My review of drummer Marc Norgaard's new CD Tolerance has been posted at Modern Guitars Magazine. This album features Brett Garsed and Frank Gambale on guitars.
Review: Marc Norgaard - Tolerance
UPDATE 9/22/07: I've republished my review below.
Maryland-based drummer Marc Norgaard has released his debut solo album Tolerance
(Call Sign Records). This collection of progressive-rock and jazz
fusion instrumentals features an impressive array of great musicians.
Joining Norgaard on this release are Brett Garsed (Planet X, Uncle
Moe's Space Ranch), Frank Gambale (Chick Corea, Nu Alliance), and
Tobias Hurwitz (National Guitar Workshop) on guitars, Steve Hunt (Allan
Holdsworth, Stanley Clarke) on piano, and Dave DeMarco (Oblivion Sun)
on bass and baritone guitar. Norgaard wrote and arranged all the songs,
handles all drums and percussion, and plays some additional guitar,
piano, and bass.
Though there's a definite jazz vibe on many of these songs, overall I would classify Tolerance
as a progressive-rock album. However, this isn't prog rock in the
Planet X or Liquid Tension Experiment sense. The abundant use of piano
and shimmering clean-toned guitar parts give the album a unique flavor.
For the most part, the melodies are fairly upbeat, and the
instrumentation is bright and airy. And nearly every tune uses an odd
meter of some sort, at some point. Even though Norgaard is a drummer,
their aren't a lot of overt drum solos on this disc. However, the drum
parts on every tune are highly intricate, and really provide the
foundation for each piece. From a melodic standpoint, the music on Tolerance relies heavily on the guitar, and Norgaard chose some top-notch players to help him with that cause.
I'm always interested in new releases that feature Brett Garsed or
Frank Gambale, and this one has proved to be a pleasant surprise.
Garsed plays on the majority of the tracks and he sounds great as
always. His tone really fits in well here - as usual he has just enough
gain in the signal to give it some sustain, while still remaining clean
enough to let his touch shine through. I know Garsed considers himself
a rock guitarist, but his mature vocabulary and uncanny knack for
playing articulate, convoluted sixteenth-note lines (with his highly
developed hybrid-picking technique) place him a notch above other
"rock" players who might attempt to fit in on this type of material.
Gambale is another guitarist who can seemingly fit in anywhere, but on Tolerance
he's showing more of his jazzy side. He's still using a rock tone here,
and he plays some of the fastest economy picking runs I've ever heard
him play, but the two songs he appears on are among the lighter
offerings on the album.
You'll get a good idea of Norgaard's writing style from the opening
track, "Tolerance." This song shifts gears several times, hitting you
with different rhythms, melodies, and moods throughout the piece.
Garsed pulls out his slide-guitar chops for this song with great
results. "Goes to Reason" also features Garsed, and is a great example
of how versatile he can be. This tune has a lighter, jazzy feel, and
Garsed's solo fits in perfectly. He's one of the only players from the
"rock fusion" scene who can play with the subtlety and sophistication
he displays here. Garsed also has strong performances on "Day in the
Desert," and "Pirate Sized Hangover" (the heaviest song on the album).
Overall though, the Garsed track that really stands out for me is
"Papaya Dream." This is arguably Norgaard's strongest composition on Tolerance. With great melodies, varied rhythms, and Garsed's best solo on the disc, this song, for me, is the high point of the album.
Gambale appears on the tracks "Last Leg Home" and "Summer Storm"
(both of these tunes feature great piano work from Steve Hunt as well).
"Last Leg Home" is a lighter jazz tune, whereas "Summer Storm" is a
bluesy ballad. Gambale really rips on both tracks, but I particularly
like his solo on "Last Leg Home." It's short and to the point - in
addition to playing some nice lines over the changes, he whips out a
couple of super-fast runs that fit in perfectly. He seems to have more
playing time on "Summer Storm," where he carries the main melody and
plays lots of strong blues phrases. Bassist Dave DeMarco takes a nice
baritone guitar solo on this track also.
"Seventh Mile Fog" features Tobias Hurwitz on guitar. Hurwitz turns
in a truly shredding solo here, but I thought his tone was a little too
heavy for this song. Granted, the track has a "power ballad" vibe to
it, but I think it would have been better served had Hurwitz dialed
back the distortion a bit. That said, Hurwitz is obviously a talented
player, and he really shows what he can do on this tune.
On the albums closer, "Retrospective," Norgaard plays all the
instruments himself. For this piece, Norgaard takes a simply melody and
keeps building on it to create a sort of pop-meets-prog magnum opus. As
this last track helps to prove, Norgaard's talents go beyond his drum
kit. As a writer, arranger, and multi-instrumentalist, he knows how to
craft melodic compositions that also contain advanced rhythms that are
both complex and interesting. Tolerance represents a fine
display of Norgaard's overall musicality, and is a great showcase for
the guitar talents of Garsed, Gambale, and Hurwitz.
Marc Norgaard - Tolerance (Call Sign Records)
Tracklisting
1. Tolerance
2. Goes to Reason
3. Day in the Desert
4. Last Leg Home
5. Papaya Dream
6. Summer Storm
7. Seventh Mile Fog
8. Pirate Sized Hangover
9. Retrospective
Rich
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