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Joseph Brenna and his fans have much to celebrate on Saturday, January 25, when the guitarist performs at Nederland's Acoustic Cafe. The most obvious is the release of Inventing Time, an instrumental recording he co-wrote and produced with Rob Gordon, founder of the Boulder-based indie label What Are Records?. At sixteen tracks, the album is flecked with influences from the Middle East as much as from Mississippi; both exotica and plain' old blues emanate from his solo steel-string guitar. But Time's evolution is perhaps the greater achievement, as it represents Brenna's recent victory over cancer. A musician known for altering sound through the aid of electronic gadgets and sound machines, Brenna discovered a quieter, more elemental muse while undergoing regular treatments for the disease. His new style is leaner but no less commanding, with emotional undertones to remind us that some forms of expression lie beyond the reach of words.