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Natural Timbre represents the Yes guitarist's first completely acoustic studio album. Howe's magic is all over this one, both in terms of providing a relaxed, expert feel in his playing and as a songwriter — these are some of the best pieces he has committed to CD in a while. Far from being the dull, unidimensional affairs that solo guitar albums often are quickly reduced to, this one is refreshing to listen to throughout, organic and uncluttered, instrumentals with simple, elegant melodies that leave a lingering impression pretty quickly. Look no further than "Curls & Swirls," an homage to mandolin groups and orchestras (I wasn't aware these existed!) that were around during the 1920s. This is my favorite piece on the album, an earful of melody played by a diverse body of guitar classes. Here are some of the other highlights to be found on the album. "Distant Seas" is a piece that drifts gently along in the hands of a classical Kohno guitar and Japanese Koto, augmented by son Dylan Howe's sensitive drumming. "Provence" is a beautiful instrumental with mandolins, a Nashville-tuned Martin 0018, and Howe's dobro whistling alongside frequent supporting musician Anna Palm's violin. "Family Tree" similarly exploits a body of different string sounds — here, a family of Martins (the 0018, a Hawaiian Steel, 12-string, and mandolin) — in service of a piece that is crystal clear in attractiveness. Also great are the guitar duet "Dream River," "Golden River," and his interpretation of Vivaldi's "Winter." Of course, for Yes fans, the height of the album most likely will be Howe's all-instrumental revisitations of Yes material, closing out the album. First, "Your Move" from "I've Seen All Good People" is an astonishing recreation, with recorders and the same Portuguese guitar from the original version. Next, there is a fun version of "Disillusion" from "Starship Trooper" and finally, a positively sublime "To Be Over" from Relayer. Of course, Howe also inserts some obligatory pieces representing his crowd-pleasing styles: the Chet Atkins-influenced country pickers (e.g., "Intersection Blues," "In the Course of the Day") and reflective, solo classical pieces (e.g., "J's Theme"). He also reaches back into the distant past of guitar history, covering "The Little Galliard" by John Dowland. As a side note, Natural Timbre is one of, if not the, final recording to feature ex-Syn keyboardist, arranger, and longtime Yes associate Andrew Pryce Jackman (Chris Squire's Fish Out of Water and Howe's Steve Howe Album), who died in August 2003 of a heart attack. And a great album to be associated with as a parting: this is the most captivating effort that Howe has put out in years, and one of the few post-2000 Yes-related solo albums to come out that is truly worth having. One of the perfect albums to play during a long car drive with the sun roof down, on a bright summer's day. review by Joe McGlinchey — 9-20-06 —