Adam Caine Trio - Thousandfold (NoBusiness, 2009) ****

Again, I must admire the new Lithuanian label "NoBusiness" with their daring, going for music that is totally uncompromising, raw and real. This record will not be to everyone's taste, which is kind of the label's mission statement, the consequence of which is explicited in their name to start with. This trio led by guitarist Adam Caine further consists of Tom Blancarte on bass and John Wagner on drums. As said, the music is raw, direct, full of energy and drive, like a rock band, more adventurous, more technically advanced, richer. In the mid-90s, Wayne Krantz started with this raw approach (at least that's one of the first guitar trios that I can remember paving the way), then Raoul Björkenheim took it a step further, and these guys build on that. Intensity. Tension. Energy. Freedom. As Caine formulates it in the liner notes : "Can I approach the guitar from a different perspective every time I play it? There will be continuity there whether I want to or not. So, if I take the idea that I do not have or want a style or one consistent approach - nothing that automatically "works" - I go at the guitar each time like it's a new instrument. The challenge is to accept what comes out". So, that's a warning. It is a guitar album. The bass and drums are there very much in a supporting role, but they do an excellent job at this, especially because Caine's approach is totally unpredictable, musically and often rhythmically. But that's the fun of it. Before I chase everyone away : there is rhythm and improvisational focus, there are concepts to be found, yet they are there to serve the immediacy of the raw delivery, the "what-I-feel-is-what-you-get" kind of approach.

Listen to an excerpt from "Thousandfold"




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