Released: 1993
Tracks: Yamanashi Blues; Melrose Avenue; Corrente; Walk Don’t Run; Ricercar; Pipeline; Beeline; Chromatic Fugue in D Minor; Tenor Madness; Sleepwalk; Carnival; Prelude in C Minor; Ciaccona; Blockhead; Kan-non Power
Best track: Melrose Ave. or Kan-non Power…too hard to pick
Track to skip: Ciaccona drags on for a LONG time (11 minutes!), it gets pretty boring after a minute or so. A nice piece, but it just goes on WAY too long.
This album was one of the first to be released on Robert Fripp’s then-new Discipline (Global Mobile) Records. I think this came out at the same time as Trey Gunn’s 1000 Years and the Robert Fripp String Quintet (that’s the CGT with Fripp and Gunn). Unless you were familiar with Guitar Craft, then hearing this in 1993 would have been something very new and fresh. Well, I guess it was fresh sounding stuff in a way. The sound of the original pieces, to my ears, still sound fresh.
After getting Crimson’s VROOOM, I noticed the ad for this and decided to give it a shot (they were opening up for Crimson in ’95). It immediately grabbed me and knocked my socks off. The Trio are 3 acoustic guitarists who tune in Fripp’s New Standard Tuning which gives the music a much different quality than if they were in the old standard tuning.
Out of the 15 songs, only 6 are originals. I think the originals are the best part. The rest of the covers are either fun little things or Bach pieces arranged for 3 guitars. 5 of these are by JS Bach. Taking all that into account, this is a very eclectic release. Surprisingly, it all flows together very well and it makes sense. This one is a lot more ‘raw’ than their other albums; that gives it a very innocent kinda quality.
I like this one a lot. The CGT’s originals get a lot more dense and complex in the later albums, but there’s something special about these first ones. This one is a little tougher to find in stores, but it’s totally worth it if you see it. For an absolute, just get it from the Discipline website. This is VERY accessible music and something I think most people would enjoy.
Rating: 91
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