[rating=4.00]
Todd Boston is an acoustic guitarist, flutist and multi-instrumentalist from the San Francisco Bay Area. His new album, Touched by the Sun was recorded across the country, in the vibrant, green hills of Vermont and his virtuoso guitar work is backed on record by a wide range of world class musicians including percussionist Jeff Haynes of Pat Metheny’s band, bassist Tony Levin of Peter Gabriel/King Crimson and Snatum Kaur on vocals. Stylistically, the record straddles a hypnotic line, weaving the purpose, intention and grandiosity of classical music with the lush and potent intricacy of jazz. Produced by Grammy Award winning artist Will Ackerman of Windham Hill Records, Boston and his companions blaze with pristine clarity and graceful skill.
The album thrives on the ethereal touch of rich violin and cello work that alternatingly supports and leads. Boston shows a similar ability to take control and reinforce. He is more than willing to dance and weave underneath a buoyant cloud of sound or drive the music forward with assertive picking. Playing with a warm touch he massages notes from the inner ether as tabla and drum rhythms periodically add a magnetic, propulsive element that helps to maintain purposeful momentum. Boston is a master of bright, white melodies that seem to drift in on the whisper of a cloud and with a band so skilled at listening to one another, the music both builds toward yearning crescendos and softens into delicate and peaceful pillows. Touched by the Sun breathes. The un-played notes are powerful; the vast, vital space between the music is perfect for a sun-drenched morning, star-kissed evening, or the trials and tribulations in between.
