Frolic in the Land of Plenty

What Paul Hanson does on bassoon is akin to what other innovators like guitarists Charlie Hunter, banjoist Bela Flek and bassist Jaco Pastorius have done with their respective instruments. Like those musicians, Hanson has created a vibrant new, expansive vocabulary through a combination of virtuosity, vision and soul, as he demonstrates with this release. On the blazing fusion cut "Emerald Mile", his electric bassoon flurries on a labyrinth of intricate unisons with violinist Tracy Silverman sound like a wailing electric guitar and on the fuzz-laden grunge anthem "Scrool", Hanson and crew summon up the heavy metal assault of Black Sabbath.