Released in 1972 on LP and now part of a two-CD set along with
Belsta River on
In Stockholm on Four Leaf Records,
Small World is one of the most unsung albums by Hungarian guitarist and composer
Gabor Szabo. While it's true that the 1970s were not recognized as a great time for the artist,
Small World is the exception rather than the rule. Recorded in two sessions, one with a trio and one with a quartet featuring guitarist
Janne Schaffer,
Szabo put his pop obsessions aside in order to concentrate on what he did best: being an improvising guitarist with an original tone. His cover of the
Styne-
Merrill classic "People" is merely a long, snaky intro to his own "My Kind of People," which wraps itself around twin guitar lines that explore harmonic triads in minor keys. Lyrically, both tunes are wonderful, but they also showcase the truly exotic side of
Szabo's playing, which was not unlike
Jimi Hendrix's quieter moments. Other standouts include the guitar duo on the
Szabo-composed "Mizrab" -- this is the original version -- and the rocked-up jazz of "Foothill Patrol." The album closes with one of the most moving and ethereal renditions of
Joaquín Rodrigo's "Concierto de Aranjuez" in the jazz canon, in which
Szabo plays his Spanish-key six-string into the stratosphere without once giving way to improvisational or jazz-rock excess. This is a stunner. Period.