Editor Reviews:

Amazon.com:
Everyone is grateful to have Larry Carlton among us, a gifted and imaginative guitarist who survived a gunman's bullet in 1988. Sometimes, though, we wish the old Larry Carlton were still with us, the spark-spraying fusionist whose nimble flights of fancy electrified recordings by the Crusaders and Steely Dan ("Kid Charlemagne" from Royal Scam) as well his own solo works throughout the 1970s and into the mid-1980s. The appeal of the smooth-jazz gravy train has defused much of Carlton's incendiary inventiveness, a conviction reinforced by the unruffled textures etched into Fingerprints, Carlton's 20th career recording. Those textures, though, are faithful to the album's apparent intent--to create a velvety-smooth soundtrack for late-night romance. No jarring oddities here, just sweetness and seduction throughout. Guests include smooth-jazz vets Abraham Laboriel, Kirk Whalum on sax, Jerry Hay on horns, Michael McDonald for a lone vocal track ("'Til I Hurt You"), and Vince Gill, who duets transparently on "Gracias." The pick of the litter: the closing track, "Crying Hands," an expressive bit of slow-dance finesse that merits repeated listenings. --Terry Wood

Rating : - One for toe-dippers, perhaps?
I was playing this over the bank holiday weekend and found myself really enjoying it. I picked it up in a second-hand music store while visiting a friend in Chicago back in 2000 and to be honest, though I knew of Carlton and his skills as a jazz guitarist and had quite a number of his CDs as a solo artiste, as a member of The Crusaders and as a member of Fourplay, I was actually drawn to pick it up (without even giving it a listen) by the beautifully psychedelic artistry on the front cover.

In the beginning, only two tracks interested me: the southern-flavoured "Lazy Susan" and the brilliant and appropriately titled closing ballad "Crying Hands" (with sensitive keyboard contributions by Matt Rollings and Rick Jackson). I could play these two repeatedly all day and all night. But as time went on and the more I listened, the more I began to like other tracks. Songs like "'Til I Hurt You", which features the vocals of Michael MacDonald (who is always good for the ears as far as I'm concerned); "Gracias", an acoustic guitar duet with Vince Gill; the funky bass line-driven "Silky Smooth", featuring saxophone by Steve Cole; "The Storyteller" (another acoustic guitar track); and the snazzy, swirly, slow-jam number, "Chicks With Kickstands", which features an interesting saxophone performance from smooth jazz maestro, Kirk Whalum. Some of the tracks on the album (6/10) are produced by Carlton himself, with a few (4/10) produced by Paul Brown and though I tend to avoid stuff he's involved with like the plague, he doesn't do too badly here.

Jazz sophisticates like my good friend André probably wouldn't touch this with a bargepole (Ha! I'm ahead of you this time, buddy!) and while one or two of the songs are entirely skippable, it's actually very good in places. It's nice cool jazz, just brushing against the borders of smooth and for people who don't want anything too taxing or perhaps, (while not meaning to sound patronising), for people thinking of dipping their toe into jazz guitar for the first time, I think this would be ideal. Fans of folk like George Benson, Lee Ritenour or Peter White might also like it.

For me, while it's not Pat Metheny, John Scofield, John Abercrombie, Nguyên Lê or even Mike Stern, I still find it enjoyable listening. I'd recommend it unhesitatingly.