Detailed Reviews [Dusan Jevtovic - 2013 - "Am I Walking Wrong?"]

Prolusion. Serbian composer and guitarist Dusan JEVTOVIC has been an active entity in the European scene for some time by now, primarily following his relocation to Barcelona, Spain, some ten years ago. He released his first solo album "On the Edge" back in 2009 through L'Indi Records. After this he signed to the US label Moonjune Records, which released his follow-up "Am I Walking Wrong?" in the fall of 2013.

Analysis. Moonjune Records is a label I'll always associate with jazz rock and fusion first and foremost. But occasionally Leonardo Pavkovic will surprise those who track events at his label, and Dusan Jevtovic is one of those surprises. His music is instrumental, and he does touch upon the realm of jazz rock and fusion as well, albeit mostly limited to the album's title track, but first and foremost this is a production that appears to have a distinct foundation in the good, old power trio of the kind that desires to add power and punch to good, old-fashioned blues rock. In this case with a fair degree of experimental details to boot, I might add, and with some downplayed guitar heroics as part of the package. Opening track You Can't Sing, You Can't Dance is the most impressive of the bunch, as far as I'm concerned, alternating between crystal clear light toned guitar soloing, slightly distorted and dirty runs on an intermediate tone level and massive, distorted, beefy, grimy guitar riffs as the stark contrast to the fairly frail and clean guitar solo sequences. Dirty rock from the grimiest of basements combined with angelic clear guitar soloing, occasionally meeting halfways in a dusty place if you like. This is by far the most striking composition due to the extremes explored, I guess, and while grimy guitar riffs do reappear later on as well, a detail just as common as this album unfolds, are twisted but more subtly distorted guitar details and a vast array of deceivingly simple plucked and dampened guitar details, reverberating notes, drawn out psychedelic textures and a few other approaches less striking and dramatic on initial listen but with many quirky nuances to them. Am I Walking Wrong is the sole purebred jazz rock/fusion oriented case here, as previously mentioned, albeit some of those tendencies are explored on the following Drummer's Dance as well. The following One on One, on the other hand, takes a firm step in the direction of blues-based hard rock somewhere in the style of Robin Trower, albeit with Jevtovic’s peculiar guitar sound making this one a more striking and individual entity rather than a straight take on that style. In the Last Moment-II returns to a more contrast-filled scenario, utilizing delicate guitar details and grimy riffs again, not as intense by far as on the opening track and with more of an emphasis in the delicate details, but again exploring contrasts and nuances of a subdued nature. The gentler side of Jevtovic repertoire dominates the second half of this album more extensively, still with room for some grimy riff based details admittedly, but the main focus appears to be the delicate details as this production unfolds, the darker toned contrasts utilized more as occasional effects at this point. Psych-tinged details are added to the mix on occasion too, most strikingly on final track If You See Me Again, and prior to that we're treated to a brief run through dramatic riffs again on Tra-ta-ta-ta-ta and a brief, nifty blues-oriented case with country tendencies on Bluesracho.

Conclusion. Dusan Jevtovic's sophomore production "Am I Walking Wrong?" comes across as a typical guitarist solo album in the context that it documents his skills and versatility as a guitarist quite nicely. He does so without resorting to the archetypical guitarist approach however; you won't find any flamboyant guitar solo runs on this album. Instead, we're treated to stark contrasts, beefy distorted riffs with a dirty, grimy expression paired off against delicate, frail and crystal clean light toned guitar details. A production to inspect if you have a soft spot for guitarists with a style, delivery and approach that shies away from the most commonly explored landscapes, focusing on content, mood and atmosphere rather than showcasing common technical abilities.

OMB=Olav M Bjornsen: March 16, 2014
The Rating Room