My review of guitarist Tom Guarna's The Wishing Stones, featuring Jon Cowherd, John Patitucci and Brian Blade, today at All About Jazz.

An unfortunate reality for too many musicians--even those who are well-known--is that most of their audiences are aware of but a portion of their true work...their fullest capabilities. Recordings only tell part of the story, since artists often tour with groups that are never documented. And even those tours, for those fortunate enough to experience them, are often limited-run engagements--perhaps a few weeks in Europe here, a short tour of Japan there. Even in North America, given the vast distances that have become increasingly untenable with transportation costs, only those on one coast or the other, for example, might get the chance to catch a particular lineup and repertoire.

Even for those in the know, it's not easy to figure out Tom Guarna's full breadth. His first five albums as a leader for the Danish Steeplechase imprint were--despite plenty of original material to balance out the jazz and Great American Songbook standards--largely mainstream dates, ranging from organ trios and Latin-tinged quartet outings to more freewheeling and revelatory sessions.

Still, as fine as those recordings are, they reveal but a portion of what this keenly talented guitarist is about, especially since he began touring North America and Europe with his own bands a few years back, on the heels of playing on Lenny White = 11316's groove-laden Anomaly (Abstract Logix, 2010) and hitting the road with the fusion drummer's band, including a scorching New Universe Music Festival set that same year.

His first release as a leader for the Brooklyn Jazz Underground label, 2014's Rush, provided the largest window yet into Guarna's chameleon-like ability to adapt to any context, all while never losing sight of his own inimitable musical personality. The Wishing Stones opens that window even further.

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