Guitars ... of Songs and Sounds (part 1)

By Paul Acquaro 

  

My love for the guitar is no secret. Evidence abounds from the multitude of declarations on these pages to the lovely specimens adorning the walls of my home, which unfortunately mostly collect dust these days. Whenever the opportunity presents itself, a trip though some recent guitar music is always pleasure to undertake, so today, a first installment of what I am planning to be a multi-part set of (mostly) freely improvised solo and duo guitar recordings of recent vintage, in no particular order except, solos then duos, and then we'll see!

 

Marcelo Dos Reis - Life ... Repeat! (Miria Records, 2024)

Life ... Repeat! is Portuguese guitarist Marcelo Dos Reis' third solo album and on it he takes us on a meditative journey. The first track 'Pulse' is a tonal excursion from the origins of it's life - a slowly repeating note that becomes a background drone. Melodic lines are introduced, small repetitious figures, fleet fingered filigrees and impulsive rhythmic jolts. Eventually, a swelling vocal line begins accompanying what sounds like a violin but must be the result of his prepared guitar. Wordless vocals then envelope the guitar in a mysterious gossamer web. Halfway through the tune, the voice is gone and attention is given to a evolving melodic idea. Quick passages erupt, burn quick and bright and spark other ideas. Sometimes it is messy, other times crisp and clean, and through it runs a rhythmic melody that provides the connective tissue. Intensity builds, but never spills over, instead it swells with breath and depth and after nearly a half-hour, quietly dissipates. 

 

The other tracks are shorter at an average of 7-minutes each, and all fully developed ideas themselves. The second track, "Rhythmical Throbbing,' takes a more dense approach. The guitar certainly sounds "prepared," notes warble slightly de-tuned, accompanied by a rattle of something striking the strings of his clean toned electric guitar. The track 'Single Vibration' follows with what sounds like an overly prepared guitar - so much that the guitar strings that are more like the quickly muted tones of an oud. Its impact is hypnotic. Closing track "Burst of Sound' is the loveliest of the songs. It's melody rises over a thrumming background colored with chord tones. It, like the preceding tracks, also seems to rise with an organic and intrinsic impulse.

 

Life...Repeat! is an engrossing dive deep into a meditative space. Over the course of the recording, simple ideas are layered, creating an affecting atmosphere. 

 

Chuck Roth - Document 1 (Relative Pitch, 2024)

 

I listen with a certain fascination to NYC based guitarist Chuck Roth. His music is pure sound, the sound of the un-effected, unprepared guitar. It's in a sense an unfettered guitar, in that he is playing it without regard to the structures and tones usually associated with a guitar. As I was listening, I thought of Derek Bailey's work re-envisioning the instrument and after pulling out Bailey's 1971 Solo Guitar, Volume 1, I still do think that there is a nascent connection in the divine plink plonk, but that's as far as I feel confident to make such a comparison. Regardless, there is plenty on Document 1 to keep us occupied.

 

Suffice to say, there are no melodic hooks to be found here, it's mostly arrhythmic striking of strings and a disciplined kind of chaos. This well practiced touch of randomness guides Roth's hands as he presses, pulls and pushes sounds out of his crackling, dry-toned electric guitar. There are a number of moments where a run of normal sounding notes provides a grounding for the listener, lean in closer and one starts to intuit a logical flow to the textured play. 

 

If you are a fan of the guitar, Document 1 is an excellent exploration of its sounds and possibilities, compelling and pure. 

 

Luciana Bass - Desatornillándonos (Relative Pitch, 2024)

 

Labelmates with Roth, and writers of each others liner notes, Argentinian guitarist Luciana Bass is very much an explorer too, but whereas Roth seemed to really pull apart the guitar itself, Bass's focus is on song and sound. 

 

Starting with opening track 'Blind Willie (for Sonny Sharrock),' Bass greets the listener with a song that slowly opens like a flower. It's a little worn, but the conventional beauty is still recognizable in its blues drenched petals, its structure embodying a lovely rawness. The next one though, 'Arco y Flecha,' lets go of any such structure and revels in pure sounds. The guitar is the source, but this is not an exploration of the sounds of the instruments as much as it an exploration of sounds themselves. On the next track 'Blues for Pipo,' however, we find ourselves back in the land of song. A thumping bass note undergirds open tuned chords and a slide driven melody. There's a bit of wildness towards the end of the track before it segues into 'Voces de Violeta,' which features a full on striking of chords and a thin, distorted tone that offers a lone melodic line straight through. 

 

A trio of back-to-back tracks in the later half of the album stand out. First, on 'Echoes for Ornette,' after a quickly passing rock chord, Bass plays a melodic line, fast paced and circular, adorned with shards of chords providing unexpected harmonic movement. Then on 'Revisiting Heitor's Prelude,' a haunting melody is laced with traces of Villa-Lobos, and on 'Alyer's Ghost,' she defiantly distills pieces of the saxophonist's signature melodies. 

 

There is a whole lot packed into the album's dozen short tracks. The musical contrasts on Desatornillándonos make for a true gem for the guitar music collector. 

 

 

Ava Mendoza - The Circular Train (Palilalia, 2024)

A heavyweight among the avant-rockers, NYC's Ava Mendoza seems to know how to hit all the right notes. Here on the Free Jazz Blog, we've covered her work from her formative Unnatural Ways groups to her recent collaboration in Blll Orcutt's guitar quartet. Along the way we have also taken note of her previous solo work as well as her delectable duo with violinist gabby fluke-mogul. On Circular Train, we find the guitar slinger riding alone, sharing a set of music that she has been refining for over a decade. 

 

The Circular Train features Mendoza's work as both as an instrumentalist and singer-songwriter, though making a distinction between the two isn't really necessary, as all of these tracks tell a story in some way. Opening things up is 'Cypress Crossing,' which begins with a slight, distorted power chord and then slides into a desert-tinged lonesome-landscape double-stopped melodic line. The style suits - it's tough but accessible, it's new while familiar, and from this base, Mendoza evokes good cinema. 'Pink River Dolphins' is the first of the two songs with lyrics. The start has the listener deep in a bluesy morass, a strong chord structure supports the tune as Mendoza sings "make a sound, it comes back around." The tune opens up into improvised territory with Mendoza filling the space with questioning lines and energetic strumming. 

 

While there is sonic connective tissue through her reverb-laden and rusty wire tone, each tune exudes something unique. 'Ride to Cerro Rico' has moments of classical guitar in it's churning approach and 'Dust From the Mines' is a subdued shredder that manages a tonal super nova. The other vocal tune, 'The Shadow Song' is an interesting take on our negative-light companion, though it seems to be more about a tussle with karma. Capping off the recording is a the blues/folk tune 'Irene Goodnight,' which Mendoza pulls off with a raw entropic cool.