Verdict: Uplifting guitar instrumentals
More info: www.jeffurso.com
Jeff Urso is an American guitarist who actually started out playing drums, but eventually moved onto the guitar. He has played drums and guitar in a number of bands, but for the moment he is concentrating on creating some instrumental music.
Jeff lists both Steve Vai and Joe Satriani as influences and these do come through in his music. However, if I had to make a comparison, I'd go for Neil ZaZa. Like Neil Zaza, Jeff's album is more about melody rather than shredding. The result is an upbeat album where the 'songs' take priority over technical demonstrations.
Opening track, "Straight Ahead" is a good start to the album. This is followed by "Feel Good" which 'does what it says on the tin'. It is an upbeat carefree blend of acoustic and electric guitars which wouldn't be out of place as theme for a TV holiday programme. "Rhythmic Wave" follows, this time with a calypso feel.
After the light comes the shade, in the form of the heavier "Low Down" and "Down & Dirty". The holiday theme is back on "Warm Day" which gels well with the previous tracks. The album hits it's high spot with the next track "Cyber Me" which has some good guitar work over a Jan Hammer style backing. "Perfect" cools the engines and the next track, "Thinking Of You" once again seems to complement the previous track really well. The album curiously closes with a gentile piano piece.
I have to admit that I enjoyed listening to this album more than I had anticipated. It was good to listen to an instrumental guitar album that felt uplifting rather than a dark exploration of complexity and speed.
