Tone poems, with and without tones
Trombonist and vocalist Miro’ Henry Sobrer gives a heartfelt tribute to his father in this semi-operatic album with Ellie Pruneau/p, Hannah Marks/b, RockyMartin/dr, Cole Stover/perc, Zachar Finnegan/tp, Tim Kreis/ts , Francesca Sobrer/voc and various guests.
There’s a lot of spoken text and modern vocals mixed into the Gil Evansy horns as on “Over You Only The Flowers” and “Make My Life Transparent” while some hip drum and piano groove on “Tonight Only One Wind”. Some musical turbulence takes place on “I Had A Vision Of you Being Like Sea” with Sobrer in a melancholy tone on “Trinity Dance” . Things perk up on the Latin joys of “Two Of Swords” but for the most part you’re taking part in a personal paean.
Mixing and matching artists Mary Halvorson/g, Susan Alcorn/pstlg, Mat Maneri/va and Trevor Dunn/b Nate Wooley plays trumpet and amplifier for his compositions dedicated to the arctic wonders of the world. The “songs” all have a hazy sound that you’d come across if living in the frozen tundra, as on “(…)” or the free from “I Am The Sea That Sings of Dust”. Spacious skies and agonizing strings mix “(……)” and “A Castestrophic Legend” with Wooley’s horn echoing the stillness of the ice desert. Put on your muckalucks.