Known to rock fans as Deep Purple’s longest-serving guitarist, Steve Morse (no relation to Neal Morse) stepped away from the band in 2022 to care for his wife Janine, who was battling cancer and sadly passed away in 2024. After an understandable period of reflection, he’s returned to making music once more. The album’s closing track, the gorgeous ‘Taken By An Angel’, featuring Morse’s son Kevin, was written for and performed at Janine’s memorial service.
Steve Morse has quite the musical hinterland, having done far more than his impressive tenure with Purple. His previous bands include The Dixie Dregs, Flying Colors, and Kansas, alongside fronting his own band. It’s to this latter project he’s returned, delivering their first album since 2009’s Out Standing In Their Field. The reunion with bandmates Dave LaRue (bass) and Van Romaine (drums) has clearly reinvigorated him. As Morse enthuses: “They’re the bedrock of this trio and our chemistry is magical.”
There’s certainly something special happening between them. This album amalgamates multiple styles, jazzy tinges sit alongside blues and funk touches, with rock threading through rather than dominating. The wholly instrumental nature of the album showcases a receptiveness to diverse influences without restrictive boundaries. Morse’s playing wouldn’t look out of place on any guitar virtuoso compilation, his technique is that stellar, and his guitar work sits right out front.
Singling out individual tracks proves challenging when the musicianship remains consistently first-class across all nine songs. There are power runs, gorgeous melodic passages, and an overarching sense of three musicians rediscovering the joy of creating together. Special mention goes to ‘Tumeni Partz’, which features amazing interplay between the trio, with rapid chord changes and the kind of complexity found on a Liquid Tension Experiment album. The title track ‘Triangulation’ sees John Petrucci adding his prog magic, with glorious guitar fills from both men.
While there are usually limited ways a traditional three-piece can perform, Steve Morse Band transcend these constraints through sheer quality of musicianship.
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