Released: 1993
Tracks: The Night Air; The Screen Door and the Flower Girl; Killing for London; Real Life; Into the Wood; The Gift; Take This Wish; 1000 Years
Best track: Into the Wood
Track to skip: none
Trey sings! The first, and only to my knowledge, CD that Trey Gunn actually sings on. His voice isn’t bad at all and it fits just perfectly with his songs. I guess that he wasn’t too happy with it so he’s had other people (usually female) sing on the following releases. I admire him for at least trying, considering he’s a ‘bass player’.
Trey Gunn isn’t a Bass Player in the tradition sense. His instrument of choice is (for this release, then he switched to the Warr Guitar) the Chapman Stick, an instrument that Tony Levin made popular. Like Levin, Trey handles some bass duties for King Crimson. Unlike Tony, however, Trey is still there while Tony is doing other stuff. Trey Gunn started out in the League of Crafty Guitarists and it was Robert Fripp who suggested he pick up the Chapman stick. He did, and our lives are better for it.
I’ve always been happy that I got this; the songs and playing are quite cool. Into the Wood is my favorite. Trey lays down a rhythm track (with some vocals at the beginning) and then overdubs an awesome solo on top of it. Excellent stuff. All the tracks on this are good. Very atmospheric throughout with creative ‘non-rock’ rhythms. Most tracks that feature a drum-based rhythm are done with tabla and other percussion, with a drum set only appearing on rare occasion. 2 of the tracks, The Gift and 1000 Years, are just solo stick pieces that are reminiscent of Fripp’s Soundscapes. I actually like Gunn’s versions better, they are less mechanical sounding and just float better. I highly recommend getting this, if you can find it. Best bet is through Discipline. Not a bad moment on here.
Rating: 91
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