Although the musicians on this CD are not that well-known (vibraphonist Jon Metzger, pianist Keith Waters, bassist James King and drummer Tony Martucci), they are all world-class. Metzger, whose style hints at both Milt Jackson and Bobby Hutcherson while sounding fairly original within the hard bop tradition, is a strong improviser. He contributed all ten selections for the date, mostly vehicles for straightahead jamming that the musicians have little trouble digging into. A fine set. ...   [ read more ]

CD $16.13

VINYL FORMAT. Paul Metzger continues to pile up the plaudits from critics and peers alike for his virtuosic string-slinging, gaining notice through his CD on Chairkickers and his split LP with Ben Chasny and Chris Corsano on Roaratorio. Metzger's modified banjo is tricked out with additional sympathetic raga strings, although the compositions on Gedanken Splitter are informed by much more than Eastern drone music alone. Recorded in the same period as 2007's Deliverance on Locust Music, this is a more jagge...   [ read more ]

LP $11.99

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In a time where an increasing deluge of acoustically-oriented recordings are being pumped up with words like "iconoclastic" or "transcendental," it can sometimes be difficult for the adventurous listener to have any clue as to how to separate the wheat from the chaff. Hype and hyperbole be damned; this is the real deal. Metzger's title "modified banjo" could tend to confuse even the most discerning among us. Recorded within the acoustically resonant confines of Duluth's Sacred Heart studio (itself once a c...   [ read more ]

CD $12.99

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