After nearly 40 years, Aztec Two-Step is still the one

_{Aztec Two-Step:  Better than ever.  (Chris Fasanella Illustration)}

Aztec Two-Step and the Simon and Garfunkel Songbook

With legendary broadcaster Pete Fornatale. 8 p.m., March 12. The Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center, 300 Main St., Old Saybrook. $37. 877-503-1286, katharinehepburntheater.org.

Over the years, Rex Fowler and Neal Shulman, the dynamic folk duo known as Aztec Two-Step, have been compared to another fairly acclaimed folk/pop twosome. In fact, the comparisons had become so pervasive that ATS recorded their 2008 album, Time It Was: The Simon & Garfunkel Songbook, as a tribute to their sound and accomplishments and also in an effort to differentiate Aztec Two-Step from their much better known peers.

“We’ve gotten to a point where we have a deeper level of appreciation, tolerance and understanding of one another and this Simon and Garfunkel thing is reflective of that,” says Fowler. “If either one of us had suggested it, we probably would have rolled our eyes. But because it was a third party that suggested it, it made it seem like not such a bad idea. And I want to go on record as being a much better guitar player than Art Garfunkel.”

Of course, the primary distinction between Simon and Garfunkel and Aztec Two-Step is simple longevity. Next year will mark Aztec Two-Step’s 40th year as a recording and touring entity, an amazing benchmark that could only be achieved by a couple of guys who don’t hate each other.

“But we’re not famous enough for people to know that,” jokes Fowler. “We’ve done a good job, Neal and I, of fooling everybody because there’s a real compatibility on stage. We’re so different, it’s like The Odd Couple, in the sense of who we are as individuals. The secret to our success is that we don’t sleep together.”

When Fowler and Shulman met at a small folk club in Boston and formed ATS in 1971, Simon had just split from Garfunkel and was about to embark on his solo career. It’s a fairly safe bet that at least some of the talk surrounding ATS was generated by media types who were looking to anoint a new folk pairing to assume the throne that Simon and Garfunkel had just abdicated.

“There wasn’t a conscious ‘Let’s try to sing like those guys’ thing, but it was certainly a normal suggestion,” says Fowler. “There was more similarity in the East Coast sensibility versus the Eagles/Jackson Brown West Coast sensibility. We had that in common with Simon and Garfunkel, but we’re not nearly as refined as those guys are. Never were, never tried to be.”

Going back and sampling even a little of ATS’s output since their 1972 Elektra debut lends credence to the argument that the duo has had some influence on the alt-country scene without enjoying any of the recognition. Fowler sees that as a positive thing.

“One of the things that has kept me going with Aztec Two-Step is the fact that we haven’t gotten the recognition we deserve,” he says. “We had our chances; plenty of songs that were released as singles on major labels that never charted. I just wish that more people, especially in the media, had a chance to see us perform, because I think that’s where we always were better.”

Although Fowler admits that he and Shulman didn’t always represent themselves fully in the studio, he’s quick to point out that their last original recording, 2005’s Days of Horses, is perhaps the best album in their catalog.

“In the long run, there’s a place for us, at least in terms of respectability, that I think we can still garner at this late date in our career,” says Fowler humbly. “I do feel that we’re better now than we were almost 40 years ago. We sing better, we play better, we’re better show people. A lot of people our age lose their voices but we haven’t. We stopped abusing ourselves and our voices a long time ago, and then it’s just the luck of the draw. We’ve been able to sing at a very high level and Neal can play at a very high level, better than ever.”

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Karen  - Aztec Two Step   |2010-03-10 21:51:44 Great illustration and article--from one who remembers Rex and Neal from lots of airplay on CT radio stations in the early 70's. They sound terrific whether it is the Simon and Garfunkel show or their shows which feature all their hits, one after another! Keep it coming, ATS, because we will surely keep coming to see you! See you Friday at the KATE! Reply 0   0

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