Frets Magazine Review of Nascent

Best known as a member of the California Guitar Trio, Bert Lams is part of a global community that has adopted Robert Fripp's New St andard Tuning (C, G, D, A, E, G, low to high) since it was introduced as an element of his Guitar Craft methodology in the mid '80s. The tuning's extended upper and lower ranges come in handy when rendering the material on the CD, which is drawn from Bach's cello and violin repertoire, rather than the maestro's more commonly transcribed lute works. The 14 compositions are also played on a Martin 000-16GTE steel-string rather than a traditional nylon-string instrument (with a capo on the second fret), adding even more timbral twists.

The first thing that struck me was how comfortable Lams appeared to be with the material. One gets the impression that he has lived with this music for many years, absorbing it deeply into his unconscious so that it reemerges in his playing with minimal intellectual intervention. Of course, this all-important spiritual dimension must be combined with exceptional technical ability and seasoned performance skills to create lovely music and I'm happy to report that's the case. A novel take on Bach's timeless repertoire.

by Barry Cleveland, Frets Acoustic Guitar Magazine

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