comfortable on it. Those are the two things you want. I used it because I thought the 335 would be too dark and thick. Even though the Valle is like a Gibson in Fender clothing, it’s a little thinner-sounding because of the bolt-on neck, which gives it a cool quality.
How did you mic the amps?
SC: Matt recorded us with a mic on each amp, but he also had room mics. He said, “Any editing that involves a punch, you both have to play and the other guy has to transcribe what they did (laughs).” We only did that one or two times. We said, “This is all so in the moment. Jazz records have mistakes, and they’re often cooler than the normal s**t (laughs).”
JC: We recorded with total leakage; we faced each other and our amps faced each other. I know there was a close mic and a room mic, but I wasn’t paying attention (laughs). I just thought it sounded like our guitars. It wasn’t a gigantic room by any means – very vibey. We created the most comfortable environment possible.
SC: Jim has always been able to dial in his thing. He uses quite a bit of reverb. When you listen to all his influences, they did too. And he uses it in that beautiful way that they all did.
Steve, what’s the deal with your amp?
SC: Panaramic was a subsidiary of Magnatone in the ’60s and I think it was for accordions because the A channel says “Accordion.” It’s says “Voice” on the other channel. I got it from a friend and don’t use it for everything, but it’s funky and I thought it would be cool for this because Jim is playing a Tele through a Princeton. My guitar is shaped like a Tele but screams Gibson, so I needed an amp that’s not Fendery but still has a beautiful sound. The Panaramic was perfect. It doesn’t have reverb, so I used a Zoom MS-50G MultiStomp and Matt picked a reverb that worked. Jim uses amp reverb. Matt ran it all by us, and there was never any question. It was, “That sounds amazing. Let’s keep doing that.” A lot of it was a devil-may-care attitude – let’s have fun and not project that this is going to be anything other than what we’re doing right now.
Matt helped with my sound because when we started, he said, “You’re a little dark. Do you mind if I brighten you up a little?” I said, “Go ahead. I want us to blend.” It was cool because I might not go that bright on my own, but it’s a nice blend between us.
Steve, what about your acoustic?
SC: It’s a ’59 000-28 that plays great, sounds beautiful, and fits our theme. It’s my partner’s family guitar – her mom bought it used in 1960 and played it through the ’60s before it ended up in a closet. It had been left so long that it had a bow in the neck. Her brother had somebody in Seattle re-set the neck and replace the pickguard, which had deteriorated. It’s balanced and sounds amazing. It’s a special instrument.
What’s next?
JC: I’m thinking about a record with my quartet, a West Coast tour, and I’m going to Argentina.
SC: I’ve demoed a bunch of stuff and thinking of doing a solo record. I’ve played it for a few friends, and the feedback is, “This is just fine the way it is.” There’s no agenda in mind.
Any chance of a tour together?
JC: If history proves anything, it’s that Steve and I will play again.
SC: It would be easy. We’re both so happy we finally did an album
This article originally appeared in VG’s February 2024 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.
