Goodbye Svengali is dedicated to legendary composer, leader, producer and musician Gil Evans (1912-1988). I first encountered Ray Russell a couple of months ago when I heard one of his songs on a sampler from The Wire magazine. The piece was the title track of this album, and it blew me away with its trumpet intro; dark, cool, atmospheric feel; and guitar playing that pierced the silence like a fireball at night.

The album has some spooky fusion moments; it sounds experimental at times. Even on quiet tracks like "Without A Trace" and "Wailing Wall," the sound of Russell's lone guitar, with its otherworldly harmonics and echoing, is sad and majestic at the same time. I love that sort of contradiction in music. If you're expecting straight-ahead jazz, look elsewhere.

Russell's guitar sound can be delicate or skiilfully ferocious, making it sometimes indistinguishable from the work of major rock virtuosos like Jeff Beck.

The CD's sound is first-rate as well. Ray Russell is well known to musicians, but not as familiar to the public at large, which is missing some really innovative sounds. Goodbye Svengali isn't easy-listening music by any stretch. It's challenging, but not suffocating in its presentation. Rather, it mists around you and is punctuated with flashes of Russell's electric-guitar lightning.