James Guthrie Full Frontal Profile UHQR 200g 4LP

A new UHQR release from Quality Record Pressings, award-winning producer/engineer James Guthrie's solo debut Full Frontal Profile is an audacious and ambitious collection of 25 instrumental tracks on four LPs spanning myriad fusion textures and moods.

Featuring a slate of all-star musicians, including jazz legends Billy Cobham and Gary Husband supporting Guthrie on guitar and bass, in both composition and audio quality this record is indeed an amazing musical journey. As a composer, Guthrie displays a broad spectrum of creative expression, with all tracks embodying vibrant dynamics.

"This is my best work to date," Guthrie notes, "it contains a deep well of emotions which I hope listeners will respond to and experience for themselves."

This is a hybrid analogue/high-resolution digital recording and was made on ATC speakers.

Review:

Previewing at Acoustic Sounds' Vinyl Summit in Salina, KS is a work by a man well-known for his 53-year tenure behind the glass and for the first time is trading sides with an adventurous journey of his own music. Award-winning producer/engineer James Guthrie has created a dynamic work of fusion, cheekily titled Full Frontal Profile, featuring a dream trio of Guthrie on guitar and bass, with jazz legends Billy Cobham on drums and Gary Husband on piano and drums; with a roster of other storied performers guesting on various songs. The 25-track collection is a tapestry of moods and modes, with instrumental complexity married to top-notch performances and cinematic arrangements which display an emotional palette ranging from the reflective to the playful to pure adrenaline.

Those audiophiles well-acquainted with Guthrie's acumen in the sonic realm will be rewarded with the depth and breadth of meticulous recording, mixing, and mastering on offer, to say nothing of composition — this music embodies an intricacy which is endlessly evolving and fascinating to appreciate. Every performance receives equal consideration and importance. From fleet guitar runs, muscular drum fills, piano lines which dance upon the air, as well as more esoteric instrumentation and the occasional atmospheric sound element, there's so much to absorb which rewards repeated (and close) listening.

The propulsive opener "engines" is all about kinetic phrasing and dramatic shifts, and the conclusion "mermaid matador" displays the deeply emotional interplay of Guthrie's guitar and Jon Carin on piano set to Cobham's crisp, almost military-like, cadence which in its gentle steadiness feels like an expression of fidelity. Everything in between leaves a listener spoiled for choice but also aware of a unified creative goal. Highlights include the tracks which veer more to the Rock side of the Fusion formula such as "the universe next door," "be seeing you," and don't let the somewhat quiet intro to "but enough about you," fool you, there's some true guitar badassery within. "table for two, not too close to the band" pushes and pulls between moments of guitar and drum emphasis, to the otherworldly textures of synths and flourishes of piano, while "protoblivion" weaves and skips with adroit rhythms, anchored by full-throated brass.

For every heavy moment there are also moments of light, such as the mingling of folk textures with Eastern instrumentation in "hold it to the light," and "it is," as well as the beautifully reflective and elegiac "ant's ache." And for something a little more on the entheogenic side (psychedelic in spirit if not quite in sound), there is the psychonautic tribute "an unusually fragile molecule" as well as the trippy feel of "synapse." There is a distinct Flamenco accent found in "every man jack of them" which threads through the other elements of the track in satisfyingly melodic balance.

There are also tracks which contain Guthrie as a one-man band, the aforementioned "ant's ache," and the mischievous jazzy funk of "put, the candle, back" as well as a few which are inspired duos with each of his drummers, such as "get to high ground now," "earshot," "at the unveiling," and "bottom of bray."

With so much music Full Frontal Profile will inspire listeners to find their favorites as well dwell within this work as a whole, discovering the additional talents of the mastermind mutli-hyphenate; and as amazing as it all sounds there's no question it will be an absolute pleasure. — Review by Julie Skaggs