Imagine a cinematic scenario where one day
Eddie Murphy turns into Lawrence Olivier and you'll have some idea of the pleasant shock of
Grant Geissman's
Rustic Technology. Till now, like Murphy,
Geissman has been a lighthearted, people pleasing entertainer; his three previous Bluemoon releases all caught airplay fire but sacrificed artistic growth for friendly compositional flair. No longer, as the acoustic guitarist grows in quantum leaps, forgoing that fluffy, sax driven jacuzzi jazz sound for such down home, creative and swinging elements as recorder, flute, upright bass and
Charlie Bisharat's remarkable gypsy violin. Bisharat's vibrant touches take
Geissman's career to another level entirely. Stylistically,
Geissman is all over the board, with
Strunz & Farah like naivete, saucy Latin, solid jazz and even a classical tour de force with flutist
David Shostac. And yet that melodic guitar ties all the elements together. "Silent movies" features wildly enchanting acoustic piano work from
Emil Palame and
Pat Coil.
Geissman's plucky string dynamics have neve shone brighter, and after years of strong but less ambitious pop, he's at last found a way to reconcile true art with agreeable craftsmanship. The result: as organically brilliant an album as the smooth jazz genre has ever heard. ~ Jonathan Widran