THE WONDER
F.B. White
Cavern Recording, Waterville

The Wonder Floyd White

For someone whose roots are so obviously planted in a '60s/early '70s sound Floyd White certainly manages to touch on a variety of contemporary styles. The range he achieves on his self-produced The Wonder can partially be attributed to the unique voices that a host of collaborative guest artists brings to the work. The Wonder is basically a one-man studio project-on most songs White hammers out all the rhythm and some of the melody tracks and then lets several very talented friends add a little additional flavor to the mix.

The music does not fit neatly into any one category but ultimately might be called New Age Funk-a term I think we're coining here. Much of the material is built around an almost meditative collage of ideas over a steady, usually repetitive, driving rhythm.

The first track, "Sunrise" epitomizes this technique and is interesting in that the middle section (if indeed it can be called a section) is actually a string of melodies, each voiced by a different instrument. What serves as the theme is whistled, in two-part harmony no less, by White and appears only at the beginning and again at the end of the tune. This and the next two tracks "Red Eye" and Bigcat Walk" (incredible sax work by Eric Thomas on this number!) really demonstrates this approach to composition-very heavy on the rock bass and percussion-as do "Fresh Air," Broken Arrow" and Playful." But on the title track White goes on a completely different tack. "The Wonder" is a sweet, melodic tune with a triple-count feel built around Terry White's finger-style acoustic guitar and static but engaging melodies played on electric guitar and viola. When White dabbles in this more cerebral style or the world beat rhythm of "Restless Hunt" he is actually at his strongest. His experiments with orchestration throughout the CD work well, but on these tracks the blend of instruments-of flute, djembe and electric guitar or acoustic and electric guitar with viola-are most successful. "Jewelry Box," too, shows the composer's willingness to stretch his instrumental palette, combining hammered dulcimer (overdubbed with itself) and flute. This tune truly crosses over to the meditative and reflective qualities often associated with the New Age sound. Any band or performer understands the value of having limitless studio time available to try out ideas, to be able to work and rework material. White owns Cavern Studio in Waterville and his experience and ear for "the mix" is displayed by an articulate balance from start to finish on The Wonder. The subtleness with which he combines timbres is a quality that must serve his clients well. It sure works here!