Live Encounter
Trey Gunn is still best known as a member of the most recent incarnation ofKing Crimson, playing his Warr Touch guitar, a variation on the Chapman Stick. Gunn's work with Crimson carries over into his own ensemble, except instead of holding down the bass player's role, he stretches out into some scintillating lead work that owes a debt to his mentor, Robert Fripp, especially the long, undulating sustained melodies. Teaming up with another Warr guitarist, Joe Mendelson, guitarist Tony Geballe, and drummer Bob Muller, Gunn shows that 2000'sThe Joy of Molybdenumwas no studio fluke, as he brings the same hell-bent fury and sky-scraping architecture to the live performances captured here. Jettisoning the vocals that often make King Crimson sound like two different bands--one a quirky pop group  withAdrian Belewsinging, another storming the gates of instrumental heaven--Gunn's band sets their sites on the instrumental heaven, with roles shifting in the band as guitars become percussion instruments and drums become melodic. But topping it all are elaborate guitar and Warr guitar leads veering from African style cross-picking to feedback frenzies.--John Diliberto