Spinning on a Cosmic Dime: Jeff Johnson and Phil Keaggy

Artists: Jeff Johnson and Phil Keaggy Album: Spinning on a Cosmic Dime

Release:  In waves, summer of 2024

Genre: Instrumental… acousta-lectric fusion, cinematic joy

Johnson brings piano, ambience, quirky percussion, and mixing chops-- Keaggy brings all manner of splendid guitars: acoustic, electric, and bass.

Exclusively available on Bandcamp 8/23/24

https://jeffjohnsonarkmusic.bandcamp.com/album/spinning-on-a-cosmic-dime

All other music services beginning 9/6/24

Short play
Have you ever seen a family with a bevy of kids…each a variation on a theme, each a little different---with one, just a tad bit different than the others?

Step to the plate, Spinning on a Cosmic Dime -- Johnson and Keaggy’s fifth instrumental child, following Frio Suite, Water Sky, Cappadocia, and Ravenna.

Like its predecessors, Spinning on a Cosmic Dime (hereafter Spinning) showcases a stunning blend of “New Age stylings”  with touches of Art-Rock and World Music.  Spinning opens with what sounds like a nod to the Tibetan Himalayas, then dallies with touches of Latinesque guitar.

Like its siblings, Spinning features eight long songs, each a symphonic tone poem made of shifting movements.

Like its siblings, Spinning is layered and complex, twining acoustic and electric worlds.

So what makes Spinning different?
In a trio of words, Cush, Absence, and Gorgeous-Turbo.

Long Play
Quality has long been a defining characteristic of all things Johnson/Keaggy, but there is something about Spinning that feels like a Rolex or a Bentley or Nikon Z9--- whatever your standard for a fine fitting door. It simply clicks, or plays like butter and brass.

Then there is that absence.
Keaggy and Johnson, (but especially Johnson) have long courted melancholy-spare, even the dark night of the soul.  But apart from a cut or two running tranquil, there is nary a whiff of the somber--this whole work runs mellow to joyous. It isn't raucous happy, more like a glowy, Saturday-morning happy.

Finally, Spinning dishes out a sound that I  (for lack of a better phrase) call, gorgeous turbo---make that effervescent trot, splendiferous energy, or radiant pulse.  When you hear it you'll know. How much more honey-muscle joy can you press into sound!

In a quick conversation with Johnson, he mentioned that Spinning came together with greater ease and speed than earlier works. My sense: This work is no less demanding than its siblings--the ease testifies to comfort and intuition. By now, each man can complete the other's musical thoughts. There is a sense in which Spinning may be deemed more accessible than the earlier offerings.  Again, not a matter of reach, but rather, thematic unity and tone. Spiritual Vibe: I suppose the title, Spinning on a Cosmic Dime could have been used to convey the idea that we are a lonely speck of dust spinning through the dark abyss. Or… it could be used to fan a sense of gratitude and wonder. Here we are, on a bejeweled bundle of life, spinning through the singing heavens.  Like their elder brother Sebastian Bach, Keaggy and Johnson create compositions that span the arc from sacred to secular.  I might wish for a better word than secular as I do not mean music without sacred weight, just not music that shouts “churchy.” Case in point, the instrumental collaborations between Jeff and Phil employ titles anchored in place, or natural phenomena. The sound and vibe is naturalistic (with exception made for sacred spaces).  Spinning on a Comic Dime flows from the spiritual act of wonder--a common precursor to Christian praise.  Beyond that, these works exude the “fruit of the Spirit.” When I hear Spinning I hear audio manifestations of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control! And so it goes, a work can be both naturalistic, and steeped in holy goodness.

For those still here: When Johnson first introduced his second album, Water Sky I figured that it and his subsequent works with Keaggy might chase water themes… with future efforts given to the Jordan, Colorado, or Amazon. After Cappadocia came out, I wondered if the team might be tracing seasons in disguise. Now with number five out, all my attempts to trace a coherent collection rationale (save good music) are busted, though I still like the seasonal motif. As for similarities, I still tend to lump the first two together, the second two together, and now the fifth, a retrospective maverick.

Frio suite
Month: November, albeit an Arkansas’s November with multi-hued sweetgum and ruby oaks.

 

Water Sky
Month: February 

Ostensibly the leanest and darkest of the set (and a personal fave). 

While darker in tone, February is not without brilliant and overpowering light!

Cappadocia
Month: April, May or October? For whatever reasons this is my most played of the set, perhaps for its sense of mystery. 

Ravenna
Month: August or September? Hot mediterranean days, cool nights and some of the liveliest, rockingest numbers in the set.
Spinning on a Cosmic Dime
Month: June (though not an Arkansas June, more a northern-June). The colors are melon and rhubarb, not blistery. This is the music I want to play when friends come to the house and we sit in a soft summer night, happy with wine.

On a personal note:
I was pleased to provide Johnson with a timelapse video from this year's astonishing Solar Eclipse. The setting: Arkansas’ own Cedar Falls of Petit Jean State Park, with three hours smashed into seconds. Speak of Cosmic Wonder!

Jeff Johnson and Phil Keaggy: Cappadocia

Cappadocia.
Jeff Johnson and Phil Keaggy
Genre: Ambi-coustic (New Age) with touches of Art-rock
Release 2/2019



Quick Spin:

Cappadocia, the third joint-instrumental work by ambience-keyman Jeff Johnson -- and guitarist Phil Keaggy, showcases both artists at their collaborative best. In keeping with the recipe of their earlier ventures, Cappadocia is at at once impressionistic and precise, hypnotic and varied, melancholy and sublime. “Volume-III” flows naturally from their earlier works, but gives greater space to bold Keaggy licks, a touch of the middle east, and the feeling of soaring. This is the kind of music I lean into, savoring every delicious sound. Those who listen loud will discover all kinds of subterranean textures, and sounds inside of sounds. Emotionally rich, Cappadocia traffics in in both solemnity and full-on joy.



Cappadocia (the album) draws its name and from a weirdly weathered region in central Turkey. Video footage highlights a drip-castle collage, a valley of soft rock dunes. The dunes,in turn are studded with caves, tunnels and man made chambers. Cappadocia (the place) played a vital role in the expansion of the early church, providing place for refuge and worship. (The CD art features pictures of primitive churches hollowed inside the the soft stone dunes)

The music reflects the typography of land and spirit. On the physical: drips, echoes and doves. On the spiritual: that which envelopes and fills. Cappadocia (the album) suggests the very presence of God in mind and place.
 
This  is the language of Sanctuary. 

Beyond that, modern day Cappadocia is a favored land for hot air ballooning. And so we soar on multiple levels.

I might have worked longer to describe the music, but figure you can just listen here.  (Bandcamp)


But if you want to better hear what you are hearing, return here!

-----

Long Play



IF I corner you in a room, or drive you in my car, it’s not long until I have introduced you to the music of Jeff Johnson or Phil Keaggy. Or better yet, a two-fer.

These two men have gone as far as anyone to shape my ear, or provide a significant background for key events in my life. I still remember where I was the first time I ever heard Phil Keaggy. The year was 79 or 80. I was palling around with friends from the Baptist Student Union. It was night, We were headed to the lake and someone threw Keaggys seminal work, Master and the Musician into the tape deck. I was in a moment, transfixed and transported. Keaggy’s classical guitar riffs swelled and turned, or exploded in high volume rock riffs, only to return to the understated and sublime. I felt pulled into the very throne room of God. The music gave me the holy willies...and I have never quite recovered.

A year or two later, I discovered Jeff. This time a wacked out prog rock offering, that sounded at times like the band Styx mixed with melancholy piano and anchored in the fantasy writings of George McDonald. I was like nothing I had ever heard before. I became a lifelong fan. Johnson is the king of collaboration. His recordings over the years are shaped by the many talented people he has befriended. I am in love with both his variety… and minor hues.


Put the two together and we have peanut butter and jam.

---

Cappadocia is Jeff and Phil's third collaborative work. I read one review where Phil called this their best. I am not convinced that it is better...though it may be more intricate and lush. All three live in me.



I have a theory. While each of these projects bear a name that unleash its own set of images, I surmise that Jeff and Phil are secretly working on a four-season collection. Naming each work after seasons would be so 1723 (Vivaldi) ... and my theory is not without holes, but still I see a pattern.



Frio suite: With its deep ambience and echoes, reminds me of Texas Creek in late September or October, which is still pretty warm but colored in the stuff of copper, trickle and reflection.   

Water/Sky: with its darker hues, stark minimalism, and gnarly guitar runs winterish. (Not without exceptions) but I can imagine the churning chill and warm of complex February.

As for Cappadocia. It soars. There is quite-joy in each of these recordings, but I hear in Cappadocia, tones that bespeak unbridled joy...a bountiful flowing. Listen to the closing section of That Which is Hidden and see if hear the hidden brilliance of May following a freshing shower. And when I hear the closing sounds of Chapel of Stone, I hear nothing short of radiance... the sun pushing out over a gilded valley with the very city of God descending!)

While the idea of “sacred” - or Christian instrumental music is largely uncontroversial, I remember when, in the days of the Jesus Music revolution, some people questioned the utility of music without words. They wondered whether music alone could serve a missional function. The answer we came to collectively is that music need not be missional; there is great freedom in Christ to engage in all sorts of things with or without sacred utility. That said, I DO hear Holy Spirit lessons all through this music.

Paul, in the book of Galatians says that the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, (and) self-control.

So...What do I hear when I listen to Cappadocia?  A:  A basket, filled with the fruit.

The gentleness, peace and joy are pretty much direct readings of the sound. The patience and kindness, together with self control are suggested by the process. Both men exercise musical restraint. Rather than make Cappadocia a show-off session, Jeff and Phil embrace musical discipline, sublimating their gifts to each other, even working to make each other shine. I think too of Jeff’s many hours on the tweaking side, with the long-suffering required to execute the blend.

Within Cappadocia I hear a few primal Keaggy tunes.  (The final track plays delightful nods to Master and the Musician, while other tracks mirror sounds I associate with the Streets of Madrid, Phantasmagorical, or Wind and the Wheat. What makes them new is the setting, which so expertly frames Keaggy's guitar pearls. Then, both men manifest restraint, so as not to tear the larger musical fabric. Cappadocia is cohesive in its Holy Ghost discipline.

Finally, I fully believe that this music represents embodied love.  I imagine there is a certain amount of trust that each man gives to each other in abandoning himself to the other's gifts. (including pushing out an unbridled vocal that will be, given the magic of machine, turned into angel song.) Join all that, to the Love of God shed abroad in the hearts of those who call upon Him,  and this is testament to love-filled craftsmanship.


==

I would be curious to learn more about the recording process. These sessions are peculiar in that Jeff and Phil recorded (as I understand it) each of their many tracks in separate places, then shared files. Both musicians have a home studio.

Many - but not all of the songs begin with Jeff Johnson piano. I can imagine that Phil responded to - or improvised on top of a musical bed. But did it always work that way? Some songs seem more Jeff, some more Phil.  The sound blend is so smooth that it is hard to believe that these could have been recorded in separate spaces. Each is playing off each other… Or responding to their own earlier work, in second or third layers. There are times too, where I am hearing notes inside of Keaggy's guitar, almost as if Jeff came in and dropped little chime bells inside each brush of the strings. (Forgive me for my non techy language.) Cappadocia is a work of studio magic.





-

Closing note -- I have a wish: That Jeff and Phil will find another work yet left in them. Cappadocia dishes Joy, Rev, and peace of mind, but I’ve still got a hankering for all the rock’n heat Jeff and Phil could throw at a summer thunderstorm! Bring on the chaos.

Should that never happen, I will yet die a satisfied man:)

Water-Sky album review and Winter-Sky tour announcement featuring Phil Keaggy and Jeff Johnson

Water Sky Album Review (Jeff Johnson and Phil Keaggy)

Winter Sky Tour announcement  

Artists:   Jeff Johnson and Phil Keaggy

Album: Water-Sky

Genre:  New-Coustic  (New Age, experimental jazz, instrumental)

(late summer 2012)

Quick Spin:  a simply extraordinary  sonic treat from two of our planet’s premier instrumentalists (when they are not singing) who, together have crafted an intimate -- somewhat brooding and minor --  sometimes  quiet and colorful, shimmering and bold, audio diary of a “Place.”   

WaterSky is something of a follow-up to the duo’s first collaborative work, Frio Suite, and draws on the same recipe and place.   (You can read my review of that work here.)

Before I get on with my album review I want to interrupt with a commercial

Kirk Jordan’s Bucket list (abridged)

1) Take a tornado/selfie combo picture, presumably with the cone over my shoulder.

2) Eat Thai food in Thailand.

3) Figure out how to map biblical predestination and free-will.

4) Give a grandkid a shoulder ride.   (First things first,  a daughter or two to be wed etc.)

5) Hear Jeff Johnson and Phil Keaggy together in concert.

--

Phil Keaggy/Randy Stonehill: Mystery Highway (Review)

Phil Keaggy/ Randy Stonehill, Mystery Highway
(or, Sunday’s Child Part 2)

(This came out in June 2009, but I just found it.)

Rowdy fun-loving Jesus rock, with heavy nods to the Beatles, Cream, rockabilly, Bob D, and the blues.

Warning: do not listen to this disk if you would avoid catchy galloping-guitar tunes playing the repeat cycle in your head. "Riding Backwards on her Bike" has cut a permanent groove between my ears and into my kid-like psychedelic soul.

Frio Suite: Phil Keaggy - Jeff Johnson

The Grand Canyon Suite: Ferde Grofé (1931)
The Frio Suite: Phil Keaggy and Jeff Johnson (2009) :)

Frio Suite: A new instrumental album (release 0ctober 6, 2009) showcasing the artistry of Phil Keaggy and Jeff Johnson, together with Kathy Hastings (visual artist) and Luci Shaw (poet). This album builds an audio poem built around the sights, sounds, and emotions of the Frio River, as it flows through the grounds of the Laity Lodge. In Leaky, Texas.

As a dedicated fan of guitarist Phil Keaggy and pianist/Keyboard/ambience man Jeff Johnson, (who collectively have put out near 80 albums spanning thirty years), I was ready to “sleep on the sidewalk and camp” when I heard these two were working on a collaborative effort.

For the uninitiated, Phil Keaggy is a world class guitarist who simply knows no genre borders. His instrumental works span the worlds of the chamber orchestra to blow-out-your-speakers psychedelic Rock. He dictates much of the audio track playing in my head! As a singer, Phil favors vocalist Paul McCartney, and many of his pop compositions carry Beatlesque overtones.

Keyboard/Ambience man Jeff Johnson may pull a smaller (but highly dedicated following) and has built a reputation around deeply layered instrumental works and “experimental” vocal albums with lyrics like poetry. Like Phil, he alternates between instrumental and vocal offerings (though in once sense every album either man makes is an instrumental.) Jeff’s music spans genres, but he has cut a deep river of works with an ambient-Celtic hue, or steeped in liturgical worship. Think of the music that should have been used for the Lord of the Rings series. Think of yourself exploring new worlds with singing sirens in the background. As is, Jeff has a special knack for teaming up with other talented singers and musicians (and authors) creating music anchored in another age.

This is a union that makes perfect sense; Both men are creating some of the best music on the planet, even as they delight in God and work to flesh out the meaning of Christ honoring artistry -- Even as they (happily) work outside the parameters of the Christian music industry. Both men fluctuate between instrumental and vocal releases. Both men have produced a rich and sometimes disparate body of music, but find common voice in experimental jazz and Celtic themes. Both men sport goatees. :)

On the critical side, both Phil and Jeff have thinner tenor voices that some (like my kids) aren’t keen on. I thoroughly enjoy both, and find their vocal treatments delightful, endearing and very human. (At one point in Frio there was a soaring wordless vocal. The linear notes say “Jeff” but I sure couldn’t tell. Could have easily been either.)

Anyway, back to the Suite.This union has produced everything I would hope for -- an utterly beautiful concept album full of hidden melodies and textures. It may be that some fans of Phil’s rock’n side won’t ride with this one. The guitar is sometimes restrained, in the best kind of way.

Truth is, this should be called a trio (or even quartet) production. The art of Kathy Hastings -- album cover and overall inspiration, and a particular poem by Luci Shaw are key to understanding the work.

I will confess a bias. You say Texas and I think tall-grass and steers or the Dallas/Houston sky line. But from what I see from the Frio Suites video this river so unlike what I think of when I hear of Texas. And seeing that river really set the stage for hearing the album and understating the Kathy Hastings’ illustration. I was most familiar with Hastings’ work showcased on many of Jeff’s albums -- exquisite, “crisp” illustrative work, but I had not seen the kind of raw globby and expressive approach to painting that I see evidenced on the Frio Suite Cover. I liked the painting, but assumed it to be something of an “emotion” explosion. Then I saw the video and realized that Kathy’s cover painting is almost photographic in detail (or may be an altered photo) as she illustrates the curved, worn, multicolored rock of a canyon wall. And that canyon and the water that flow through it set the parameters of the album. Add to that, Luci’s poem, and the meaning of place takes on form.

If Jeff and Phil were working the Hudson, or the Mississippi, or the crashing cascades of Colorado River as it cuts through the Grand Canyon, this would be a different album. It appears however, that the Frio is gentle and ancient, sometimes deep and sometimes trickley … The kind of place where light bounces all around. All of which goes to feeding the sound of Frio. The cliff walls are chiseled, the river small but fluid. We are treated to melody followed by impression and free flowing improvisations. The music swells, fades, and allows for moments of silence. There is a sense of wind of warbling under the water. There are hypnotic patterns in keeping with an undulating, reflecting channel. There are cloud days and subdued tones… a touch of melancholy. There is dissonance - and drama – but contained drama, in keeping with an intimate place. There is the sun rising and echoing thought the canyon. Beyond that the music is full of intricate inner layering, and quirky percussion and stunning guitar.

To be honest, I have been trying to decide where to store the CD. Should I place it with my Keaggy collection, or growing Jeff Johnson collection. I’ve decided with Jeff. From the opening piano riffs, to the “darker” final cut, Frio makes strong on a Jeff Johnson recipe: Minor modes, spare piano, multidimensional rhythm, and a sense of space… or journey.  On the other hand, this disk closely follows the recipe used by Keaggy in his last major instrumental release – Phantasmagorical: shifting melodic line, and guitar that builds, dips, and soars through a larger instrumental fabric. (So store it where you want.)

Fans of both Phil and Jeff will hear sonic signatures from past albums, but I don’t think I have ever heard Phil this “impressionistic.” The supporting structure allows Phil to play… or not, and then with great flourish ---or, at the level of subterranean texture. Some of his guitar riffs sound like running water, both soft and rapid. Fluid indeed! The overall music, while highly electric, doesn't sound “electric.”  Jeff has a knack for creating tones that sound transparent or hollow or like multiple notes (with no spaces between) all at once, like nothing you could ever chart. And the music of Phil and Jeff flows together -- sometimes in duet, sometimes in counterpoint--so well that your ear gets to chase multiple parts in and out like tapestry. And the background ambiance often fits so well, that you really have to think about hearing it.

All in all, this is a very mature work. Both men have produced bolder, more dynamic works. Both men have produced leaner…and certainly lower budget works. (Side note: Phil should scrap his drum machine forever; The quality of the percussion throughout this album would have lifted some of his past solo guitar albums from “incredible-minus” to “astonishing-plus”). And certainly both have produced works that may be more accessible for more people. But this work, with it sophistication, shared enterprise and delight in deep things will make it one of my favorites for decades to come. And now I’m waiting for the next collaboration!

Phantasmagorical, Master and Musicain II - Phil Keaggy

Phantasmagorical: Master and Musician volume II, by Phil Keaggy

A deep disappointment, a raging delight (! - ?)

One may wonder how I could ever be disappointed in a Phil Keaggy album, but my disappointment has nothing to do with the music, but rather with part of the title.

Title part One: Phantasmagorical.

Linear notes read: Phantasmagorical: 1) a shifting series of phantasm, illusion, or appearances, is in dream or as created by the imagination. 2) A changing scene made up of many elements 3) an optical illusion in which figures increase or diminish in size, pass into each other dissolve, etc. This note perfectly describes the album and everything that makes it work. I fully applaud the title part of the title.

Master and Musician II.

Nope. Sorry. This subtitle set me up. I expected something with greater musical and spiritual connection to Master and the Musician, one of the great albums in the history of the world. I have long wanted just such a followup and was thrilled to see that someone else held my vision. But this is not that album.

Not that Phantasmagorical isn’t top of craft. It’s a very mature work showcasing lessons learned in the thirty years since M and M’s release. But this album misses so many elements that made Master I a distinctive work that there is no good reason to ride off of its coattails. And the compassion disappoints.

Master and Musician one was what we used to call a concept album. The total functioned as a unit, built around a theme... In this case the theme came in the form of a real story, reminiscent of little mini tale by George McDonald (or Lewis or Tolkien) spilling across front and back of the album sleeve. The story itself set a stage for hearing the music, so that even though Master and Musician featured VERY diverse musical components (an M and M highlight), the story wove them together. Linear Notes from the 30 year Anniversary reissue, note that the story was created after the music was created, in part as a way to present (and justify) the ground- breaking instrumental to a largely Christian audience. Even so, the story helped us hear the music as part of sacred narrative, complete with castles, golden halls, a wedding feast and the calling of distant land. I heard Christ wooing his bride. I head Aslan padding in the Hall. Indeed, I remember a review from the time. It asked what in fact might make a Christian instrumental album different from any other… (if not lack of skill;) -- But the reviewer said something that made sense to me. M and M, sounded “anointed.” That is, in disposition, skill and beauty it carried audio blessing beyond the mere music.

Beyond that Master and the Musician featured something that was a hall mark of several early PK recordings… The artful weaving (or sometimes immediate shifting) from acoustic to bold rock and back to acoustic. Master did this in a way I had never heard before. Was it jazz (or classical) or rock? (It was all and more)Master 2 simply doesn’t invite immediate comparison.

Phantasmagorical does feature several “madrigal” tunes that could have been placed in Master and Musician and fit very well. The album also masters the art of shift and weave, but it more from ambient acoustic to jazz acoustic. Gone are the blazing rock anthems. The biggest difference however is in the narrative. Phantasmagorical functions as a conceptual unit, but there is no story line or jacket notes to prime our imaginations. No knights or brides or castles. No Christ wooing his beloved. No throne with seraphim. No Aslan padding through the forest.

Lest I be misunderstood, I would not begin to suggest that M and M is "Christian", in a way that Phantasmagorical is not. Within the calendar week both Friday and Sunday belong to God. An album need not be baptized in Christian language or themes to bring pleasure to God or his people. It’s simply that Master and Musician fed my sacred imagination directly whereas as Phantasmagorical functions at the level of a sonic treat. Phantasmagorical needs no reference to M and M to justify its existence (or sell more records.)

So…. What does Phantasmagorical do right? Most everything …. (Except the subtitle!)

 This is a mature album that incorporates elements of all that has gone before it. Here are the strong acoustic rifts of Acoustic Sketches and Freehand, Here are the melodic elements of the Quiet Hours or Cinemascapes. Here are stellar musicians playing a host of instruments, working with PK in the spirit of Beyond Nature (though less dense), and here are some of the weird and slightly hypnotic experiments of the highly looped album: Roundabouts.In two months I have listened to Phantasmagorical near one hundred times... This is an album with that real lasting power. It may be that real musicians, playing real instruments, give this album depth not heard n PK's lower-budget solo albums. And the song “Caffeinated Dessert” may be one of the loveliest most satisfying melodies ever created. Ever.

Beyond that, there are musical textures in this album that I have seldom -- if ever heard. When is the last time you heard and electric guitar and a clarinet (or oboe?) in tight harmony?

In short, Phantasmagorical reaches a level of musical complexity that may eclipse his earlier works. It’s beautiful. I highly recommend it. It’s just not M and M.

Phil Keaggy: Acoustic Sketches

Genre: Solo or small ensamble, acoustic guitar


As the name implies, this disk features acoustic guitar sketches, at various stages of polish. Funny thing. Upon first listen, several pieces sounded so “sketchy” (imagine that) as to sound like just fooling around. Indeed, A few tacks do end with a fade, as opposed to a more satisfying “finished” ending. Now, however I listed to the work and everything sounds quite musical, very purposed, and mostly complete.

Acoustic Sketches stands out for its pure simplicity. There is probably far more to a recording like this than meets my ear. But mostly what we get is stunning “living-room” guitar. I did hear a touch of two of looping, and even a romping track with a Tuba, but on the whole this album stands out for what isn’t there. No orchestras, no drum machine, just Phil with Phil, either solo or in duet.

Stand outs:Iconic sounding entry and exit tracks, and track 3.Several instrumentals of hallmark sung-songs (Let Everything Else Go, and The 50th Family reunion) which probably mean more if you already know and love the sung version.

Staccato Blast:Those who are familiar with guitarist Michael Hedges, will hear several nods to his “violent acoustic” approach. (Phil directly referenced his on his album “Wind and the Wheat” and does well with an artful “borrow.” (As is, I heard Michael Hedges years ago on his album Aerial Boundaries (Windham Hill) and assumed the album featured Hedges in multi tracking. Then I saw the guy in concert and found he played a double necked dulcimer/guitar… all at once.) I do not know if Phil is using multi-tracking or some variation on picking while strumming, but Keaggy’s rapid staccato approach is just as startling. Can you really do that with a guitar?

I would give this album the highest rating, except that I think Phil may have eclipsed it with Free Hand, an album of similar conviction but with just a tad more power, variety, and instrumental depth.