in the stream montage

Out-of-print. E-mail for download info (.aiff, .wav, .mp3)

  • Sawyer moves freely among genres and styles and In The Stream shows he is a performer and composer with a wide-open musical vision — (JazzSouth, May 1993)
  • A thoughtful improviser, Sawyer selects notes carefully from among the many that lie beneath his fingers. Like master trumpeter Miles Davis, who punctuated his solos with pockets of emptiness, Sawyer lets each note find its own gravity before moving on to the next. But just when you think you’ve got him nailed as an aw-shucks guitarist who picks unobtrusively in the shadows, one listen to Stream reveals Sawyer’s alter ego: a boisterous blues man who honks nasty and loud… “Blue Diner” jolts like a boiling cup of coffee.”—Joe Vanderford (The Independent Weekly; Durham, NC)
  • “There is refinement in his ability to develop, bend and restructure a line. His compositions and extrapolative  improvisation insinuate themselves into your mind…….Sawyer’s NC sideman are as cogent and hip as their more nationally recognized counterparts.”—Owen Cordle (N&O; Raleigh, NC)
  • “…obviously enjoys the bop and Coltrane-style free improvisational genres. On those tracks where he uses a sax, he lets the horn player lead with good effect…..there are a pair of selections which I’ve always felt were the guitar’s forte-a gentle ballad and a melodic piece that builds in intensity with each successive pass. He uses each to effectively demonstrate his own strengths.”—Paul Matthews (CADENCE)
  • “The album’s title brings to mind third stream jazz, in this instance mixing electric guitar with acoustic instruments to invent compositions with rock, straightahead, and new music elements. In The Stream is an engaging yet uncompromisingly provocative effort for the serious jazz listener.”—Wayne Self (JazzSouth)
  • “This is meaty, modern, modal stuff. Key is Sawyer’s playing: No strummy sloshing around here; it’s dead-on, down to the last well-placed blue note. This is an adventuresome group.”—Dean Smith (Charlotte News & Observer)