Dom Minasi's DDT+2: Time Will Tell

Sandwiching original tributes to Trane, Dizzy, Miles, and Dolphy between Wayne Shorter?s ?Witch Hunt? and Monk?s ?Round Midnight,? Time Will Tell continues guitarist Don Minasi?s laudatory deconstruction of the jazz masters. The third in a loose trilogy of CDs ( Takin? the Duke Out, 2001; Goin? Out Again, 2002) that has featured ingenious ?out? tributes, Time Will Tell strikingly expands the concept by bringing it a bit more ?in.? Cleverly using cellist Tomas Ulrich?s sweeping skills within his standard guitar trio, Minasi augments and amplifies his own well honed tonal mastery. The outcome is an hour-long listening pleasure.

On each cut, Ulrich and Minasi mesh to highlight the exquisite complementary qualities of their instruments. In Minasi?s hands, his custom Carlo Greco archtop guitar meets the very difficult challenge of matching the sonority of Ulrich?s cello. Drummer John Bollinger is able to set up a host of changing rhythms that accord the string players the perfect space to do their thing. Thanks to the graceful interplay of cello, guitar and Ken Filiano?s upright bass, the title piece engages with a subtle string based Brazilian elegance.

?DMP? further explores Miles? ?All Blues,? while ?John? employs the first three notes of Trane?s ?Giant Steps? and then evolves into a beautifully bowed ballad to which Minasi adds gorgeous single note coloration. Dizzy?s ?Night in Tunisia? inventively inspires ?Be Op Be Op Be Ah? to serve as a framework for a cello/guitar duet that then becomes complex bop guitar and cello soloing over a driving beat. Ulrich is given free reign on ?Waltz for Eric? and he turns it into a fitting Dolphy dance. He soars over a halting rhythm provided by the guitar trio until Minasi matches the frenetic bowing with his own Dolphinian boogie. Things end with Carol Mennie?s vocal interpretation of ?Round Midnight,? set against a classical string background that has her every syllable drawn by Ulrich?s bow.

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