Caplan, Gadi: Morning Sun

Israeli born and now based out of Brooklyn, NY, Gadi Caplan has made a fabulous album with Morning Sun, his third overall. Up to this point he was unbeknownst to me but it just goes to show how much great young talent there is out there. Joining Caplan (guitar, bass, synths, arrangements) are Danny Abowd (lead and background vocals, vocal arrangements, trombone), Bruno Esrubilsky (drums, congas), Duncan Wickel (violin, viola, cello), Jesse Gottlieb (background vocals, trumpet), Jonathan Greenstein (tenor sax), Christian Li (keyboards) and Jay Gandhi (bansuri flute).

Morning Sun is full of jazzy progressive rock and fusion sounds and the entire band is top notch. These eleven songs are etched with Caplan's melodic guitar playing and wonderful all around musicianship. This isn't one of those albums that will knock you over with mind bending solos, no, this is a much more refined and mellow sounding often relying on a base of acoustic strumming and lyrical lead guitar work. The use of wind instruments adds a jazzy touch and the soundscape is often ethereal and dreamy with excellent vocals to match.

Highlights include the floating Middle Eastern psychedelic guitar in "The Other Side", the progressive fusion of "Hemavati" where the lead guitar is quite scintillating, the lovely acoustic led "Island" which invokes images of Obscured By Clouds era Pink Floyd and the album ending four part suite "Lili's Day" where the trippy sounds of "Part 1" and the howling saxophone solo in "Part 2", laced with distortion, are highly provocative. In "Part 3" Caplan's guitar clearly does the talking with a wonderfully full bodied lead. "Part 4" goes for a more dreamy and melodic sound featuring a pretty melody and rich sounding strings.

Fans of mellower progressive rock and jazz, especially those who enjoy the Canterbury sound should find a lot to like here. Caplan has made an excellent album, I just hope it is recognized as such and gets the attention it clearly deserves.

Track Listing:
1. Hemavati
2. Island
3. Good Afternoon
4. Vivadi Swara
5. Morning Sun
6. La Morena
7. The Other Other Side
8. Lili's Day Part 1
9. Lili's Day Part 2
10. Lili's Day Part 3
11. Lili's Day Part 4

Added: July 8th 2016
Reviewer: Jon Neudorf
Score:
Related Link: Artist's Official Site
Hits: 1772
Language: english

[ Printer Friendly Page ]
[ Send to a Friend ]