Marty Thompson - Unwind

Marty Thompson's music oftentimes gets compared to jam band acts, like Phish and (the original jam band) Grateful Dead. However, you may not fully grasp this influence until this release gets to track three, "7 Am Stroll," which finds Thompson generously stretching out on the track's electric guitar solo. It transforms a song that could have easily been only three or four minutes long into the seven-minute-plus recording it ultimately is.

Thompson is described as a multi-instrumentalist, and when his album contributions range from bongos to Moog on the credits, in addition - of course - to electric guitar, he easily lives up to this multi-faceted description. Much of this album is light and enjoyable. Something as simple as the beauty of a sunny day gets saluted on one titled "Sunday Sunshine," for example. Then again, this is another long one, extended to over ten minutes of jamming joy.

Jam band music isn't for everyone. There are those that much prefer the brevity of a three-minute single, with no fat, no waste. Then again, there are some that don't ever want a jam to end. For these, there is Marty Thompson. It's obvious that inspiration struck him often while he was in the studio. Why let a good thing peter out when you can extend its life for as long as you feel moved by inspiration? Electric guitar is just such an expressive instrument, too. Unlike many other musical elements, which may be used more for rhythmic applications, an electric guitar in the right hands, is a unique voice all by itself. With Unwind, this six-string expressionist is in the right hands.

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