This two-disc album by Matty Steckler features music that might have made a bit more sense had it been two separate releases, as there are disparate moods that are vying for attention. Stecks plays saxes, flute, keyboards, EWI and electronics along with a core of Keith Price/g, Matt Kozicki/b, Eric Platz/dr and various guests on vocals, piano, strings and reeds.
On one dimension, there are a collection of “LTAR” pieces that are numbered and labeled (reflecting the title of the album. These tunes, as a whole, come across like relaxed and free flowing jams, sometimes led by Steckler tenor (Invocation” and “Heads or Tails”), Kozicki’s bass (“Isolation” and “Peace” and always with a good dose of percussion (“Phases”” with even some VOX thrown in (“Good & Evil”). On the other side of the tracks, there are some soothing hues with tenor sax, keyboards and a cool groove on “MB Blues”, a gorgeously impressionistic flute on “The Sloth” and moody strings and synth on “Modern Preternatural Rumble” while the band experiments with garage rock on “Somersault of the Earth”. Most alluring are the soulful R&B themes, with Megan DeMarest in a lovely recline with Price on “Feel My Way Forward”, Hannah Fearn sweetly sensuous with Steckler’s tenor “Heads or Tails” and Lenya Wilks coy and funky with keyboards on “Wish”.
This release shows the benefits of computers, as you can program this album to emphasize which mood you want to be taken into-calmly grooving or frisky and free.