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John Moulder: Trinity

By John Kelman
October 17, 2006
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While it's possible to overstate the importance of parallel careers, it's difficult to avoid touching on the subject when it comes to John Moulder. The ordained priest has also managed an active musical career in Chicago as a guitarist, most notably as a member of ex-

Pat Metheny

guitar
b.1954

" data-original-title="" title="">Pat Metheny Group drummer

Paul Wertico

drums
b.1953

" data-original-title="" title="">Paul Wertico's trio for the past 12 years. It's easy to forget Moulder's spiritual leanings on albums like Spirit Talk (Naim, 2003), a standards-based duo record with vibraphonist Ken Hall. But when you call an album Trinity, you're making one heckuva statement.

Moulder's record is a fully intended and stylistically sweeping sacred song cycle that, as he writes in his liner notes, "is my musical interpretation of our journey in God from the primordial to the eternal." Ranging from solo pieces to a horn-driven octet, from free improv and pastoral gentility to the Mississippi Delta, it doesn't always succeed in evoking a spiritual journey. As a musical narrative, however, it demonstrates Moulder's multifaceted talents as an improvising guitarist, composer and arranger better than anything he's released to date.

The first two tracks manage to link concept with execution. "Chaos" begins in close to a vacuum, with Moulder's distorted guitar creating ethereal,

Bill Frisell

guitar, electric
b.1951

" data-original-title="" title="">Bill Frisell-like swells over which soprano saxophonist Rich Corpolongo gradually builds towards angular abstraction. Wertico, bassist

Eric Hochberg

bass

" data-original-title="" title="">Eric Hochberg and pianist

Laurence Hobgood

piano

" data-original-title="" title="">Laurence Hobgood build the tension without forgetting that even in chaos there exists space. "Creation" brings form out of that chaos. A lush, three-piece horn section delivers Moulder's spare theme over an ambling rhythm section, subtly supporting Tito Carillo's

Kenny Wheeler

flugelhorn
1930 - 2014

" data-original-title="" title="">Kenny Wheeler-informed flugelhorn and Moulder's economically well-constructed acoustic guitar solo.

Other tracks are less inherently visual, but no less compelling. It may be hard to find a clear link between the alternating 6/4 and 5/4 bars of "Exodus" and its title but, between Ken Hall's vibraphone playing and Moulder's quirky melody, the blues feeling harkens back to late-'60s

Gary Burton

vibraphone
b.1943

" data-original-title="" title="">Gary Burton. But rather than the clean tone employed by Burton's guitarist at the time,

Larry Coryell

guitar
1943 - 2017

" data-original-title="" title="">Larry Coryell, Moulder's heavily distorted tone suggests what might have been had Burton collaborated with Mahavishnu-era

John McLaughlin

guitar
b.1942

" data-original-title="" title="">John McLaughlin.

Oregon

band / ensemble / orchestra

" data-original-title="" title="">Oregon's reed/woodwind multi-instrumentalist,

Paul McCandless

woodwinds
b.1947

" data-original-title="" title="">Paul McCandless, appears on three tracks. The gently pastoral quintet piece "Incarnation" and folkloric duet "Pieta" are very Oregon-esque, featuring McCandless on English horn. "Sorrowful Mysteries" is, on the other hand, considerably darker. Moulder's overdriven guitar and McCandless' bass clarinet wind around each other melodically before moving into a solo section where Moulder delivers one of the disc's high points, a whammy bar-driven piece of angst that owes more than a passing nod to Norwegian guitarist

Terje Rypdal

guitar
b.1947

" data-original-title="" title="">Terje Rypdal.

What's surprising about Trinity is that its stylistic variety doesn't lose overall focus until the very end. As catchy as the dobro-driven "Freedom" may be, it feels like something of a non sequitur after the more dramatic, compositionally detailed and somehow final "Resurrection." Still, whether or not it fully succeeds in directly linking music with concept, Trinity certainly makes a strong case for spiritually inspired art.

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Track Listing

Part 1: Chaos; Creation; Exodus. Part 2: Incarnation (Intro); Incarnation; Proclamation of the Unexpected (Intro); Proclamation of the Unexpected; Sorrowful Mysteries (Intro); Sorrowful Mysteries. Part 3: Pieta; Resurrection (Intro); Resurrection; Freedom.

Personnel

John Moulder

guitar

Paul McCandless

woodwinds

Paul Wertico

drums

Eric Hochberg

bass

Laurence Hobgood

piano

John Moulder: electric guitars, acoustic guitar, nylon string guitar, dobro guitar; Rich Corpolongo: soprano saxophone (2); Laurence Hobgood: piano (1-3, 5, 7-9, 11-13); Eric Hochberg: bass (1-3, 5, 13); Paul Wertico: drums (1, 6, 7, 11, 13); Tito Carrillo: flugelhorn and trumpet (2, 3, 6, 12); Jim Gailloreto: alto flute and soprano saxophone (2, 12); Geof Bradfield: tenor saxophone (2), soprano saxophone (12); Eric Montzka: drums (2,3); Dane Richeson: udu drum, cymbals, frame drum, berimbau, washboard, cowbell (2, 5, 6, 9, 13); Ken Hall: vibraphone (3); Paul McCandless: English horn and bass clarinet (5, 9, 10); Brad Wheeler: tenor saxophone (7); Kelly Sill: bass (7); Hans Sturm: bass (9); Rob Amster: bass (12).

Album information

Title: Trinity | Year Released: 2006 | Record Label: Origin Records

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