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Reviews

Kevin Kastning / Sándor Szabó — To Capture the Light
(Greydisc GDR3596, 2025, CD / DL)

Kevin Kastning / Carl Clements — Though Seldom Revealed
(Greydisc GDR3598, 2025, CD / DL)

by Peter Thelen, Published 2025-12-04

To Capture the Light Cover artThough Seldom Revealed Cover art

The two titles under review capture guitarist Kevin Kastning in collaboration with two members of his inner circle, Hungarian guitarist Sándor Szabó, and American saxophonist / flutist Carl Clements. On some of the previous recordings — particularly the three part Convergence series from 2020 to 2023, Kastning, Szabó and Clements composed and played together; this time Kastning works with each of them individually in duo settings, and the results are nothing short of exceptional. To Capture the Light is all guitars, Szabó on his six- and sixteen-string classical guitars, Kastning with his seventeen-string sub-contra guitar, eighteen-string contraguitar, thirty-string contra-baritone guitar, thirty-string double contraguitar, and twinty-four string double sub-contraguitar. That’s a lot of guitars and a lot of strings — go to Kastning’s website and click on ‘instruments’ and prepare to be amazed. I don’t believe there are any overdubs here — on first listen one might believe that this is some kind of gentle inspired improvisation between the two guitarists, but then again, Kastning recorded his parts in York County, Maine, and Szabó recorded his parts in Vac, Hungary (as well as mixing and mastering the results splendidly), so one or the other guitarist had to start each of the album’s ten pieces. Many gems here, including “And Carries Outward,” “A Universal Forever,” and the closer “Within Light Capturing,” but honestly it’s easy to get immersed in any of these pieces, each is a world unto their own.

On Though Seldom Revealed, Kastning plays most of the aforementioned guitars, while Clements plays soprano and tenor saxes, as well as alto flute. Unlike the finely tangled chemistry of two intertwining guitarists, here Kastning and Clements have very different roles, the former providing a rhythm, foundation, and overall environment, and the latter providing melodic solos throughout the album’s seven tracks, which tend to be somewhat longer that those on To Capture the Light. The overall feeling here is more dreamy and spacious, each player often pausing to give the other a chance to make a brief solo statement. All of the tracks herein were recorded on the same day at the same studio, so there is a good chance this represents a live improvisation, composed and performed in real time. With the instrumentation at hand, this one seems more in line with much of the ECM jazz records of the early to mid-70s, like John Abercrombie or early Pat Metheny (whom Kastning studied under). More than anything, Though Seldom Revealed conjures up a feeling of peace, tracks like “Neither Night Nor Water,” opener “Now a Path, Now a Journey,” and “Its Own Season” all go far to underscore that feeling.

Filed under: New releases, 2025 releases

Related artist(s): Kevin Kastning, Sándor Szabó, Carl Clements

More info
http://kevinkastning.bandcamp.com

 

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