To avoid confusion, the full artist introduction ought to be Mark Wingfield with Yaron Stavi and Asaf Sirkis. With Wingfield being the guitar player, Stavi the bassist and Sirkis the drummer. So we have a trio, the label is Moonjune Records; this can only lead to one conclusion, instrumental fusion.
And yes it is. It had been a while since a fresh batch of Moonjune releases dropped in the mailbox, and it seemed I had grown a bit out of touch with this music. Because it took me quite some time to start to appreciate (some of) the music on offer. Main reason for that is that this feels very loose and improvised. And to these ears sometimes just comes across as unstructured noise. But then you know you have to dig in deep and hold on. Only thus the art will reveal itself…
Wingfield sometimes has an almost synthesiser like tone in his guitar playing, just listen to that in opener Mars Saffron. In Restless Mountains I am sometimes reminded of the fretwork of Steve Vai, with all the bending and high pitched notes. Maybe also a bit of Jeff Beck because of that. Not bad references at all I guess. No denying that these are seasoned players that challenge each other or glue together. Lots of dynamics as usual in this genre.
In the end it becomes clear why the press sheet speaks so highly of this album. This is innovative and special. But to truly appreciate it, you really have to expose yourself repeatedly!
