Kevin Kastning & Sandor Szabo - 2025 - To Capture the Light

(52:03; Greydisc)






















Somewhat incredibly, here we have the 17th album from Kevin Kastning and Sandor Szabo. Longtime readers of my reviews will know how much I enjoy Kevin’s collaborations, as the emphasis is always on live composition between participants, and when two people have worked together in that fashion for so long then the results will always be fascinating. Here Kevin provides 17-string Sub-contraguitar, 18-string Contraguitar, 30-string Contra-Baritone guitar, 30-string Double Contraguitar, 24-string Double Sub-contraguitar while Sandor is on 16-string Classical guitar and 6-string Classical guitar and one thing I immediately noticed when looking at the press release was the length of time the recordings took. Normally Kevin will book just a day, or two, to record yet here we have an album which commenced in December 2024 and was not completed until the following June.

The instruments played by Kevin are of his own design, so he can play the music he has long been hearing in his head, and consequently his works never sound like anyone else. When he is with Sandor they blend and swap roles, so the listener can never be sure what is going to happen next as generally neither do the musicians. I love the clarity of tone and use of space within this release as when played on headphones one is transported to a totally different world which some may describe as ambient, New Age, modern Classical, progressive, or more or less than any of these labels. All I know is that when I play Kevin’s albums I feel removed from reality, and here his connection with Sandor makes that even more so. They can read each other’s thoughts, knowing instinctively where the journey is going to take them, although the path is always changing as it is being created by their very actions.

I have long ago lost count of how many albums I have reviewed of Mr. Kastning, nor how many of those have been recorded with Sandor, but yet again here we have an absolute delight which is a mastery not only of musicianship but musicality.  

Kev Rowland, December 2025

Links:
https://www.kevinkastning.com/
https://www.sandorszabo.com/
http://www.greydisc.com/

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