Search - Robert Dick, John Brennan, Daniele Patumi :: Aurealis

There's some deep magic happening here

Jan P. Dennis | Monument, CO USA | 06/11/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Aurealis=Aurora Borealis, the Northern Lights--coruscating flashes of luminescence b(r)anding the nightsky with s(l)ick radiance. Translate that to music and you've got one stellar disc, certainly among the most amazing avant garde jazz albums ever recorded.Why? Because for all the extended technique, all the "out" playing, all the free improv--of which there's no shortage--there's maybe as much sheer beauty here as on any jazz disc I know of. Not only that, Aurealis is one of only a few disc featuring the astounding duo of John Wolf Brennan, the Irish Piano player, and Danile Patumi, Italian/Chinese bassist (the others are two Pago Libre discs and Time Jumps--Space Cracks). Add the American flute virtuoso Robert Dick, and you've got one of the most spectacular bands in the history of progressive jazz. One of the things I love about them is they can go from the wildly energetic to the ravishingly beautiful in the space of a few seconds--and somehow make it all sound unified. Take the stunning passage from the end of the "Stellar Nursery" suite to the opening of "Chi." The former ends with the band pulling out all the stops in a glorious riot of jammed together notes, then moves into the opening elegiac tones of piano, arco bass, and wispy flute on "Chi" with barely a pause."Chi" is itself a marvel, its 11-plus minutes perhaps the most sustained passage of pure musical beauty anywhere in recorded jazz. Dick especially shines, knocking off stunning flute figures with uncanny ease while supported by the finest arco jazz bass I've ever heard, as well as some simply astounding comping from Brennan. Patumi's arco solo beginning around the 6:30 mark is not to be believed for its dazzling technique in service to stunning ideas reeled off one after another. Brennan's following piano solo, itself a marvel, provides the perfect segue into the purely magical ensemble wrap-up.I could go on and on--and I really have barely scratched the surface of what's happening on this extraordinary disc, such as Brennan's brilliant prepared piano, Dick's astounding contrabass flue, and Patumi's weird percussive bass--but words literally are beginning to fail. If you somehow stumble on this review, believe me, this is one special record. Don't miss it!"