Daybreak & Nightfall is highly effective suite, although in a totally different approach from,
as an illustration, the maudlin and probing This Darkness. It’s
cyclical, spanning the rising and setting of the solar, all the time with the trace
if not all the time overwhelming presence of shade. The temper might be somber, as in
the impressionistically tonal opener The Wind. The refrains are catchy; the
band, in fact, is way bigger and actually feels like a good unit. Tight,
nonetheless, in an open approach, whereby the composed parts bleed into the
improvisations nearly with out discover. As soon as the listener houses in on the
construction, they understand that one thing refined has modified, {that a} horn has
wandered right here or there, although the underlying harmonic and modal logic
stay. Clark and Hopkins hold the plodding rhythmic drive. Laura Ann
Singh, beforehand unknown to me, has a hauntingly angelic voice, that’s at
as soon as assertive and fragile. If anybody is showcased on this, she is, and for
good cause.

The insistent ‘Silent Singing,’ the third observe, closes with a somber
meditation on the repeated phrase, “and hum to ourselves,” adopted by some
glittering, afterglow piano and tender accompaniment that persists for
a number of minutes. The nearer, ‘Above the Grey’ appears to select up as nightfall begins
to give approach. It’s bluesy however unfold out, and picks up right into a jaunty jazz
portion about midway by, replete with solo reed and brass sections.
It’s a transient second wind, or a coda. And it each punctuates and reopens
the story, as any good dawn ought to.

Now for the studio/dwell divergence. That is an fascinating venture. The
percussion comes out extra strongly within the dwell recording and some passages,
particularly in ‘Silent Singing,’ lengthen in fascinating methods. This music,
nonetheless, appears largely scripted, and the worth within the dwell recording lies
not within the deviations however within the depth. The studio recording is
stunning. The dwell recording has only a little extra rawness, just a few extra
uncovered and frayed edges. For that it lends some further gravity to an
already heavy and introspective launch. Which, I suppose, brings us again to
This Darkness. Daybreak & Nightfall is a really totally different album
in some ways, however that retreat into the inside, the metaphorical and really
actual shades of darkish implied in each daybreak and heralded by each nightfall,
connects these releases in phrases of idea in addition to temper.

Daybreak & Nightfall is on the market as on LP and CD and as a obtain
right here.