Geir Sundstol - Langen Ro (2016)

Indeed, there are serene, drifting and stunning passages on this album by longtime Norwegian session musician Geir Sundstol, who after twenty-something years in the business releases only his second solo album, following up Furulund (Hubro, 2015). The accompanying marketing material cites Sundstol as a guitarist and instrument collector, although the CD jacket only lists the musicians, sans the instruments they play, other than what is disclosed on the press kit and noted at the bottom of this review. No doubt, Sundstol aligns himself with a troupe of Scandinavian all-stars on this superfine outing.

The production consists of several movements that merge ambient electronica with Steve Reich type minimalism, folk, and a few inadvertent nods to guitarist Pat Metheny's rustic, windswept dreamscapes. Moreover, Sundstol's pedal steel and / or slide guitar articulations are often centered upon placid dreamscapes, tinted with melodic persuasions and other notions where he seemingly dissolves his notes into night sky. It's wondrously choreographed via his finely envisioned artistic inclinations. In many instances, disparate tonal qualities are framed upon a classical discipline or looping patterns amid understated theme-building mechanisms.