By: David R. Adler
uitarist Ed Littman is joined here by the ex-Pat Metheny Group
rhythm team of Mark Egan and Danny Gottlieb. Littman's semi-dirty
guitar sound is much closer to John Scofield and post-80s John
Abercrombie than to Metheny, however. There's a live-sounding
spontaneity to Littman's music, especially on "You Mean So Much to
Me" and "Chasm," both of which were freely improvised in the studio.
But even the more arranged cuts have a certain rawness.
Overproduction is definitely not a charge that could be leveled at
this fusion-oriented, six-string slinger.
"Gospel Light" and "Mustayoostabee" showcase Littman's blues and funk
chops, while "Time Is Only Left" and "First One Down Here" explore
more spacious, quasi-avant garde territory. Two acoustic guitar
features, "Drop" and "Awakening," afford an especially clear view of
Littman's harmonic imagination. At the other end of the spectrum,
parts of "Lineage" sound vaguely reminiscent of early Van Halen.
"Obfuscation" and the lilting yet intense "Little Beth" fall
somewhere in between, with Littman employing a chorus-drenched,
treble-heavy clean tone.
There's more than enough variety and uniqueness to make this disc a
keeper.
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