Kevin Kastning :: Across Tall Rain

Across Tall Rain: Reviews and Quotes

Kevin Kastning & Bruno Råberg – Across Tall Rain – Greydisc Records
Posted On 17th February 2026 By grzech In All That Jazz /
release date: 24,02,2026 via Greydisc Records

"Announcing Across Tall Rain, the new album on Greydisc Records, by Kevin Kastning (US) and Bruno Råberg (Sweden/US), as always, it is a great pleasure.

This is their second album together, with more collaborative album projects underway, after their debut Silent Dimensions. Almost two years passed between them. 2024 was Kasting’s year for the Duo recordings with a double bass, as he also made another one then, In Visible Ascent, with Brad Mehldau‘s Trio bassist, Larry Grenadier. All in just a month. Following 2025 expanded into the Trio recording, Triple Helix, with completely different vibes, sporting two wind players: American saxophonist Carl Clements and Iranian clarinettist Soheil Peyghambari. With Across Tall Rain, Kastning and Raberg reunite and return to the project and the aesthetics they started in the past.

This pairing of instruments provides a unique palette for these seven new compositions for 36-string Double Contraguitar, 16-string Subcontraguitar, 24-string Subcontraguitar, 28-string Contraguitar, and Double bass. Kevin and Bruno have an immediate artistic connection, which can be heard in each of these modern compositions. International release date is 24 February 2026."

- g point audio (UK)
March 2026

Kevin Kastning & Bruno Råberg: Across Tall Rain
(2026, download / streaming, --, bandcamp)
"Multi-string acoustic guitar player Kevin Kestning and double bass player Bruno Råberg have just released "Across Tall Rain" next week. It's the duo's second collaboration, after the 2024 "Silent Dimensions" album.

Expect spacious, open soundscapes in which complex movements are performed. Adventurous, but also a perfect soundtrack for a relaxing or even a reflective moment."

- United Mutations (US)
April 2026

Kevin Kastning & Bruno Raaberg - 2026 - Across Tall Rain
March 31, 2026
(28:45; Greydisc) (5 out of 6 stars)

"This is the second album from Kevin Kastning (36-string Double Contraguitar, 16-string Subcontraguitar, 24-string Subcontraguitar, 26-string Contraguitar) and Bruno Råberg (Double bass), following on from 2024’s ‘Silent Dimensions’. Råberg is a Swedish musician who has been living in the States for more than 40 years and is a teacher at both the Berklee Global Jazz Institute and at Berklee College of Music and has recorded 12 albums as band leader and another 30 as a sideman.

What makes this such a fascinating release is not only the way the two musicians interact, but also that Bruno is pushing the boundaries of his instrument just as Kevin is with his. There may be staccato notes plucked very high on the neck which provide an almost percussive element, jazz-like melodic runs or even a bowed technique which provides a totally different backdrop for Kevin to play against. As on the last album, Kevin often sounds more as if he is performing on a harp or harpsichord, and we get a coming together of modern classical and jazz where both are masters and listening to what is happening to understand where they should go next, or if one needs to let the other go on their own journey for a while. Hugely complex and complicated for the most part, both musicians fully understand the need for space and contrast, slowing it down when the time is right.

The coming together of two very different styles is absolutely fascinating, and at times it feels very Eastern European in the melodic approach, which is quite strange given their respective backgrounds."

- Progressor (Uzbekistan)
Kev Rowland, March 2026

Kevin Kastning / Bruno Råberg — Across Tall Rain
(Greydisc no#, 2026, CD / DL)

by Peter Thelen, Published 2026-05-01

"Bruno Råberg is a Swedish bassist who has been working from the United States since 1981; he’s also a teacher at the Berklee Global Jazz Institute and at Berklee College of Music in Boston, in addition to being a regular collaborator with guitarist Kevin Kastning. Recent releases like Intervallum and Silent Dimensions have been reviewed in Exposé in the last few years. Kastning is a unique guitarist and musical instrument inventor whom we have covered regularly going back to his 2007 and 2008 collaborations with Sandor Szabó Resonance and Parallel Crossings, although he has been releasing original material going back to the late 80s. For this recording, Råberg plays double bass and Kastning plays 36-string double contraguitar, 16-string sub-contraguitar, 24-string sub-contraguitar, and 28-string contraguitar — for an idea of what all these unique instruments look like (and their tunings), jump over to Kastning’s website and specifically the ‘instruments’ page. The seven pieces herein range from interludes of barely over a minute to longer pieces of six or seven minutes, some seem to be composed, or at least planned, while others tend to have the spark of pure improvisation. No clues are given, and both musicians seem to be giving everything they’ve got, and it varies from gentle and majestic to what might seem like a fairly wild ride. Råberg uses the full range of bass techniques throughout as required, and there are also percussive elements, although one is never sure which player is providing them; they tend to occur when the bassist is most busy, presumably leaving it to Kastning. Overall it’s kind of a short album, around 29 minutes total, but there’s so much going musically that most listeners might not even notice. The label assures us that more collaborative projects between Kastning and Råberg are underway, something more to look forward to."

- Exposé Magazine (US)
May 2026