Chris Wong “Edible Suite”

Hungry ears will be stunningly satisfied upon listening to UK guitarist Chris Wong’s “Edible Suite”. He is the master chef cooking up intriguingly high quality dishes that take the listener through a bountiful smorgasbord of creativity. The chef’s tool of choice is the guitar and is blended to the up most in perfection. Depending on your taste; this treat could be Beef Wellington or Chateaubriand but in any case is oh so good. By the way he is also responsible for the additional basses, keyboards, guitar synth and all programming and this being his solo release also found him engaging the engineering side as well. Let’s sample all these tasty treats to see just what the ingredients are that make them so satisfying.

Oh But Jean – Drum roll please and were off. A fusion affair of fine keyboard work interlaced with some excellent guitar playing by Chris. It gives you the feeling that something could be changed or done better but in the end is better left alone. It’s like a little Philly Cream Cheese mixed with some Cool Whip and sugar and you end up making the easiest cheese cake known to man.

Lozenge – A funky affair that seems to have much experimentation in its presence. It’s heavy for about a minute before it eases into a soft keyboard part that ends up having Chris solo behind it. It regains its funky edge once again with Chris soloing before heading into some fine bass work. This track is just full of twists and turns and makes you want to get up and boogie. His drum programming is A number one.

Maddies Juice – The premise behind this tune is about a three year old and how she called a certain drink her juice. I can really relate to this tune in the fact that while my neighbors where grocery shopping and came across the liquor section their then three year old daughter yelled out daddy’s juice. So now instead of saying beer we say daddy’s juice. It’s light and fluffy in a colorful way and gives you that sense of childhood play.

Just Desserts – Here we have added rhythm guitar along with the keyboards for added punch. This one might just be pie in the face included in the beat down. At the 2:30 mark we have a harsh guitar part that gives this tune a little rock edge.

Food Colouring – There is no doubt that this tune is about one’s adventure back to rock. The rhythm section pounds away while Chris solos along with a number of short precisely placed keyboard effects. The color is created by the prevalence of E chords.

Chu Wing Kam – Pronounced Chewing Gum. Its disposition is bubbly and addictive like the burst of flavor when you put that first stick of gum in your mouth. Nice chord structure followed with a beautiful guitar solo that flows into a keyboard solo.

Inner Pickle – Is the most progressive tune on the disk and my favorite track. This track moves along in an adulterated state of mind. It also does a nice job showcasing the guitar playing ability of Chris Wong who this time totally owns the lead. Nothing is held back here and in fact is extenuated throughout. This all may have been brought about by the taste of one bitter inner pickle.

Salad Days – Happy days might be a better description for this track. It’s a light and breezy piece that gives the sense of total enjoyment. It has a nice bouncy chord to start off and has a dancing melody that keeps you on your toes. Its that feeling you get when your about to go on vacation.

Late Night Drinking Session – Welcome to the TV show Cheers. It’s the first thing that struck my mind upon hearing this tune for the very first time. Its flirting melody moves along in a sociable way but you get the feeling that it would rather be doing something else. Once again the awesome guitar soloing is played behind the keyboards so as not to come across to strong. This also keeps the melody at the top of the game.

Ice Cream And Yogurt – When these two get together things tend to get a little bit funky and unpredictable. We have the Ice Cream delivering the heavy punching Rhythm while the Yogurt provides the lighter side and the melody that adds some nice contrast.

Bitter Sweet - Is that thing we've all been through of smiling at the wonderfulness of being with someone incredible and remembering how amazing and beautiful it was, while at the same time feeling sad that it’s over and wondering if we will ever experience or capture that feeling once again. The melody is sluggish and bitter but the acoustic accents add the light that is needed to be sweet.

Insight - Chris works in many areas in music, He does a lot of theatre work as a musical director and arranger as well as a player. He also works as a guitarist and musical director for a British punk icon, Toyah Willcox (Mrs. Robert Fripp), as well as a freelance guitarist and bassist. His next project is a short 3 date tour of Estonia with Toyah and Bill Rieflin (drummer with REM) as the band 'The Humans', an experimental outfit recently formed to allow Toyah more freedom in her lyric writing.

Observation – Once again we have a guitar virtuoso that writes some compelling music and puts the compositions ahead of his playing. This I believe is becoming now a predominate theme from guitarist all over the world and it’s made for some fabulous music. This particular labor of love that was created and for a time only thought to be heard by family and friends has now found itself half way across the world to one new happy fan and this fan is so happy that Chris Wong decided to share his work with the rest of the world. It’s a curiously fascinating work that I found wonderfully written and keenly executed. A true labor of love. Way to go Chris.