Greek born and Canadian living guitarist Strat Andriotis serves up a swinging fusion of sounds on this strong release, his fourth. He’s got a tone and sense of attack not unlike John Scofield, rich and tensile in tone, clean and polished like a restored ’61 Chevy grill, and able to swing or funk it up a bit with a flexible yet steady core team of drummer/percussionist Dave King, bassist Paul Intsom and electric pianist Howie Silverman, who supplies a lot of the soulful atmospheres.
In the quartet setting, Andriotis takes his smoky blues of a title track and relaxes the strings like a swinging hammock, deftly supported by King’s sublime cymbals, while the drummer’s backbeat creates a deep pocket for the leader to do some clean picking on “If You Only Knew”. Silverman shows he’s learned some nice tricks from his stints with boppers like Dizzy Gillespie and Art Farmer, as he gives some pretty lines with on “The Past Doesn’t Matter” .
The more fusiony moments are felt when Mahavishnu Orchestra alumnus Jerry Goodman brings in his violin to lock arms with Andriotis’ guitar and ride the tricky roller coaster of the sleek post bopper “Locked In” and the sinewy “The Drive By” which mixes fervent lines and plucking pulsations. Guest tenor saxist Aaron Heick brings in his breathy horn to meld with droplets of guitar strings for a mellifluous “BME (Big Medicated Express” as well as a muscular bopper of “Jazz Pig” with the lyrical “Endings” a true soul sacrifice.
Andriotis shows his dexterity with a reflective solo intro that eventually has him pop the clutch into overdrive on the post bopper “Passages” while the creative take of the standard “Cherokee” has King cascade into a gorgeous groove for the leader to ride like a long boarder. Versatile vibes abound-this guy has an ax that cuts sharp and deep.