Robert Gerosa's "Faraday Bag Drive: Electric Trio"

It's not often that I hear a player who manages to embody everything I like about a certain musical era. Connecticut native Robert Gerosa is one: a guitarist who manages to encapsulate all the elements and aspects of progressive and jazz-rock from the early-to-mid '70s -- my own "wonder years" of early discovery -- that continue to resonate for me. 

Employing an array of 6- and 12-string axes -- including a Gibson double neck a la Mahavishnu -- along with an array of effects, Gerosa manages to evoke the spirit of intense shredders like Fripp and Inner Mounting Flame-era McLaughlin, more reflective improvisers like John Abercrombie and Ralph Towner, and even the blues-based modality of Duane Allman. He's performed music for yoga practice, documented on his album 12 Strings On the Floor, which emphasizes the meditative and folk-based aspects of his sound. 

Gerosa's new album, Faraday Bag Drive: Electric Trio, was recorded over two days of improvised jams with Percy Jones, bassist for Brit jazz-rockers Brand X (the album's dedicated to their guitarist, the late John Goodsall), and drummer Edward James Murphy. The album -- a collection of first takes, save one composed piece that was played twice -- is a testament to the power of spontaneous composition, done in real time by musicians of superior technical ability who are also possessed of uncommon empathy and deep listening ability. (You can view videos from the recording sessions on Gerosa's YouTube channel.)

The music on Faraday Bag Drive coalesced without any preliminary discussion or planning; the song titles, which take the form of an imagined trip around Gerosa's home town of Danbury, were added after the fact. Jones is driving the bus here, his preternaturally fluid touch and attack matched only by his prodigious melodic invention; Murphy stays locked in the pocket with him as if reading his thoughts in real time. Gerosa listens and responds with crisp chording and smoldering lines -- his use of the eBow is particularly noteworthy -- and is unafraid to use negative space. Like the best rock players, Gerosa is as mindful of tone and texture as he is of note production. He sounds like he has a lot more to say; I look forward to hearing it.