he variety and depth of sound achieved using guitar, bass and drums is astonishing. Waldon does all the guitar and bass work, with George Wietecha holding down the traps. The addition of Greg Koltyk's tenor sax and Celeste Reed's flute is like icing on a complex, dark, mysterious cake, embellishing and adding intriguing new dimensions to the compositions. Moods range from angular and angry to introspective and dreamy. Two songs are included, featuring Ray Roberts on vocals.
The album is not so much a showcase for Waldon's seemingly super-human guitar technique, though that does come through often enough. Most of the melodic and harmonic content is guitar, revealing an amazing range of style and timbre. Waldon's mastery of everything from shred to classical is used in a tasteful blend that often makes it easy to forget this is primarily guitar work. Fear not, guitar hounds; there are plenty of stunning Reed signature solos and pyrotechnics too.
The production is almost disturbingly tight. Everything is played with incredible control and precision, while retaining a powerful and often fierce expressiveness. Waldon Reed's arrangements, recording, engineering and production allow the music to transcend the execution. Nothing is crowded. There is a sense of openness and space throughout, even in the most instrumentally complex passages. The music has tremendous dynamic range, and it plays well cranked up LOUD.
If you enjoy virtuoso guitar playing and intelligent, genre-bending and sometimes challenging compositions played with intense spiritual fervor, then Guitar Noir belongs in your collection.
he variety and depth of sound achieved using guitar, bass and drums is astonishing. Waldon does all the guitar and bass work, with George Wietecha holding down the traps. The addition of Greg Koltyk's tenor sax and Celeste Reed's flute is like icing on a complex, dark, mysterious cake, embellishing and adding intriguing new dimensions to the compositions. Moods range from angular and angry to introspective and dreamy. Two songs are included, featuring Ray Roberts on vocals.