Ava Mendoza

Among modern day guitarists Ava Mendoza is most certainly a virtuoso, having graced recordings from Nels Cline, Carla Bozulich, William Parker, Fred Frith, Matana Roberts, and Mick Barr, and working as an integral part of Bill Orcutt’s quartet. The thorny term sometimes conjures images of dry technique over emotion’s sway, but Mendoza has never let skill subvert substance. When she’s at the helm —with Unnatural Ways, Mendoza-Hoff Revels, or solo —there’s an intensity and tumultuousness to her playing. Through staggering string runs, Mendoza threads heat and pain. Each note leaves its laceration on the listener, each phrase causes contusion. Her catalog is well stocked with solo works, but none are quite as biting and as hypnotic as The Circular Train. Lodged between the avant tangle of Television or Sonic Youth and the molten jazz that she’s crafted with Parker, the record is visceral and volcanic, a culmination of years of chewing on these pieces until they pierce effortlessly.

Built for darkness, the record documents visions of mines, jungles, and miles of train track. The narrative stitches together pieces from Mendoza’s familial past, infusing her playing with decades of dust that’s built up in the DNA. The ores seep into the bloodstream shredding pieces of soul on their way to the strings. It’d be disingenuous to say that Mendoza has never sounded this harrowing, but the record ranks among her best. “Pink River Dolphins” channels Patti Smith, “Dust From The Mines” divines Loren Connors, and “Irene Goodnight” turns Leadbelly’s blues into a knotted farewell. The Circular Train takes Mendoza’s playing to new heights and leaves its mark long after the last notes.

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