Greg BRYANT EXPANSION - GREG BRYANT EXPANSION

Greg Bryant Expansion

Greg Bryant Expansion
self-released; 2013

3.7 out of 5

By Jamie Funk

The first thing I thought when listening to Greg Bryant Expansion was that this is the type of music that's meant to be seen live; maybe doing a little interpretive dance with a cocktail in hand. Greg Bryant Expansion is basically incredibly talented musicians flexing their muscles for six songs showing you guitar, bass, piano and drum work people will be in awe of. The self-titled EP Greg Bryant Expansion was recorded (in mostly mono) on a MCI JH-600 console straight to 2-inch analog tape via the MCI JH24 and then put into Protool in about 24 hours. It is obvious from this setup that they wanted to capture the pure energy, intensity, and emotion of a live performance. I have to say they did a pretty job. Instrumental music can often lose me after a couple of minutes if it isn't changing and evolving. While some of the music gained my attention more for the technical aspects than the creative one I was absorbed enough in the music to not miss vocals.

The album starts thing off with “Bolo” which focuses around lead guitar work that hits about a million different notes in this five-minute song. The other instruments are doing a lot of cool things but it was hard to take my focus off the guitar as it was hitting the frequencies my ears were drawn to. As the guitar notes bend and the song intensified it reminded me of listening to Hendrix. Suffice it to say you can tell there was some influence from the man. I was really digging “The Ansible” as it created an open playground for all the instruments to improvise and have fun. Some spectacular raw drums sounds on this one as well as Rhodes piano twirls around the canvas and a funky bass line make this one very danceable. After a short organ interlude things slow down and get real sexy like with “Filmore Syndicate.” I could feel the lights dim as the song played. The album closes with a short freak-out section called “Austerity.”

If you need something to sing-a-long to you may want to pass this one up but if you like hearing technically sound musicians who are most likely a lot better than you then check this out.

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