Jeffrey Roden

Jeffrey Roden's The Floor of the Forest was inspired by Ernest Hemingway's novel -For Whom the Bell Tolls, and each of the tracks that make up The Floor of the Forest pays homage to Hemingway's sure-handed way of producing work defined as what is only true and essential. With these sort of compositional precepts in mind, Jeffrey Roden has crafted an excellent work that seems to be focused, strangely enough, around the bass guitar, his primary instrument, and very minimal melodic material. The minimal use of a melodic motif actually does more to punctuate the recording than one can hear after a single listen, which comparable to Hemingway's writing sort of leaves the feeling of a profound statement or epiphany left hanging by an ellipsis, only for that ellipsis to be some kind of gestation period for the point to sink in and be continued in the next paragraph. There are a variety of other timbres going on throughout the recording, the typical rock/jazz ensemble instrumentation, but refreshingly they are playing atypical roles, which makes Jeffrey Roden's The Floor of the Forest that much better. This is one of those great recordings that listeners can't say enough good things about. There's an aesthetic about this music that brings to mind Tortoise, but that's probably just the bass and its prominence in the compositional fabric; yet there's also something that seems strikingly ambient despite its use of the bass as a primary instrument, which is usually a no-no in that genre. Jeffrey Roden's The Floor of the Forest is fantastic recording. This is great work and one that will expand listeners' sonic consciousness with every listen. Great work. ~ Matt Borghi, All Music Guide