One of the things Jim Allchin learned early on in life was that passion and persistence matter more than just about anything else. Allchin came from poverty and made quite a life for himself attaining a PhD in Computer Sciences and a long and successful career at Microsoft.
Allchin has a fascinating story and after reading his entire biography on his website, I was able to appreciate his music that much more. He honed his chops listening to all the old blues greats. This is a familiar story that continues to give credence to the importance of the blues. There is no coincidence that the acknowledgements in the Enigma CD sleeve include Buddy Guy, Eric Clapton and Eric Johnson.
Enigma is Jim’s story set to music. He never liked working on Mom and Dad’s farm and did not like to study while in school but there is one thing he did like, playing guitar. After coming full circle in life’s journey, this new CD was realized. With the corporate world far behind him now, Allchin can focus on his music.
The first track “Enigma Machine” features some guitar fireworks and has you wondering if this going to be one of those Steve Vai like instrumental albums, which is great, but that is only one of two tracks without lyrics on the entire album. Allchin’s vocals are good and I found some similarities with Gordon Lightfoot but with a softer tone than that. Even though guitar is the main instrument for Allchin and the one that stands out the most on Enigma, he adequately plays all the rest of the instruments.
I heard some great mixes of rock and blues on this album. One of the best displays of guitar and soaring and emotive vocals is “I’m Your Man”. The acoustic and electric guitar parts are superb on this track and by this time, you are realizing just what a special project that Allchin has produced. You can tell he came from the heart with his lyrics and the music makes his vocals dance all over this album. I liked the transition to the country blues rocker “Rockin’ Chair”. It has a 50s Chuck Berry feel to it and I can see the old soda fountain with the jukebox up against the wall in my mind’s eye as I listen right now. This is what good music is supposed to do. Again, Allchin’s guitar playing is excellent, he cuts loose on some runs and sounds like his playing is just on fire! “Killer Shuffle” is another barnburner with some licks that cut like a knife, all accentuated by a funky organ in the background. The curtain closes the same way as it opened with the exciting six-string manifesto “Kick It”, which would make anyone dreaming about becoming a guitar hero jealous - a fitting way to end the album.
Being the techy that he is, Jim uses Dumble and Line 6 amps and records straight into a computer using Sonar. This sheds light on his talent as a musician and technician and luckily, for all of us listeners we get the end result, Enigma, one hell of an album. Who is that company you worked for again Jim?
Keith “MuzikMan” Hannaleck
March 2, 2009
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