Kopper CD will reach your heart, absolutely

BOTTOM LINE: Acoustic, yes, but ear candy, no. Brian Kopper's "In Absolute Motion" is an entrancing tapestry of music that reels and rocks, floating aimlessly at times and soaring to incredible highs. A beautiful recording.

I goofed. My CD player was stuck and there was something inside.

A year ago, in the process of moving, I let it sit in a dirt-strewn garage, right next to a rotting door. It rained, and mud splashed all over it.

Until last week, it worked fine. Now the mud has taken its toll, jamming up the inner workings. It played, but it would not eject.

Something was stuck inside, yes, and it was probably "In Absolute Motion," the new CD by guitarist Brian Kopper. Probably.

So without knowing what I was listening to, I listened. My unfamiliarity with Kopper was a blessing and a curse.

I surfed through each track, writing down impressions - incredibly clean guitar lines, haunting songwriting, intense grooves, sentimental songs and a round, strong voice rising above it all.

Whoever this was wasn't just good in the I can-pick-a-few-good-chords sense. Whoever this was was a master songwriter and arranger, with mounds of talent as a player and a mountain of talent behind him.

I had to know for sure, so I took a steak knife and wrenched open the sliding door. It was indeed Brian Kopper. Scratch one CD player.

Kopper, whose previous recording "Dreaming of the Sun" was released in 1995, says his goal was to feature more musicians on this CD, giving them space to showcase their unique talents.

That's abundantly clear. Some familiar names to me now - Beth Youngblood-Petersen on violin, Beth Bramhall-Floridis on piano, and perhaps the Northwest's finest bassist, Clipper Anderson - have incredible things to say in this highly subtle, even eerie, recording. The perennially gifted Kopper steps aside for long stretches of time, giving his musicians equal voice and equal time.

Also featured are Clay Green on percussion, Lawrence Duncan on woodwinds, Janet Haarvig on cello, and Melody Wilson and Jenn Adams on vocals. It's a modest bit of irony that Kopper refuses to take center stage. He is, after all, a guitarist of extreme magnitude. But it also serves this CD well - he is surrounded by very gifted musicians, and he lets them shine.

Clipper Anderson's intense bass playing permeates the CD. Anderson carefully injects complex lines between phrases, giving the tracks a full, driving sound. Listen especially to Track 2, "Turn Me Around."

A few of the mid tempo tracks - "Spring Invites the New Day," "Shearwater" - sparkle, but Kopper's ballads will knock you sideways. "Tied by the Ribbon of Your Soul" is absolute magic, a simple song describing the wondrous beauty of women, recited by Kopper in poetic verse:

"She is formed in a crucible of wisdom. Her mind is the expanse of the horizon. She is a fierce and consuming forest fire. She has perfect control over limitless desire..."

Listen too for the delightful "Sketches of a Child," the angry, anti-television tirade "Channeling," and the world-beat sounds of the finale, "Sanskaras."

Featured in the Entertainer in May 14-20, 1999 by Jamie Kelly
go back to reviews listing