Guitar summits can be awfully dull affairs. But with G the right players - understanding the possibilities of effects and percussive techniques as well as chords, color, and line - they can be dazzling. Like this one. But even before you listen, you know from a glance at the players here that we're a long way from McLaughlin, DiMeola, and DeLucia, sisters and brothers. That's not just because of the quirky recording method, which featured one duo per day, with conscious effort to leave room for the third player to record their contribution subsequently. It has more to do with the way each player here exults in idiomatic properties of the guitar, without being constrained by the instrument's expectations.
The opening trio sets the table, with a full strings ecosystem of wild little buzzes and scuffles. Halvorson is unmistakable at this point, with her cosmic effects and earthy lines contrasting masterfully. And indeed, taking Sharp's flinty playing and Ribot's quirky twang into the equation, counterpoint takes on new meanings here. Instead of mere notes and chords, these pieces are overstuffed with anything sonic that the guitar can produce but with a musical logic that makes intuitive sense and grabs you if your ears are open enough. Chiming, resonant repetitions dot the multi-tracked Halvorson piece "Ship," all loops stacked up and toppling over. There's a fine feature for Ribot and Sharp on acoustic, "Wobbly," with loads of rough woody slashing contrasted with sudden introspection and dynamic shifts. But generally things tend towards the more cosmic ("Shredding Light") or the noisy ("Sinistre" or "I'm Gonna Party Like It's 1998"). Sharp makes nifty use of his Ebow on the resonant "Sequola," where Halvorson plays with an unmediated, emphatic lyricism on her acoustic. And there's a monster drone on "Oronym," which also crawls with little electronic insects
struggling to stay alive under the sonic weight. The final trio returns to the vibe of the opener, darting and slashing everywhere. Lots of settings like this can sound clinical and overly technique-obsessed. These three use the guitar as a springboard to pure, shared invention.