Guitarist Glenn Jones recorded his sixth solo full-length, Fleeting, at a friend's house bordering the Rancocas Creek in Mount Holly, New Jersey. As such, the album has a casual, lived-in feel, and the sounds of the outdoors seep in through the residence's un-soundproofed walls. This provides a nice complement to Jones' freely flowing guitar playing, which utilizes traditional fingerpicking techniques filtered through his inventive, unconventional tunings. His songs are melodic and sometimes rollicking, but never ...
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Guitarist Glenn Jones recorded his sixth solo full-length, Fleeting, at a friend's house bordering the Rancocas Creek in Mount Holly, New Jersey. As such, the album has a casual, lived-in feel, and the sounds of the outdoors seep in through the residence's un-soundproofed walls. This provides a nice complement to Jones' freely flowing guitar playing, which utilizes traditional fingerpicking techniques filtered through his inventive, unconventional tunings. His songs are melodic and sometimes rollicking, but never pointlessly rambling, and they tell stories without lyrics. "Spokane River Falls," a reverb-kissed banjo tune about Jones' birthplace, ends with the turbulent sound of rushing water. Two brief pieces (also played on banjo) are dedicated to Cléo, an infant daughter of Jones' friends, and they're both played calmly and peacefully so as not to disturb the baby. Other songs on the album are dedicated to Robbie Basho and Michael Chapman, two major inspirations to Jones' style of neo-traditionalist folk. There's a hint of a forlorn and somewhat sinister quality to "In Durance Vile," which was inspired by the writings of Russian abstract painter Wassily Kandinsky. "Close to the Ground" has an ethereal layer of sustain that just barely makes it seem like there's a soft string section playing behind Jones. The album ends with the peaceful, joyous "June Too Soon, October All Over," which features the nocturnal glow of loudly chirping crickets and is an appropriate goodnight tune without being a lullaby. Jones covers a lot of musical ground on this album, and it's all of high quality, confirming his place as one of the top-tier American Primitive guitarists. ~ Paul Simpson, Rovi
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