Dušan Jevtović Am I Walking Wrong?
(Moonjune Records, MJR058. CD Review by Eric Ford)

Serbian-born Dušan Jevtović operates on Am I Walking Wrong? with as grungy a rock guitar sound as you’ll ever hear on any rocky fusion CD . It’s extremely intense, saturated and striking. Combine this with his penchant for dissonance and some (doubtless deliberate) eccentricity and you have a pretty diverting album.

The guitar might be the most left-field voice on the recording, but the slickest, most graceful playing comes from (Serbian) drummer Marko Djordjević, who has fantastic technique and taste. The discernible influence of Keith Carlock and a fluidity reminiscent of Gary Novak explain why Djordjevic, resident in NYC, has worked with Wayne Krantz, Matt Garrison, Lionel Loueke and other contemporary luminaries. He has some especially tasty finger-technique contributions that you’re perhaps unlikely to hear elsewhere.

Jevtović is based in Barcelona, where this CD was recorded, with Catalan fretless bassist Bernat Hernández. This is a kick-ass band which nevertheless displays unusual restraint: instead of completely “jamming out”, you get the sense that they have held something back on many of the ten tracks. All but two of the selections are less than five minutes long, the longest just six minutes. Amidst the gnarled guitar convulsions there’s a good deal of humour, including a blues-rock parody, plus a couple of nods to the Balkans in 11/8 and a track in 7 .

It’s all over in less than 45 minutes, far too soon; this arresting and very well recorded album left me wanting more.