Flipping Time

Album Review

Although this album takes its name from the second track and is a reference to the song's quirky melody (which literally flips rhythmically), it could just as easily have been a sentiment from any number of Julien Kasper's fans who felt it was "about flipping time" that he step forward and record his own CD. He didn't disappoint here. Recorded live in the studio on 24-track analog tape without the use of correcting tools, what the band played is what you get. And what you get is burning rockers ("Ten Years Late"), slow blues ("Blues for Charles"), Crescent City grooves ("Flipping Time"), a lightly swinging shuffle ("Foot Clappin'"), and more, songs that tie together to form a unique and highly creative instrumental project. Kasper's influences are no secret: Hendrix (witness the heavy groove of "Talkin' About What"), Eric Johnson, Jeff Beck, and — although he may not be a direct influence — Jimmy Herring comes to mind here and there. But Kasper is undeniably his own player, his guitar voice most distinguishable when he leaps off the ledge of predictability on frantic tunes like "Jackalope," a song he contributed to a Bruce Katz Band album he played on a few years earlier. His forward-thinking arrangements and courageous solos have left more than a few guitar players wondering, "How'd he do that?" What's more, Kasper enlisted a number of New England's top-shelf musicians for this release, leaving no chance that there would be any weak spots in his first shot out of the barrel as a solo artist.