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review by Bill Binkelman Abandoning, for the most part, his more ambient-like textural side, electric guitarist Jon Durant, joined by drummer Vinny Sabatino and upright bassist Ton Levin, has gone for the virtual jugular with a more muscular and jazz/rock fusion approach in both melody and rhythm on Things Behind The Sun. Filled with a combination of blistering leads (such as on the fiery opener "Last Night It Rained") and more restrained yet still powerful approach (such as on "Dangerous Territory" which also contains some of Durant's always delicious cloud guitar, weaving wispy clouds of electric ambience). On all seven tracks on the CD, Durant is, as usual, more than happy to step aside and allow his accompanists to share in the limelight at times. However, this is still the most straightforward "guitar" recording I have ever heard from the artist. There are tasty blues-jazz licks on "Dangerous Territory," delightful and haunting world fusion (courtesy of "vortex mallets" and "duduk guitar") on "Labyrinth of the World" that builds into a rollicking combination of pulsing beats, trap kit drumming, and soaring leads, counterbalanced by the expressive, plaintive and exotic sound of the "duduk" (a "real" duduk is an Armenian wooden wind instrument with a rich warm sound). The most ambitious piece on the album (and my favorite, although "Dangerous Territory comes close) is the ten-minute long "An Afternoon Entangled" on which Durant stretches out, playing a wider assortment of instruments than normal: guitars, cloud cello, guitar synth, mallets, and piano. The song is breath-taking, most notably when Durant breaks out the cloud cello, synths (strings) and mallets, the music painting portraits of beautiful yet barren landscapes and indistinct patterns woven in a gray sky by broken clouds. Later in the track, when the rhythm section powers up and Durant assumes a more powerful amped-up style of guitar playing, it's like finding yourself traveling at high speed down twisting, turning roads. On the last track, "They Left by the Water," Durant is joined by only Joe Cunningham playing a wind instrument known as a "frula" and it's a perfect closing track, adrift with the frula's lilting tones floating over the swirling drones of Durant's cloud guitar set against delicate straight-up guitar mastery. When I emailed the artist recently, Durant offered an opinion that the sound on this CD is like that on the impressionistic jazz label ECM. While I heard echoes of early Shadowfax (a world and jazz fusion ensemble) upon first hearing this album, on further reflection, I am inclined to agree with him. Durant and company are much more "impressionistic" in their music, their playing is leaner, more angular, less concerned with "mood" and more concerned with raw emotion, even when the music is not necessarily in-your-face. While I don't find anything on this CD to be inaccessible, it is also not as user-friendly as Shadowfax's fusion recordings were. Durant, Sabatino, and Levin ask, or even demand, that you pay a lot of attention to their work, with the reward being long-term enjoyment of the recording's many pleasures. Encompassing moments of quiet grace (such as the opening interplay between Levin and Durant on "A Map of Tenderness") or assuming an air of dark humor and slightly off-kilter melodicism (the mysterioso carnival-like "Chateaneuf du Pape" that spirals into a jaunty jazzy Pat Metheny-on-steroids tune), this trio is not interested in taking the listener anywhere ordinary, preferring to strike out boldly, even brashly, daring you to stop listening, knowing that curiosity will keep the adventurous souls glued to their stereos. And, with Things Behind The Sun in the CD changer, that's a damn fine place to be. For jazz fusion lovers hungry for something tasty yet never pedestrian in flavor, this album comes strongly recommended. |
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