By: Robert Silverstein
ccurately described by the artist as a 'sonic portrait', Songs Without Words mixes a wealth of guitar-based instrumental genres-rock, blues, jazz, country and even psychedelic-and comes up with a noteworthy mix. Coming from the place where Santana meets Satriani, Normand cuts loose on a guitar fusion CD that flexes and flows in all the right places. The Nashville based Normand has recently worked alongside Nashville notables like Toby Keith and Vern Gosdin and on his 2004 Songs Without Words, Normand's high energy guitar approach sounds influenced by the multi-layered fretboard finesse of ax greats like Steve Morse and Dicky Betts. Topped off with excellent CD cover art, Songs Without Words is much more than a guitar shred-fest. Joined by a number of veteran Nashville players, Normand serves up some tasty guitar instrumental music and his new CD is a welcome addition to the jazz-rock world.
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