One of the front-runners on the American guitar-centric jazz scene for well over 20 years, N.J.-based Dave Stryker tackles a project near and dear to him with the 2024 album release of Stryker With Strings Goes To The Movies. The pairing of Stryker’s jazz guitar with the 30-piece string arrangements of Brent Wallarab gives the 11-cut, 63 minute album a vintage sound pioneered back in the late 1960s by Creed Taylor, the famed record producer that recorded classic orchestral jazz albums for both Antonio Carlos Jobim and Wes Montgomery.

The Wes guitar sound is revived well intact on Stryker With Strings Goes To The Movies and the choice of movie soundtracks covered here provides a perfect foundation to unveil the sonic artistry put forth by Stryker and orchestra arranger / conductor Wallarab.

Interestingly, Stryker decided to cover themes from some lesser known movie soundtracks, including a track Ennio Morricone’s score for Cinema Paradiso, a track from the Duke Ellington / Billy Strayhorn score to 1959’s Anatomy Of A Murder, “Dreamsville” from the Henry Mancini score to Gunn and the list goes on. A perennial favorite from the 1967 movie of the same name “You Only Live Twice” is given a memorable Stryker rendition here.

The tracks are all executed with sonic precision and the 30-piece studio orchestra presents a striking balance of jazz quartet, strings and much more. The jazz quartet backing Dave’s guitar includes Xavier Davis (keys), Jeremy Allen (bass) and McClenty Hunter (drums).

Also of note is the incredibly detailed CD booklet with in-depth liner notes by jazz radio personality David Brent Johnson, who goes track-by-track and sheds lots of light on the collaboration between Stryker and Wallarab along with discography information of the tracks and their original movie connections.

Music fans that have fond memories of the classic CTI orchestral jazz albums of the late 1960s will find much to like about Stryker With Strings Goes To The Movies.

RMR presents an interview with DAVE STRYKER

RMR: Of all your albums, is Stryker With Strings the first time you’ve worked on a kind of tribute album to your favorite film scores? Are you somewhat of a soundtrack music aficionado and are these movie scores among your favorites and did you approach this new album with a kind of Wes Montgomery / CTI Records string driven sound?

DAVE STRYKER: Hello Robert. Yes this is the first time I’ve recorded with a 30 piece studio orchestra. Brent and I picked movies that we had a connection with musically and that were also some of our favorite films. We both really love movies so it was a great collaboration. I actually love those CTI records, as does Brent, and those were some of the first records I bought when I was getting into jazz as a teenager. So yes there is some influence of that sound on the record. 

RMR: How did you meet and was it like working with your co-producer Brent Wallarab and how did you pick and choose the tracks to cover here? What was the challenge to record these tracks with a 30-piece jazz orchestral compared to playing these tracks with a quartet? 

DAVE STRYKER: Brent and I met at Indiana University where I recently retired from after 11 years. Brent is the arranging professor and leads the top big band there. In 2023 I was asked to play on a PBS special called Wes at 100. Brent arranged Wes’s music for Big Band and string orchestra. The show actually won an Emmy and Brent’s arrangements were incredible. I said to Brent afterwards we should do a project together. I didn’t want to do Wes so I suggested movie themes and Brent said “that’s my two favorite things- Movies and Music!” 

The challenge was to figure out a way to have my jazz quartet in the middle of the horns and strings and keep the improvisational aspect that is the heart of jazz. So I worked on small group arrangements of the movie themes and gave them to Brent and told him to do his thing and he came up with some really beautiful arrangements.

RMR: What do you think about the classic movie soundtracks of the 1940’s, ‘50s and ‘60s compared to what has come since? Are there any soundtrack composers scoring for film today that you like? I guess back then movie soundtracks were part of the movie as well as being stand-alone album releases that sold millions on their own.

DAVE STRYKER: A lot of the standards that jazz musicians play are from movies and Broadway musicals. So I am partial to the earlier soundtracks up to the 1970s as you can tell from the songs we covered. All the composers on this album are incredible; Ennio Morricone, John Barry, Bernard Herman, Ellington/Strayhorn, Henry Mancini and Rodgers and Hammerstein.

RMR: What guitars did you feature on Stryker With Strings and were there any special effects that you used or were you going for a more pure vintage sound free from artificial effects? What amps did you use during the recording process?

DAVE STRYKER: I like a pure guitar sound without much effects. I play a Gibson ES-347 semi hollow body guitar and on “Cavatina” I played a nylon string guitar. I used an old Fender tube amp as well as a Henriksen solid state. I did use a Crybaby Wah-Wah on “Shaft” though! (Lol)

RMR: Tell us about your core quartet that you used to record with on Stryker With Strings, and also what plans you have for recording, writing and performing in 2025.

DAVE STRYKER: The quartet was Xavier Davis on piano, who I have known for a long time. He recorded on my album Strike Up The Band in 2003. He’s at Michigan State University now. On bass is Jeremy Allen, who is the bass professor at Indiana University and on drums is my long-time in my trio, McClenty Hunter. They are all great players and brought their amazing musical skills and creativity to this project for which I’m grateful.

I am teaching at 3 universities still and touring with my trio quite a bit. I will be doing a tour coming in February with the WDR Big Band from Cologne Germany, Bob Mintzer and the Yellowjackets. You can find out more at davestryker.com We will be performing this music with the studio orchestra at Indiana University May 3, 2025.

RMR: The whole CD is superbly packaged and the CD booklet exemplary. At the end of his liner notes David Brent Johnson adds that he’s hoping for a sequel. Do you even do sequels to albums you release and if so what tracks would consider for a Stryker With Strings II release?

DAVE STRYKER: Yes I agree the package by Chris Drukker and the liner notes by David Brent Johnson are really well done. My son Matt Stryker also came to the sessions and filmed some great videos that are out on YouTube and social media. As far as a sequel: Brent and I and our co-producer Greg Reynolds are so happy with the way this project turned out that we are discussing Stryker with Strings On Broadway next year!