Here’s one for fans of the kind of solo guitar wizardry that is the stock-in-trade of Joe Satriani and Steve Vai – although Reb Beach would argue that this is a direct descendant of Steve Morse’s work in Dixie Dregs.
Other players on the record include drummers David Throckmorton and Robert Langley, bassists Phillip Bynoe (the Vai sideman) and John Hall, but naturally this is all about Beach and his guitar.
It starts impressively enough with the galloping Black Magic (on which the one-time utterance of its title is the only time a human voice is heard), and slinks into a funkier vibe on Little Robots and The Way Home.
Aurora Borealis sees Beach’s Whitesnake buddy Michele Luppi add a piano (briefly) to the mix, and Hawkdance features keyboard player Paul Brown, but it’s unlikely that this album will find appeal outside the jazz-rock crowd.
