By Don Phipps
The set of exquisite tone poems found on pianist and composer Benjamin Lackner’s album Spindrift create pastel colors and the hazy ambience of autumn in a cloud-shrouded forest. The subtle lines and development that give life to this introspective outing can be found in the soft, poignant, and graceful readings of Lackner, trumpeter Mathias Eick and tenor sax player Mark Turner. And the sympathetic rhythm section of bassist Linda May Han Oh and drummer Matthieu Chazarenc provide a solid yet buoyant bottom. The effect – a respite from the turbulence and combustion of an unsettled world.
Lackner wrote all but one of the pieces that grace the album (the exception being Chazrenc’s “Chambary”), and each of them highlight unhurried atmospheres, like breathing deep while viewing a panorama from a mountain ridge. Each song seems to reflect a natural setting. For example, the title cut “Spindrift” moves like a raft along a slow river current. Or the early morning mysterious quality of “Mosquito Flats.” Or the rocky musical perch of “More Mesa.”
There is also a sense of perspective. Take “Murnau,” where Eick and Turner, who eschew tonguing their instruments in favor of gentle slurs, create just the right tough of melancholy before Oh takes over, her wooden bass plucks carefully crafted above Lackner’s chordal backing. And on “Anacapa,” Eick and Turner’s dual voicings skip lightly above Lackner’s fingerings, creating rays of tuneful sunlight that seem to float down from a forest canopy. These tandem voicings, usually with Eick taking the melody and Turner providing the harmony, can be heard on “Fair Warning,” “Out of the Fog,” and “Chambary,” and the two players illustrate how the sounds of trumpet and sax can be cooly blended to create impressionistic soundscapes.
“I seek solace in music and the process of composing is a form of meditation for me,” says Lackner in the liner notes. “There may be bleaker undercurrents on this album, coloured by underlying sadness, perhaps even fear. But I do hear hope in there as well.” That said, one can also think of Spindrift as a warm blanket on cold early morning – a set of tunes you can wrap around yourself, alone in thought, drinking chamomile tea with just the right amount of honey to sweeten the taste, readying oneself to face the coming day. Enjoy.
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