Album Review: Uncommon Measures from Lyle Workman
Album: Uncommon Measures Artist: Lyle Workman Label: Blue Canoe Records Website: www.bluecanoerecords.com/lyle_workman Guitarist Lyle Workman's latest release Uncommon Measures mixes elements of jazz fusion, power pop rock, and romantic symphonies. Joined by a 63-piece orchestra of multiple instruments conducted by John Ashton Thomas that includes glockenspiel and a choir led by Aleta Braxton, Workman combines cinematic soundscapes with power rock surges. Recorded at Abbey Road Studio in London, England, Workman's arrangements capture the musicians ever-changing state of flux, continually moving and extending, pluming and spiraling, immersing listeners in a cauldron of swirling figures and emanations. "North Star" starts off the recording with a menagerie of jazz fusion expressions, power pop rock riffs and romantic symphonies, forming multiple streams traveling parallel and sporadically crisscrossing. Soaring strings are layered in blazing guitar ch...