by Brenton Plourde @ JazzReview.com
December 7th, 2009

The guy plays guitar. The guy is not bad. Who is the guy? Guitarist Christopher Schreiner is known in some circles as “the guy” and to some people, not putting a name to a face is a good thing and to some people it isn’t. Schreiner releases his debut album titled Only Human with six of the eight tracks composed by Schreiner with one sharing credit with keyboardist Chris Coogan and the other an interpretation of Coltrane’s "Syeeda’s Song Flute."

A graduate of Berklee College of Music, Schreiner has a melodism of his own. "Icarus" is a slow moving piece that allows Schreiner to flow effortlessly throughout. The album has a light, jazz rock feel to it. The cover of Coltrane’s "Syeeda’s Song Flute" and "Youngblood" are more upbeat tracks which also works well for Schreiner's style. As much as the album is layered with Schreiner and drummer Tyger MacNeal, David Livolsi on bass and keyboardist Chris Coogan, the layering does not hamper any of the effects that Schreiner and the others are trying to purvey.

The album ends with some more slow movers like "Her Hypnotic Heart" and "Something Beautiful," for which Schreiner has really found a way to balance between slow to upbeat and back to slow again with Schrenier stating in his press release that his style is “…a reflection of my taste in music, I gravitate towards hypnotic grooves of neo-soul and R&B, as well as, the music of seminal guitar heroes of the past and present…”

The guy is Christopher Schreiner. Now you know who he is. Only Human will give you a better idea of who this melodic guitarist is. The question has been answered.

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