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Rating: Before reading the review, take a quick tour on this site.
After doing so, I want to know, with extreme sincerity, how many of you thought in the first 3 seconds: "Tacky!" (or show-off, flashy, macho-man and any other available synonym).
I'll tell you, if the conditions I mentioned above indeed occurred, I could only find myself in total agreement with you, because, regardless of any prejudice, the subject in question seems, at least visually speaking, totally removed from any "respectable" musical sector (in this way I certainly exclude, at the great risk of shooting randomly into the crowd, much of the most rudimentary commercial genre, in which - and unfortunately this is a cliché that has repeated itself far too many times - good looks often matter much more than actual musical ability).
Indeed, Andreas Öberg is the ideal portrait of the typical Swede living in the mountains, chopping wood by himself, hunting reindeer and moose, wearing the usual flannel checkered shirt (preferably red/blue), building cabins and saunas in the most unlikely places... ah, I forgot, he blows like a pig.
However, one must overlook this massive and cumbersome presence and venture into the purely musical side of this big guy: you won't be disappointed.
The lightness, the elegant and sinuous touch, the flexibility and softness that flows from every single note he plays are barely connected with the character previously described; rarely have I heard such a skillful ability to draw from various influences, yet manage to make one's sound personal and imbued with feeling. Precisely for this reason, since I have recently learned to appreciate jazz and its derivatives, I found it a bit difficult to grasp the hints and ideas of the pioneers who made jazz guitar history: nevertheless, the style of Wes Montgomery, especially in the more relaxed tracks, and of Pat Metheny, present in the more up-tempo pieces, is noticeable and gives the album a somewhat retro flavor, I dare say timeless.
This feature is the album's strength and simultaneously its weakness, because, although the astonishing technique of the musicians cannot be overlooked, the compositional sophistication, the ample space given to each instrument, at the end of the listening, there is in some sense a slight lack of originality and freshness, of willingness to go the extra mile, to innovate.
It seems, and this is a rather annoying and jarring feeling with what was said before, that this whole work is nothing but sheer technicality, an end in itself, a sort of "lesson" on how to perform be-bop.
And it is a real pity, because, if personalized more, the compositions would undoubtedly have been more incisive and impactful: if better exploited, the great ability of the artists in question could have achieved much greater results, compared to this respectable but not very personal work.
Nevertheless, this album is truly pleasant to listen to and it flows with pleasure; noteworthy, in addition to Öberg's "alien" work on the guitar, is also the astonishing skill of the other members, among whom I was greatly impressed by the exceptional keyboardist (Marian Petrescu) and the bassist (Jörgen Smeby), highlighted in the track "In A Sentimental Mood" (besides, this piece seems to me one of the best executed on the platter).
Other relevant episodes are "Stompin At The Savoy", a truly brilliant opener (listen to what the hell Öberg is capable of in the first 4 seconds!) and "Helen".
In conclusion? Listen to this album, which is not even impossible to find, and pray that this big guy, in the future, gives us something really "his": you won't regret it!
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