The guitarist's technical prowess, attention to tone, and zig-zagging solos spark much of the action on this disc. With the guitar synth at his disposal, Newton reaches out to new sounds and textures. The compositions on One, all originals, explore the common ground between jazz, funk, blues, and rock. Rather than comfortably settling into a groove and then milking it for all it's worth, they jump from style to style and forge connections in the least obvious places. Periods of introspective quietude lie interspersed between moments of explosive energy.
Deliberate themes erupt into frenetic solos, offering irony and contrast aplenty.
While the clich s of fusion rear their familiar heads every now and then, most of this disc offers a new angle on jazz-rock. And at times one has the feel that three-quarters of the Situation simply exist to serve as a launching pad for the guitarist's intergalactic travels. But compositional leaps disrupt these head-nodding episodes without fail, and the band moves elsewhere. All About Jazz and contributing writers. All rights reserved.