Graeme Stephen

Tilt

(own label)

The writing on the cover is a bit of scrawl, making at least a couple of the track titles guesswork. But the contents of guitarist Graeme Stephen's latest album offer further evidence of his mastery of sound, melody and feeling. There is much that would be filed under tone poetry here, as Stephen engages foot pedals and the parts of strings that don't normally figure in guitarists' output in search of a means of expression. Yet even at its most oblique, Tilt has an emotive appeal, and when Stephen and saxophonist Julian Arguelles hit upon the opening track Islay's ecstatic theme, it's like having your armchair transformed into a jet ski. Drummer Chris Wallace and bassist Mario Caribe contribute crisp, rhythmical heft as the music flows between sonic enquiry (aided by superimposed conversations in places) and sheer soulful melodiousness that draws on both the folk and jazz traditions. On The Journey Home, this effects a marvellously hypnotic sense of weary elation.

Rob Adams