dragonflycoreytamas By John Stevenson Dragonfly is not your average Canadian band. Led by Corey Tamas who has been playing guitar for more than 30 years, Dragonfly’s distinctive sound coalesces around influential rock and jazz voices on the instrument such as Al Di Meola, Robert Fripp, Adrian Belew and Steve Vai. With a winning combination of intelligent song writing, daring instrumental performances and a singular sound, the 14 songs on the band’s debut CD, Amplification, run a broad gamut of emotions. There’s the mellowed out vibe of Graciana, sitting in stark contrast to tunes such as All the Anger in the World – a roiling sonic capsule of four-minute rage. Amplification features varied influences. On the opening number, Break It In Two, Anwar Khurshid’s Indian sitar snakes its way into our consciousness before giving way to Corey’s ballsy vocals and unmistakeable wailing guitar. The drum-guitar sympatico on the recording is readily apparent. Corey’s mercurial axe is the perfect foil for the hydraulic insistence of Aaron Ferrera’s busy backbeats and tricky shuffles. This finds its most inventive realisation on pieces such as Push and Prison Break. Vocalists MJ Cyr and Olga Zoubkova also turn in sterling performances. With its eclectic, yet hard edged sound, recordings such as Amplification are helping to redraw the contours of 21st century music. To purchase tracks from the CD please visit this link.