16. July 2025
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Jim “Kimo” West & David Vito Gregoli – Travelogue

Florian Buechtingby Florian Buechting

Jim "Kimo" West & David Vito Gregoli - Travelogue

Jim "Kimo" West & David Vito Gregoli - Travelogue
4.9

Rating

 4.9/5

Flyctory.com Pros

  • Beautiful harmonic sound
  • Very intense and skilled listens
  • Versatile album

I just met Jim Kimo West just on last weekend. As the long-time guitarist of Weird Al Yankovic, he is currently on the Bigger & Weirder tour through North America. Nonetheless, the Grammy Award winner is also working on his solo projects in parallel. Together with David Vito Gregoli, who is also named a Sound Painter, he is releasing the album Travelogue on 27th June 2025. After their 2024 album Kimo Vito, it is their second studio album collaboration.

 

Jim “Kimo” West – About The Artist

James West, typically known as Jim or Kimo is a Canadian guitarist born on 18th December 1953 in Toronto, Ontario. West grew up in Tampa, where he also met Steve Jay. Later in Los Angeles, these two became part of the core band of Weird Al Yankovic, alongside Jon Bermuda Schwartz and Ruben Valtierra.

While West has a private studio in Los Angeles, he is also spending a majority of his time in Hana, Hawaii. This introduced him to slack-key guitar play, which has become a major part of his musical work. In 1999, he released his solo debut album Coconut Hat. The highlight of his discography is his 2020 album More Guitar Stories, which won the Grammy Award for the Best New Age Album in 2021. He is a Flyctory.com Featured Artist. My latest review of a record by him is the 2024 album Santhi, which he recorded alongside Joss Jaffe.

 

David Vito Gregoli – About The Artist

David Vito Gregoli was born on 20th October 1959 in Los Angeles. He is a musician with a very wide range of work. He is working as a producer and composer, but also acts as an artist. As a multi-instrumentalist, he is having a wide collection of instruments. His core genres are New Age and classics, but he also worked in rock, pop and country on the producing side. His most recent studio album release as an artist has been the 2024 Liquid Planet – chillax music. It has been recorded with Ricky Kej, an Indian composer and three time Grammy Award winner. Gregoli also released non-collaboration albums like his 2012 Primordial Sonics.

 

West & Gregoli – Travelogue – Track by Track

The eleven track album lasts 49 minutes.

1. Friday Harbor

The songs of the album are inspired by different places, which typically have been selected by one of the artists. In the first song, the duo takes us to Friday Harbor in Washington State. The sound is very wide and nicely combines lighter and finer melodies with more massive background.

2. Islamorada Sunset

Like Friday Harbor, Islamorada Sunset is a song, which has been released before the album. After listening to the sound of the US Continental Northwest, this track takes us to the Florida Keys. You feel the warmth of the setting Florida sun while listening to the track.

3. Lake Crescent (For Linda and Neal)

We are back in Washington State. The song was inspired by Lake Crescent and the Olympic National Park there. Again, Gregoli is creating an intense atmosphere in the background, while West’s fine and skillful guitar play adds a dreaming ease to the listen. I really like this one.

4. Yosemite

Even non-North American readers will know Yosemite, which is the next stage of this music-driven trip. The song spreads a very intense atmosphere and is one of the most impressing listens of the album to me. These 4:25 minutes come with some lovely warmth and harmony.

5. Crystal River

The West Coast and Florida take quite a big part in this Travelogue. With the fifth song, West and Gregoli take us to the city on Florida’s West coast. Especially in the second half of the song, Crystal River has some very present and energetic moments. It also helps that the duo is not fixed to his guitar skills, but also incorporates other instruments and sounds to this song.

6. Big Sur

If Travelogue was a real travel, there might be some critics about the massive traveling forth and back. West and Gregoli take us to the California West Coast, namely Big Sur, now. Again, the song is a well-arranged and beautifully balanced listen. The calm flow of this song has a rather meditative character, which feels to suit very well to this album.

7. Highland Life

While I initially thought that the seventh song deals with the Scottish Highlands, Highland Life is in fact inspired by an Irish region. After some 70 seconds, Gregoli adds some sprinkles of other instruments, which leads to surprising twist, but also to a very interesting listen. Later, the song even features flute sounds.

8. Blueridge Moonlight

A press kit write to the album even sees a reference to John Denver in the Blueridge Moonlight. The song comes with sudden breaks, which creates a very special, even a bit of scary atmosphere.

9. High Sierras

High Sierras is one of the songs which profits the most that the album consists of more than “just” two excellent guitar players. In the background part of the instrumental, there are so many interesting twists and features. After an intense middle part, the song is fading out gently.

10. Sequoias

The set of originals closes with one of the longest songs of Travelogue, Sequoias. The longer duration helps to give a rather complex plot. Nonetheless, the tenth track of the record does not disrupt or disturb its harmony. I really like it.

11. Africa (chill mix, ft. MB Gordy & Joss Jaffe)

With MB Gordy and Joss Jaffe, West and Gregoli added two musicians o the final song of their album. It is a gentle, beautifully flowing version of Toto’s classic. I absolutely love this one.

 

West & Gregoli – Travelogue – Spotify

Here is the album on Spotify:

 

West & Gregoli – Travelogue – My View

Travelogue is skilled, beautiful, versatile, harmonic. If you like instrumental music, you will love Jim Kimo West and David Vito Gregoli for taking you on this amazing musical trip. A lovely concept with great music and a lot of warmth and emotions. Thanks guys!

Favorite Song: Africa

 

Jim “Kimo” West on Flyctory.com

Here are all my postings related to Jim “Kimo” West:

 

All “classic” blog posts

No reviews – just debating and certain topics – these are my “traditional” blog posts in the categories Just blogging, Just blogging on music and Sports Blogging:

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