Review
The first true ensemble album in the Windham Hill style – Clockwork really defined the label’s sound for the next several years. Alex de Grassi proves that not only is he one of his generations finest guitarists, he has a larger musical vision, ambition and extraordinary taste in collaborators. The players all bring both a technical and lyrical deftness to their parts, and as the album name implies, there is a musical interplay that creates a rhythmic whole that is greater than the sum of the parts. Fans of de Grassi’s solo guitar work are rewarded on the second side with the Bougainvillea Suite opening – gorgeous and thoughtful guitar music.
Clockwork can be hard to find, and it is not the last word in either de Grassi’s or the label’s collective work, but it’s important as a new creative step in the genre-defining label, and a worthy listen in and of itself.
Recommended.
Comments
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Track Listing
Side One:
Thirty-six 6:34
guitar, piano, percussion
Two Color Dream 6:25
guitar, fretless bass, soprano sax, drums
Clockwork 6:54
guitar, lyricon, fretless bass, percussion
Side Two: Bougainvillea Suite
Opening 1:49
solo guitar
Bougainvillea 3:35
solo guitar
Elegy 1:14
solo guitar
Sorta Samba 5:55
guitar, violin, mandolin, bass
Part Five 4:43
guitar, soprano sax, lyricon, violin, mandolin, bass
Credits
Musicians:
Alex de Grassi: guitar
Darol Anger: violin
Scott Cossu: piano
Chuck Greenberg: soprano sax, lyricon
Mike Marshall: mandolin
Patrick O’hearn: fretless bass
Michael Spiro: percussion
Robb Wasserman: bass
Kurt Wortman: drums
Produced by Alex de Grassi
Engineered and Mixed by Oliver DiCicco, Mobius Music, San Francisco
Original Half-Speed Mastering by Stan Ricker, Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs, Chatsworth, CA
Matrix and Pressing by Record Technology, Camarillo, CA
Graphic Design by Anne Ackerman
Cover Monoprint and Liner Photo by Anne Ackerman
All Compositions by Alex de Grassi
All Selections Tropo Music BMI
Administered by Windham Hill Music BMI
Manufactured by Windham Hill Music BMI
Manufactured by Windham Hill Records Box 9388, Stanford, CA 94305
(p) Alex de Grassi 1981
© Windham Hill Records 1981
Special thanks to Nick and Esther Baran, Jeff Heiman, and Elaine Marans for their support.
Other recordings by Alex de Grassi
Turning: Turning Back WH-1004, Cassette WT-1004
Slow Circle WH-1009, Cassette WT-1009
- Alex de Grassi
- Clockwork
- WHS C-1108
- WH 1008
The album, especially the title track colored my Boston years from 1980 to 1982. It’s a pity that I had to give the album to my friend as I moved back to Japan in the spring of 1982. I’ve been looking for the album ever since. The one in the Live album sounds nice but the studio take had some nuance that was so unique and can’t be replaced by others.
So much begins here:
Patrick O’Hearn >> his work on Private Music
Marshall / Anger >> beginning of the Montreux band
Chuck Greenberg >> reformation of Shadowfax
It isn’t all on the plus side — “36” would be better rendered as a solo piece on Alex’s next album, where this ensemble version feels a bit overburdened. But it’s pretty good, with the Bouganvillea suite being delightful. And the title track is a marvel of composition –more excitingly rendered on the “Windham Hill Live” album, but the guitar part is better heard here.
Definitely recommended
I heard De Grassi’s song Clockwork today. It is a very beautiful song and put in mind a nostalgia of a Pat Metheny’s ‘The Search’ sound. Well done.