Chicago area-based guitarist Chris Forte‘s Backyard Astronomy is an album of adventurous music, incorporating blues, jazz, funk, and classical music elements. It features 15 musicians and singers, resulting in an intriguing LP with several genres represented, from blues to classical, to jazz. In this diverse 11-track project, just three of the tracks feature vocals – but there is a story in all of them.
A keen astronomer, Forte captures the sense of wonder and exploration of space in Backyard Astronomy.
“Backyard Astronomy came together in the midst of the pandemic when a performing guitarist found himself quarantined and recording remotely for various church and tribute shows,” Chris Forte says. “Through the process of these recordings, original material came together, which inspired the notion that there was more to the music that was being produced than just social-media shares or internet content. The result was a mix of material recorded in my home and at the Lutheran Church of the Ascension in Northfield, Ill., Shirk Studios in Chicago, Ill., and Soundbank Studio in Northfield, Ill.”
Like the constellations we see at night coalescing together in one universe, Chris Forte’s music contains diverse elements yet still comes together to create a oneness.
“This album found me recording for the first time with someone I’ve always looked up to, Chris ‘Hambone’ Cameron on keyboards, which was truly a dream come true,” Forte adds. “I was also able to reconnect with musicians Brian Ebert and Matt Becker, who I began my musical career with, for the first time in decades. Lastly, represented on this album is a duo with Chicago-based composer Mischa Zupko, who I’ve worked alongside for 13 years at Lutheran Church of the Ascension, on piano, representing the first released recording of us performing together.”
“Searchin'” opens Backyard Astronomy with melody-laden guitars, glissandos, and slurs which set the slightly funky atmosphere and develop into a laid-back theme of a number, atmospheric and thought-provoking. “In a Funk” is driving, anthemic, and big on presence with a repeated theme that loops around fancy percussion, and there is a devilishly smooth solo from Chris Forte which lifts the central section. Keyboards then take the lead with the rest of the band in happy support before everyone returns again in a harmonious union.
“The Thrill is Gone” sets a different groove, with keys and guitars working in melodic harmony and a vocal line that is slick and flowing. Forte’s beautiful guitar solo takes over from the vocals in the middle section, before the voice re-enters – this time forceful, strong, and melodious. A lovely working between voice and guitar takes the track to its conclusion. “Tranquillo” is atmospheric with some intriguing and complex guitar over steadfast percussive lines, which provide a Latin feel to this number. Some lovely whoomphs and deep skin notes from the drums complement the delicate guitar working. As in the last track, some subtle tempo changes attract the brain and the ears.
“A Lifetime With You” has a different feel, and is rock-infused with guitar lines rising across the top and a solid percussive backdrop. There is much exploration here, and the track develops along more than a few sonic lines before returning to the essence of the theme in the final third. “Quarantine Coronatones” is many things – short, slightly melancholic, and with an almost Celtic feel as Chris Forte’s guitar sings over the waterfall effects and repeated motif, while “Rehash Swagger” could have stepped out of a ’70s movie set, all flaming colors and guns a-blazing – think Huggy Bear and Starsky and Hutch, and it would slot right in. Upbeat and self-assured, this is the ideal song to counter the last.
“The Way We Love” begins with repeated descending chords before the vocal line tells of the blissful ways of a couple finding themselves with someone they love: “We are destined to be one, and that’s the way we love.” Again, clear vocals are contrasted with tricky, delicate guitar work and percussion, a great bit of scat singing, and a keyboard solo before the ensemble comes together to close the track. “The Swan” is the group’s take on Camille Saint-Saens’ 13th movement in the Carnival of the Animals, and although best known for being a cello solo, it works well on Backyard Astronomy with piano and guitar.
“Messed Up World” is a country-style track with the vocals telling the story of an increasingly troubled planet – but there is perhaps hope for the boys and girls. “Covidy Blues” is a deep-diving bluesy track featuring beautifully worked guitar lines which rise, dip down and create an emotive line, under which the percussion rises and falls. This is one to put on, lay back and turn up loud.
“Rhapsody in Blue” exemplifies semi-chorded blues lines on the guitar, and George Gershwin himself may have approved of this held-back, tempo-changing version. “Baby Steps” is explorative, probing, and Forte creates several different musical landscapes. Some are heavy, thickly laced with rock tones, while others are open to interpretation by the listener, with smooth melodic lines. It’s all held together with the searing guitar, which weaves throughout.
The closing title track brings together a variety of sound concepts, from delicate keyboards to Chris Forte’s soaring guitar. Atmospheric and ethereal, at times, it is a great track with which to close this album.
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