By DON HECKMAN
Published: February 28, 1999

The reach of jazz, its capacity to blend, interface and combine with expressive forms from around the globe, is one of the most fascinating aspects of watching and experiencing the music's unfolding history. It's a pleasure that stretches back to the very beginnings of jazz.
Jelly Roll Morton spoke of the importance of the "Spanish tinge," and there's no doubt about its impact upon early New Orleans jazz. Django Reinhardt's improvising uncovered rich resonances with Gypsy rhythms. Dizzy Gillespie discovered the vitality of Afro Cuban music in the '40s. And the romance between jazz and Brazilian music-still heated-began with the bossa nova of the '60s. And so on, and so on. As these offbeat but intriguing new albums reveal, the symbiotic process continues, made more intriguing by the fact that linkages keep popping up in unexpected places.
Richard Leo Johnson, Arkansas-born, Nashville-based, plays the 12-string guitar-not exactly an instrument wim an extensive association with jazz. But his eclectic orientation becomes clear in his solo debut, "Fingertip Ship," especially when one notes tune titles such as "Jaco Morocco" (dedicated to the late jazz bassist 'Jaco Pastorius), "Get Funked" (a tribute to Reinhardt) and "Tony Bennett." Johnson further indicates the breadth of his musical passions when he notes that his goal is to play the way Keith Jarrett does, "starting from zero and working into a piece."
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