Carl Weingarten Local Journeys CD

Composer, producer, and slide guitarist Carl Weingarten's 2005 release LOCAL JOURNEYS continues the musician's exploration of genre-blending moodscapes. Weingarten's music is highly atmospheric, with spare, trance-y sonic backdrops haunted by percussive pulses and wisps of ghostly slide. This is music that conjures images of deserted, dusty towns and clouds cutting across a blood-red moon, and it is difficult, as a result, to resist employing the adjective "cinematic" when trying to describe the effect this music has.

Yet Weingarten's evocative, image-rich sound-worlds are the best kind: they project their own inner films in the minds of attentive listeners. To its credit, LOCAL JOURNEYS is more of a piece than some of Weingarten's other releases. With the exception of some piano, synthesizer, and light percussion, almost all of the record is strings, including cello, dobro, bass, e-bow, and Weingarten's ubiquitous slide. Moreover, a spectral atmosphere prevails in the hazy textures and Weingarten's reverb-drenched playing, making this fine release a perfect candidate for dreamy headphone listening.

by Glenn Astarita, JazzReview.com"West Coast guitarist Carl Weingarten is a colorist who blends an enviable technique with gobs of emotive sentiment and subtly designed electronic effects. On this endeavor he employs a strings section on selected works, to complement electric bass hero Michael Manring's softly lyrical accompaniment. Weingarten uses various electric slide guitars, dobro and ebow to round out these eclectic, electronic dreamscapes. He uses volume control techniques to leverage his multihued phrasings throughout these pieces that impart a sustaining impression. Elsewhere, the guitarist plucks gentle harmonics while generating endearing, melodic hooks via his supple slide guitar voicings. Weingarten conveys an artsy musical persona, often dappled with poise and a near-flawless mode of execution during these enduring tone poems that beckon repeated listens. (Enthusiastically recommended...)"

Recording information: Multiphase Productions, Alameda, CA (10/2002-02/2005); White Cow Studios, Berkeley, CA (10/2002-02/2005).

Photographers: Carl Weingarten; Brian Knave.

Personnel: Carl Weingarten (dobro, E-bow); Michael Manring (E-bow, acoustic bass, electric bass); Marcie Brown, Robin Bonnell, Jessica Ivry (cello); Brian Knave (drums, percussion).

Audio Mixers: Myles Boisen; Barry Cleveland; Brian Knave.