This is It! This is The One! Parting Is is to Jon Durant what Mysterious Barricades (1988) is to Andy Summers. An album of exquisite and extraordinary sonic beauty that pretty much sums up the essence of the artist and his art with just guitars and basses. (Summers’ acoustic and electric guitars on Mysterious Barricades are accentuated with David Hentschel’s keyboards and synthesizers, but the end results are pretty much the same.)
The most ethereal and enigmatic tracks on the album are "Clouds in Advance," “Before the Rain Falls,” “Return to the Departure,” and “Willamette Fog.”
"Clouds in Advance" sets the tone as Durant's "cloud guitar" approaches and permeates the immersive auditory environment. "Before the Rain Falls" recalls the gently blistering tones of Robert Fripp.
“Return to the Departure” exudes the spirits of Andy Summers and Allan Holdsworth with its piercing lone guitar lead over deeply resonant bass and lush synthesizer-like textures. “Willamette Fog” sounds exactly like what it suggests, but rather than murky and sinister obfuscation, the mist here is one of cleansing purity and clarity.
We need more guitarists like Jon Durant who continue to carry forward the legacies of guitar greats like Andy Summers, Allan Holdsworth, and Robert Fripp, but in their own unique voices, and we need more albums like Parting Is that expand and redefine the boundaries of what the guitar can sound like.
This is among guitar art of the highest order.
No comments:
Post a Comment