Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Guy LeBlanc: Subversia

99

Guy LeBlanc: Subversia

Guy LeBlanc: Subversia
Canadian Guy LeBlanc is the keyboardist, vocalist, composer, and driving force behind the highly gifted, prog/ fusion, rock group, Nathan Mahl. Subversia is LeBlanc’s solo release. First off, I have to say, this release is on my top ten list for fusion/ progressive rock releases for 1999. So if you want to skip to the next review, ready to buy this, great. Still curious? Read on.

Subversia is much more fusion overall than LeBlanc/ Nathan Mahl’s The Clever Use of Shadows. Progressive rock is still present with LeBlanc’s excellent keys! Jazzy sax is strong as well. Guesting on four extended tracks out of seven total, is the phenomenal, consummate, fusion guitar wizard, (drum roll please), Scott McGill. His contribution to this release alone is well worth the purchase for fusion-heads. But remember, McGill jams in LeBlanc’s well-designed compositional spaces. It is LeBlanc’s genius that makes this release so strong.

That Nathan Mahl feel is evident but Subversia leans heavily towards that Bruford/ Finneus Gauge gestalt in many songs. Lots of good trade-offs 'tween LeBlanc and McGill here — good fusiony conversational soloing like the days of classic Mahavishnu Ork stuff. Subversia all the strong points of Nathan Mahl and more melodic, lyrical, well-placed riffing by McGill. The sonic storms of legato/ ostinato riffage are there for sure but McGill is delightfully even-paced and solos right on like Holdsworth/ Goodsall/ "Unknown" John Clarke did with Bruford.

The CD tells a tale so it is a well-done concept album. LeBlanc is a great songsmith. Plenty of variety here and loads of great instrumental breaks in songs with lyrics. Vox is strong and pleasant. No Geddy Lee screeching or symph-prog bombastic falsettos here — thankfully. I can't remember anything noodling-lame or meandering-weak here — just a solid, 9.2 outta 10, keeper overall. And hey — I gotta openly support great artists like Guy and Scott anyway. They are the type musicians that do stuff worth buying again and again. Highly, firmly, and easily recommended.

Cyberhome: www.spiralwave.com/natmahl.htm

Personnel

Album information

Title: Subversia | Year Released: 2000 | Record Label: Mahl Productions

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT




Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

Tramonto
John Taylor
Ki
Natsuki Tamura / Satoko Fujii
Duality Pt: 02
Dom Franks' Strayhorn
The Sound of Raspberry
Tatsuya Yoshida / Martín Escalante

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.