JACK FOSTER III with TRENT GARDNER AND ROBERT BERRY
Raptorgnosis
Muse-Wrapped Records 2005
www.muse-wrapped.com

What’s the 4-1-1?
The follow up to the 2004 debut CD Evolution of a Jazzraptor finds the guitarist/vocalist exploring spiritual themes in music reflecting a wide-ranging set of musical influences.

Genre
Melodic rock / progressive rock / hard rock

The Good
I think it would be safe to say that the guitar playing on this album is fantastic. Jack Foster III can really wail on the guitar. The opening track “Ebb And Flow” starts the album off with a wonderful guitar line and the rest of the music shreds as well. There is a real knack here for knowing just where to place what instrument. “Worst Enemy” and “Sense Of Static” have a section where the trumpet is featured quite adeptly.

You can find samples of progressive rock, jazz, and the blues throughout the album. I like that the music swings from each of those genres of music, it gives a good vibe to the ears. “Koan” has some of the best shred guitar work, while “Tremble” reflects a softer side with its slower tempo. The other song I enjoyed was “Love Goes ‘Round.” Foster has a pretty good singing voice. He doesn’t sound force, rather he lets the voice do it’s job naturally.

The Bad
The lyrics were pretty good for the most part but in cases like “Love Loss” the main verses were good, but suffered from weak choruses. The one song that I really didn’t like at all was “Gnosis.” The lyrics were delivered in a spoken word fashion, and it just didn’t work for me. I found it weird that one of the best songs on the album “Love Goes ‘Round” was written by someone else. Foster is hailed as a “singer-songwriter” in the press materials, but one of the best sets of lyrics is provided by songwriter Melanie Myers. It’s not necessarily a negative because the song turned out so good, but it struck me as odd.

The Verdict
I missed out on the debut album, but Raptorgnosis also serves as a pretty good introduction to Jack Foster III’s music. The spiritual quest theme in the lyrics wasn’t as heavy handed, as I was worried it might be. I found this album to be well worth listening to, and I look forward to seeing what the future will bring.

Did You Know?
Mic Gillette (trumpet) and Skip Mesquite (saxophone), who are featured players on this album both formerly played with the renowned group Tower of Power.

Rating: out of 5

-- Jay Roberts