Gunn-Truscinski Duo’s “For Eddie Hazel” is a transcendent guitar celebration

Guitars are, apparently, back (baby). Fender has reported record guitar sales, which if nothing else suggests that people are making the most of quarantine life beyond breadmaking. To hear Steve Gunn’s swirling layers of effects on Gunn-Truscinski Duo’s “For Eddie Hazel,” however, you might be convinced that guitars are, in fact, devices through which one can travel through space and time—a musical feat that might make anyone queue up to have a device of their own capable of such magic. A tribute of sorts to the titular Hazel, the late guitar legend of Funkadelic, “For Eddie Hazel” is a glorious celebration of the guitar, employing the rich tone and cavernous Echoplex effects of mind-bending compositions like “Maggot Brain.” But instead of playing like his mama just died, Gunn is channeling spirits from the beyond in a gorgeously vibrant seance, his six strings and amplifier the catalyst for interdimensional communication. It’s a literal joyful noise, each cloud of distortion and echo a step closer to transcendence.

From Soundkeeper, out October 9 via Three Lobed