Moses Guest

Moses Guest
Moses Guest
(Aufheben Records)

Moses Guest finally comes of age in its latest, self-titled two-disc album, offering a fusion of soaring melodic pop/rock songs with subtle roots influences and sparkling improvisations. Much of the best material ("Saint Mo," "Rag Doll," "U 'n' Mi") has a quality similar to classic material by the Band, Little Feat and American Beauty-era Grateful Dead, without being imitative. The same can be said of its Southern influences-there's a little Cowboy and some Marshall Tucker Band evident here and there.
But what the band does best is assimilate these influences into its own sound. This is perhaps best exemplified in "I Do Not Love You," four minutes of musical magic and a radio hit if it ever gets airplay. These discs clock in at close to two hours so it's not surprising that Moses Guest takes the chance to stretch out a little, in "Rag Doll" and the eerie explorations of "A Phrygian Way" on disc one and the aptly titled "Da Jam-Stealin'" on disc two. The latter is a wonderfully meandering piece that boasts tasteful guitar work over delicate keyboards. At the end there's a spacey interlude that leads into the superb ten-minute "Waterville," one of the album's highlights. If you enjoy the Allmans, the Dead, Widespread Panic, Jupiter Coyote, the Band and similar acts, this album is a must. It's one of the best I've heard this year and certainly Moses Guest's best to date. Mick Skidmore