Matt Flinner
Latitude

Review by Steven Stone
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CD Stock Number: Compass Records
www.compassrecords.com

 

  Matt Flinner is the kind of musician who has a historian's attraction to traditional musical forms and a jazzman's love of improvisation. Latitude is Flinner's latest attempt to reconcile these two musically divergent influences. The results are eclectic and impressive. Unlike many all-instrumental albums that degenerate into endless noodling, Flinner has enough respect for the melody to keep the music well grounded. All eleven original compositions maintain a rustic feel while exploring new musical territory. 

Flinner is joined on his sophomore solo release by Todd Phillips on bass, David Grier on guitar, Stuart Duncan and Darol Anger on fiddle, and Jerry Douglas on dobro. Todd Phillips and David Grier have worked with Flinner before on two trio albums, both of which have a similar experimental acoustic jazz bent. Todd Phillips also handles the producer duties on Latitude. Recorded at Monkey Finger Studios in Nashville, Tennessee by Brent Truitt, and mastered by Randy LeRoy at Final Stage in Nashville, the sound is intimate and close but not in your face. Flinner's Gilchrist mandolin sounds exactly as I remember it from RockyGrass Academy last year.

If you like jazz combined with traditional acoustic music, Latitude will be right up your musical alley.

Enjoyment: 95

Sound Quality: 90