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SCOTT HUGHES Brown Bag
1999(CD)
Style: Instrumental guitar rock/ fusion
Sound: 
Composition: 
Musicianship: 
Performance: 
Total rating: 12 (16 is a perfect score)

     Hughes is back after an earlier strong release called Lapse. As
I love to hear, he has greatly improved his art on this latest effort.
I was actually quite shocked to hear the wonderful amount of fusion
happening this go round. Hughes is more than deft with the olde digits
and can lay down some mean riff-rock jams but this time his jazzier
finesse comes through more clearly. He even approaches Allan Holdsworth
in phrasings and voicings but a split second later he sounds like Ron
Thal or JoboJ. His compositions kept me guessing and intrigued with delight.
A mellow piece here and there broke things up perfectly in overall disc
flow. He is doing some very odd things with his guitars that you axe-heads
need to hear. If Hughes keeps getting better at his current “learning curve”
his next releases should be close to awesome. More fusion please. Hughes,
ya done good this time! ~ John W. Patterson

Scott Hughes: Lapse (CD, 30:56); MA-1001, 1997
M.A. Productions/Free Lunch Music
Correspondence:16 Morning Street - First Floor
Portland, Maine 04101, USA
Email: ma36scott@aol.com
Cyberhome: http://members.aol.com/ma36scott/index.html

	Lapse is laid back, jazzy, guitar hero rock, Zappaesque and Ron Thal-like guitar and 
vibes jams. I kept hearing Thal's The Adventures of Bumblefoot. Hughes is not copying any of 
these styles but the influences seem evident. Tracks one thru three, ":)", "Angular", and "Cats 'n' 
Dogs" each have the Thal/Zappa twisted feel and inherent fun ride to them. Crank these up for 
the full range of effects. On "Moods" a mellow Vinnie Moore guitar styling comes through 
without any bach-rock noodlings, just a well-done ballad here. Immediately Hughes flows into 
track five "With an `E' " in a bizarre little ditty of tortured whammy bar leads and 
ascending/descending wah-wah scales, and fiery Steve Vai styled accents of his Flexable era. 
Vignettes of curiosa guitarra eclectica wail forth upon thou. "Odd" is up next with again a Ron 
Thal feel but a tinge of Ronnie Montrose and some Jeff Beck. Thal's frenetic axe-torturing 
around the 22th fret is clearly evident in Hughes' lead stylings as well as his tension 
building/release modes. Compositional framework calls to mind Zappa but not nearly as frantic 
here. We end things up with "Mr.Man", a boogie-down, earthy, nite-club jam out, lick tradin' 
fest with guitarist Bill Pierce. This piece lacked the dimension displayed in the rest of the CD's 
songs and well -- was not memorable. It was good licks, good playing, but a snoozer song-wise. 
	Scott Hughes does excellent guitars, sequencing, and drum programming throughout. Bill 
Pierce guest guitars on "Mr. Man" with Jim Goss keys soloing on "Angular". If you liked Ron 
Thal's debut release then get Scott Hughes' Lapse.  -- John W. Patterson






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"Odd" excerpt


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