Robert Fripp String Quintet - The Bridge Between (CD)

Robert Fripp String Quintet: Robert Fripp (guitar, Frippertronics); Bert Lams, Hideyo Moriya (acoustic guitar); Paul Richards (acoustic guitar, Fuzz E-bow guitar); Trey Gunn (Chapman Stick). Producers: David Singleton, The Robert Fripp String Quartet. Principally recorded live during tours of California, Italy, England and Argentina in May and June, 1993. Includes liner notes by Robert Fripp and David Singleton. THE BRIDGE BETWEEN's charismatic wonders evolve right out of your speakers like prog's bastard offspring. After the staid acoustic concerns of the League of Crafty Guitarists, Fripp's latest ensemble indulges, thankfully, in both electric and electronic applications. Fripp is accompanied here by longtime associate Trey Gunn (on grand stick) and by The California Guitar Trio. His choice of material--some traditional Bach pieces in addition to original works--is cogent, breathtaking, and absolutely absorbing. THE BRIDGE BETWEEN contains excellent performances from the Quintet proper as well as a number of compelling Frippertronic passages and Crimson-soaked guitarritude. With eyes closed, one can almost visualize Fripp, Eno, and Summers all trading licks in capricious delight. The darkly pulsing "Blue" realizes that hallucinatory collaboration. Fripp's ideals push both him and the Quintet to their artistic limits. He challenges both his own earnest reputation and an illustrious catalog of sounds in a precognition of 21st century classical music.