CATERINE

CATERINE: Cognition 2002 (CD, 48:16); Caterine Music Style: Instrumental symphonic progressive Total rating: 13-1/2 out of 16
Erstwhile heavy metal guitarist Jimmy Dee Caterine (Sacred Rite) realizes his rather tastefully orchastrated symphonic ambitions with 'Cognition', a collection of 11 instrumental tracks divided between three movements ("Rebirth," "Soul Discovery" and "Cognition"). Caterine does most of the work on guitars, bass, guitar synth, drums and piano, helped along by four other players on bass, drums, percussion and piano. Despite the man's musical pedigree, don't expect a chops-drenched shredfest. Rather, much of this music is delicately lush, flowing, and introspective, with just enough bombast to keep things balanced. The classically flavored "Intrigue," matching Caterine's nimble acoustic guitar with Jordet's eloquently melodic piano, is a real show-stealer. "Venice," likewise, captures a sense of Latin romanticism with Caterine's aucoustic playing nicely off Jordet's echo-y harpsichord-like keys. Elsewhere, "Enlighten" returns the rock crunch beneath yet another lyrically melodic guitar lead ... very nice! And so it goes with this mostly mid-tempo, delightfully melodic and creatively arranged album. For anyone who doubts that prog has "soul," check out Cognition. - John Collinge

Guitar virtuosos may finally be wising up. Any hack with a six-string can masturbate all over a CD filled with faster-than-thou fretwork that lacks imagination and demands a strong-willed listener. But it takes real talent to craft an instrumental guitar album that treats each song with the respect it deserves. Enter 39-year-old James Dallas Caterine – veteran of such rock and metal bands as Sacred Rite, Tragic Nancy and Time Machine, and a guitarist who's also adept at playing bass, drums and piano. The 11 tracks (plus one bonus cut) on Caterine's first solo album, Cognition, embrace lush orchestral arrangements, defer to acoustic delicacy and revel in melodic nirvana. When you don't even notice that music has no lyrics, you know you're spinning an exceptional instrumental album, and Cognition is a perfect example. Divided into three sections – Rebirth, Soul Discovery and Cognition – the album seems to follow some sort of concept, perhaps a personal theme that chronicles Caterine's own life. Just read the liner notes for insight into what may have been going through the multi-instrumentalist's head when he was laying down tracks with such titles as "Search for Solace," "Tears," Segue to the Heart," "Enlighten" and "Shades of Life": "Cognition was recorded in the bedroom, garage, living room & bathroom of my former home in Las Vegas, NV, and mastered in Phoenix, AZ, between jobs, bands, paralysis, addictions, nervous breakdowns, car wrecks & major eye surgery." A bizarre fact related to the above statement: Caterine was involved in car accident in April 2001. After several surgeries, he remains blind in his left eye – which is the image on the cover of Cognition. The cover concept and title, however, were actually conceived almost two years earlier, which further fuels the argument that Caterine's fluid sense of melody and exceptional flair for aural details border on the miraculous. Cheers, good fellow. 4-1/2 out of 5 rating
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- Michael Popke

It's always interesting to take the walk to the mailbox. Will there be bills? Well, of course there are bills but in my case I also get the chance to look for other cool things in my mailbox. Packages of all shapes and sizes carrying round discs with sounds, melodies and rhythms, press kits with cool gifts, and bill come to my mailbox. In this trip I discover the EvO:R member Jimmy Caterine.

Jimmy Caterine, former guitarist for the group Sacred Rite offers an 11 song journey through the realms of “Rebirth”, “Soul Discovery”, and “Cognition”. Caterine's love of classical music drives this disc. The evidence of this is not just touched on in this disc but is splattered all over the place. I've always been a huge fan of the blending of classical strings and modern rock guitar and this disc had plenty of both. It never became an indulgent journey into extreme speed and dexterity as many of such CD eventually become. This CD remained very controlled throughout even though a few times I thought the guitar pyrotechnics were just seconds away.

The first time I listened to “Cognition” I was drawn to the complexity of his music. I could hear different sounds and effects going on in the background, things I wasn't use to hearing on the rash of many current CD projects. The additional soundscape added a number of layers to some very complex chord patterns and allowed Caterine to really express himself when he chose those magic moments.

My only misgivings about the Cognition project was that it was recorded in a home studio using a set of head phones or mixed down via a computer using small near field multi-media speakers to do the final mixdown. Why should this be a big concern on my part? Because this is one damn good disc. One that screams out for a bigger and wider soundstage when as a listener you want to hear everything this disc has to offer.
Now on the brighter side: with a good set of headphones you can hear the well crafted music of Jimmy Caterine.

Cognition is a true listeners disc. What I mean by that is, what you get from this disc is not going to be the exact same as when someone else listens to it for the first time. I think every listener will take something with them after each listen..

One of the things I like to look for in a song is not only the melody, after all we all like something that we can easily identify a song by and usually it is the melody, but the under lying accents of the other instruments. On Cognition it was hard sometimes to tell which was the melody and what was the rhythm. The parts blending well enough for there to be two maybe three distinct patterns going on that could be followed as the main theme of the song, giving the listener a large pallet to listen to in just one song.

As a first pre-listen conception I thought this would be a standard electric guitar disc. Having familiar distorted and overdriven melodies, I am glad I was mistaken. Don't get me wrong I love a good lead guitar riff but the acoustic guitar on this disc is well placed and very appropriate.

At the time of this review I think I am on my fifth listen of this disc. Often times, because of the number of discs I receive, the disc gets listened to enough times to get a feel for the music then it is put into my files. This disc will not get to the files any time soon as it will stay in my CD player for quite a while.

That is the best recommendation I can come up with for Jimmy Caterine's “Cognition”…It’s a keeper!
Bill Carrera
- EvO:R Street Journal