Dave Simmons

An interesting solo guitar exercise vaguely in the way of a lower-case Keith Jarrett experiment, The Disintegration Principle may or may not draw upon a number of influences but showcases them nonetheless: Fahey, Faces, Tibbetts, and Hedges foremost. A fingerstyle player, Simmons injects a lazy drawl into his executions, elasticizing and imbuing notes with the distinctive prairie twang so emblematic of the notably American sound. There's very little in the way of pyrotechnics, save when the composer-player, in only three of the 15 cuts, switches out his acoustic for an electric, screaming in with highly distorted lead lines.
The disc's atmosphere is chiefly contemplative, as it was designed to represent a day, a week, maybe a month, perhaps even a year in a Simmons' life; hence, many switches of mood bedding down in mellowly fragmented western sentiments and images. Crazy for You becomes the foundation template, almost capturing the fleeting mellifluity Jade Warrior very occasionally penned in its early days, W. 57th Street Blues closely following the mode, and with nearly every cut containing at least a shred of the same flavor and pace, usually a good deal more.
A generous amount of slide colors the release, strongly capturing not only what Ronnie Wood had been doing during the Small Faces/Faces transition phase, with songs like Around the Plynth (leave it to the Brits to beat the Yanks at their own game!), but also T.S. McPhee's acoustic outings in and away from The Groundhogs. Once or twice, the dissonance becomes too much, the electric guitar to blame, especially in the title cut, completely skewing away from what the unamped axe had initially crafted.
A Mick Abrahams cow-catcher style (anyone remember Blodwyn Pig's Dear Jill?) similarly adds dimension in a number of places, swelling out to billow like a warm zephyr coursing the Plains, tracking lonely rail-lines as they fade into the purpling distance. The lyrics in Crazy for You Sometimes are completely out of place, followed by the aforementioned Disintegration Principal and its way-too-misplaced lead drop-in, kinda like a sudden thunderstorm but improperly stated in the "middle eight" and at irregular intervals, working much better sporadically than as a clumped intrusion.
The best environment for this CD would be a heartland twilight, air cooling down after a scorcher, Southern Comfort in one hand, a pouch of terbacky chaw in the other, and a few good buds to lazily shoot the breeze with. The release works as both background music and simple reverie -- very Fahey-ish in that respect -- though its abstract flavor might prevent ploughboy appreciation. Structure is minimal, with unexpected accents, but, as a steam of consciousness effort, it has definite solidity. Oh, and the cover artwork's righteous as well, an obvious but highly enjoyable take on the classic Getz/Gilberto LP of 1963 sluiced through Radiohead's Okay Computer.
- Mark S. Tucker

As a guitarist of grandiose and pompous self-worth, instrumental bands have always been at the forefront of my choices for saying something vital with your head and hands. And surprisingly enough, New Jersey has more than a few brave bands that move in that direction. Bands such as Linden’s Ruined Machine, Middlesex foursome In Realm, Wayne’s Dynasty and my favorite instrumental group of all time, Asbury Park’s Chemtrail.

Compositionally speaking, I’ve always felt that it takes a specialist to bring a song and melody together without a standard vocalist. The writer becomes more of a super composer, a mysterious Svengali that pulls a musical piece into their own mad, six-string direction. And if it’s done with the practiced intuition and regimental shredding of a ninja, it can be quite an act of art. Most of the bands listed above have made some leap towards success and scored, but instrumental music is not an easy sell in today’s glutted, pop fashion world of fedora-wearing flunkies. You had better be at the top of your game if you hope to gain any real fanbase.

This next Shoreworld band is working their way towards that goal. With a name that makes Emerson, Lake & Palmer seem smaller than Pee-wee Herman’s Puppet Land Band, Simmons Pryzbylowski Yard Ruane sounds more like a law firm than a musical group. Led by Ocean, NJ singer/guitarist/songwriter Dave Simmons, the group is out in support of their latest effort, This New Life Of Mine.

Simmons and crew tend to be hands-on when it comes to disc details. Along with Kevin Pryzbylowski, he produced the disc and took care of artwork, photography (with Pat Ruane) and liner notes. I believe he allowed someone else to master the disc, but that’s probably because he didn’t have the equipment to do it himself.

Based off of the conceptual narrative of someone consciously embracing an unhealthy illusion over the reality of life’s situations, This New Life Of Mine treads ominous waters. The record’s song titles alone will raise the eyebrow when it comes to revealing the human psyche.

From the very first chorused and crystallized notes of “Nothing Good Will Come Of This,” I know I have a dark and serious band on my hands. Dissonant, echoed electrics ping three-note voicings that carry like a ripple from a thrown stone as the band sleepwalks into the melodic verse. The chord choice and subsequent placement of Simmons and Ruane’s guitar work is the main focus here. When the band kicks in, pocket rhythm work of bassist Mark Yard and drummer Kevin Pryzbylowski push this beast forward with gallons of fuel to spare. With more compositionally sinister fire than any of that ridiculous bullshit Stevie Vai puts out and twice as gritty as ole’ Joe Satriani’s “Echo,” “Nothing Good Will Come Of This” just may be the best thing on the disc.

When questioned about what led to this project after years of trying other things, Simmons told me, “There was a six-year period between this CD and my last one. After I made the Disintegration Principle disc I was on a real high. I was receiving radio play on NPR for my song ‘24/7 Blues.’ I had played a series of shows from CBGBs, Maxwell’s, The Bitter End and even two nights in Las Vegas. I was even working with a small record label as a featured artist.

“Unfortunately, during the recording of my next record, which started in 2007, between the label going bankrupt and problems finding the right backing bands, months turned into years. Of course, I had nothing to show for all this wasted time.

“I had become very frustrated with my efforts. I couldn’t just waste all this time and have nothing. I finally called up a few friends who I had been playing live with and we decided to try to record again. I didn’t want to work with any producers nor did I want to worry about writing a popular song. And most importantly, I didn’t want to record in a studio with time restraints. I really just wanted to tell a story ‘live.’ The band basically learned the songs during each session. I’m a big fan of Coltrane and Davis. I wanted to make a record the way they did in the late ‘50s and early ‘60s.”

Simmons will also be the first to tell you that he doesn’t live in the sunshine happy world of pop music. “I Just Don’t Feel Safe Anymore” beats like a tell-tale heart. Whispering, hypnotic bass and guitar hold the repetitive riff as Morse code guitar lines beep and twirl across the dark and ghostly palate of the song. And while the piece dangles on the edge with a feeling of losing focus, the band manages to hold your interest with their vast bag of musical tricks and arabesque effects.

“Caught In The Ordinary” swings back into the Steve Stevens school of electric guitar. Filled with monster riffs and squawking, wah wah tone, “Caught In The Ordinary” might just be the band’s most “ordinary” song. It’s not a bad thing and still manages to fit into the rest of Simmons’ dark and sinister sermon on This New Life Of Mine.

- —by John Pfeiffer, December 19, 2012

There are a variety of guitars and styles across the album – percussive steel on The purity law, slide on Biscuit and gravy blues, picked guitar Seconds from disaster and so on; blues, folky, electric etc. The mood is mainly lyrical or contemplative, and primarily solo. On a couple of tracks Simmons breaks out in a couple of ways – the title track swaps between and layers fuzzy electric feedback guitar and nylon string melodic, Dream #9 has some bass multitracked, The very first lieis an exciting centre of the album with another big guitar solo, and Crazy for you sometimes has a percussion bed and a vocal. A simple and enjoyable album – relaxed.
Jeremy Keens

http://ampersandetc.virtualave.net/notes06_3.doc
- Jeremy Keens

Overall:
"You've done a fine job of presenting yourself and your music in a professional, attractive manner. Your guitar sound is gorgeous-mellow, ringing bass notes and crisp, clear highs. Your playing is Assured. The recording is very well done. Your use of effects adds variety and appeal to the CD. "

Melody:
"I like the way you are working with tones and colors rather than a tightly structured pop melody. Your playing is relaxed and confident pulling the listener into your world instead of going to theirs."

Structure:
"The structure is freeform and it reminds me of the late, great Sandy Bull." - TAXI A&R Company

Overall:
"You've done a fine job of presenting yourself and your music in a professional, attractive manner. Your guitar sound is gorgeous-mellow, ringing bass notes and crisp, clear highs. Your playing is Assured. The recording is very well done. Your use of effects adds variety and appeal to the CD. "

Melody:
"I like the way you are working with tones and colors rather than a tightly structured pop melody. Your playing is relaxed and confident pulling the listener into your world instead of going to theirs."

Structure:
"The structure is freeform and it reminds me of the late, great Sandy Bull." - TAXI A&R Company

"The Disintegration Principle"
New Jersey is the place where Dave Simmons lives. The
acoustic guitar music Dave Simmons represents is a mix
of jazz, blues, ambient and other acoustic genres. The
influences Dave draws from are Michael Hedges, John
Fahey, Kevin Breits and Stanley Jordan among others.
There are 15 improvisational tracks featured on his new
CD "The Disintegration Principle". The CD starts with
a piece called "Seconds From Disaster" which has a
percussive character in an ambient atmosphere, just
as "Dream # 9 "but which has more alternative jazz
elements in it, just as "Purity Law". There are also a
number of blues songs present like "Salvation Blues",
"Biscuit and Gravy Blues, (which is an ode to John
Fahey), My Troubles Never Leave Me Blues", and
Crazy For You Sometimes", which represent the pure
roots blues. The title track "The Disintegration Principle"
is an acoustic-electric experimental rock composition.
The music of Dave Simmons reflects a lot of feelings
like loneliness and emotional reflections. Dave Simmons
is a versatile guitarist/composer who plays a variety of
styles and knows to absorb a listener in an intriguing
and soulful ambiance.
- Henk te Veldhuis

"THE DISINTEGRATION PRINCIPLE"
Dave Simmons shows in this CD a wide range of stylistic directions as well as a good dose of imagination. There are pieces near to Folk, others with touches of Jazz, and several with elements typical of the Blues, even though all of them keep a fresh character near to the acoustic Ambient trends. Using the guitar as a solo instrument, the artist has created the music of an album that sprouts from the deepest regions of the soul.

VIRGINIA TAMAYO
www.amazing.com

- Amazing Sounds

"THE DISINTEGRATION PRINCIPLE"
Dave Simmons shows in this CD a wide range of stylistic directions as well as a good dose of imagination. There are pieces near to Folk, others with touches of Jazz, and several with elements typical of the Blues, even though all of them keep a fresh character near to the acoustic Ambient trends. Using the guitar as a solo instrument, the artist has created the music of an album that sprouts from the deepest regions of the soul.

VIRGINIA TAMAYO
www.amazing.com

- Amazing Sounds

Dave Simmons has graced these pages in the past, and it’s nice to see him back with new music and directive to boot. I’ve known Simmons for many years now. First, as a member of different area bands, and then as a friend and fellow guitarist. While we had not stayed in touch a lot, I was always aware of his continued foray into playing and writing in other situations. When he came to me with his 2012 project, This New Life Of Mine, for review, I was pleasantly surprised with his direction and playing prowess. He then submitted his 2016 release, Cages, which I reviewed and enjoyed immensely. And now he’s back again with The Light Between.
Simmons tells the story of the birth of The Light Between. “I started writing for the CD, The Light Between, in August 2015 through December 2015. I wrote and recorded 18 demo songs of just guitar on my iPad. About a month later I started contacting musicians I wanted on this CD. Rehearsals and song development started in May 2016, and finished June 2017. For this CD, I worked with my longtime bassist, Mark Yard, and musician/producer/engineer, Steve Puntililo, on drums. I played all the guitars.”
When it comes to describing the recording style of the disc, Simmons says, “Going in, I knew this CD was going to be different than my last few CDs in some ways. First, it was going to be recorded in a conventional studio instead of an abandoned building like Cages, and, This New Life of Mine were. The CD was recorded over two days in July 2017, at Submergent Music and Shorefire Recording Studio.”
As far as the style and overall process of the CD, Simmons says, “Secondly, we planned on performing and recording the CD live. We spent a lot of time revisiting old Miles Davis records, analyzing how he wrote and recorded with his bands. We wanted to have as little editing and overdubs as possible, which is what we accomplished. As an artist, I moved away from intro, verse, chorus-style arrangements. Because the songs are structured in an open format, I wanted to capture the interplay along with the improvisation between the musicians. As a group, we all felt strongly that the CD should have a human element about it. I’m very proud of the performances we captured on this CD.”
But doing a recording like this was not as easy as it might sound. Simmons goes on to tell us, “This all sounds fairly straightforward but it wasn’t easy. My original single guitar demos had a sparse openness about them, which I loved, and that I wanted to retain all while utilizing a rhythm section. Also, these are rock songs, not jazz pieces, and I wasn’t exactly sure how they would translate to a non-rock format without giving the listener guitar fatigue. The most time-consuming part was learning how to communicate musically with one another. I chose each musician for their specific musical voice. We spent months working on the arrangement of the songs, exploring different musical pathways so the songs could develop. We went through all 18 songs until we found the six that best represented my theme for this record.”
When discussing the actual concept, Simmons digs down deep and responds, “My concept for the CD was relationships. I came up with the phrase, ‘The light between you and I. The space between our words and emotions. This is where we once met.’ This was my starting point. Relationships are extremely complicated. I was trying to find those moments where a relationship might succeed or the moment where it starts to fail. I wondered how I could express those spaces with music.”
When you ask Simmons about inspiration and passion for the recording, he tells us, “About a year ago I picked up an endorsement deal from Zemaitis guitars. This changed the way that I viewed myself as an artist. I wanted to make the best piece of art possible. What I mean is, I wasn’t going to cut the song lengths or arrange the songs to fit a radio station format, or even the listener’s tastes or needs. The songs are full musical thoughts. They are provoking, emotional and ever changing, just like what a person experiences throughout their day. It challenges the listener to relax and take the time to enjoy a complete musical piece. I wanted to push the boundaries of this genre by moving away from 1000 note-technical solos. I tried to add different elements of rock, blues, soundscape and at times, even jazz, to create a palette of tone colors to express my ideas.
So, let’s take a listen to The Light Between and see what he has for us now.
The CD starts off with the title-track, “The Light Between.” Coming at 10:09, “The Light Between” is no pop ditty looking for a record contract. It is a bonafide foray into progressive-based, rock ‘n’ roll music. Guitars start things off with grinding chord progressions, and bend as drums and bass pulsate underneath. Simmons has grown so much as a guitarist since the early days in which I knew him and heard him play. This song uses complex chord progressions and riffs to move from section to section, and has many elements of players like Jimmy Page and Tommy Shaw as he bends and shakes his guitar throughout the piece. Overall, “The Light Between” moves in a great direction and contains many excellent nuances and movements. Lead breaks reign throughout and Simmons demonstrates a superior knowledge of guitar prowess. I’m not entirely sure what he’s using here, but the tone is perfect. A truly fantastic song and overall band performance. This is one of four tracks engineered by the great Joe DeMaio over at Shorefire.
The next track is, “Emotional, Technical Abstract 1.” Simmons used a clean, two-handed tapping technique to start things off. The solo guitar work sounds pristine, utilizing extremely clean guitar sounds. Bass clarifies in the background as Simmons does his job. He continues the style throughout the piece. This is the shortest song on the disc, coming in at 2:53.
Things continue with, “Emotional Technical Abstract II-IV.” The drums count off, and the bass becomes more foreground after a few more measures. Simmons is going for pure, unadulterated freeform here. Sort of like Miles Davis, Simmons floats throughout the piece, building and eventually bringing in the drums as he starts to blend chord work with lead breaks. It has a regular meter and feel, gaining momentum and moving up the ladder of sound. He sticks with the two-handed tapping throughout but changes things up as he goes. At around 3:58 things go ballistic. This is when Simmons and crew tear into a rock opera of sorts. Drums, Bass, and guitars flare and fire with all the passion of ELP or early Gary Moore. Simmons manages to capture the listener without boring him to tears, and that’s not easy in this genre.
“Circle of Chaos” is up next. Simmons and company tear into an off-kilter ¾ jam to beat the band. Guitars are gnarly and well-toned as bass and drums explode into flourishes of syncopated delight. Simmons lead work brings back memories of John McLaughlin during his Mahavishnu Orchestra days. Guitars are dirty but bright, giving off a level of distinct clarity that is needed for this type of music. Bass and drums pound the pavement, holding things down to the ground and keeping a continuity overall. The back end shows bass dexterity as Simmons layers everything with a bounty of well-hewn chord work.
“I’ll Follow You Down” is up next. Tremolo guitars sing structured riffs as acoustics flash over the top and bass plucks the bottom. Simmons uses harmonies with his guitar work to change things up. It’s a short and beautiful journey into experimental sound, and it works like gangbusters.
There are a couple of other songs that we don’t have space to include but it’s safe to say that The Light Between is a winning combination of progressive rock, combined with the otherworldly effects of experimental music. Simmons has genuinely impressed with this CD, and I hope he continues to do more in this vein for the future.
If you want to see Simmons live, he will be at The Brighton Bar for an all Instrumental Night with The Inversion Circus, and STC, Super Thrash Bros and more to be announced on Nov. 24. All Ages, $10 to $12, show produced by DAA Entertainment, Brighton Bar. He will also be back at the Brighton with the Rocket Queens (an all-female tribute to Guns N Roses) on Dec. 15.
For more information on Dave Simmons and The Light Between, head over to facebook.com/Simmons.David. - John Pfeiffer