Ry Cooder
Get Rhythm

THE REVIEW

Finally, a bit free from the constant requests to compose film scores, Cooder takes a break, if you can call it that, to finally record an album of songs.
This record is somewhat the summation of the previous albums played by our Ry, it's '87, and Cooder is forty years old.

Like the old gold prospectors, the Californian guitarist has returned to sift through the musical strains that have brought him quite a bit of satisfaction in the past, convinced he could still find a few glistening nuggets.
Cooder is once again accompanied by the usual and inseparable musicians such as: Jim Keltner on drums, Van Dyke Parks on keyboards, the not-so-lucky and misunderstood accordionist Flaco Jemenez, Miguel Cruz on percussion, Steve Douglas on saxophone, Jorge Calderon on electric bass, and the eccentric jazz musician Buell Niedlinger on double bass.

Thanks to the group but above all to his ever-genius creativity, Ry sifts through his favorite genres; rhythm and blues, rock and roll, tex-mex, delta, shuffle, etc., nevertheless contaminated by the supreme passion that is gospel. His way of playing is so unique and original that he can tackle any type of music.
Remaining the already established and refined craftsman we know, Cooder revisits some compositions by Chuck Berry, Raymond Quevado, Johnny Cash, Walter Davis, Elvis Presley, in addition to the well-known and wonderful "Across the borderline" written in collaboration with Jim Dickinson and John Hiatt.

Get Rhythm is a beautifully played record, exuding sonic suggestions in every "groove" (the reference to the LP of that era is logical). It manages to convey unique sensations, which I believe now belong to his trademark. The Tag, to use a term of the present day, is precisely "Ry Cooder's Music."

Ry is capable of playing any musical genre and, at the same time, he always manages to bring out himself, his heart, his soul.
Get Rhythm is indeed the confirmation of this state of things.