By: Bill Meredith
I's not that there was a problem with any of the four studio CDs by the California Guitar Trio ("Yamanashi Blues", '93; "Invitation", '95; "Pathways", '98, and "An Opening Act", '99) - unless you'd seen the group perform live. But only HEARING acoustic guitarists Bert Lams, Paul Richards and Hideyo Moriya in a controlled setting paled in comparison to both SEEING and hearing them in the setting where they often make an audience LOSE control. So the CGT splits the difference on its latest release - a live CD called "Rocks the West".
With residents of the U.S. (Richards), the U.K. (Lams) and Japan (Moriya), the CGT covers a lot of ground both geographically and musically. "Rocks the West" opens with their brief original "Scramble" before the trio tackles a nine-minute edit of Beethoven's "Symphony No. 9." Perhaps even more difficult is Lams' arrangement of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody," complete with mimicry of all of Freddie Mercury's vocal parts. Having showcased an original, classical and rock number, the trio moves to jazz with Duke Ellington's "Caravan" - even copping the drum solo section with a percussive attack on both their instruments' strings and bodies.
Bassist and Chapman stick master Tony Levin appears on roughly half the disc, his fretless lines heightening the guitarists' work on Lams' neo-classical "Punta Patri" and on his own "Waters Of Eden." Saxophonist Bill Janssen does his bizarre, walk-through-the-audience solo piece , "Blue-eyed Monkey;" the two then join the trio (with Levin providing counter-melodies on stick) for a five-minute romp through "Pathways."
The remainder of "Rocks the West" shows off each CGT member's influence. Lams (a graduate of Brussels' Royal Conservatory) stands out in the reading of Mussorgski's "Pictures At an Exhibition;" Richards bounces his effects and rock attitude off of his bandmates, Levin and Janssen in the largely-improvised "Happy Time In Fun Town." Moriya, the Japanese surf-guitarist, then goes berserk in the rousing "Misirlou" and tranquil in the stately "Rokudan." Levin and Janssen return for Richards' closing, off-time masterpiece, "Blockhead." It's a strong final statement for the case of "Rocks the West"as the next best thing to being there.
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