Danish guitarist Steen Grontved is a veteran of the session music scene having appeared on countless releases over the last few years (within Denmark mostly) across many genres.” Night Vision Goggles” sees Steen making his debut onto the instrumental guitar platform and features twelve tracks that span the styles of fusion, rock and jazz.

When one mentions the words jazz and fusion a lot of guitarists and general music listeners often shy away as they often believe they” won’t get” the music. This release does have its “high brow” moments but overall as a whole the songs are really accessible and anybody who enjoys say Pat Metheny, George Benson, Larry Carlton, Toto in their fusion moments, John Schofield or Greg Howe will warm to this c.d.

Before describing the music I’ll quote what Steen has to say." I have worked a lot as a studio musician, which means that in most cases I haven’t been in charge. My goal with making this record was to try and free my mind and just compose the things that came to my mind without worrying about if it was saleable or listenable. This is one of the few projects I have been involved in, where I decided to compose and arrange the entire thing alone.”

The music on this release has some intricate rhythms and Steen says, “It was very hard to find a bass-player that dared to test his skills with some weird poly-rhythms. After three or four phone calls with ”uhhh…no. well…that’s…not really my style” I finally called Nikolaj Storr who said “no problem-I’m used to that kind of music!”

The opening track” Timber” starts in startling style with a gorgeous note pattern crossing the beats. It has a lovely sense of forward movement and is a real attention grabber. Steen gets funky in a Nile Rodgers way with his wah pedal before putting a superb rock solo over the top. Lovers of the music of Greg Howe will really go for this in a big way. At the three minute mark the song gathers pace and Steen fires off some great licks which are very reminiscent of Steve Vai. There is almost a sort of rock/fusion hoe down going on.

“The Worm” is a song, which was “written” (with small bars) directly onto the key-editor of Cubase with no instruments around. I have friends who regularly use digital studio’s to record on and also their computers. One such friend tells me that what Steen has achieved here is fabulous and the man must have the patience of a saint. At the nigh on three minute mark Steen gives us a solo which reminded me of the great Steve Lukather.

“Playground” has a hypnotic rhythm, which flits around like a breeze and allows Steen to go into mellow and melodic jazz mode. The song itself is straightforward and all about pretty melodies and the great George Benson came to mind as the track progressed.

“Home Planet” is a great melodic rocker with just the right amount of jazziness thrown in. Steen gives us some fabulous extended legato runs and also some tightly picked and right on the money phrases. This track has a great sense of freedom and joy and is perfect for driving to

“Run” is the albums rocker with its driving straight-ahead beat. I couldn’t put my finger on it but even after repeated listens this track just sounded a bit stiff and didn’t flow like the rest of the album. Steen's playing is of the highest quality and he plays with a bit of added fire but somehow it feels like the track is “tied down”. I can only think that it’s the slightly similar drumming throughout which just keeps the song in check.

“Bye” is an interpretation of a Danish song melody and it is a thing of pure melodic beauty. It’s short but oh so very sweet and is a fabulous solo arrangement.

“Secret Lab” has us in jazz-fusion territory and just gets better on each listen. The shifting harmonies and rhythms make this a track, which one may not get on the first listen but it eventually gets under the skin. It has some very original phrasing in the main guitar solo and it really keeps the listener on his or her toes, as one never knows just where the melodies are going to go next.

“My Butterfly” is another track of real beauty. It is all fuelled by a very pristine and delicate eight finger tapping technique. For many of us the first introduction to tapping was via Eddie Van Halen and then Joe Satriani on the track " Midnight”.”My Butterfly” has a lot in common with Joe Satriani's work but Steen takes things just that little bit further.

“Still Here” is a mid tempo song which moves along steadily. There is a lot of soloing going on which is kept back in the mix of the song and the tune itself didn’t quite grab me like the rest of the album tracks.

“Round And Round” brings to mind the African plains with its big expansive sound and takes the listener on a great journey.

“What Mango?” is a very cool track, which takes polyrhythm's to the limit. Steen’s guitar tone on this track is sweet and round with just the right amount of distortion and. Lars Ringgaard gives us a super blues harp solo.

The final track is “Find The Pick” which showcases a slap guitar technique on a traditional Spanish guitar. It’s an intriguing number, which did have me trying to visualise just what Steen was doing.

“Night Vision Goggles” is a very entertaining release from a player who one senses feels comfortable with many musical genres. It’s great to hear a player who delivers great melodic playing but also notes which just hover on the edge and take the listener to new territories. The nice thing about this release is that it will just get better on each play as it doesn’t give up all its surprises on the first listen. Steen shows on this outing that he has something for everyone.

Let us know your views on 'Night Vision Goggles'

Track Listing

Timber
The Worm
Playground
Home planet
Run
Bye
Secret lab
My Butterfly
Still Here
Round and around
What Mango?
Find the pick

 Line Up

Steen Grøntved - Guitars
Josef Aarskov - Drums/Vocals/
Nikolaj Storr - Bass
Kim Adrian - Percussion