01	Scramble						02:22
	02	Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, 1st movement						08:58
	03	Bohemian Rhapsody						05:46
	04	Caravan						03:34
	05	Punta Patri						04:19
	06	Waters of Eden						04:27
	07	Blue-eyed Monkey						01:59
	08	Pathways						04:58
	09	Mussorgski's Pictures at an Exhibition						03:59
	10	Happy Time in Fun Town						03:16
	11	Misirlou						02:04
	12	Rokudan						01:50
	13	Blockhead						04:38

Discipline Global Mobile
Year: 2000
Catalog Number: DGM0003
Produced by: California Guitar Trio & Brian Lucey
Engineered by: Brian Lucey & Paul Richards

California Guitar Trio:
Bert Lams (acoustic guitar);
Paul Richards (acoustic guitar);
Hideyo Moriya (acoustic guitar).

Tony Levin (fretless bass, Chapman Stick) (on tracks 1, 5, 6, 8, 10, 11, 13)

Bill Janssen (saxophone on tracks 7, 8, 10, 11, 13)

Recored live at various places in Colorado and Califronia

California Guitar Trio - Rocks The West

Review courtesy John "Bo Bo" Bollenberg, April 2000
The acoustic triumvirate California Guitar Trio have found an ideal haven by means of Robert Fripp's Global Discipline Music label. After the wonderful Pathways album in '98 they can now prove what they are worth live by means of the Rocks The West live album. Recorded in crystal-clear precision on four various locations this album offers a nice balance between their own original material and some surprising covers. Those covers range from Beethoven's "Symphony N° 9" to "Caravan," made immortal by Duke Ellington, "Pictures At An Exhibition" by Mussorgski and, maybe the most surprising of them all, "Bohemian Rhapsody" by, yep, Queen. The fact that this steers the end result more into a muzak direction is the risk they were prepared to take. Yet it's an understandable journey, as you can't perform the same intricate music all night long so you need to introduce some "lighter" material which people can refer to and also take the tension away from the more difficult compositions. In fact the three acoustic guitars are used as three individual voices that each are put in the spotlight. In order to make it even more professional the band has asked Tony Levin to do his bit as well in order to make Rocks The West a feast for both audience and band. Tony's input on fretless bass and Chapman stick can be heard on no fewer than 8 out of the 13 songs here whilst saxophone player Bill Jansen delivers an extra jazz injection on no fewer than five songs. Now that French band Philharmonie has ceased to exist, the time has come to start giving California Guitar Trio all the credit they deserve.




California Guitar Trio - Rocks The West

Released: 2000
Label: Digital Global Mobile
Cat. No.:
Total Time: 49:31


Reviewed by: Keith "Muzikman" Hannaleck, February 2002
Rocks The West is the year 2000 live release from the California Guitar Trio. Tony Levin is onstage to play the Chapman stick bass and a fretless bass, while Bill Janssen adds his saxophone to the mix to give the music an esoteric feel. The saxophone puts an entirely different slant on the trio's sound, giving it a more layered and complex progressive feel, albeit more free form.

The classic influences come through on Beethoven's "Symphony No. 9." The creator would have been delighted if he heard their version. The one song that just knocked my socks off was "Bohemian Rhapsody." I have never heard an instrumental version of this song, it's absolutely gorgeous, and so intricately played. The Ellington jazz classic "Caravan," which has several popular surf-instro interpretations, is heard in an entirely different musical dominion. The group does have the surf influences courtesy of Hideyo Moriya, but band mates Paul Richards and Bert Lams allow the song to take on a life of its own due to the cooperative spirit of each player, allowing all of their influences to meld into one big beautiful and stunning sound. Classical, jazz, rock, folk, progressive... it's all present and accounted for on each track. The liner notes are very cool, they track their dates and venues with insightful and humor filled commentary. There also some good snapshots of the band.

The entire world is a stage at a CGT concert. The players are the puppeteers and we are the puppets soaking up every note and letting it take us to another dimension that is free of worry and filled with happiness and wonderment. This music is so powerful; it's truly a righteous experience that you should allow yourself to have. You have to hear these guys play to feel the impact and importance of what they do.

[See also Bobo's review - ed.]

More about Rocks The West:

Track Listing: Scramble (2:22) / Symphony N° 9 (8:58) / Bohemian Rhapsody (5:46) / Caravan (3:34) / Punta Patri (4:19) / Waters Of Eden (4:27) / Blue-Eyed Monkey (2:) / Pathways (4:58) / Pictures At An Exhibition (3:59) / Happy Time In Fun Town (3:16) / Misirlou (2:04) / Rokudan (1:50) / Blockhead (4:38)

Musicians:
Bert Lams - acoustic guitar
Paul Richards - acoustic guitar
Hideyo Moriya - acoustic guitar
Tony Levin - fretless bass, Chapman stick
Bill Janssen - saxophone






California Guitar Trio
Rocks the West
Discipline Global Mobile
2000
California Guitar Trio concert

From the opening moments of this live CD, it should be apparent that the California Guitar Trio have a small but very enthusiastic fan base. This album is an accurate representation of what it is like to see the CGT in concert - three guys playing acoustic guitars with an amazingly high level of dexterity and precision to an audience of enraptured fans and amazed neophytes.

On this disc, the CGT are joined on about half of the songs by former King Crimson bassist Tony Levin. His playing is always very subtle and tasteful and never detracts from the intimate, mostly acoustic nature of the performances. One Bill Janssen also appears on four tracks. His obnoxious saxophone solo piece "Blue-Eyed Monkey," mid-way through the album is an out of place distraction, but his presence only barely mars the other pieces on which he plays. Aside from the sax playing, there is almost nothing negative to be said about this album. It may be CGT's best yet - sax or not.

Paul Richards, Bert Lams and Hideyo Moriya put their high-tech custom acoustics through the ringer on a mixed bag of classical, big band and surf rock covers as well as some of their most challenging original pieces. Two surprise pieces are Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" and an ancient Japanese piece called "Rokudan" (you'll recognize it when you hear it).

As with previous releases, the CGT continue to redefine and expand the boundaries of acoustic guitar music. All three of these players were in Robert Fripp's League of Crafty Guitarists. There they learned a rigid set of technical and philosophical lessons on guitar and music in general. The most obvious product of Fripp's instruction in CGT's music is found in the trio's penchant for intricate cross picking techniques - the kind of stuff that made King Crimson classics like "Fracture" and Discipline" so amazing. It's all over this and other CGT releases, but one needn't be a Crimhead to enjoy the California Guitar Trio, as there is a healthy dose of fun in their music - especially on this CD. Whether ripping through the surf music romp of "Misirlou" or picking with classical precision through Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition," the California Guitar Trio seem to do the impossible by blending a myriad of different kinds of music, all played with skill and virtuosity, into a whole which is both intellectually stimulating and highly accessible.