By: Ross Edwards
Rating: 7.5/11

The Andy Arnold Trio’s Eleven Windows may receive a relieved sigh from listeners as it starts in familiar, welcome territory. Arnold’s “Das Klavier” has a tone, compositional approach, and band improvisational style like Wayne Krantz’s trio, or Pat Metheny’s on “Bright Sized Life,” and the same vocal-less guitar, bass, drum instrumentation. Andy Arnold has a light, rounded tone and lyrical playing divulges to some guitar-shredding sections, accompanied by Magnus Skovdahl’s thin electric bass and Philippe Lemm’s thick drums. Skovdahl and Lemm occasionally improvise thematically with Arnold, but mostly stay strong with the groove behind his solo, allowing the intensity and contrast to build. The jagged, startling melody of “El Topo” travels through various guitar tones with prescribed intensities, and “Leaving Places” uses a layered melding of clarinets, oboe, and second guitar to melancholic effect.

Arnold’s bluesy style occasionally feels aimless, and the listener might be able to tell where certain takes are edited or combined. Sometimes soloing gets in the way of the music, because there is a change in focus from sounding good to playing impressively or beyond one’s ability. There is a different art to making what you are capable of doing right now sound great, or interesting, or unique. However, criticism of improvisational music should be taken with grains of salt, not because it is unwarranted or subjective, but because talented, soulful musicians are constantly changing, advancing, fluctuating, or faltering. 

Andy Arnold’s music is challenging and sounds hard, full of great melodies, difficulty, and ambitious timbre combinations. He negotiates his music well and with sonic vision, but still sometimes the listener is confused by overdubs, tone changes, dynamic stagnation, and the role that solos play in compositions. These are difficult problems about combining improvising and written material: the routine of hearing a melody, a few sections with guitar ripping and then a melodic repetition is usually effective, but that doesn’t mean that something else wouldn’t be more effective.