David Pritchard - Among the Missing (2014)

Some musicians are just entertainers while others scratch the surface of all that defines our spiritual lives -- David Pritchard is the latter, rarer, kind. A veteran jazz guitarist whose formative years were kindled in the crucible of the Gary Burton Quartet, Pritchard's style has morphed and grown through various stints including that as a fusion guitarist with Patrice Rushen and Freddie Hubbard. His transformation to the introspective style we hear on his newest CD "Among the Missing" is no less remarkable than that which John McLaughlin underwent between Mahavishnu Orchestra and Shakti. Acoustic multitracked guitars create orchestral dreamscapes which invoke a free-floating space-bience worthy of the soundtrack of a Kubrick film (in my mind's ear, I can hear "Little Known Facts" as a much better choice than "Blue Danube Waltz" for the rotating space station scene in 2001: A Space Odyssey). Pritchard knows the importance of a talented team and is joined by Leif Woodward on cello (check out the impact of multitracked cello on the title tune), Kevin Tiernan and Ioannis Markoulakis on additional acoustic guitars, Steve Anderson on bass and Christopher Garcia on percussion. The call-and-response echoes synergized between Pritchard and Tiernan on "To Kapsberger" are a paradox of quiet intensity. Five solo guitar pieces by Pritchard arrive like thoughtful oases between the periods of lush collaborations. As suggested by the aurora-like cover art on "Among the Missing," a visual analogue to the music of David Pritchard might be that of a brilliant white light which ebbs and flows, pulsates and shimmers. © Alan Fark --Minor7th.com