Peter Matuchniak - 2020 - Sessions

(77:26; Melodic Revolution Records)

Track list:
1. Big Heart 3:41
2. She Knows 3:20
3. Carly 3:12
4. Fear 3:28
5. Land of Blue Echoes 3:21
6. The Wandering Caravan (i) 6:20
7. The Wandering Caravan (ii) 3:53
8. The Wandering Caravan (iii) 7:25
9. Gentle Bird 3:10
10. Deep Night 2:20
11. Stargazer II Sessions 2:47
12. Nucleus II 4:00
13. A Voice in the Dark 3:21
14. The Wind Blows 4:51
15. Flashlight 3:13
16. Fifty Years 2:21
17. Abstract Dreams 2:55
18. Back Home Again 3:01
19. Golden Cage 4:18
20. Exploding in the Air 2:39
21. Lions & Pitchfork Martyrs 3:50

Line-up:
Peter Matuchniak - guitars, ebow, synthesizers
with:
Marco Ragni - vocals, keyboards, guitars
Jeff mack - bass
Iacopo Ghirardini - drums
Durga McBroom - vocals
Maurizio Antonini - drums
Dave Newhouse - woodwinds
Hamlet Tinae - bass, keyboards, guitars
Chris Allen - drums
Martin Ordford - flute
Mike Alvarez - cello
Gary Wehrkamp - bass, guitars
Mark Zonder - drums
Dennis Atlas - vocals
Steve Bonino - bass, guitars, keyboards, programming
Erik Johnson - guitars
Jimmy Keegan - drums
Simon Strevens - vocals, keyboards
Cecilia Le Poer Power - vocals


Prolusion.
US based musician Peter Matuchniak has been an active solo artist for a number of years, as well as a session musician and a band member of bands in the UK as well as the US. "Sessions" is his third studio album as a solo artist, and was released through US label Melodic Revolution Records in 2020.

Analysis.
While "Sessions" is a studio album, the material on this album also makes it a compilation album of sorts. The word sessions here points towards studio  sessions specifically, and that all of the songs on this studio album actually are songs that have previously been released on albums by other artists where Matuchniak was the session guitar player for the songs. The liner notes describe that the songs have been more or less subtly reworked to highlight Matuchniak's contributions to these songs, and that some of the songs here also appear in alternative versions of some kind or other.

The songs we are treated to here are mainly instrumental creations, which obviously isn't a disadvantage for a guitar player with a desire to showcase his contributions to a song. For my sake I didn't find the songs that featured vocals here to be any less interesting though, but for any instrumentalists out there with a curiosity for the skills and talents of fellow musicians this aspect may well be worth noting.

While the contents of this album has been pulled form a handful or so of different albums, the overall sound here is remarkably similar in many ways, and one might presume a bit of work have gone into the mix and production of the album to get such a solid album feel to a collection of sings taken from so many sources. Atmospheric laden neo-progressive rock is the main staple throughout this production, with liberal amounts of crying guitar soloing as well as the more mournful and blues-laden displays many people in the world pf progressive rock automatically associate with a certain David Gilmour. There are a few songs here with a bit more of a symphonic progressive rock character too, and a few others with aspirations in that direction. Otherwise more or less gentle psychedelic rock and folk music details appear here and there to expand the landscapes explored, and we have one case of a song here with borderline chamber rock aspirations to boot. In addition several songs have an overall sound and mood a bit closer aligned to the material Camel used to create back in the day, and we also have one spirited and rather impressive creation here that appears to be focused a bit more towards an expressive variety of jazzrock.

The album experience is probably a bit more of a unified experience than the description above may indicate, as the variations in style and orientation aren't  all that dramatically different. Different flavors of the same product rather than different products with a similar flavor if you catch my drift. The often elegant guitar efforts of Matuchniak and the stability of his guitar tone and delivery obviously a distinct character trait that binds this album together in such a relatively unified manner.

Conclusion.
Those who have been keeping track of Matuchniak's exploits as a solo artist will obviously be well aware of this production already, so besides those people being an obvious audience of interest for this production, I'd say that those with an interest in good quality and mainly instrumental neo-progressive rock are the ones who should consider giving this album a further inspection. Adding to this I'll also state that an interest in bands like Camel and Pink Floyd may well be an advantage.

Olav "Progmessor" Björnsen, January 2022

Links:
https://petermatuchniak.com/
https://mrrmusic.com/