TOM GUARNA "SPIRIT SCIENCE"

Tom Guarna – a guitarist praised by DownBeat for the “emotion, tension, surprise and passion” in his music – has assembled yet another dream team of a band for Spirit Science, his second release for Destiny Records and his eighth overall. To realize a vision steeped in Pythagorean ideas of sacred geometry, the New York-based Guarna convened a group of venturesome, virtuoso peers: reed player Ben Wendel, keyboardist Aaron Parks, bassist Joe Martin and drummer Justin Faulkner. These top-flight musicians richly complement Guarna’s textured guitar work, which blends his characteristically glowing electric guitar tone with otherworldly guitar synth and light-as-air steel-string acoustic. Overall, Spirit Science represents the broadest sonic palette Guarna has conjured on record. The album draws inspiration from sacred geometry, "those laws that drive everything in existence,” the guitarist explains. “It’s where math and science meet with spirit and matter – ideas that humans have studied since the ancients, from Pythagoras to Da Vinci." At a time when so many people are looking to science to save us from our global plight, the concepts of Spirit Science may have special resonance. “Science and natural laws drive every part of our lives whether we recognize it or not,” Guarna says. “You don’t need to know a thing about it to enjoy this music, but I hope the song titles are at least evocative food for thought. Mostly, I hope that listeners experience the album as an imaginative sonic journey that they can take from the safety of home.” TOM GUARNA