Gregg Belisle-Chi:
Book of Hours
ears&eyes Records
Gregg Belisle-Chi's Book of Hours arrives with accolades from luminaries such as Brad Shepik and Cuong Vu, but it's the statement by fellow guitarist Keith Ganz that truly hits the mark. Noting Gregg's “delicate and flawless touch” and his gift for playing the electric guitar with “integrity, patience, and attention to detail,” Ganz goes on to describe the recording as “a deeply considered and crafted work of individual art.” Please pardon the extensive quoting, but Ganz so effectively articulates some of the essential qualities of Belisle-Chi's playing style and his approach to the album, it's hard to resist doing so.
Following 2015's Tenebrae and 2016's I Sang to You and the Moon, this third collection by the Brooklyn-based artist eschews the solo guitar focus of the debut and the vocal-and-song-cycle-based character of the follow-up for a long-form suite based on the text and history of the Mass Ordinary. Though it was composed originally with a nine-piece ensemble in mind, Book of Hours is performed on this release by the leader, Dov Manski (Wurlitzer), Matt Aronoff (bass), and Michael W. Davis (drums). It's very much designed to be broached as an eight-movement whole as opposed to stand-alone parts. Each section segues seamlessly into the next, with the ponderous meditation “Aurora,” for instance, a lead-in of sorts for “Kyrie,” a slow-builder that, prodded by a lilting pulse, grows from gentle beginnings to aggressive riffing. The longest cut at twelve minutes, “Gloria” advances through multiple episodes, from the quiet twang of the opening and the funky swing that follows on to an intricate prog-like sequence, a rubato-styled interval, and a grunge-inflected outro.
Gregg's playing runs the gamut from delicate to raw. Even at its most eruptive, however, his execution never loses a fundamental lyrical quality, his touch able to coax from the instrument crystalline shadings and subtle tremolos effects. There was a time where his playing invited comparison to Bill Frisell's (among those with whom Gregg's performed or recorded are Frisell, Steve Swallow, Eyvind Kang, and Wayne Horvitz), but no more. In truth, the one thing Gregg shares with his senior counterpart on Book of Hours is a similarly adventurous spirit, Frisell's influence by now so deeply absorbed it's imperceptible.
With guitar almost exclusively the lead instrument (a funky Manski electric piano solo in “Gloria” is one of the few moments where another instrument's at the forefront), Book of Hours will have huge appeal for guitar fans. That doesn't mean, however, that there's grandstanding, Belisle-Chi's sensibility being far removed from that kind of tendency. On the contrary, the command of dynamics and sensitivity to texture in his playing presents a model of taste and circumspection aspiring guitarists would do well to emulate. That self-effacing tendency even seemingly carries over to the cover, with the photography on the front obscuring his head altogether and the one on the back showing him as little more than a silhouette.
Thoughtfully structured and meticulously executed, Book of Hours inhabits a space where improvisation and composition meet and where jazz, rock, prog, and classical comfortably co-habit. It does occasionally get loud (see the aggressive outbreak that surfaces midway through “Credo” and the near-freakout that takes “Agnus Dei” out), but more typically the emphasis is on restraint and lyricism. Evidence of Gregg's nuanced playing is plentiful, from the voicings in “Zuhr” and expressions in “Dusk” to the delicacy of his picking throughout. Some listeners might find the album less loud than they might like, but to these ears the kind of understatement on display is refreshing indeed.July 2019