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Fans of modern jazz rock guitar playing are going to want to take notice of Phil Cavalieri’s new first CD, “The First Third”. Phil has a very unique language on the guitar that borders on the avant-garde, but still rocks enough to appeal to fusion fans. Cavalieri sites Wayne Krantz and John Scofield as influences, and that definitely comes through. Vernon Reid and the jazz-rock side of Sonny Sharrock might also make good reference points as well. Phil’s compositional style, like his guitar playing, is modern and jagged with lots of quick changes surrounding free improv sections. Drummer Ferruccio Dollabona provides modern rhythms, drawing on high speed drumnbass patterns and rapid changeups to match Cavalieri’s non-cliché structures.
This is a first time effort and a mostly homemade project, so don’t expect state of the art production. Still, the roughness of the production can also add to the unpretentious feel of this music. In addition to playing guitar, Phil also adds some decent keyboard playing and some of the bass work as well. Overall, “The First Third” is an impressive freshman effort that shows a very talented guitar player who should have a great future ahead of him.