Dark Comes Light

Album Review

This disc of all instrumentals is a very interesting study in moods and textures. This group varies the feeling and emotions evoked by the songs and manages to do this with great effect. The group Crowsong is made up of Randy Clark on guitar, Edo Castro on the basses, Skooter Fein on drums and percussion, and Wade Peterson on percussion, but it owes its distinctive sound to the slide playing of Clark. Clark's guitar and songwriting drive the band, but the other members are not just along for the ride. They form a strong and cohesive unit that is necessary to the sound of the band. Clark's influences are quite diverse, and manifest themselves in a broad variety of ways. Kumar Shankar trained him on the sarod, and the Eastern use of microtonalities is strongly reflected in his slide guitar playing. Whether he is working his will on the acoustic guitar or the electric, his playing borders just at the edge of feedback, which adds an interesting edge to the disc. There are times the music recalls Sandy Bull on one of his first two albums, other times it comes closer to the jazz sensibilities of Harvey Mandel, and still other times you can hear the John Fahey and Delta influence creeping in, among a variety of others. Clark remains in control and his mercurial wit is always present. An exceptionally strong first disc for this quartet.