Jeff Aug - 2026 - Interim

(30:03, Timezone Records)






















These days most people will know Jeff from the power trio Ape Shifter, but I first came across him some years ago when he was best known for his acoustic guitar albums and for being a Guinness World Record holder (most concerts performed in different countries in 24 hours, nine!). Here he has gone back to his roots and released an album which is mostly him (guest second guitarist on one track, guest violinist on another). Although this is available in the normal digital formats it has also been released on vinyl, the first of his albums to be treated that way, and we get 12 instrumentals in 30 minutes. There is just one song which makes it over four minutes in length, and another which just scrapes three, and there are also a few which are under two, but it is all about quality as opposed to quality.

In many ways this feels like a hybrid of the acoustic work of Anthony Phillips and Steve Hackett, with possibly a little Allan Holdsworth thrown in for good measure. He has overdubbed himself to allow layers to be built – this is not a “live” album, but something constructed with great care in the studio, allowing himself to interweave the threads to create something which is wholesome and complete. There are a few Eastern influences coming in here and there, and I can imagine the title track being performed with sitars added, but one is soon lost inside the strings, enjoying music which has classical acoustic as its root but taken into a modern setting. Not enough rock or metal guitarists show what they can do in a very different style (take a bow Alex Skolnick, whose work with Testament is legendary but his music with PAKT is insane), but here Jeff demonstrates there is no need for volume and power riffs when one has an innate understanding and love for what can be produced on guitar. This is a beautiful release which deserves to be heard widely (and listened to on headphones). 

Kev Rowland, February 2026

Links:
https://www.jeffaug.com/
https://en.timezone-records.com/

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