Artist: Dan Bowden
Album: No Better Time Than Now
Review by Bryan Rodgers
No Better Time Than Now, the first solo release from music veteran Dan Bowden, is an exploration of blues and gospel music that exhibits the guitarist’s scholarly yet soulful approach. His resume as a teacher, transcriber, and advocate for musicianship is impressive, but just as many words are conveyed by simply listening to Bowden’s easy, note-perfect playing on the album. The core band features Bowden alongside fellow Berklee faculty Ed Lucie (bass) and Alizon Lissance (keys). The rest of the lineup consists of still more Berklee faculty such as principal drummer Casey Scheuerell and assorted Bostonites like Richard “Rosy” Rosenblatt on harmonica and saxophonist Paul Ahlstrand.
Slide guitar is one of Bowden’s specialties, and the album begins with a gliding, organ-laced instrumental slide showcase called “Talking ‘Bout the Weather.” The finely honed musicianship of the players makes every song a study in technique and structure, and the sound comes off as overtly polished at times. But there’s still plenty of grit to be found among the perfect harmonies and spotless production. “Unbrace Your Face” is a boiling New Orleans-style funk rock number replete with saucy horns, neck-snapping rhythms, and righteous vocals from Bowden. He also adds a spicy, streetwise solo to the bubbling funk broth. “Campbell Time” finds Bowden mimicking the sound of “sacred steel” guitar through ingenious use of effects, all in tribute to the seminal gospel group The Campbell Brothers. There’s plenty of grease on the middle section of the track, which finds the band writhing through a slow groove scored with a searing guitar solo.
It’s hard to pin down Bowden’s style of playing because he draws influence from such a large swath of guitardom and approaches each with scholarly attention. On No Better Time Than Now, he’s certainly more reminiscent of fluid bluesmen like Ronnie Earl, Robert Cray, and Albert Collins than any of the old guard. He does play some gutty acoustic guitar on the title track, and “Ease Your Troubles” has a very Texas roadhouse feel, but the sound is clean and lean for the most part. There’s sheen on his sound that owes much to great rock guitarists like Clapton and David Gilmour, as evidenced in the evocative six-string sojourns “Story to Tell” and “Lost For Words.” With a little harmonica from Richard Rosenblatt, the latter track really smolders, and Bowden takes the listener on a trip through the Louisiana swamplands by way of electric guitar. By contrast, Lucie’s “Bakersfield Rumba” finds Bowden embracing an aching, verbal style of playing that embraces a reverb-heavy lounge feel.
The album also incorporates diverse instrumentation, like the strings that flit through “No Better Time Than Now” and add gravity to the dramatic strains of “Sanctified Music.” The few vocal tracks are also welcome respites from the instrumental indulgence. Bowden embellishes the blues-rock number “Done and Over” with a droll delivery, and “Sanctified Music” features a fine octave-unison delivery from he and Suzanna Liming, (who’s known professionally in the Boston area as “Zanna”). Beyond the teachings that he offers his students, Bowden has perhaps given the aspiring guitarists a larger lesson with No Better Time Than Now. They can surely learn something here about perfecting technique, playing with joy, and putting their best foot forward in the recording studio.
Review by Bryan Rodgers
Rating: 4 stars (out of 5)
Album: No Better Time Than Now
Review by Bryan Rodgers
No Better Time Than Now, the first solo release from music veteran Dan Bowden, is an exploration of blues and gospel music that exhibits the guitarist’s scholarly yet soulful approach. His resume as a teacher, transcriber, and advocate for musicianship is impressive, but just as many words are conveyed by simply listening to Bowden’s easy, note-perfect playing on the album. The core band features Bowden alongside fellow Berklee faculty Ed Lucie (bass) and Alizon Lissance (keys). The rest of the lineup consists of still more Berklee faculty such as principal drummer Casey Scheuerell and assorted Bostonites like Richard “Rosy” Rosenblatt on harmonica and saxophonist Paul Ahlstrand.
Slide guitar is one of Bowden’s specialties, and the album begins with a gliding, organ-laced instrumental slide showcase called “Talking ‘Bout the Weather.” The finely honed musicianship of the players makes every song a study in technique and structure, and the sound comes off as overtly polished at times. But there’s still plenty of grit to be found among the perfect harmonies and spotless production. “Unbrace Your Face” is a boiling New Orleans-style funk rock number replete with saucy horns, neck-snapping rhythms, and righteous vocals from Bowden. He also adds a spicy, streetwise solo to the bubbling funk broth. “Campbell Time” finds Bowden mimicking the sound of “sacred steel” guitar through ingenious use of effects, all in tribute to the seminal gospel group The Campbell Brothers. There’s plenty of grease on the middle section of the track, which finds the band writhing through a slow groove scored with a searing guitar solo.
It’s hard to pin down Bowden’s style of playing because he draws influence from such a large swath of guitardom and approaches each with scholarly attention. On No Better Time Than Now, he’s certainly more reminiscent of fluid bluesmen like Ronnie Earl, Robert Cray, and Albert Collins than any of the old guard. He does play some gutty acoustic guitar on the title track, and “Ease Your Troubles” has a very Texas roadhouse feel, but the sound is clean and lean for the most part. There’s sheen on his sound that owes much to great rock guitarists like Clapton and David Gilmour, as evidenced in the evocative six-string sojourns “Story to Tell” and “Lost For Words.” With a little harmonica from Richard Rosenblatt, the latter track really smolders, and Bowden takes the listener on a trip through the Louisiana swamplands by way of electric guitar. By contrast, Lucie’s “Bakersfield Rumba” finds Bowden embracing an aching, verbal style of playing that embraces a reverb-heavy lounge feel.
The album also incorporates diverse instrumentation, like the strings that flit through “No Better Time Than Now” and add gravity to the dramatic strains of “Sanctified Music.” The few vocal tracks are also welcome respites from the instrumental indulgence. Bowden embellishes the blues-rock number “Done and Over” with a droll delivery, and “Sanctified Music” features a fine octave-unison delivery from he and Suzanna Liming, (who’s known professionally in the Boston area as “Zanna”). Beyond the teachings that he offers his students, Bowden has perhaps given the aspiring guitarists a larger lesson with No Better Time Than Now. They can surely learn something here about perfecting technique, playing with joy, and putting their best foot forward in the recording studio.
Review by Bryan Rodgers
Rating: 4 stars (out of 5)