The first time I heard a cut from this release, I thought, “Hmmm, yummy guitar!”. Listening to the whole album, there’s no reason to change my first impression except maybe to add the adjective, “Big”. Not on every cut, mind you, but Presberg’s outsize guitar footprint is evident everywhere.

Presberg spent a bunch of years in Portland, Oregon and this album is his effort to recreate a rainy night (is there any other kind?) here on the Soggy Coast. Rather than spending a lot of time working out a set list of songs and carefully crafting each one, Presberg has gone for a home studio-based, spontaneous creation. All the songs have been improvised in an effort to capture a set of pure and natural musical impressions. No second takes allowed here.

Assuming no one is pulling my leg with regard to second takes, the result has been golden. We are treated to a series of cool (almost subzero), arrogant jazz instrumentals with generous dollops of funk.

A listener will notice the big, strutting grooves that take charge on each cut. Then Presberg’s guitar comes in, taking over centre stage. He has a lot to say, but he makes his points in an economical, almost terse style; no long guitar solos intended to show off his virtuosity. The mood on this album is darkly hip, the underside of a rainy city…don’t stray off the sidewalk into the shadowy alleys.

My favourite is “Colonel Summers”, a great soundtrack for a cop drama.

Summary: It may be too early to crown Presberg as the King of Funk Improv, but he’s definitely proved that he should be the Crown Prince.
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Blueprint jumps around town with a style that can’t be found anywhere else. You can’t go wrong with this recording and will want to listen, learn and love it many times over – it’s one of those road trip albums that you’ll come back to time and time again. Pick it up and never let it down
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Refreshingly entertaining, stylistic and playfully off-center, the guitarist also merges a sound that hints at classic psycho-pop via a jam-based modus operandi.  But he maintains a distinctly personalized musical aura throughout. One of the hands-down musical surprises for 2007.
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Nice and funky. I dig it
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