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Life is full of variety every which way. Good, bad, everything in between. It applies to music, too. However, one of my great regrets as I get older is failing to understand at an earlier age how much fantastic music was waiting for me to discover. Growing up with music, primarily classical, and then starting to play guitar in my early teens and finally starting to listen to pop music and rock at first to try to be more "with it" in '70's parlance, I absorbed a lot and in my defense and extremely limited budget, where I could get an 8-track (yes, don't make fun of this 57 year old fossil) of KISS, Nazareth, some pop stuff like ELO or whatever after mowing the lawn for my dad or doing other chores, I did have some variety, but preferred heavy music, being a testosterone flooded teenager and early twenty-something who to this day still loves classic metal and lots of modern stuff, from thrash and death to some black metal, doom and stoner, although the only drugs I use are prescription and nowhere near as fun. But there is a point - I had little time or appreciation for jazz or blues other than after being diluted in rock music. Perhaps it's age and a still voracious musical appetite, but now I get immense enjoyment from the most elegant and pristine guitar music available, and it's very difficult if not impossible to top George Van Eps, the inventor of the 7 string guitar and rhythm and chord comping genius. He enjoyed a long life, and was most well known for his beautiful chord composition, delicate touch and subtlety that few guitarists ever matched, but with the much younger and still very active Howard Alden, found a perfect partner to work with for three albums. While "Sevens and Sevens" is a collection primarily of standards like "Stella By Starlight", "Night and Day" and "I Surrender, Dear", one wouldn't really care because their arrangements are so tasteful, so delicately played, that every cut practically gives every tune new life. Howard Alden reminds me somewhat of Grant Green with a slightly more mellow tone. He weaves in and out with Van Eps like a feather, joins in some duel chord work, and between them the very term "elegance" is redefined. This album features only the two guitarists playing side by side. The sound is tremendous, the melodies infectious, and when I want something contemplative and relaxing, it's a perfect go to album. I wish I had paid attention to jazz guitar besides Jeff Beck's handful of jazz fusion and a couple Wes Montgomery albums much sooner, but better late than never.