PATRICK WOODS
~ POWER FIELDS~
THE ARTIST & THE DISC
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Power Fields by guitarist Patrick Woods is a unique and rhythmic
journey that'll stop your heart and race your mind. This CD stimulates and
challenges the body with it's certified mad jazz bass stylings, the mind
with it's technically astonishing guitar, and the soul with it's transcendental
beauty.
A primal Jazz influence drives the disc, bringing to mind some
of the jazz greats, Gillespie, Bird, Miles and the like. They too served
up their jazz in a similar way, using memorable melodies to entice the listener.
Then injecting their own brand of far out/experimental jazz so the listener
never knew what hit them. This made the music accessible to everyone from
the casual listener to the hardcore fan. Patrick too mixes some very
avant writing and playing with memorable melodies allowing the inexperienced
ear to follow his every thought. The experienced listener will need no such
advantage to spot the gift this player possesses. Traditionally I reserve
the term extremist for metal/shred players. But Patrick certainly qualifies
as an extremist, stretching the boundaries of his craft and genre beyond
traditional limits, raising the standard several notches.
This CD quickly became one of my favorite guitar CD's, then
just as quickly it became one of my favorite CD's period.... Beyond all the
technical virtuosity and addictive songs this CD is just plain fun! With
sort of a celebratory vibe and party atmosphere throughout, your friends
could get out of control. I had it playing when I had some friends over and
three of the wives started dancing together (the three glasses of wine
didn't help). Depending on your friends, this could be a good thing......The
point is this disc just invokes a sense of joy that well,.....can actually
get out of control. You just can't listen to Power Fields and not feel better!
And if you're already feeling great, Patrick can't be held responsible for
the effects!!
Power Fields features Patrick on 6 string acoustic guitar and
the 10 string electric treblebass. A guitar that has six guitar strings
and four bass strings. It's similar to a harp guitar except the bass
has frets. So instead of being plucked open like a harp, it's played as a
bass. What I had expected was a bass line to simply accompany the guitar
part. Yea right! Simply a bass line was not what this technician had in mind.
Any extremist would simply not stand for that. So Patrick commits an all
out assault on the listener with a bottom end that'll have you shakin' your
bottom end! I found myself occasionally concentrating on the certifiably
wicked bass line. And then it would hit me...this guys also playing this
intricate and challenging, impossible to most, guitar part at the same time.
That's right Patrick is not only laying down two independent lines at once.
But musically the lines are often in two different directions, a light spacious
guitar part with a driving relentless funk bass line. It's like two energy's
crashing and creating a new unstoppable force.
The songs on 6 string acoustic guitar are just as
exciting and percussive. Whether playing with a bass slapping style
or tapping on the body of his guitar to add even more power to the force,
this unique player does so much more than simply accompany himself. He creates
two (sounds like three sometimes) independent lines, sounding astonishingly
like two separate musicians, making Patrick two of my favorite instrumentalists.
There are spots on this CD where it challenges logic that it could bo one
instrument, one instrumentalist, at one time. Technically I put this
guy among the greats of all genres!! You think you know, but you don't
know....When Jimi asked "Are You Experienced?" this is what he was talking
about!
Listen to a streaming
sample of all songs. flash
required
Click
Here To Sample the CD
---
~
below I'm idley giving an overview of the songs....for a better idea
of what this artist sounds like check out the CD sample link above and read
along.
"I Can Drive" an energetic song that was my first introduction to
the treblebass and what this skilled player could do with it. If Patrick
is driving I'll kick in for gas!
"Machine Gun Dance" is a happy jazz dynamo that slows only to wind
up again (very hot jazz alert)
"Morning Wind" is a beautiful step toward contemporary jazz and is
the first track played on the 6 string guitar. That this is really one man
on one guitar played at one time with no overdubs challenges the realms of
possibility. Unbelievable man!!
"Time And Fire" is a very radio friendly song. I can picture this
track on contemporary jazz/guitar radio.
"Joker In The Deck" is an all
out nitro-injected rocket ride to somewhere no other guitarist can take you.
This track is so over the top that your mind may need to rest after listening
to it. I would walk a hundred miles, in the snow, up hill all the way......bare
foot just to see this song performed live. The mental imagery alone is
boggling......
"Urban Underground" is the first track where I really had to work
to pay attention to the guitar part. Patrick's bass line becomes bombastic
on this song, laying down a groove deep enough to climb into.
"Crossing The Styx" is another radio friendly song. It's a beautiful
song that starts out with a distant feel and ends up happy and free. A powerful
tune!
"Magellan's Warning" has a spacious feel despite how busy Patrick
is throughout the song. This crafty player creates both vastness and space
through the use of more.
"Inertia Island" has a hypnotic
indian blues sound. A jaw dropping performance of a composition that is nothing
short of a masterpiece. At a little over 7 minutes long there's plenty of
time for Patrick to jam beneath the wicked and addictive hook that drives
this song. Simply amazing...I kept hoping that inertia would keep this song
going forever!
"Nuclear Power Surge" is an incredible freestyle influenced song,
that boggles the mind and challenges the imagination. I still discover things
in this song no matter how many times I hear it. Imaginative, creative.....I'm
still absorbing it.
"Lights Of The Burning City" is a beautiful song with a calming opiate
like affect. This song brings a smile of joy to my face every time I listen.
After hearing this track I started to get the feeling that I have just
experienced greatness at both it's simplest and most complex.
"Far From Home" is an aural dreamscape. The pristine beauty of this
song speaks to the heart and soul, slowing the senses, causing you to fall
into an altered state of awareness. Closing my eyes heightens the experience
to euphoric. This was the track that made me fall in love with this CD. Of
course I will admit the other tracks had already started a real
infatuation......
the last word:
With danceable songs to motivate the body, blistering
guitar work to stimulate the mind and aural dreamscapes to cleanse the heart
and soul, there is no human emotion left unaffected by "POWER FIELDS".
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