These days, it seems like most guitarists are infatuated with playing sounds from their pedals that they forget the actual melody, or they’re afraid to go beyond the tradition created by the likes of Kenny Burrell or Russell Malone.
Roger Lin, a new kid on the block, successfully bridges that gap with this impressive debut disc. He’s got a tone that is palpable, like liquid mercury, and mixes it with some rich tones but never forgets how to swing it. He teams up with a core unit of pianist Ryosuke Tsutsui, bassist Soso Gelovani and drummer Nick Groat for all of the tracks, with trumpeter Phil Grenadier (sideman for the likes of Scofield and Chris Potter) sitting in for half the tunes.
In quartet settings, Lin shows he knows how to bop as his fingers nimbly dance over the funky work of Groat and Gelovani on “Mr. Ross Says OK”, digging deep after a clever and clean intro to the hard swinger “Shadowed Corner” and is as graceful as a butterfly as he flutters over Groat’s brushes of during the impressionistic “No. 2”. This is an impressive working team!
Grenadier’s cirrus cloud of a tone wafts around Lin’s silky strings on the relaxed pulse guided by the gentle cymbal and Tsutsui’s warm hands during “Drawings, Pills, Chocolate” with a unison line of horn and guitar create a stream like ripple over the rumbling drum of “Whisper of the Isolated Ones”. Lin’s notes are like droplets of dew, with Grenadier’s horn glistening like a morning light in reflection as the rhythm team produces a graceful cadence on “Royed Mood”. This is a team that trusts in the music, and not on gimmicks or affects. Any tours coming up? They need to be seen to be believed!