Artist: California Guitar Trio
Label: Inside Out Records
Released: 2004
Rating: 4.5/5
The album opens with a fragile sweetness in a song with a gentle title full of dewdrops, croaking little frogs and nodding reeds, The Marsh. That these guys went to Fripp’s school is most obvious in the second track, Atlantis, with an outstanding interweaving of delicate acoustics, and then somewhere around the three-minute mark they swoop right into a motif that smells exactly like what King Crimson were doing in the eighties (the insert pulls toward the King Crimson tune Frame By Frame). One of the most beautiful galactic temptations is hidden in the dreamily floating Mee-Woo, with spacey “sliding” added along a fretless bass played by none other than Tony Levin (Peter Gabriel, King Crimson). The production is remarkably distinct and clear. Levin spent just four days on it, which says a lot about how tightly CGT work together in the studio. You can really feel the true metallic sound of bare acoustic strings, which at times sound thin and sophisticated, and in the next moment suddenly jangle like crazy. Now, since we’re already circling around King Crimson, let me also mention that CGT skillfully handle guitar synths that come very close to Fripp’s “lunar module”. Cosmo Calypso proves it best: it opens in a spirited, rowdy way, and then CGT take us straight above the clouds.
Prelude Circulation BWV 998 brings baroque times back to life, and it’s incredible how the guitars sound like a baroque harpsichord. Three guitars really sound like an orchestra. All the time. And that’s exactly the real charm of the whole CGT story. In the role of rhythm bass lines the guitarists find their way devilishly well, often sounding like a cello over which the main motif is then laid, conjuring up an exceptional depth in the soundscape. The peak of the record is the sixth track, the dramatic Cantharis, which is the most experimental and combines a colorful palette of different musical styles in a hugely witty way. So the song turns thrillingly in its progressive exploration and waves unpredictably back and forth (from Celtic folk tunes to Spanish flamenco). And so the whole thing doesn’t accidentally sound too acoustic, the guys spice up the record with Red Iguana, another special experimental detour alongside Cantharis, with a heavily distorted part that rolls through the song lazily but impressively
Of course, there were covers this time too. If on the previous record the guys treated themselves to playing Yes and King Crimson, this time they “went after” the country classic Ghost Riders In The Sky and stitched Riders On The Storm (The Doors) into the middle of it. The transition is masterfully arranged, so you don’t even feel it, but all of a sudden you find yourself in the middle of The Doors.
So, a band whose main goal is not to bore you. The music is complex enough, yet very listenable. Just the right measure of both in one. The band’s main aim is above all to show, with their own singular phenomenon, what can be achieved with just three folk guitars. CGT blend a ton of things, from baroque, jazz, various ethno-folk elements and neo-classical approaches all the way to Californian “surf” excursions. In short, “White Water” is a treat for all music connoisseurs. The instrumental music is extremely relaxing, yet at the same time full of unique quirks and freshness, because nobody on this planet sounds like CGT. Complex, but in the same breath shamelessly “invasive” for the ears! A perfect acoustic blend!
Lineup
Hideyo Moriya – guitar
Paul Richards – guitar
Bert Lams – guitar
Tracklist
1. The Marsh (4:59)
2. Atlantis (4:13)
3. Skyline (4:22)
4. Mee-Woo (3:18)
5. Prelude Circulation BVW 988 (2:52)
6. Cantharsis (3:10)
7. Cosmocalypso (3:53)
8. Whitewater (3:57)
9. Led Foot (4:17)
10. Relative Illusion (3:39)
11. Red Iguana (3:12)
12. Ghost Riders On The Storm (3:22)
Album length: 43:34
