Keezing, Jonathan - Tap Touch


Year of Release: 2006
Label: Passion Records
Catalog Number: n/a
Format: CD
Total Time: 45:00:00

*Before starting this review, I would like to warn the listener that the track order on the back of the CD case is different from that on the inside of the booklet, and that the one that I used is the former. If it turns out that I am calling tracks by the wrong name and this somehow fries your brain, I apologize (and please don't sue me!).

Sometimes, although admittedly not very often, there comes a time when the progressive rock reviewer receives an album on his (or her) doorstep (or mailbox, or P.O. Box, or whatever) that has a very endearing quality of homeliness. Now, I'm not talking about an album that smells like aunt Cindy's slippers or that has a cover the color of dad's cigarette-stained yellow teeth, and, although it would indeed be a great thing, I'm not talking about getting home-baked chocolate chip cookies with the aforementioned album. No, I'm talking about an album whose musicians really seem like everyday dudes who love what they're doing, who don't care what the world thinks about them as long as they're putting out their music, and who simply seem like nice folk. Jonathan Keezing is one such musician, and his Tap Touch effort such an album. But before you jump to conclusions and infer that homeliness means that the guy can only play three major chords, and poorly at that, hold your horses. Keezing ain't quite that easy to figure out.

Indeed, Keezing has developed what he calls the "tap touch" style of guitar playing, which is, for lack of a more erudite comparison, a kind of equivalent of playing guitar; Chapman-stick-style. Using no overdubs and nothing but his own tapping fingers, Keezing weaves instrumentals with crossing rhythms, grooves, and melodies that sound as if there were at least a couple of other people involved in the affair. And make no mistake about it: despite his sense of humor and apparent humility, Keezing really knows what he's doing. He's a consummate master of his own tap touch technique, a weaving magician, and not a bad composer at that. Despite the limit set on the possibility of techniques he can use, he squeezes the bejeezus out of his guitar with all kinds of articulations, dynamics, timbres, and the most beautifully used harmonics this side of whoever does them really well. He's also a puppeteer, just in case you wanted to know (hey, some might!).

For the average listener who does not play guitar, however, this might not matter that much. After all, it is the end product what matters, or at least for most people who aren't looking for the latest record in sound-barrier-defying guitar histrionics. Which aren't here to be found anyway. So, for those dignified ladies and gentlemen: Tap Touch is pretty interesting in the way it sounds (you're not bound to hear that many pure tapping albums out there), pretty whimsical in some of its tracks, and sometimes pretty nice to listen to, but it's not going to blow your shoes off anytime soon.

This doesn't mean that there are actually bad tracks on the record. There are none. Sure, "Snake" is way too meandering for its own good, and "Floofin'" strolls a bit too naívely for the listener, but they're not really bad; just nothing to write home about. Furthermore, there are some really nice surprises to be found: "Dissolve" is a poignantly melancholic and sparse piece that sounds like Carl Weingarten's best moments in that mood; "The Precipice," which seems like an exasperating exercise in harmony and a repetitive motive at one point, hits a middle section that balances the whole thing wonderfully; and "Tap Touch" is simply enjoyable in its whimsical activity. And, truth be told, most of their companions have some really cool moments. In fact, "Sweet Geometry" is made up only of really cool moments, with the downside that they seem more like independent pieces of a puzzle than a cohesive instrumental, and which is really the only qualm to be had with this album: the ideas are there, but the structure kind of went missing. Maybe it's because one expects a little more beefiness at certain points (which would have required overdubbing or other instruments), or maybe it's because a number of Keezing's arrangements seem somewhat aimless, but there is one thing for sure: although homely, honest, and very interesting technically, Tap Touch is not really all it could be. Sure, it's quirky enjoyment, and some of its tracks are excellent, but John Keezing needs to hone up a bit on the structural side of composition if he is to summon out the monster that seems to be residing within him.

Similar artists: The California Guitar Trio, Might Could


Tracklisting:
Sweet Geometry (5:22) / Tap Touch (4:08) / Floofin? (3:18) / Dissolve (5:09) / Squirrel Map (2:58) / Rainy Ride (4:11) / The Precipice (4:32) / Snake (5:16) / New Orleans (2:41) / Easy (3:18) / Woulda Coulda (4:47)

Musicians:
Jonathan Keezing - guitars

Discography:
Tap Touch (2006)

Genre: Rock

Origin US

Added: January 3rd 2007
Reviewer: Marcelo Silveyra
Score:
Artist website: www.jonathankeezing.com
Hits: 3411
Language: english

  

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