Shh.

Terry Gomes

Independent release, 2013

http://www.terrygomes.com

REVIEW BY: Benjamin Ray

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 07/06/2013

You have to love an album title that gives you an order. You have to admire when the musician can actually back up the talk.

Terry Gomes’ fourth album is very different from his previous outings in that it is an all-instrumental guitar album, full of short rock/pop/jazz songs meant to evoke moods and scenes. The move is not unprecedented; both Loose Ends and the first Gomesongs disc had elements of those three genres plus a heaping of country, while fans of Gomes will instantly recognize the upbeat nature of the songwriting.

But that’s about where the comparison ends. Gomes was aiming for something cinematic but accessible in scope, and the result is a low-key journey of guitar textures and jazzy soundscapes. As usual, the music is immediately accessible and likeable, much like Gomes himself. If he hasn’t become much of a name outside of Ottawa, Canada yet, he deserves to now.

Rather than a one-man show, Gomes draws on the talents of 10 local Ottawa musicians, adding bass, myriad percussion, keyboards and even clarinet and sax to two numbers. Gomes plays all lead guitar and is solo on two songs, while Gino Scaffidi plays rhythm guitar on seven songs and Rene Gely steel guitar on two others.

This sounds like a disc that is all over the map, but it is actually a cohesive listen, moving deftly from the moody fluidity of “The Skater” to the uber-cool smoky “Cool Cats” to the surf rock of “Shake Shop Shenanigans,” the three major highlights of the album. The first half of the disc is cheerful smooth jazz, languid guitar workouts that never take themselves seriously; it’s not until the pensive “Gone” and the multi-part “They Went That-A-Way” that things get interesting.

After unburdening his soul with Loose Ends, Gomes invested a lot of time and energy into this project, and it shows. With nary a bad song in the bunch, Shh. perhaps doesn’t rewrite any rules of the genres, but it makes for a pleasant afternoon listen, and some days that’s just as good.

Rating: B

User Rating: Not Yet Rated


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