CALIFORNIA GUITAR TRIO WITH TONY LEVIN & PAT MASTELOTTO: CG3 + 2

Needless to say, these guys aren't actually from California at all, and in fact only one of them is American! They first met at one of Robert Fripp's guitar seminars in 1987 and then toured as part of Fripp's League Of Crafty Guitarists until in 1990 they decided to form their own group. 1991 saw them all living in Los Angeles and they had taken the above name. They soon signed with Fripp's Discipline Global Mobile label and toured extensively, often with King Crimson. This album finds them now signed to Inside Out, and was recorded with Tony Levin on stick/bass and King Crimson drummer Pat Mastelotto.

This album is a long way removed from any guitar histrionics album that I have come across and in many ways is closer to The Guitar Orchestra, who I reviewed some years ago. It displays a mastery of many differing styles of music from staccato and quick, to pieces such as "Swampy Space" which sounds just as the name implies. One interesting number is their cover version of Yes' "Heart Of The Sunrise" which manages to sound respectfully close to the original yet at the same time quite different.

This is an album that will only appeal to a small number as it does require concentrated listening to get the most out of it, but by moving onto Inside Out CGT should find themselves reaching a wider audience. For those who want to hear music played by extremely accomplished musicians.

Originally appeared in Feedback #70, Oct 02