aldon Reed's Resonance Reconnaissance features an
electric fusion trio of guitar, bass, and electronic drums.
Reed handles all the guitar, and occasional keyboard
sequencing, with Paul Laginess on bass and Norm Euker on
drums.
The songwriting, all by Reed, consists of riff based fusion
with sparse clean guitar parts, including an introduction to
"Corean Samba" that strongly evokes Robert Fripp's clean
arpeggios on King Crimson's "Vroom Vroom." The styles and
tempos range widely, with some raucous rock tunes and several
shuffles. The tiresome rag of "Recess" sounds like a Kenny
Loggins movie soundtrack, but the rest of the songs are solid,
moderately heavy, guitar fusion. Some of the music includes a
melodic Steve Vai influence, with harmonized guitar lines
soaring over the backing chords.
The recording and mixing, by Reed and the whole band
respectively, maintain a clear sound with distinct separation
between the instruments. They chose good electronic drum
sounds, as the drums remain unobtrusive and do not sound overly
electronic. Resonance Reconnaissance doesn't sound like
a fully professional recording, but nothing in the sound
attracts attention to the self-produced recording.
Laginess' bass work lays a solid foundation, particularly his
low range on the five string bass. Reed's guitar tone and
playing impress, partly because he doesn't have an unoriginally
dominant fusion guitar influence like the derivative styles
often found among independent fusion guitarists. He uses few
effects save a wah pedal, and the guitar sounds retain a pure,
unaltered feel. Although his compositions remain similarly
non-derivative, they also lack a spark of brilliance that might
boost his solid songwriting to a higher level.
Resonance Reconnaissance would be a solid debut
record for an independent artist, (if it is Reed's debut)*, while
still showing room for compositional refinement.
*(CD liner notes contained no background artist information.)