This Special Edition release of Agent 22's first album features the group's original 1999 outing now with four previously unreleased tracks and all new mixes and mastering for improved sonic clarity and detail. Fronted (and backed) by Chapman Stick player Tom Griesgraber, the group also features drummer/percussionist Ryan Moran (of Slightly Stoopid and B-Side Players) and "dual guitarist" Jimmy Patton who uses a mixture of tapping and standard guitar techniques to play two guitars at once.
Though based in instrumental rock, the album incorporates elements of jazz, funk and world music throughout with Griesgraber and Patton's four hands tackling twenty four strings and Moran supplying drum kits, congas, tablas and other percussion. Highly crafted, yet easily accessible, there is a melodic strength to the music that sometimes belies the virtuosity hiding beneath it; a tunefulness with rewards for repeated listenings.
Track Listing:
1. Agent 22 (Griesgraber/Patton)
2. 3:32 (Griesgraber)
3. Dreamwalk (Patton)
4. 90 Days (Griesgraber)
5. It's Time (Griesgraber)
6. Song For Eriela (Patton)
7. Speak Softly (Griesgraber)
8. Brother Wind Shear (Griesgraber)
9. If's Prelude (Griesgraber)
10. If's Jam (Griesgraber)
11. Another Road (Griesgraber)
New Evidence (Bonus Material):
12. In the Bears' Cabin (Griesgraber/Moran)
13. Goldie's Flight (Griesgraber/Patton)
14. Traces on the River (Griesgraber/Moran)
15. Jungle (Griesgraber)
Tom Griesgraber - Chapman Stick, Stick-synth
Jimmy Patton - dual guitars
Ryan Moran - drums and percussion
with Roy Gonzales - additional percussion
Produced by Tom Griesgraber
Engineered by Tom Griesgraber and Lorne Bregitzer
Special Edition mixes and mastering by Howard Givens, Spotted Peccary Studios
Original mixes by Lorne Bregitzer
Original mastering by Tom Capek, Colorado Sound Studios
Artwork and Design by Jack and Laurent Durieux, Milk Graphic Design
"Tom Griesgraber's instrumental trio "Agent 22" has some strange musical chemistry, but the elements bond together to create a solid substance. It's just a simple, tight knit trio, transparent and polished from themes to improvs, but it also serves as an object lesson on how to form a Stick, guitar and drums band and provide all the essentials with minimum means."
- Emmett Chapman, inventor of the Chapman Stick
"It is infectious music. Once you hear it, you like it."
-Larry Himmel, KFMB TV (CBS)
"I LOVE this disc. I'm listening to it right now and I've been listening for three days straight... dig that Chapman Stick."-Ed Decker, of the San Diego Reader and SD City Beat
"Tom is a master Stick player. His technique and musicality stand as an inspiration to the rest of us who play the instrument, and we're always eager to see what he'll do next."
-Tony Levin, recording artist, bassist/Stick player for Peter Gabriel, King Crimson
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