I was nervous when I first heard that Erik Hinds had composed an octet. There is a reason that many legendary pop acts are Fab Fours or power trios: more members = the potential for musical traffic jams. Supergroups often collapse from their own weight, and even the most successful of these -- Pink Floyd, for example -- rely on a small nucleus of core members augmented by a rotating group of ancillary personnel. Chamber music is the same way: Beethoven wrote more masterpieces for string quartets than wind octets. There are examples of successful octets in the classical repertoire, notably the Stravinsky work, but usually, having eight musicians involves a lot of traffic control. It is not exactly chamber music, but it doesn't have the sheer mass of numbers to be treated orchestrally, either. Therefore, I kept my fingers crossed as I waited to listen to the disc. I'm happy to report that Hinds has composed an octet that works quite well -- beautifully, in fact. Those who know Solponticello Records will no doubt be familiar with many of the personnel featured on Khonsay. The performers on the Diorama Octet are culled from two ensembles that have made their home on the label: the Georgia Guitar Quartet (guitarists Kyle Dawkins, Brian Smith, Phil Snyder, and Jason Solomon) and the SS Puft Quartet (guitarist Colin Bragg, trumpeter Jeff Crouch, drummer Blake Helton, and Hinds playing H'arpeggione and seven-string guitar). On the octet, they are conducted by Julie Powell, perhaps best known to Splendid readers for her Heart of a Woman album and Riveter's Like Being Found. Whether it's due to the sympathy with which these musicians perform together, Powell's leadership, or Hinds's deft scoring (or, I suspect, some combination of all of the above), there is an impressive clarity on display here. Guitar and H'arpeggione lines build up complex string textures, while Crouch's trumpet enacts questing solos. The Diorama Octet's four movements are filled with magical moments. Near the beginning of the first movement, "Settlement", there is a propulsive, strongly accented moment of tutti rhythmic unisons, strongly reminiscent, to these ears, of the offbeat syncopations found in early 20th century works like Stravinsky's Rite of Spring. The second movement, "Brainstorm", supplies acoustic guitar breaks that are equal parts folk and classical, sounding much like Yes guitarist Steve Howe's approach, but swirled up in a tandem of multiple instruments. "Affirmation", on the other hand, is much more downbeat-oriented, with regular percussion backing the guitars. The piece's last movement, "Onward", is its most experimental section; the guitar harmonies are filled with punctilious dissonance, the melodic lines are more angular, and Blake Helton even indulges in a brief drum solo to end the piece abruptly. There are two other pieces on the disc. The all too brief Coronach features Bragg, Smith, Snyder, Solomon, Dawkins and Hinds, all playing guitars. It, too, ends enigmatically, with a vocalise coda. The other piece is an extended work, Individuation Suite, written for the SS Puft Quartet. This work is broken into three large movements: "Emergence", "Detachment" and "Acceptance" (tracked even more extensively, with several subsections). Bragg switches to electric guitar on this, bringing a more aggressive sound to bear, particularly in his scorching solo on "Emergence". Hinds creates some meditative drones with the H'arpeggione on "Detachment". The opening of "Acceptance" commands what is easily the album's strongest hook, played in unison by guitar and trumpet. Its second part returns to a more folksy sound -- I am continually surprised by the versatility of SS Puft and the ease with which they transition between styles. The third section of "Acceptance" starts out sounding not so accepting at all, with prodding notes from the trumpet and a meter-less battery of percussion, but is transfigured, by Bragg's lush solo midway through, into a coda with a lovely bittersweet melody by Crouch, who ends the piece unaccompanied. One part modern classical, one part Appalachian roots music and one part free jazz a la Coltrane's A Love Supreme, Khonsay's works hold together despite their rampant eclecticism. Solponticello Records' output has been increasingly ambitious, but Hinds and company have done the imprint proud.

Guitarist Erik Hinds runs his own jazz, classical [and more] label, Solponticello. For years he's been purveying releases of excellent quality, including solo works of his own design and material from his other band, SS Puft. With Khonsay, we see Erik working with a number of his companions, who contribute guitar, trumpet, percussion, and more. These eleven tracks are comprised of three main compositions: a brief opener, "Coronach," and then the several parts of the "Diorama Octet" and the "Individuation Suite." I will now state, simply, that I was very surprised by how much I liked this album. Typically, though this is a genre I do quite enjoy, I find myself quite picky about things. But it took me little more than the opening melodies of "Coronach" to confirm my pleasure listening to Khonsay. When the "Diorama Octet" begun, it was clear I had found something that would stay in my stereo for the long haul. Over the duration of four tracks, Hinds and his octet rummage through an interesting selection of melodies and cultural influences. "Settlement" and "Brainstorm" are Basho-Junghans-esque instrumental folk pieces [the former boasts some trumpet accompaniment], while "Affirmation" is an almost eerie instrumental drums/guitar track and "Onward" seems to put a bit more emphasis on Jeff Crouch's trumpet playing and Blake Helton's percussion. The "Individuation Suite" has a more complete sound due to a bit more emphasis on the bass - "Acceptance," the suite's final part, starts with a full, jazzy sound and then goes into complex experimental, instrumental folk [think Eugene Chadbourne] before skimming through free jazz territory and finishing with a pretty, melodic finale. Khonsay is a very rewarding album, and though its tracks are primarily instrumentals, they are still extraordinarily accessible. Give this album a try; it's worth more than a few.

From the liner notes: Khonsay in the Boro language of northeastern India means to pick an object up with care, as it is rare or scarce. If the term Khonsay extends to the rarity or scarcity of a [fragile] item, then it’s an odd (but colorful) title for guitarist Erik Hinds’ second CD—the music is largely acoustic, but it’s not exactly a solo album, and anything but delicate. Bringing together the Georgia Guitar and SS Puft (of which Erik is a member) Quartets, the album is broken into two suites—the first features both quartets, the second features the SS Puft guys. A short, unrelated introductory track, “Coronach,” brings together six from both groups. This guitar collective produces music as intense as it is beautiful, churning out lines as lyrical as poetry and as gorgeous as painstakingly-knit embroidery. Diorama Octet: Julia Powell conducts the GG & SSP collective on this more experimental suite, which features Hinds performing on the H’arpeggione—an 18-string “cello-Sympitar” which can be plucked, fretted or even bowed—along with classical guitarists Colin Bragg (SSP) and [GG members] Kyle Dawkins, Brian Smith, Phil Snyder, and Jason Solomon (GG); trumpeter Jeff Crouch (SSP); and drummer Blake Helton (SSP). “Settlement” and “Brainstorm” are counterset, like an overture and an incidental, with some shockingly loud notes (don’t presuppose these guys to be sedate strummers). “Affirmation” is a sweeter, thematic number that consists of rhythmic strumming, partial mutings, and individual notes that ring out, all resulting in a trancelike mood. Helton finally comes in beside Crouch’s succinct trumpet delivery on “Onward,” with requisitely freeform notes pounded out quickly on kick, snare & toms, diminishing back into silence with brushes on the snare. Individuation Suite: Hinds’ titular IS solo piece is a progressively furious one, meticulous & efficient as a surgeon’s scalpel. Yes, it’s time to rock, and Hilton, Crouch, and Bragg join in—Bragg’s sinister electric lead on “Emergence” gorges itself on vibratto overkill and winds a serpentine trail down the halls of Hendrix High. Crouch’s trumpet outro similarly writhes in agony, perfectly juxtaposed against Hinds’ torturous bowing against a wall of feedback on “Detachment”—Hinds also plucks the H’arpeggione, effecting it to the tone of an upright bass. The nine minutes of “Detachment” traverse the album's darkest territory; perhaps the effect is mostly psychological, but that positively warped vocal part—first evoking a crying baby, then a sobbing, crazed adult—is anything but tenuous. “Acceptance” encompasses the final three index points, and is an uplifting, slightly more contemporary-sounding conclusion. Enough with the iconic metal guitar “virtuosos” of old…for some seriously virtuosic & melodic players, Khonsay has a few of the best, and they’re criminally unknown. Ultimately, this is a marvelous album that is nothing less than acoustical fusion that sucks rock, jazz, classical, surf and blues into its impeller flow. Brought to you by the fine folks at Solponticello.

The cross-breeding between my violin and two guitarists in my music group bowing their strings happened recently. That led to a web search and discovery of the H'arpeggione played on this CD. It was hard to be sure if I was listening to the H'arpeggione or an electric guitar or wacky vocals. These guys are on the cutting edge and I'm betting that the "bowed guitar" (seems there really isn't a good name for this modern instrument yet) is finding a rebirth thanks to modern electronics. Maybe someday a synthesizer will eliminate musicians altogether. Until then, these guys are definitely having fun exploring new sounds with this instrument. Hey Erik, got any CDs where we can hear just the H'arpeggione and what it can do?