01	Train to Lamy Suite (pts 1-3)						04:23
	02	Punta Patri						04:19
	03	Toccata and Fugue in D Minor						07:51
	04	Fratres						06:28
	05	Train to Lamy pt 4						00:27
	06	Apache						03:00
	07	Train to Lamy pt 5						02:04
	08	Above the Clouds						05:30
	09	Prelude Circulation						02:44
	10	The Good the Bad and the Ugly						02:36
	11	Train to Lamy pt 3 (reprise)						01:24

Hideyo Moriya, guitar;
Bert Lams, guitar;
Paul Richards, guitar;
with Trey Gunn, Grand Stick; Hernan Nunez, guitar; Fernando Kabusacki, guitar; Martin Schwutke, guitar; Steve Ball, guitar

Bob Eichler:
This is my favorite of the studio albums released so far by the CGT. I love the "Train to Lamy" suite, and their version of "Tocatta and Fugue" is my favorite of their classical interpretations. Overall, I find this album a bit more enjoyable than their first album, and much better than their third. To really hear the band at their best though, you need to get the live album, Opening Act.

Joe McGlinchey:
The second album by the California Guitar Trio (following Yamanashi Blues), or "Fripp's Stooges," as I once saw them jokingly labeled in a record store. I bought this for a measly sum used, and even still with the trepidation that it would be an unbearable affair of Fripp-times-three facsimile. Luckily and to their credit, the trio does manage to inject some more personal elements (particularly in the recurring "Train to Lamy" suite) that I doubt Fripp would touch: scraping slide guitar passages, delicate Mexican serenades played mariachi-style, even occasional surf music elements. That being said, this is kind of samey stuff and I think the group tends to thrive in a live performance context, while much is lost in a strictly-audio format (particularly for their classical music adaptations; Bach's "Tocatta" here sounds like a rote interpretation rattled off with utmost dispassion). Certainly not a purchase of urgency, but you could do worse.

Brandon Wu:
As with the other albums by this band, this is entertaining and relaxing (mostly) acoustic guitar music - great to a point, but not something you'd really rush out to buy or get really pumped about hearing for the first time. The playing is competent and well-done; I particularly like the arrangements of old favorites "Apache" and "The Good the Bad and the Ugly". The band's own composition that recurs throughout the album, "Train to Lamy", is also very well-done, contrasting between the hard-hitting slide guitar in Part 1, the maniacally fast runs in Part 2, the soothing calmness of Parts 3 and 4, and the country-ish slow balladry of Part 5. (The Part 2 sections are perhaps the fastest runs I've heard on acoustic guitar, though it may be that the effect is actually caused by multiple guitars playing overlapping lines - I haven't really listened closely enough to tell.) The final band composition, "Above the Clouds", makes use of some atmospheric Stick work by Trey Gunn and does a good job of seeming to float lightly in the air. The trio's interpretation of classical works fares decently, but none are particularly enthralling, and at worst are sterile and boring. Nevertheless, a solid release for any fan of acoustic guitar - me, for one.


1994