Guitarist David Lord's newest LP is Forest Standards Vol. 2 and finds the guitarist teaming with the rhythm section of Jeff Parker (bass, Tortoise) and Chad Taylor (drums, Chicago Underground). Produced by Chris Schlarb (Psychic Temple) at his Big EGO studio in Long Beach, California, the record finds Lord returning to the familiar terrain of the natural world.
"Cloud Ear" exemplifies what Lord has done across a recording career that now spans nearly 20 years. He plays guitar passages that are as warm and inviting as they are exploratory and new, melds the worlds of jazz and post-rock, and creates imaginary landscapes for the listener to explore time and again with repeated listens. Lord isn't a guitar hero in the traditional sense, this isn't about flash and speed, but his penchant for risk and the exhilaration one feels when hearing the new lands he takes us to place him in that category.
Lord adds that "Cloud Ear" was something he wrote in anticipation of working with two musicians he had long admired. "Immediately after booking Jeff and Chad on the session, I wrote 'Cloud Ear' as a sort of tribute piece to them," he says. "Both have had a profound influence on my music, and this piece nods in the direction of their past work as a foundation to present my concepts. Jeff takes the first solo as I accompany with bouncy guitar riffs, and then I solo at the end over a classic Jeff Parker atmospheric texture."
Forest Standards Vol. 2 is out 9 October.