The Waters, They Are Rising by Trey Gunn

Soon a thousand minds
within the thunderous crash,
But for now just one.

I'm a fan of touch guitarist Trey Gunn and his extensive recording career. I'm a fan of Peter Gabriel, and especially his beautiful, classic song Here Comes the Flood. So when Gunn announced that his latest solo album would prominently feature his solo improvisations and introductions to the performance of Here Comes the Flood on the 2014 Security Project Tour (a celebration of Gabriel's music sans Mr. Gabriel) I ordered it almost immediately.

The 11 tracks on The Waters, They Are Rising include four Flood pieces, six other compositions, and a performance of the Bob Dylan tune Not Dark Yet (vocals by Dylan Nichole Bandy).

Gabriel's supposed inspiration for Here Comes the Flood is a moment of mental interconnectedness, a flood of thoughts from thousands of minds simultaneously. If so, I can hear in Gunn's guitar work a rich, singular, near melancholy anticipation. If a flood is heavy and repressive, Gunn's work is open and uplifting. Is he a shaman calling up the rising waters? (See my quoted caveat below.)

You can get the full effect in this video with Gunn's intro and then the song.

You can learn more about Trey Gunn at his website, www.treygunn.com. You can stream a few tracks and then buy the album from his bandcamp site, treygunn.bandcamp.com/album/the-waters-they-are-rising-2.

And in the context of writing this I came across a YouTube video of Gunn's work with David Sylvian and Robert Fripp which is so freaking fantastic that I'm down the rabbit hole again.

"I don't know much about music but I sure like the sound it makes."

I received no compensation of any kind for this review.