{"id":23056,"date":"2012-10-18T06:23:23","date_gmt":"2012-10-18T11:23:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=23056"},"modified":"2013-02-05T16:33:06","modified_gmt":"2013-02-05T21:33:06","slug":"paul-gilbert-vibrato-cd-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2012\/paul-gilbert-vibrato-cd-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Paul Gilbert | Vibrato<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Alissa Ordabai<\/span>
\n– Senior Columnist —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Gilbert\"Venturing to widen his ever-expanding musical horizons even further, Paul Gilbert on his new solo release is stepping outside of his stylistic comfort zone with trademark diligence. Apart from surprising his fans with unexpected jazz fusion detours, Zappa-esque experiments in mixing rock, jazz, and a vibe of a Broadway musical, he also makes earnest attempts to reveal true emotion behind the formidable chops.<\/p>\n

When it comes to solo material, Gilbert has always been aware of his tendency to get carried away by the technical side of his craft, at times forgetting about songwriting and the emotional content of what he plays. Songwriting matters have been addressed and partially resolved on his 2009 collaboration with singer Freddie Nelson titled \u201cUnited States\u201d, where he came up with some striking melodies and commendable \u2013 albeit somewhat formulaic \u2013 songwriting. The issue of tying the inner and the outer to accurately convey inner realities is being dealt with on the record in hand.<\/p>\n

A number titled \u201cBivalve Blues\u201d is one such attempt, where Gilbert is tapping into the Hendrixian \u201cRed House\u201d-inspired vibe, but still comes out emotionally recumbent, although guitar players will be thrilled to hear the way he incorporates his high-tech chops into the traditional blues formula. <\/p>\n

A cover of Dave Brubeck\u2019s \u201cBlue Rondo a la Turk\u201d is another try to convey inner feeling, although of a subtler kind. Or at least it\u2019s luring to think that it was the emotional challenge of the piece that attracted Gilbert, as opposed to the unusual time signature, taking into consideration his love for technical difficulties. But despite dealing perfectly with all the tricks of the piece, Gilbert\u2019s version sounds dry and heavy-footed compared to the airborne floatation of the original. Emi Gilbert on keyboard offers praiseworthy, perfectly executed solos, albeit with a touch of music-school-valedictorian coldness which at times borders on sterility.<\/p>\n

There are more instances of her well-honed chops on this record, such as keyboard parts on \u201cPut It on the Char\u201d and \u201cThe Pronghorn\u201d, but it is largely the same approach \u2013 chilly, scholastic exercises in technically perfect musicianship, certainly entertaining, but failing to convey a reality deeper than technique and good taste.
\nBut when emotion gets lost among displays of technique, Gilbert opts to connect with his listener through humor \u2013 something he\u2019s been known for throughout his career. On cuts such as the title track and \u201cEnemies (in Jail)\u201d he goes even further in the comicality department with nods (if not bows from the waist) to Zappa with buffoonish, tongue-in-cheek fun, fireworks of dizzying chops, changes in time signature, and the atmosphere of a prankish modern-day sophisticado concert saloon. <\/p>\n

On a live version of \u201cI Want to be Loved\u201d he even manages to satirize Willie Dixon, which is either a witty or a dubious choice of a song to lampoon, depending on what the legacy of Dixon (or legacy of Muddy Waters who famously performed this song) represents to you personally. A more sombre effort is Gilbert\u2019s cover of \u201cRoundabout\u201d where he extrapolates Yes\u2019s classic with utmost respect for the original, but still sounds somewhat mechanistic, replacing the subtleties of the original keyboard parts with full-on hard rock high-tech gloss.<\/p>\n

And despite finishing off with a cover of AC\/DC\u2019s \u201cGo Down\u201d, overall the record remains largely a cerebral exercise, using humour in all its varieties as a shield to avoid exposure of true feeling. That is not to say that there aren\u2019t some inspiring moments on this release. There are some, and standout \u201cRain and Thunder and Lightning\u201d is one such example \u2013 a sensitive, elegant fusion piece where flashy chops give way to contemplation, and where we get a glimpse of what an astounding artist \u2013 not simply a virtuoso \u2013 Gilbert can be when he chooses self-search over demonstrations. If Gilbert went to explore this direction further, this release could have become an entirely different affair. So far, however, we learn that old habits die hard, not matter what staggering variety of new musical forms one engages in from record to record. <\/p>\n

Genre: rock, jazz, jazz fusion, experimental, blues, prog-rock<\/p>\n

Line-up:
\nPaul Gilbert \u2013 guitar, vocals
\nEmi Gilbert \u2013 keyboards, vocals
\nKelly Lemieux \u2013 bass
\nThomas Lang \u2013 drums<\/p>\n

Track Listing:
\n1. Enemies (in Jail) (Gilbert)
\n2. Rain and Thunder and Lightning (Gilbert)
\n3. Vibrato (Gilbert)
\n4. Put It on the Char (Gilbert)
\n5. Bivalve Blues (Gilbert)
\n6. Blue Rondo a la Turk (Brubeck)
\n7. Atmosphere on the Moon (Gilbert)
\n8. The Pronghorn (Gilbert)
\n9. Roundabout (Anderson \/ Howe)
\n10. I Want to be Loved (Dixon)
\n11. Go Down (Young, Young, Scott)<\/p>\n

Tracks 1-8 recorded in North Hollywood, May and June 2012
\nTracks 9-11 recorded live on the 2012 \u201cFuzz Universe\u201d European tour.<\/p>\n

The live band is:
\nPaul Gilbert \u2013 guitar, vocals
\nTony Spinner \u2013 guitar, vocals
\nCraig Martini \u2013 bass, vocals
\nJeff Bowders \u2013 drums<\/p>\n

Label: Mascot<\/p>\n

Online: www.paulgilbert.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: 6\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Alissa Ordabai – Senior Columnist — Venturing to widen his ever-expanding musical horizons even further, Paul Gilbert on his new solo release is stepping outside of his stylistic comfort zone with trademark diligence. Apart […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6772],"tags":[336,6268,6134,5265,6267,51,3501,334,2387],"class_list":{"0":"post-23056","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-arcrvws2012","7":"tag-cd","8":"tag-experimental","9":"tag-jazz","10":"tag-jazz-fusion","11":"tag-mascot","12":"tag-paul-gilbert","13":"tag-prog-rock","14":"tag-review","15":"tag-rock"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23056","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23056"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23056\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23056"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23056"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23056"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}