Neil Haverstick

For two decades, Neil Haverstick has explored microtonal guitar, using a nineteen-tone system of tuning rather than the standard twelve-tone one. Having performed previously with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, for this record the guitarist joined forces with the Colorado Chamber Orchestra to create a enthralling four-song suite titled "Spider." Starting off somewhat subdued on "Birth," the piece gradually builds from angular jazz riffing over a repeating string-section line to a swelling crescendo three songs later on "Hunting." While the "Spider" suite is, without question, the highlight of the album, the eight-song "Six Pieces for Pavel" suite, which Haverstick plays on nineteen- and twelve-tone acoustic guitars, is equally compelling yet entirely different.