Anthony Fesmire spends his weekdays teaching. He’s a professor of music at College of the Desert, where he founded the Jazz Studies program, and he holds degrees from Berklee, USC Thornton, and the University of Northern Colorado. “Dream,” released on September 25th, shows what a guitarist with that background does when he writes for himself. It’s an instrumental that sits somewhere between rock and jazz, and it’s the first single from his upcoming album Against the Current.
The track opens with heavy guitar chords supporting improvised organ flourishes, then moves into an energetic main theme doubled by guitar and organ before the melodic guitar passages take over. That organ is nuts, and I can’t find a better word for it. It’s extremely exciting to listen to, and the unconventional harmony is so delicious. What stops it from sounding random is the steady bass in the back, and it actually makes perfect sense, with the voice leading ensuring smooth transitions from one idea to the next.
The guitar-led sections are dreamy and ethereal and far less of the carnival of insanity that I’d use to describe the organ-led sections. There is so much music here and such a rich story being told if you let yourself go with it. The press materials say it will inspire repeated listening, and that tracks.
His bio says he draws on post-bop harmony, odd and mixed meter, and modern jazz improvisation, with strong melodies and groove at the center. His listed influences include John McLaughlin, John Petrucci and Joe Satriani. Scott Smith is credited on piano and keyboards, David Lockeretz on bass, and Steve Tashjian on drums.
Fesmire has also released four albums with the jazz-rock trio Outside Pedestrian, and Against the Current is due in December 2026, his sixth record. If “Dream” is any indication, it’s an album to look forward to for anyone who likes their instrumental rock with some real harmonic depth.
