What’s particularly appealing about Elements is how each musician is singularly focused on the melody’s ultimate destination.  Plenty happens in between the start and finish line on each of this EP’s four tracks, and while the individual members of the Temenos quartet might have differing opinions on the best route to take, as a unit, they express a shared vision on exactly where to land.  It’s the kind of thing that results in a tight lyricism, streamlined for efficient use of improvisation.  The music tells a wild story using not one more word than is necessary.  Deviations maintain their context.  Inspirations stay tethered to the grand plan.  All of it revolves around the melody.

The pairing of cello and baritone sax is key.  It’s why the melody is able to simultaneously express comfort and edge.  Alto sax and drums allow it to soar through the clouds and dance upon the earth.  The music is modern, but it echoes the age where bop was becoming avant-garde and sometimes came out sounding so damn spiritual.

I really struggled choosing which track to embed.  All four tunes are solid, and each have their particular allure.  Taken as a whole, this is a magnificently enjoyable recording.  I imagine it’s flying under most radars.  Consider yourself advised.

Your album personnel:  Danny Abrams (alto sax), Drew Anagnost (amplified cello with pedals), Saman Khoujinian (drum kit, sound engineering) and Denver Carlstrom (baritone sax, auxiliary percussion).

This album is Self-Produced.

Listen to more of the album on the artist’s Bandcamp page.

Music from Carrboro, NC.

Available at:  Bandcamp

Even when the body is at full rest, the biological mechanics continue to work away.  When snoring is all that’s going on, the parasympathetic nervous system keeps things humming along.  If it were to have a soundtrack, it would be the new release from Gato Libre.  This isn’t sleepy music.  There’s an undeniable liveliness even when the moments hang upon the whisper of a drone.  But Neko is a sonic translation of the body at work while in a state of tranquil sleep, a dichotomy of action and dormancy.  The heartbeat of “Tama” is barely a murmur, and yet through it flows music rich with the blood of life.  “Momo” is the change in respiration in response to vivid dreams, whereas “Mii” are loud, happy snores.

Melodies are breathed out slowly and they hang in the air, soft and lovely.  On “Hime,” trumpeter Natsuki Tamura and trombonist Yasuko Kaneko send out tiny ripples across the placid surface of accordionist Satoko Fujii‘s gentle melodic phrasings.  Opening track “Tama” settles into serenity more than any other, and this is no obstacle for the trio to make the melody resonate both solemn and hopeful tones at equally high frequencies.  There are a few instances of the trio chipping away at the serenity.  “Yuzu” breaks out the melodic parts as if a succession of monologues, up until that moment they all rejoin the storyline in a magnificent show of unison for the finale, and “Tora” takes a quick stab at some dissonance before returning to a more peaceful state of existence.

A little bit of context:  Tragically, this ensemble has lost two members in far too short a span of time.  Reformation and a changing vision are never an easy thing to do, but Neko admirably serves as both a solemn tribute to those who are no longer with us and a clear statement of what’s to come from those who remain.  But this is a strong and beautiful album in any context.

Your album personnel:  Natsuki Tamura (trumpet), Yasuko Kaneko (trombone) and Satoko Fujii (accordion).

Released on Libra Records.

Music from Tokyo.

Available at:  no standard retail options available