Solo instrumental guitarist, Jeff Aug, recently released a new collection of songs, entitled Wedding Song.  In general, Jeff has a flair for presenting the familiar with a twist.  He is an American, yet he resides in Germany.  Instead of crediting his head and his heart for his work, he credits his fingers for the creative impetus behind his music.  Instead of planning reasonably paced tours, Jeff strives to break records; he currently has bragging rights for playing 9 shows, in 9 countries within 24 hours. 

Wedding Song has the familiar intimacy of having a close friend play guitar in your living room amongst attentive listeners, but with a certain driving force that makes it much more dynamic than mere background music.  The album, a heady concoction of rich acoustic sounds, is purely instrumental.  Aug’s style is nimble and spontaneous, yet polished.  Not a single note sounds out of place, yet without any danger of a canned or overly produced quality.  Beginning with the first song, also entitled “Wedding Song,” Jeff combines sparkling melodies, with deeply resonating low notes that literally reverberate in your chest.  The pace of Jeff’s music vacillates both within and between songs, which keeps the music stimulating and lively.  The songs blend seamlessly together.  Wedding Song has a total of 14 tracks, but my favorites are the title track, “Listen up, Jazzhole!” and “7 Ate the Cat (and called it a boogie).” 

Precision in Jeff’s playing gives his music a nearly visual quality, as if you can see his fingers selecting the notes with a meticulous intuition.  Enjoy this album with good friends and good wine, and you may feel as if Mr. Aug has made a spontaneous trans-Atlantic trip to join you.