CAB

Description

Guitarist/keyboardist Tony MacAlpine, known for chest-swelling rock-classical hybrids, has occasionally tinkered with jazz-rock elements on earlier releases. Here, he fully invests himself in a fusion trio that includes bassist Bunny Brunel (who owns credits with Chick Corea and Herbie Hancock) and David Chambers (Parliament-Funkadelic). Along with being the album's featured instrumentalist, Brunel wrote seven of the disc's 10 tracks, with MacAlpine penning the final three. The results are attractive, if not always arresting. MacAlpine takes flight as a soloist only sporadically, most memorably when responding to his own meaty rock chops in the title track and during an elaborate run on the concluding selection, "Bernard." MacAlpine's output on keyboards surfaces almost as often as his riffing, lending a Return to Forever vibe to a package that shines more brightly when MacAlpine and Brunel give themselves room to cook (as on the Satriani-like "Boogie Me") rather than simmer. --Terry Wood