During his long career, Austin, Texas-based guitarist and composer Don Cento has performed indie rock and Americana and has produced recording sessions from classical to metal. But on his latest release, Halfway to Mellowtown, he returns to his jazz roots with the inaugural album by his Cento Threeo. Almost entirely comprising Cento’s original compositions, the program does reveal a strong Americana vibe, echoing the sensibilities of genre-blending guitarists such as Bill Frisell and John Scofield, as well as nodding to post-bop antecedents. Described in a press release as a “blues waltz,” the track “Make the Silence Louder” certainly carries a Frisell/Scofield vibe, with twangy, distorted guitar lines and dark rhythms conjuring images of a horse and rider plodding along, trailed by mysterious shadows with evil intent. Cinematic and bristling with the hint of impending violence, the tune would fit perfectly within the soundtrack of a Quentin Tarantino noir or Sergio Leone Western. Cento’s reverberant, razor-wire leads bite deep and are made all the more menacing by drummer Norm Bergeron’s martial patter and bassist Phil Spencer’s doomy acoustic bass, which maintain the uneasy mood throughout. Originally, Cento set out to record a project that reimagined mellow radio hits of the 1960s and ’70s, but as the trio sessions progressed, he became inspired to write more and cover less (the one exception being a lovely read of Roseanne Cash’s “Seven Year Ache”).
