Dom Minasi: Time Will Tell

Time Will Tell is the third release from guitarist Dom Minasi on his CDM Records label. On the other two recent discs ( Takin' the Duke Out and Goin' Out Again ), Minasi has taken great glee in allowing his brutally unique approach on the guitar to step front and center. Mr. Minasi has recast standards is a beautifully free and distinct manner, always employing his soft, round tone and superior speed.

On his new recording, Minasi expands his vision, conceiving riffs through the pastel smoke of bassist Ken Filiano and cellist Tomas Ulrich. Minasi is a fully developed iconoclast who has tightened his musical prophecy into a distinctive interactive endeavor.

Minasi offers his special brand of hommage to a variety of jazz greats. "DMP" acknowledges Miles Davis' original "All Blues," as well as his dismantling of the tune on his previous recording, Goin' Out Again. The title tune foreshadows the closer, "'Round Midnight," with the almost familiar melody and harmony strained through a bossa nova filter (as if by Ornette Coleman). Ulrich's cello is featured beautifully, with Minasi's always-tasteful accompaniment gently apparent.

"John" employs the opening three notes of "Giant Steps," stretching them into an afternoon musing. "Be Op Be Op Be Ah" mirrors "A Night in Tunisia," turning the classic into a vehicle for Minasi's convulsive solos. "'Round Midnight" is surely the most tame of the pieces, with Carol Mennie supplying pliant vocals, perfect with Minasi's and Ulrich's strings. Dom Minasi continues to make provocative music, more so today than yesterday.

For more information, visit Dom Minasi on the web.


This and all pieces published in December 2003 are dedicated to my late father, Norman L. Bailey (1915-2003).