Songs For a Perigee Moon is the first all-new recording in three years from Bay Area guitarist/composer/producer Carl Weingarten. I have reviewed a few of Weingarten's more than thirty previous releases, so catching up with him and his music has been a real treat! The eleven tracks are varied in tempo, style and mood as well as instrumentation, yet the album transitions smoothly from one piece to the next. It's a very rich listening experience with full attention and also provides a very comfortable backdrop for other activities. All eleven instrumentals were composed by Weingarten and he plays several different guitars, keyboards, delays and EFX. Guest artists include Kit Walker (piano and synths), Michael Manring (fretless bass), Katy Stephen (vocals), Celso Alberti (drums and percussion), Pay Duffey (acoustic guitar), Jeff Oster (flugelhorn), Bill Ortiz (trumpet), Billie Duffey (bass) and Joe Venegoni (percussion) - a very impressive ensemble!

Songs For a Perigee Moon begins with "Ember Nights," a piece with a smooth jazz groove that features Weingarten on acoustic and electric slide guitars, Walker on piano and synths, Manring on bass and Katy Stephen's gentle vocals. Very warm and inviting, it gets the album off to a great start! "A Late Spring" adds Celso Alberti's percussion to the mix and also has an easy groove that invites the listener to let go and get pleasantly lost in the music. A "perigee" or "supermoon" occurs when a full moon coincides with the moon's closest approach to earth in its elliptical orbit, and "Rise of the Perigee Moon," co-written with Duffey, brings together slide guitar, delay, acoustic guitar, flugelhorn, bass, drums and percussion. Without the drums, the piece would be very ambient and hypnotic (as it is for most of the first half of the track), but once the drums come the forefront, the music seems more grounded - a fascinating transition! "Find the Moments" is a duet with Weingarten and Manring, but it isn't just guitar and bass - Weingarten plays acoustic and electric guitars, keyboards, delays and sequencing, layering them beautifully and seamlessly into a slow, relaxed groove. One of my favorite tracks is "A Wolf in Winter," a deeply emotional piece with Weingarten on acoustic and slide guitars and sequencing plus Billie Duffey on bass and Joe Venegoni on percussion. Haunting and incredibly sad, this one goes right to the heart, bringing images of a lone wolf foraging for food in a cold, snowy landscape. "Silvana" is also a compelling down-tempo piece that features acoustic and slide guitars, keyboards (Weingarten), bass (Manring) and percussion (Alberti). "Ennio's Gold" brings a touch of quiet mystery with Weingarten on tricone resonator (a type of guitar) and electric guitars along with flugelhorn (Oster), bass (Manring) and percussion (Alberti). It would be great in a soundtrack with its atmospheric setting - perhaps behind wide-angle shots of a parched desert or a desolate countryside. There are two versions on "Twilight Reminisce" on the album. The first is a duet with Weingarten on multiple different guitars, keyboards and orchestral design and Kit Walker on piano; it clocks in at just under seven minutes. The second version is the closing track and is again played by both artists, but is much shorter and simpler - a serene close to a great album!

Songs For a Perigee Moon is available on CDs from Amazon, and on CDs and downloads from Bandcamp and www.multiphaserecords.com. Highly recommended!