Record Reviews

ALEX JONSSON ~ HEART OF GOLD NOT ON LABEL 03 (Barcode: 5707471048047) ~ DENMARK ~ Jazz Recorded: 2016 Released: 2016 This is the third album by Danish guitarist / composer Alex JonssonFind albums by this artist, this time recorded live in a trio setting with bassist Jens Mikkel MadsenFind albums by this artist and drummer Andreas SkambyFind albums by this artist. The album presents seven original compositions, all by Jonsson. The music is somewhere on the border between Jazz and Rock, but nothing like a typical Fusion recording. Jazz is definitely the dominant ingredient, with the basic approach to the improvisation and the almost traditional rhythm section, but the overall sound of the trio is closer to instrumental Rock music than to Jazz. Altogether the clean sound and spacey sound create a fresh and very enjoyable listening experience. The music is somewhat minimalistic and full of Scandinavian melancholy, which of course is usually very well received by music lovers. Jonsson uses a very unique style of playing the guitar, using almost exclusively single notes rather than cords, which makes the music full of breathing space and delicacy. The rhythm session plays very amicably along, creating a round overall sound. There are a few bass solos, but in general the rhythm section stays respectfully in the background, leaving the centre of the stage to the guitar. Overall this is a very enjoyable guitar dominated album, which should be very interesting to the many guitar lovers both form the Jazz and Rock circles. The unique ability to float between the genres should be definitely quite puzzling to those listeners, who think that they have already heard everything. Definitely worth investigating!

Updated: 03/06/2017Posted: 03/06/2017

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