The opening Earthrise is a short piece. Almost symphonic in the way the various tones blend and emerge in a panoramic vista. I remember, when I was very young, watching the sun rising over the horizon on a north east beach. It felt very special at the time. Rawicz's composition evokes the same feeling of wonder and awe - all in 82 seconds.
In the blink of an eye the picture abruptly becomes a totally different scenario as it explodes like an unexpected thunderstorm in Particles of Change. Rawicz blows paintstripping tenor and Thompson produces some mellow sounds - presumably on synth or maybe it's something from Lochrane's flute armory, I don't know. Whatever, it's very effective as is the theme that grew in the leader's head during a lesson with Pete Churchill at RAM.
Time and Other Thieves is rich and heavy laden with doom all underpinned by the metronomic beat of Murray. Lots going on above but the overall feeling is that the end of the world is nigh.
Fortunately, it was a false alarm as A Portrait of Today paints a slightly brighter picture. Rawicz takes no prisoners on tenor and nor does Preston on guitar. Some amazing unison passages and riffs over Murray's energetic workout. This is quite an arrangement.
Lunar only orbits for 56 seconds but it shines before morphing into Moondreams (dreaming) which goes from contemplative wishing to the edge of lunacy before sanity prevails.
Anima Rising has a nice jaunty lilt to it. More explosive tenor by the leader. composer and arranger. Another complex and appealing track.
All My Yellow Afternoons. I'm not sure what makes an afternoon yellow - it sounds rather salacious and if they are as good as the music is then I want a piece of the action.
Marshmallow Tree is as tasty as the title suggests. Agile soprano from Rawicz.
The album closes with A Long Goodbye which at one minute isn't very long - just long enough to reflect on what an enjoyable listening experience this has been.
Inkyra's released on the ACT label this coming Friday (Oct. 31). Check it out via whatever form of audio jiggery-pokery you prefer. Lance
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