Reviewed by David Faulkner

As other reviews on the CR site attest, Kansas-based Charles is a gifted guitarist. Classically trained, he has appeared with the likes of Pat Metheny (although no jazz chops were detected here). This CD has a curious mix of instrumental pieces. Half are original compositions, half are covers. Of the covers, some are mainstream pop (Del Shannon, Eagles, Beatles), and others are worship songs (Darrell Evans, Tim Hughes). The music works better as background than upfront listening - when you notice that the lead lines on Smart's acoustic guitar compete for attention with the bass parts on some tracks. For relaxing at the end of the day, though, this is fine fare. Given that I like to pay closer attention to my music, Smart won't make me defect from Phil Keaggy as my fretmeister of choice, but there is no doubting his competence and devotion.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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