Legends heat up Vegas man’s solo debut

It all started with the framed lithographs leaning against the peach-colored walls of Jimmy McIntosh's living room, angular, dark-hued portraits of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, done by Rolling Stones guitarist Ron Wood.

McIntosh, a virtuoso guitarist and lifelong Stones fan, bought the drawings in the early '90s from Wood's manager, saving the guy's contact info.

A decade later, when McIntosh began putting together his debut solo album, he reached out to Wood's handlers to see if there was an outside chance he might want to play on the album.

"My wife was like, 'Oh, you're never going to hear anything from Ronnie Wood. Are you kidding?' " the tall, spindly guitarist recalls with a grin, a pink six-string resting on the couch next to him. "And then about a week later, I got an e-mail saying, 'Ronnie's interested in this.' I couldn't fall asleep that night I was so excited."

Shortly thereafter, McIntosh and his wife were headed to London, where Wood would lay down some tracks for the album at his home studio.

McIntosh, a veteran Vegas musician who currently plays in the band for "Mamma Mia!" and with the Lon Bronson All-Stars Band in addition to teaching a class in rock history at UNLV, already had landed his longtime friends the Neville Brothers for the disc.

And when he got to England, he got more unexpected good news: Wood also had recruited the legendary Jeff Beck to play on the album.

Together, Wood, Beck and the Nevilles heat up McIntosh's free-range debut, "Orleans to London," a mix of steel-toed blues, boisterous funk and fleet-footed jazz rock.

All three guitarists duel on the blues slow-burner "Rogent," a six-string tutorial, while the album climaxes with a scorching, 10 1/2-minute take on Jimi Hendrix's fire-breathing "Third Stone From the Sun," followed by the spare, beatific Irish folk song "The Minstral Boy."

It was the latter number that got McIntosh motivated to start on his solo debut 25 years into his career.

"My dad wanted me to play that at his memorial," McIntosh recalls. "My father passed away, and you're reflecting on things, and I just thought, 'Now is the time to do it.' "

Born in Sao Paolo, Brazil, and raised in a suburb of Toledo, Ohio, McIntosh moved to Vegas in 1981. He's led an active career here, playing with the likes of Lil Anthony & The Imperials, Buddy Hackett and Ben Vereen among dozens of other projects. He also leads a trio at the Dive Bar every Tuesday, where they'll celebrate the release of "Orleans to London" tonight.

"Orleans" is an album as ebullient as McIntosh himself, and the shaggy-haired guitarist still glows like a newlywed when recalling the sessions with some of his idols.

"I wanted it to be fun for the musicians, not like, 'Oh, this is work.' And that's definitely what came across," McIntosh says. "It was a dream come true for me."

Jason Bracelin's "Sounding Off" column appears on Tuesdays. Contact him at 383-0476 or e-mail him at jbracelin@ reviewjournal.com.