Guitarist Gene Ess has put together a clever album of pastoral combinations of his own compositions. He brings together Manuel Valera/p-key, Yasushi Nakamura/b and Clarence Penn/dr for the instrumentation, but the winning addition is the voice of Thana Alexa, who uses mostly wordless vocals with a dash of lyrics to add texture and direction .
Esses electric strings meld with Alexa on the haunting “Out of the Ashes” and soft pedals on “Jade Stones” as Valera’s piano adds droplest of dew. The team also shows a bit of assertiveness, as the band bops the blues on ”Kunai” and bears down on “Torii (The Gate)” before delivering a longing meeting with Alexa for “Deja Que Pase.” Without voice, Ess brings acoustic guitar with Penn for a quirky ”Forkball” while his electric axe gets a nice spotlight on the muscular “Upward and Onward!” Creative and alluring.