Sounds and Visions

On a recent late-night drive home, I was taken by a particular piece of imagery: dozens and dozens of red wind turbine lights pulsating through the darkness. Every few seconds, a unique rhythm of out-of-sync lights fluttered through the void of the night sky. The perpetual loop was hypnotizing, as if the shadowy hillside had a pulse, flickering on, dying out, and coming alive again.

That visual imagery is what I picture when listening to Promises, a breathtaking new album from legendary jazz saxophonist Pharoah Sanders in collaboration with the London Symphony Orchestra and British music producer Floating Points. A spiritual journey told through nine instrumental movements; this may very well be the album of the year. A central motif (a few notes on strings) repeats itself throughout the album, which puts us in a trance while Sanders’ sax takes us to the stars. At times the movements are quiet and serene, and at other times they crescendo into jolts of climactic energy. There are layers of texture here that feel like space dust, sparkle-coatings of sounds that make Sanders’ sax feel mystical and make the swells of the orchestra feel divine. Sanders used to play with John Coltrane. Now, at 80, he’s made his late-career masterpiece as timeless as anything in Coltrane’s repertoire. That flickering, pulsating loop is quite the earworm, staying with you long after the album has ended. This is a mesmerizing musical experience from start to finish.

While on the topic of instrumental collaborations between veteran artists and young producers, you should also check out Notes with Attachments by Pino Palladino and Blake Mills. Palladino, a prolific bassist that has worked with dozens of acts throughout the years, and Mills, a multi-instrumentalist and producer, have created an exuberant jam session of an album. This is the kind of record I play at parties. Drawing influence from funk, world music, even Pet Sounds era Beach Boys; there are a ton of ideas at play here. The record finds one rhythm, jams on it briefly, and then move on to something else. It’s a delightful album, but it is hard to define as precisely as, say, Promises because it is full of so many ideas. Though with a vague title like Notes with Attachments, I guess that even the artists couldn’t quite put their finger on what they were going for, but oh well, it works!