I do step outside of my rock and metal comfort zone from time to time, especially for great instrumental music. I’m sure everyone has heard of Snarky Puppy, right? Well, this is how Mark Lettieri came into my radar. I witnessed them live and I was just blown away. As you do when you find something great, you dig a little deeper to see what else in that stratosphere may tweak your ears to some more amazing sounds, and Mark was the first I latched onto.
It’s very easy to attach the word “Fusion” to albums like this as it’s a bit of a catch all, and for sure some of the tracks fall into that. Lead off tune Dragonfly is just wonderful and if you’re looking for a reference then Satriani instantly pops into your brain but with way more swing and groove. Canyon Run is just awesome! Yup, fusion is the go to word with masses of swing, groove, and killer playing. Not just a squillion notes but notes with meaning and purpose.
Black Iris is next up and the groove and beat are very slow with a jazz feel to the piano intro. The guitar tone and sound reminds a lot of King Crimson Discipline period. This is a song that evolves into a differing beast as it progresses. The keys and violin are as much the centrepiece as much as the guitar.
Blankworld kicks off Side 2 and again, it’s another track that morphs into something completely different from it’s beginning, with some superb playing from Mark. A cover of Cindy Lauper’s Time After Time is up next. It’s quite hard to get away from a that iconic melody and make it your own, but I love the way this has been done. It has a much more delicate feel. This side closes out with a track called Shimmy Tiger and this is the one I heard before the album was released. A very upbeat and happy melody with a great funky undertone with killer playing.
Saturday Stuff groove’s on in, quite literally. Major amounts of funky grooves as the baritone guitar comes out to play alongside Wes Stephenson’s monster bass playing. Man, I could listen to grooves like that all day! Keeping the groove going, albeit with a slower vibe, is Medallion. This is such a cool tune with differing tempos and killer licks, it is a pure joy to listen to. Greenspace starts out very sparse but builds with a freakin’ awesome funky riff.
Keeping the listener on their toes, Palisade kicks off with a pop beat almost from the eighties. Do you remember a song called Blue Hotel? Well, the main guitar reminds me of that until we get very busy when all sorts of tones come flying at you. Very cool song! The funk returns with Neural Net, a wicked groove and I love the simple keys main melody line. The album close out with Gemstone where we end just as we started, with some killer funky fusion.
Mark keeps it interesting with every release and if you like instrumental music with a groove then I suggest this should be high on your list.
9/10 from The Grooveman.
