Johnny Katchoolik

http://www.guitar9.com/undiscov64b.html

This is a great opening description of the music on Johnny Katchoolik's CD Wings Of The Mind, "The album starts out with an appetizer of tunes that will ease you into the Katchoolik groove. They are filled with light but flavorable percussion sounds, inspired by Katchoolik's taste for world music. Then, you are whisked to a different dimension, where your mind is challenged with various experimental sounds and rhythms. The percussion, fretless bass, and guitars give wings to your mind. Finally, the sonic journey winds down with a few mellow and more contemplative tunes that are designed to help you decompress and relax your mind as you continue your day." No one is 'writer enough' here to improve upon that! For truly unique, instrumentally diverse fusion, rooted in improvisation, yet grounded in composition, check this stuff out. - Guitar9.com

http://www.musicforamerica.org/node/113250

I was sent two CDs by Seattle artist Johnny Katchoolik, and the one I preferred was Wings Of The Mind (PolyAcoustic). He is an artist who wants to create as many dimensions and perspectives to his music as possible, so in a way, The Seattle Demo Sessions Vol. I is a companion piece, and perhaps a better way to view the pieces of the puzzle he offers.

What I liked about Wings Of The Mind was that it was all-instrumental, and I like it because I enjoy hearing someone go places with their music. The opening track, "F2Y", sounds like what would happen if Christopher Cross went back in time with 1974-era Ramsey Lewis. The title track has the kind of stylized guitar work that would make George Benson, Pat Martino, and John McLaughlin proud, playing with power but never going overboard. When he gets into jazz world, he does it with class. He then jumps from reggae to Bossa Nova to funk, and then at points when he might sound well backing Jorge Ben, he jumps out and does something Mahavishnu-ish. I like how he goes all over the place and sounds comfortable with each successful step. It would be cool to see and hear him collaborate with other musicians, but the set-up he has on this is great as is.

The Seattle Demo Sessions Vol. 1 sounds like it comes from a time long gone, and it is. These recordings were recorded in the early 1990's, when grunge was king, if not the lord, of all that is music. On these series of recordings come a man who sounds very comfortable with his music and his voice, and musically is very different from the material on Wings Of The Mind. The songs are a bit more pop-oriented, and may or may not have been an attempt at trying for pop success. They do work today, but back then with the heavy competition from the heavy bands, he could have easily been lost. What it does offer is a sound that was (and still is) very much a part of the indepedent music scene in Seattle, where all you needed was a guitar and a few dreams. Maybe a staff position at The Rocket, who knows. It is interesting to hear these demos and compare them to what he does now, I wonder if the Katchoolik of yesteryear imagined himself to be looking back at himself. - Review by John Book for www.musicforamerica.org