First Steps

Kevin Barbour plays guitar in the contemporary jazz style, but with a refreshing rock edge. First Steps is the guitarist's new CD, an all instrumental recording where echoes of Pat Metheny, Eric Johnson and Russ Freeman can be heard throughout. Barbour's hardly a copycat though - the opening track "Say It" begins with some fiery space rock soloing and rapid speaker-to-speaker panning, something you'd be hard pressed to find eminating from Metheny's Gibson. "Say It" features a blazing, overdriven solo passage as well, as does the closing track "MIdwestern Vacation". The CD features more than its share of fine melodic moments, and all the guitar work on First Steps is crisp, propulsive and at times, unpredictable - the hallmark of a memorable instrumental CD release.