Nir Felder

III

la.reserve

In a year when we’ve been blessed by so many terrific guitar records from the likes of Julian Lage, Bill Frisell, Gilad Hekselman, and others, we welcome back Nir Felder with his third solo release, III, now on a new label, the burgeoning la.reserve. The Katonah, NY native enlists mostly the same trio that appeared on II, double bassist Matt Penman and drummer Jimmy Macbride. May Cheung sings on “Longest Star” and Felder fronts a quartet on the first track, “Mallets” with pianist Kevin Hays, bassist Orlando Le Fleming, and Macbride on the drum set. In his customary fashion Felder wields an array of strings and keys to include guitars, mandolin, banjo, electric sitar, key bass, Rhodes, Theremin, and synths. This too, is like his prior release in instrumentation but cooks with burner at 10.

Opener, the ever so brief “Mallets” begins with the sound of Hays’ piano before Felder joins with his galloping guitar lines that set the stage nicely for what follows. It’s jazzy and somewhat rock-like, in Felder’s trademark genre-blurring style. “Cold Heaven” features bluesy guitar lines amidst potent chords and a dense backdrop. “The Longest Star,” repurposed from the previous release, features the mournful electric guitar melody and counter melody with banjo, on which the tune was originally written in the background.  Felder makes room for a sturdy pizzicato turn from Penman while Macbride beats steadily on the snares and cymbals while Felder’s guitar soars fluidly. Cheung’s vocals are barely noticeable and don’t add much. It’s a spirited guitar traveling song with a consistent pulse throughout.

The electric sitar and various electric textures color the intro to “Era’s End” but the jangling guitar lines soon burst forth in a piece that moves through a few textured sections, with tinges of psychedelia, funk through the key bass, all with a luminescent glow, brought to a calm bookended close. Penman’s lengthy expressive bass intro leads into “Dream,” where fierce drumming and frenzied guitar belie the title, the tune remaining at a heated boil through Macbride’s kinetic kit work, tight trio interaction, and Felder’s bright guitar gleefully surfing the rhythmic current.  The gently strummed “Sea of Miracles” is pure melodic bliss as Felder’s lines float about Penman’s bass, more sustained with notes carefully rendered in favor of the rapid-fire attack heard in the previous tracks.  This vigorous, enlivening attack that characterizes most of the album is again very much present on the closing “Revival,” where the bass-guitar and guitar-drum exchanges are by turns feisty and explosive, along with Felder’s insistent vamps, and high beam like guitar riffs.

While his previous album suggested restlessness, experimentation, and unpredictability, he is clearly more focused in this outing. White heat energy abounds throughout.

• Jim Hynes

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